Imposter love is the specific grief of having loved, deeply and genuinely, a version of someone that was partly or entirely constructed — the idealized projection, the person you saw potential in that they didn't share, the self they presented before the relationship gave them less reason to. When the real person becomes visible, the love remains but its object has changed.

Anonymous thoughts about imposter love posted here are from people grieving the person they fell for rather than the person who actually existed — the honest account of loving an idea that wore someone's face.