History Quotes / StepfordSmiler

-->-- The fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/776503 Fronting]]'''s [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] of [[Webcomic/Homestuck Feferi Peixes]]

-->-- '''[[HomeStuck Aradia Megido]]''', in the fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/426732/chapters/896135 Conciliatory Shenanigans]]''

-->-- The fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/776503 Fronting]]'''s [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] of [[HomeStuck Feferi Peixes]]

->I had become a perfect fake human, saying the stupid and pointless things that humans say to each other all day long. [[TheyLookedJustLikeEveryoneElse No one suspected what crouched behind]] my perfect imitation smile.

->“I think he still blamed himself,” she says in the blandest tone, “even though I told him I was okay.”
->“He does that sometimes,” you agree. “But I don't think you were really okay, and even though you lied to yourself, I think you couldn't lie to him.”
->She turns to look at you, her face as blank and expressionless as her empty eye sockets.
->“But I'm okay,” she says, her voice still lacking inflection. “[[MadnessMantra I was okay. I'm okay,]]” she repeats, and blinks rapidly.
->You brush a lock of hair back from her face, and the contact surprises her, even though you had your hand on your shoulder just a minute ago.
->“Are you really, though?” you ask kindly, and she hiccups. Fat, reddish tears start rolling down her cheeks.
-->-- '''[[HomeStuck Aradia Megido]]''', in the fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/426732/chapters/896135 Conciliatory Shenanigans]]''

-->-- ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''->“I think he still blamed himself,” she says in the blandest tone, “even though I told him I was okay.”
->“He does that sometimes,” you agree. “But I don't think you were really okay, and even though you lied to yourself, I think you couldn't lie to him.”
->She turns to look at you, her face as blank and expressionless as her empty eye sockets.
->“But I'm okay,” she says, her voice still lacking inflection. “[[MadnessMantra I was okay. I'm okay,]]” she repeats, and blinks rapidly.
->You brush a lock of hair back from her face, and the contact surprises her, even though you had your hand on your shoulder just a minute ago.
->“Are you really, though?” you ask kindly, and she hiccups. Fat, reddish tears start rolling down her cheeks.
-->-- '''[[HomeStuck Aradia Megido]]''', in the fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/426732/chapters/896135 Conciliatory Shenanigans]]''

[[folder:Live-action TV]]

->'''Hal:''' My God, Annie. Yours is even better than mine.\\
'''Annie:''' My what?\\
'''Hal:''' Your mask.
-->-- ''{{Being Human}}''

->No, Orson Hodge isn't exactly the guy I'd have picked to head my family, but I'll give him one thing... he's got the smile down cold.
-->-- '''Rex Van de Kamp''', ''Series/DesperateHousewives''

[[/folder]]


-> '''Hawke:''' I have a smile on my face. That should be enough for most people.
-> '''Aveline:''' That doesn't work on me.
-->-- ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''

->“I think he still blamed himself,” she says in the blandest tone, “even though I told him I was okay.”

->''I had become a perfect fake human, saying the stupid and pointless things that humans say to each other all day long. No one suspected what crouched behind my perfect imitation smile.''
-->--'''Dexter Morgan''' in ''[[Literature/{{Dexter}} Dearly Devoted Dexter]]'' by Jeff Lindsay

->'''Donna Noble:''' You alright?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' [[BlatantLies I'm always alright.]]\\
'''Donna Noble:''' Is 'alright' special Time Lord code for 'really not alright at all'?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' Why?\\
'''Donna Noble:''' 'Cause I'm alright too.
-->--''Series/DoctorWho''

->Frigga appeared the perfect caregiver. She walked through the castle, gave comfort where it was needed, and did not let her face slip.
-->--'''Narration''', "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7156507/1/Enduring Enduring]]", a ''Film/{{Thor}}'' fanfic

-> ''Light pulled himself up to the counter, putting on his, '[[CuteAndPsycho I'm completely normal and if you don't believe me]], IllKillYou,' façade.''
-->--''Fanfic/TheFaceless'', a ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic.

