fandomhigh | Seven Easy Steps to Being Able to Convince People You're a Spy : Week 3, Period 1

As the class gathered around the main campfire today, they may have noticed a large amount of boxes and racks of clothes and different props.

Aly was waiting for them to find seats around the campfire before starting. "Today, if the massive amounts of costumes and props didn't give it away, we're going to be talking about disguises. The whole point of a disguise is to be unnoticeable in the company that you're keeping. To blend in so that you don't occasion comments like 'I've never seen that person before' and 'I wonder who invited her.' It's not a matter of satisfying your ego by 'standing out' so everyone notices you. It's a matter of getting your job done without undue risk to yourself, any of your contacts or your employer."

"When you go undercover, you succeed only if you convince everyone around you that you're a different person. And you can only do that if every detail is consistent. Every single bit of information from the trash in your pockets to your glasses to your story has to match. If you're masquerading as a dissident student, you probably shouldn't be driving a fancy car or wearing expensive shoes. Be consistent. And blend in. The key isn't to be quirky and distinctive. The key is to be nondescript."

Aly handed everyone a sheet of paper with the following points on it to keep in mind when establishing a cover.

Develop your legend - your backstory. Keeping details close to your actual life - at least at first - can help you remember and sound truthful.
Decide on a current cover: name, job, purpose
Choose an appropriate look or disguise.
Gather pocket litter or other props to support the disguise. Each item needs to be appropriate to the persona.
Learn local customs, accents, slang.
Match your vocabulary/language to your character's education.

Five Tips for Maintaining Consistency

Use correct jargon for your assumed profession/role
Know how much travel and life experience your character has.
Avoid personal discussions about your pretend family.
Close questioning sessions quickly. Avoid the questions by giving the information before it's asked for and by giving enough information to shut down further questions.
If you think you're about to be exposed, get out of the one on one conversation. Invite someone to join the conversational group or suggest a coffee or trip. Anything to give you a chance to lower the pressure and get back into character.

Aly grinned. "I love disguises. They're one of my favourite things about spying. What you all need to do today is create one using the costumes, wigs, makeup, and props we have here. You can create it to go with the persona you made up last week or something completely different. Help each other put together a disguise, a cover, and the reason for the disguise then come show me. And I'd like to see these all be a step beyond a 'someone else in the class' this time. Disguise is one thing, successfully mimicking someone that people know well? Is a step far beyond that."

"So go ahead, work together to create a disguise and a cover story and then let me see what you come up with."

[OOC: OCD shall be coming up!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Gavin thought nothing could be worse than the last disguise he wore.

He was wrong.

This (http://www.buycostumes.com/Category/126/4294967191/20/Product/17133/ProductDetail.aspx) wasn't embarrassing at all. He was so not going with this one.

Rikku snickered. "Wow! I didn't even recognize you! Is that und tigah?!"

No. She was never, ever going to let that go.

Gavin scrunched up his face upon hearing those two words. It was automatic now. "No! I mean, um, of course not. Tis I, Good King...Machoman."

"Think I was offered a commission to take you out once," said Rikku, slipping into her own character. "Turned it down. Not 'cause of you, but 'cause they weren't offering me enough."

"Pah," Gavin said airily. "There is no price that could compete with the majesty that is me."

Rikku snorted. "If there had been an extra zero on the end of that number, it sure would've tried."

"Selfish money grubber," Gavin said snottily.

"Says the royal," Rikku sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Sir Royal," Gavin corrected. "Sir Royal."

"You knighted yourself?" Rikku said, dropping character for a moment. "I don't think it works that way."

"No?" Gavin really didn't know. "I just thought it sounded distinguished."

Rikku considered. "No, I think it's like ... one you're born to, and the other you kinda get appointed? Maybe you can appoint yourself."

"A king who rules all the lands couldn't make himself a knight?"

"Well, no, he ..." Okay, that had her stumped. "I guess you could. Sir Your Highness."

"I confused myself," Gavin said.

"See, you're not supposed to admit that," Rikku grinned. "It's one of the spy steps. Act like you were totally supposed to do whatever you just did. Say you tricked me for your own evil purposes, muahahaha."

"It's hard for me to be evil," Gavin said. "I'm just not an evil guy."

"Sneaky's not the same as evil," she mused. "Would it help if you said you tricked me for your own devious, underhanded, totally non-malicious sneaky purposes?"

"I suck at this," Gavin finally decided.

"It could be worse," Rikku said loftily. "At least I didn't steal your wallet."

"This time," Gavin said and made sure his wallet was there anyway.

Rikku giggled. "Seriously, I gotta teach you pickpocketing some time. So useful, yeah?"

Seven Easy Steps to Being Able to Convince People You're a Spy : Week 3, Period 1

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