The story is quite interesting imo, at least I hope so..

About me: I live in a small W European country and I'm a gamer. I'm a bit weird, barely connect to people, all of my "friends" are useful to me and I keep them only for that single purpose: to use. I know laywers, bankers, cops etc. I dont understand what its like to have "friends" in the traditional meaning. My love life is poor, I can easily impress a desirable girl but then after using her I discard her as I lose interest.

The catfish story, I was fooled badly.. a taste of my medicine perhaps?

In 2013 in a game I encounter a girl who has an interesting nick, she saw my clan tag and expressed interest in me. So I add her to steam and we begin chatting. The chemistry was instantaneous, as maybe for the first time in my life I encountered someone who was totally on my frequency. We didn't discuss people or events, no we discussed philosophical stuff, ideas, movies, quotes etc. It was perfect... She appeared to be VERY sweet and interesting, it was incomprehensible. Our life stories were also interestingly identical, to the point of tiny details.

After a week she suddenly said: "I have a serious psychological illness, several shrinks and I take meds, I have big carnal needs and have nobody I trust enough to satisfy them, if you come to my house please be gentle, and confident as I hate uncertainty in men". I thought "oh she is mentally ill, I cant do it to her, because the chemistry is too strong here on steam, and I avoid mentally ill people" so I deleted her. Deleting her made me very upset for a week but then I got over it.

In 2014 nearly the same thing happened between us, I encountered her in another game, blah blah, chemistry, an invitation to come and I deleted her again. This time I ended up being upset for a month or so but then I got over it.

April 2016: I encounter her again in a game and this time I couldnt walk away.. The events went as following:

May-June-July = the discovery phase, she appeared to be extremely intelligent, like a bright light compared to ANYONE I have ever talked to, our chemistry was insane. The only bad thing about her, really bad, is that she said she was a nympho and had many lovers, 7 regular FWBs and many one night stands. She kept inviting me to have sex with her but I'm not really into a huge gangbang kind of thing.. or wasnt back then :P

August - September - October = the fight phase, I slowly accept her poly sexuality, while we continue to chat daily, for hours. Our connection continues to be VERY deep.

November - December - January - March = the growth phase, I was finally ready to meet her, our connection was flawless, the chats were a piece of art. I kept asking to see her but she kept saying "not yet"..

During all this time she kept showering me with pictures, she appeared to be good looking but it was her IQ and her speech which kept me insanely attracted to her.

There were many HUGE red flags during this period: her pics were relatively small, she refused to "talk" or to provide any personal information, her version was: Im a victim of abuse who suffers from selective mutism and severe paranoia.

At the same time she kept telling me how she has sex all the time and how other men get her. It was extremely humiliating of course.

The reality hit me right in the face last week: I finally tried googles image search instead of tineye and found that "her" pics belong to a girl in a far away country. So when I confronted her with this she quickly disappeared from my steam.. while begging me not to reveal this to anyone. She confessed shes in fact a man and isnt the person on the pictures.

The question is.. should I take revenge or accept things the way they are.. and blame myself?

She has been running "the show" for at least 15 years, playing 100s of men during that period. Im the first one who figured out the deceit.

Oh yes: after discovering the lie he told me that hes a very sad person who finds pleasure in only one activity: catfishing nerds and loners from the internet.. and could suicide if I expose him.

Pro's of my 15 month long pursuit of her:

I have discovered myself like never before
he improved me in every aspect, my intelligence has skyrocketed like never before thx to his insights.
i found out that Im capable of relaying to someone
Contras:

it was a very exhausting pursuit, the "girl" was much more absorbed with herself than with me. She barely asked me any questions at all.
after 15 months Im a wreck in every aspect. She kept shoving in my face how she fks around but doesnt trust "me" enough to do the same = clear bullying
she kept accepting my gifts such as games etc.
Im kinda broken psychologically after this. A part of me wants to expose her to the entire community and beyond. There are other loners who she has been leading on for many years, some for 10+ years. Another part of me thinks that I should forget it and embrace my new self.