-> Everyone smiles with that invisible gun to their head.
-->-- '''Film/FightClub'''

->Some of your friends are surprised by how excitable and confident you seem, and you don’t blame them at all. That’s not you. You try to force yourself to be as happy as you possibly can all the time, but that’s only a distraction. [[EldritchAbomination She’s]] still there in your head, still talking to you. Telling you how weak you are. How you’re not good enough. How you’ve never been good enough for anything. How you won’t win this one. You can’t win this one. You’ve never won anything in your life. You know none of it’s true, but that doesn’t stop you from worrying, a nervous feeling eating away at you. What if you aren’t good enough for this? What if you can’t win? After all, she knows you as well as you know yourself.
-->-- The fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/776503 Fronting]]'''s [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] of [[HomeStuck Feferi Peixes]]

-> That's how the family works. Daddy brings home a paycheck and goes away with his secretary, while Mommy cooks dinner and keeps a brave face on things. All the while, her heart is breaking. Where are my pills...
-->-- '''Jan Brown''', [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]] [[GTARadio Public Radio]] panelist.

->"[The [[spoiler:[[GenkiGirl Misha]]]] you know is different from the one I think of, when I think of the time we first met. Even though I think she looks better cheerful and smiling, that isn't how she typically is.]"
-->-- ''Shizune Hakamichi'', ''KatawaShoujo''

->''It was there,''\\
''she crafted her first mask;''\\
''imbued with betrayal and hurt.''\\
''She named it confidence''\\
''and put it on''
-->-- "[[http://rhyiant.deviantart.com/art/Masks-435538433 Masks]]" a poem by [=MaroonLynx=]

-> ''I'm smiling now...right?''
-->-- Wolfgang Grimmer, ''Anime/{{Monster}}''

->"He won't stop crying."\\
"And you're going to stop him by killing him?" Hastur said.\\
Zirah stared at him in wide-eyed innocence. He looked puzzled.\\
"Why not?"
-->--''Fanfic/TheSacredAndTheProfane'', a ''Literature/GoodOmens'' fanfic.

->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Sumire]]''': As always... your salesman smile is absolutely cruel..\\
'''Teru''': Oh...? You know, there's quite a few people I'm actually grateful to. I wasn't lying...\\
'''Sumire''': Right, but it's just too different from your normal self.
-->-- ''{{Manga/Saki}}'', after Teru puts on a cheerful and polite face at a press conference.

-->'''Mellie:''' Pretending is what's real.
-->'''Fitz:''' What?
-->'''Mellie:''' Every married couple alive pretends. They pretend they don't hate their in-laws or their husband's stupid jokes or their wife's laugh or that they don't actually love one of their children more than the others. Marriage is, well, it's almost all pretend. For everyone. That's the reality. That's what's real. Buying into the delusion that there's any other way to live together, to get through an entire life together, that's, well that's the fantasy. That's pretending.
-->'''Fitz''': Did I do this to you? Or have you always been like this? Because if it was me, [[TearJerker I'm sorry. I'm sorry.]]
-->-- ''Series/Sandal''

->I'm smiling but I'm dying
-->--'''Nothing''', ''The Script''

->"Well, it doesn't matter how you feel inside, you know? It's what shows up on the surface that counts. That's what my mother taught me -- take all your bad feelings and push them down, all the way down, past your knees until you're almost walking on them. And then you'll fit in, and you'll be invited to parties, and boys will like you, and happiness will follow."

->''But he got it now. He got what everyone was looking for. It wasn't for him to be happy, and he wasn't trying to be mean thinking about that. People wanted other people to fit into a nice, neat package with smartly tied bows that were the right color to match the wrapping paper. People wanted to be able to classify other people, and for them to behave according to code.''
->''Light found his code.''
->''His role is son, older brother, protector, student, genius, role model, kind, earnest. His role is to be perfect so they don't have to worry again, so they won't say he's abnormal, strange, worrisome (all whispered in the dark night across the kitchen table when they thought he was asleep).''
-->--''{{FanFic/Solitude}}'', a ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic.

-> [Littlefinger's] eyes did not smile when his mouth did.
-->-- '''Sansa Stark''' in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin

->Ruby, on the other hand, acts like she doesn’t come back to the dorm looking pensive on most nights, leaves and flower petals stuck to her hair; acts like she doesn’t shift closer to you in bed on others. Ruby acts like what happens [[BadDreams past midnight]] happens on a different plane, another reality even, like she wants to keep the part of her that wolfs down cookies and swings around gun-scythes with pinpoint precision and playfulness separate from the part of her that shuffles to bed with you during the early morning hours.
->It’s worrying.
->It’s worrying and you understand why she does it.
-->-- ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/970087 There's a hole in my soul]]'', a ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fanfic



[[folder:Web Original]]

->Camille Cosby pretty much made it clear where she stands when she put on a manufactured, creepy, Stepford Wife smile as her husband got pissy with an AP reporter for asking him about all the sexual abuse allegations against him. Camille Cosby didn’t need to say shit. We all know that she’s been putting her fingers in her ear holes and singing, ''[='=]Stand by your maaaaaaan'',' at the top of her lungs as accuser after accuser after accuser after accuser comes out. Camille is Ride or Die all the way even if the ride is filled with women he’s drugged up.
-->--'''[[http://dlisted.com/2014/12/15/bill-cosbys-wife-thinks-hes-the-real-victim/ Michael K.]]''', "Creator/BillCosby’s Wife Thinks He’s The Real Victim"

->This character, she didn’t make the jokes because she thought nothing of it, or because the experience was funny. She told the joke because she knew that the alternative was people looking at her with pity, or disinterest, calling her dramatic or a fool for staying. So she willingly became the fool. She knows that if she lets that mask slip, if people see the scars beneath the innocent facade, they won’t love her anymore. So she tries extra hard. I sat there for the first act whilst she ran around, singing and dancing. I watched as they whispered about how stupid she was. And I thought, ‘no’. This is a woman who is screaming inside. Maybe she’s not even screaming anymore. Maybe she’s dead. And she just makes this physical shell of herself keep laughing and flirting and dancing, because if she didn’t, she’d see that look in her best friend’s eyes. She’d hear that word- ‘victim’. And maybe that would be worse than death.
->She was the most intelligent character in that play. And somehow she could still carry on as the most light hearted. She took all that darkness inside her and kept the lights shining for everybody else.
-->-- Blogger '''[[http://thebjdhotel.tumblr.com/post/87841536335/a-character-analysis thebjdhotel]]'''

[[folder:fiction]]
->''There's a crack in my soul\\
You thought was a smile''
-->--'''Music/MarilynManson''', ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG7DoUR93yk "Leave a Scar"]]''

-->-- '''Music/TheAlanParsonsProject''', "Don't Let It Show"

-->-- '''Music/LilyAllen''', "Smile"

-->--'''Music/{{Archive}}''', ''Fuck U''

-->--'''Music/EmilieAutumn''', "Blackbird Sonnets, III", ''Your Sugar Sits Untouched''

-->--'''Music/LinkinPark''', "Pushing Me Away"

-->-- '''Flashman''' ''[[TheMegas Blue Like You]]''

-->--'''Music/BlackFlag''', "Can't Decide"

-->--'''Paul Laurence Dunbar''', "We Wear the Mask"

-->-- '''Little River Band''', "Lonesome Loser"

-->'''Paul Mac''', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCDARNA6FBk "Just the Thing"]]

->''Inside, my heart is breaking\\
My makeup may be flaking\\
But my smile still stays on...''
-->-- '''{{Music/Queen}}''', "The Show Must Go On"

-->-- '''Tegan and Sara''', "I Won't Be Left"


->'''Hal:''' My God, Annie. Yours is even better than mine.\\
'''Annie:''' My what?\\
'''Hal:''' Your mask.
-->-- ''{{Being Human}}''

->Lying tears hurt others; lying smiles hurt only oneself.
-->-- [[MysteriousWaif C.C.]], ''Anime/CodeGeass''

->No, Orson Hodge isn't exactly the guy I'd have picked to head my family, but I'll give him one thing... he's got the smile down cold.
-->-- '''Rex Van de Kamp''', ''Series/DesperateHousewives''

-> Step one: separate your lips. \\
Step two: use facial muscles to pull back the corners of your mouth. \\
Step three: widen your eyes. \\
This is how to be happy.
-->-- ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:real life]]
->I think we all have a dark side to us. I find that I can't trust sunny-natured people, people who are constantly sunny. I think that's major denial.
-->--Actor '''Gordon Tomson'''

--> '''{{Music/Queen}}''', "The Show Must Go On"

->''"If it's getting harder to face everyday...''\\
''Don't let it show... don't let it show..."''

-> At first when I see you cry/it makes me smile/yeah it makes me smile/at worst I feel bad for a while/but then I just smile/Yeah I go ahead and smile.
-->-- '''Music/LilyAllen''': ''Smile''

->How is it that I smile when I am sad?\\
From what resource do I derive this strength?

-> Although I laugh and I act like a clown,\\
Beneath this mask, I am wearing a frown.
-->-- '''Music/TheBeatles''', "I'm a Loser"

->'''Hal:''' My God, Annie. Yours is even better than mine.
->'''Annie:''' My what?
->'''Hal:''' Your mask.
-->-- ''{{Being Human}}''

->''"I think we all have a dark side to us. I find that I can't trust sunny-natured people, people who are constantly sunny. I think that's major denial."''
-->--Actor '''Gordon Tomson'''

->This character, she didn’t make the jokes because she thought nothing of it, or because the experience was funny. She told the joke because she knew that the alternative was people looking at her with pity, or disinterest, calling her dramatic or a fool for staying. So she willingly became the fool. She knows that if she lets that mask slip, if people see the scars beneath the innocent facade, they won’t love her anymore. So she tries extra hard. I sat there for the first act whilst she ran around, singing and dancing. I watched as they whispered about how stupid she was. And I thought, ‘no’. This is a woman who is screaming inside. Maybe she’s not even screaming anymore. Maybe she’s dead. And she just makes this physical shell of herself keep laughing and flirting and dancing, because if she didn’t, she’d see that look in her best friend’s eyes. She’d hear that word- ‘victim’. And maybe that would be worse than death.
->She was the most intelligent character in that play. And somehow she could still carry on as the most light hearted. She took all that darkness inside her and kept the lights shining for everybody else.
-->-- Blogger '''[[http://thebjdhotel.tumblr.com/post/87841536335/a-character-analysis thebjdhotel]]'''

->I always wear a smile\\

What I can't explain anyway
---> "Can't Decide," Music/BlackFlag

->"If I sound pleased about [Pandora going to hell under Handsome Jack], its only because my creators made this my default tone of voice. I'm actually quite depressed!"
-->-- '''Claptrap''', ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}''

-> Lying tears hurt others; lying smiles hurt only oneself.
-->-- [[MysteriousWaif C.C.]], ''Anime/CodeGeass''

->“I think he still blamed himself,” she says in the blandest tone, “even though I told him I was okay.”
->“He does that sometimes,” you agree. “But I don't think you were really okay, and even though you lied to yourself, I think you couldn't lie to him.”
->She turns to look at you, her face as blank and expressionless as her empty eye sockets.
->“But I'm okay,” she says, her voice still lacking inflection. “[[MadnessMantra I was okay. I'm okay,]]” she repeats, and blinks rapidly.
->You brush a lock of hair back from her face, and the contact surprises her, even though you had your hand on your shoulder just a minute ago.
->“Are you really, though?” you ask kindly, and she hiccups. Fat, reddish tears start rolling down her cheeks.
-->-- '''[[HomeStuck Aradia Megido]]''', in the fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/426732/chapters/896135 Conciliatory Shenanigans]]''

->"Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself, hidden in the public eye
->such a stellar monument to loneliness.
->Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes,
->perfect makeup, but you're barely scraping by.
-->-- '''Music/DashboardConfessional''', ''The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most''

->No, Orson Hodge isn't exactly the guy I'd have picked to head my family, but I'll give him one thing... he's got the smile down cold.
-->-- '''Rex Van de Kamp''', ''Series/DesperateHousewives''

->(inner thought:) Shiny new automobile: check.\\
Wife cooking meatloaf, taking valium: check.\\
Monotonus job as a filing clerk: check.\\
Unbridled inner rage hidden just below the surface of normalcy: check.
-->--Suburban resident, ''DestroyAllHumans''

->''I had become a perfect fake human, saying the stupid and pointless things that humans say to each other all day long. No one suspected what crouched behind my perfect imitation smile.''
-->--'''Dexter Morgan''' in ''[[Literature/{{Dexter}} Dearly Devoted Dexter]]'' by Jeff Lindsay

->'''Donna Noble:''' You alright?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' [[BlatantLies I'm always alright.]]\\
'''Donna Noble:''' Is 'alright' special Time Lord code for 'really not alright at all'?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' Why?\\
'''Donna Noble:''' 'Cause I'm alright too.
-->--''Series/DoctorWho''

->"We wear the mask that grins and lies,\\
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—\\
This debt we pay to human guile;\\

And mouth with myriad subtleties.\\
\\
Why should the world be over-wise,\\
In counting all our tears and sighs?\\
Nay, let them only see us, while\\
We wear the mask.\\
\\
We smile, but, Oh great Christ, our cries\\
To thee from tortured souls arise.\\
We sing, but oh the clay is vile\\
Beneath our feat, and long the mile;\\
But let the world dream otherwise,\\
We wear the mask!"
-->-- Paul Laurence Dunbar, "We Wear the Mask"

->Frigga appeared the perfect caregiver. She walked through the castle, gave comfort where it was needed, and did not let her face slip.
-->--'''Narration''', "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7156507/1/Enduring Enduring]]", a ''Film/{{Thor}}'' fanfic

-> ''Light pulled himself up to the counter, putting on his, '[[CuteAndPsycho I'm completely normal and if you don't believe me]], IllKillYou,' façade.''
-->--''Fanfic/TheFaceless'', a ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic.

-> Everyone smiles with that invisible gun to their head.
-->-- '''Film/FightClub'''

->'''Kimahri''': Now are dark times. Yuna tries hard.
->'''Tidus''': We should help her, then.
->'''Kimahri''': If we worry, she tries harder. Do not frown.
->'''Tidus''': Don't worry, be happy?
->'''Kimahri''': Kimahri try, too.
->'''Tidus''': Smile! Let me see.
->'''Kimahri''': (''grimaces'')
->'''Tidus''': Sad.
-->-- ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''

-> And I've been telling Yuna... Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's beat Sin! I told her all the things we could... we could... And all along, the whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna, she'd... just smile.
-->-- '''Tidus''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''

-> You said it made you happy when I smiled, didn't you? But really... I was afraid. I was always afraid.
-->-- '''Oerba Dia Vanille''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''.

->Some of your friends are surprised by how excitable and confident you seem, and you don’t blame them at all. That’s not you. You try to force yourself to be as happy as you possibly can all the time, but that’s only a distraction. [[EldritchAbomination She’s]] still there in your head, still talking to you. Telling you how weak you are. How you’re not good enough. How you’ve never been good enough for anything. How you won’t win this one. You can’t win this one. You’ve never won anything in your life. You know none of it’s true, but that doesn’t stop you from worrying, a nervous feeling eating away at you. What if you aren’t good enough for this? What if you can’t win? After all, she knows you as well as you know yourself.
-->-- The fic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/776503 Fronting]]'''s [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] of [[HomeStuck Feferi Peixes]]

->Don't let them in
->Don't let them see
->Be the good girl you always have to be
->Conceal
->Don't feel
->Put on a show
->Make one wrong move, and everyone will know!
-->--'''Queen Elsa''' preparing for the day, ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''

-> You was raised without a daddy,
-> You're really not happy,
-> You only smile to cover the rain...

-> That's how the family works. Daddy brings home a paycheck and goes away with his secretary, while Mommy cooks dinner and keeps a brave face on things. All the while, her heart is breaking. Where are my pills...
-->-- '''Jan Brown''', [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]] [[GTARadio Public Radio]] panelist.

->Plus, humor [[SadClown was a good way to hide the pain]].
-->-- '''Leo Valdez''' (narration), ''TheHeroesOfOlympus''

->"[The [[spoiler:[[GenkiGirl Misha]]]] you know is different from the one I think of, when I think of the time we first met. Even though I think she looks better cheerful and smiling, that isn't how she typically is.]"
-->-- ''Shizune Hakamichi'', ''KatawaShoujo''

->Even the people who never frown eventually break down
-->--'''Pushing Me Away''', ''Music/LinkinPark''

->"It's okay," he smiles and says
->Though his loneliness is driving him crazy.
->He don't show what goes on in his head,
->But if you watch very close, you'll see it all.
-->-- Little River Band, "Lonesome Loser"

->''With a smile, I'm dying inside \ But I know, I'll be just fine''
-->[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCDARNA6FBk Just the Thing]] - ''Paul Mac''

->''the children love the show, but they fail to see the anguish in my eyes''
-->--'''Music/MarilynManson''', ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DNf-udrmN8 "Dope Hat"]]''

->''I'm well aware I'm a danger to my self\\
Are you aware I'm a danger to others?\\
There's a crack in my soul\\
You thought was a smile''
-->--'''Music/MarilynManson''', ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG7DoUR93yk "Leave a Scar"]]''

->''My smile's a chainlink fence, / that I have put up''
-->--'''Music/MarilynManson''', ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL6V5YOUODI "Slutgarden"]]''

->''It was there,''
->''she crafted her first mask;''
->''imbued with betrayal and hurt.''
->''She named it confidence''
->''and put it on''
-->-- "[[http://rhyiant.deviantart.com/art/Masks-435538433 Masks]]" a poem by [=MaroonLynx=]

-> What Megaman and my brothers don't know, is this flash is all for show
->'Cause inside, there's nothing there, and there's nothing to me,
-> I'm empty, and I'm hollow...
-->-- '''Flashman''' ''[[TheMegas Blue Like You]]''

-> No, no... I shouldn't be laughing. Nothing's funny.
-->-- ''Laughing Octopus'' ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''

-> ''I'm smiling now...right?''
-->-- Wolfgang Grimmer, ''Anime/{{Monster}}''

-->Inside, my heart is breaking\\

But my smile still stays on...
---> "The Show Must Go On," {{Queen}}

->"He won't stop crying."\\
"And you're going to stop him by killing him?" Hastur said.\\
Zirah stared at him in wide-eyed innocence. He looked puzzled.\\
"Why not?"
-->--''Fanfic/TheSacredAndTheProfane'', a ''Literature/GoodOmens'' fanfic.

->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Sumire]]''': As always... your salesman smile is absolutely cruel..
->'''Teru''': Oh...? You know, there's quite a few people I'm actually grateful to. I wasn't lying...
->'''Sumire''': Right, but it's just too different from your normal self.
-->-- ''{{Manga/Saki}}'', after Teru puts on a cheerful and polite face at a press conference.

-->'''Mellie:''' Pretending is what's real.
-->'''Fitz:''' What?
-->'''Mellie:''' Every married couple alive pretends. They pretend they don't hate their in-laws or their husband's stupid jokes or their wife's laugh or that they don't actually love one of their children more than the others. Marriage is, well, it's almost all pretend. For everyone. That's the reality. That's what's real. Buying into the delusion that there's any other way to live together, to get through an entire life together, that's, well that's the fantasy. That's pretending.
-->'''Fitz''': Did I do this to you? Or have you always been like this? Because if it was me, [[TearJerker I'm sorry. I'm sorry.]]
-->-- ''Series/Sandal''

->I'm smiling but I'm dying
-->--'''Nothing''', ''The Script''

->"Well, it doesn't matter how you feel inside, you know? It's what shows up on the surface that counts. That's what my mother taught me -- take all your bad feelings and push them down, all the way down, past your knees until you're almost walking on them. And then you'll fit in, and you'll be invited to parties, and boys will like you, and happiness will follow."
-->---'''Marge Simpson''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

->''But he got it now. He got what everyone was looking for. It wasn't for him to be happy, and he wasn't trying to be mean thinking about that. People wanted other people to fit into a nice, neat package with smartly tied bows that were the right color to match the wrapping paper. People wanted to be able to classify other people, and for them to behave according to code.''
->''Light found his code.''
->''His role is son, older brother, protector, student, genius, role model, kind, earnest. His role is to be perfect so they don't have to worry again, so they won't say he's abnormal, strange, worrisome (all whispered in the dark night across the kitchen table when they thought he was asleep).''
-->--''{{FanFic/Solitude}}'', a ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic.

-> [Littlefinger's] eyes did not smile when his mouth did.
-->-- '''Sansa Stark''' in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin

-> "And they say ''She's so lucky, she's a star'',
-> But she cries, cries, cries,
-> In her lonely heart, thinkin':
-> If there's nothin' missin' in my life,
-> Then why do these tears fall at night?"
-->-- Music/BritneySpears, "Lucky"

\\

That you might not be [[PuritySue the golden one]]\\
[[TitleDrop And you're tied together with a smile]] but you're coming undone

->''I won't scream in my head''
->''And let it isolate me''
-->-- "I Won't Be Left", by Tegan and Sara

->You, who hide behind your smile when you're lonely
->Are a blade of unmelting ice
-->-- "Sychronicity", sung by Yui Makino

->You, who hide behind your smile when you're lonely
->Are a blade of unmelting ice
-->-- "Sychronicity", sung by Yui Makino

-->'''Mellie:''' Pretending is what's real.
-->'''Fitz:''' What?
-->'''Mellie:''' Every married couple alive pretends. They pretend they don't hate their in-laws or their husband's stupid jokes or their wife's laugh or that they don't actually love one of their children more than the others. Marriage is, well, it's almost all pretend. For everyone. That's the reality. That's what's real. Buying into the delusion that there's any other way to live together, to get through an entire life together, that's, well that's the fantasy. That's pretending.
-->'''Fitz''': Did I do this to you? Or have you always been like this? Because if it was me, [[TearJerker I'm sorry. I'm sorry.]]
-->-- ''Series/Sandal''

-> Step one: separate your lips. \\
Step two: use facial muscles to pull back the corners of your mouth. \\
Step three: widen your eyes. \\
This is how to be happy.
-->-- ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale''

->"We wear the mask that grins and lies,\\
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—\\
This debt we pay to human guile;\\
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,\\
And mouth with myriad subtleties.\\
\\
Why should the world be over-wise,\\
In counting all our tears and sighs?\\
Nay, let them only see us, while\\
We wear the mask.\\
\\
We smile, but, Oh great Christ, our cries\\
To thee from tortured souls arise.\\
We sing, but oh the clay is vile\\
Beneath our feat, and long the mile;\\
But let the world dream otherwise,\\
We wear the mask!"
-->-- Paul Laurence Dunbar, "We Wear the Mask"

->"It's okay," he smiles and says
->Though his loneliness is driving him crazy.
->He don't show what goes on in his head,
->But if you watch very close, you'll see it all.
-->-- Little River Band, "Lonesome Loser"

->Even the people who never frown eventually break down
-->--'''Pushing Me Away''', ''Music/LinkinPark''

->I'm smiling but I'm dying
-->--'''Nothing''', ''The Script''

->"Well, it doesn't matter how you feel inside, you know? It's what shows up on the surface that counts. That's what my mother taught me -- take all your bad feelings and push them down, all the way down, past your knees until you're almost walking on them. And then you'll fit in, and you'll be invited to parties, and boys will like you, and happiness will follow."
-->---'''Marge Simpson''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

->''It was there,''
->''she crafted her first mask;''
->''imbued with betrayal and hurt.''
->''She named it confidence''
->''and put it on''
-->-- "[[http://rhyiant.deviantart.com/art/Masks-435538433 Masks]]" a poem by [=MaroonLynx=]

->This character, she didn’t make the jokes because she thought nothing of it, or because the experience was funny. She told the joke because she knew that the alternative was people looking at her with pity, or disinterest, calling her dramatic or a fool for staying. So she willingly became the fool. She knows that if she lets that mask slip, if people see the scars beneath the innocent facade, they won’t love her anymore. So she tries extra hard. I sat there for the first act whilst she ran around, singing and dancing. I watched as they whispered about how stupid she was. And I thought, ‘no’. This is a woman who is screaming inside. Maybe she’s not even screaming anymore. Maybe she’s dead. And she just makes this physical shell of herself keep laughing and flirting and dancing, because if she didn’t, she’d see that look in her best friend’s eyes. She’d hear that word- ‘victim’. And maybe that would be worse than death.
->She was the most intelligent character in that play. And somehow she could still carry on as the most light hearted. She took all that darkness inside her and kept the lights shining for everybody else.
-->-- Blogger '''[[http://thebjdhotel.tumblr.com/post/87841536335/a-character-analysis thebjdhotel]]'''

->''"If it's getting harder to face everyday...''\\
''Don't let it show... don't let it show..."''
-->-- '''Music/TheAlanParsonsProject''', "Don't Let It Show"

->'''Donna Noble:''' You alright?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' [[BlatantLies I'm always alright.]]\\
'''Donna Noble:''' Is 'alright' special Time Lord code for 'really not alright at all'?\\
'''Tenth Doctor:''' Why?\\
'''Donna Noble:''' 'Cause I'm alright too.
-->--''Series/DoctorWho''

->Don't let them in
->Don't let them see
->Be the good girl you always have to be
->Conceal
->Don't feel
->Put on a show
->Make one wrong move, and everyone will know!
-->--'''Queen Elsa''' preparing for the day, ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''

-->'''Queen Elsa''' preparing for the day, ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''

[[TitleDrop And you're tied together with a smile]] but you're coming undone\\

-->-- '''Music/TheAlanPArsonsProject''', "Don't Let It Show"

''Don't let it show... don't let it show...''

-->-- "[[http://rhyiant.deviantart.com/art/Masks-435538433 Masks]]" a poem by MaroonLynx