Oh. My. God. Mirage you are the best.

ooh the way you write them I could cry. She can't hide the truth from Syd. I feel so sorry for Jarod here. Every word was true. Sydney is a monster.

It got hot in here! Mirage. Damn girl! That sexual banter in REvelations was f&&&&ing awesome. She tied him up, did to him what he did to her. YIkes. Love it. Give me more of that!! This chapter was a hell of a ride too. Oooh Ooh I wish you were writing the novels. OMG!

I am jumping up and down lol omg yes that scene you dsceribed in your reply to my review it happened on Days of our lives and that was Dr. Mike you heard!!! OMG! The painfully uncomfrotable girl was definitely April! thowse 2 were nice together! Your  memory is a little off on the line he used but I think your perspectvievs were not skewed at all. It is what it sounds like it is like a man wanting sex and you were probably too young to be even hearing anything Mike said. I could see how that is messed up and you might be revolted. What he said is close he said "why don't we have a picnic by the water here unless you're scared to be with me." SHe says she isn't. She's lying big time lol! He says again "so let's eat by the water unless you're afraid of me." lol and tells her to "relax" ....you are really going to cringe now lol. SOrry! He tells her again after he throws in her in the water she can come back by herself unless he's afraid to come back to his house with him it's so funny! I guess Mirage the chances were good for you. You had good timing when your mom....your FPU.... was watching her soaps! He was always trying to have sex with April but he was kind of paitent with her but it did seem like he was pressuring her too. He is weird like that in everything I see him in so I think he's that type of guy....but I haven't met him so I don't know and you never really know people by meeting them anyway.

You should go to youtube and get familiar with Michael T. Weiss and watch one Mike and April episode....they really aren't that bad!!! Funny thing...he was wearing a wedding band then. I keep seeing that band. OMG! Anyway. This chapter was great too. A long road ahead is right too. I hope Parker forgive him. It wasn't his fault. Wow girl you really nailed Jarod. It's like you get inside that man's head....or ooooh you won't like this...he gets inside YOUR head. LOL. Really you get into all the characters head. You've really fleshed them out and you know them better than anyone. Thanks for sharing and replying. It's so nice to chat with someone who is so insightful!

I love you for making Lyle good because really he's Jarod, Kyle, Ethan, Alex. ..they are all the same all with the potential for evil and good. Mr. Parker. Urghh. I hate him. That scene with MP and Lyle is so precious. Mirage Mirage. You are a marvel.

Your original characters are wonderful, gotta say that Dr. Blake was awesome. YES YES YES Jarod is chasing MP NOW. LOL! I love that, love the teasing she's doing leaving those toys behind to torment him for a freaking change! I can't get over how insightful you are into the characters. I can't say it enough...Thank you for sharing your talent with us!

WWWWWWOw. Shit girl! When Jarod first drugged MP I thought it was to help her in some way...DID NOT SEE ANY OF THAT COMING! I don't have a coherent thought now just...but this could happen and isn't a stretch at all. Raines cooking up drugs and using MP as leverage. It is all possible. I LOVE the SLASH. Jarod and LYLE. That is hot! Lyle is right too that Jarod is just like him.  Ohhh and it's nice that someone addressed the lie that Raines and Lyle cooked up when Mr. Parker jumped with the scrolls. NOw I have to see if MP is preggers and if she will keep the baby. OMG Mirage you rock girl!

OK! I just began to start reading chapter one and I'm really excited. I'm a little scared. So far as I skim over it, the first chapter looks wonderful and nothing bad has happened except a minor accident. I like that MP found Jarod instead of Ethan. I know it gets scary later. It's almost Halloween and I heard that I have to read this because it is epic and it is a story that was begging to be told. I heard that it is a plausible tale. IF Jarod is really a sociopath. He can be anything he wants to be so.....

I was told to beware. I am going to review every chapter. I will let you know how it goes for me. Thanks for writing it. 40 chaps could not be easy writing. lol I'm scared.

So, after I got through Circle of Hell I came to this one, and of course, it’s another outstanding one. I can’t really reconcile with the third ending, though it’s incredibly well written, and completely believable. I could see Jarod’s obsession for having the perfect family and saving Parker from herself taking a really nasty turn in those circumstances, but at the same time, I feel a bit nauseous at the idea of Parker being stuck in an abusive relationship that she doesn’t even know it’s abusive, and a lie. It’s makes me almost irate, to think that he could basically get away with raping her physically and emotionally non-stop, for the rest of her life, and even though she feels something is off and is lying her way through her uneasiness, she’s stuck in the worst nightmare of all.

The second ending was, of course, my favorite, because I really feel that despite their love, they didn’t belong together in these circumstances. I always thought Jarod did torment Parker in the show; though I don’t think he was malicious about it, he tried to force his perspective on her and bring her to his side, regardless of how the truths, the taunts and the schemes affected her. And I think it only served to reinforce her training in some ways – because she might trust him, since he’s adept to brutal honesty, but she knows that he’ll do what he wants to her, shove whatever information down her throat whether she is ready for it or not, break into her house, worm himself into her private pain, whether she consents it or not. With him, she’s always in danger; because her will and needs are always preceded by what he feels she should want or need.

Which is why I found this story brilliant, and Irreconcilable Differences particularly fitting, because it’s so truthful to how screwed up they are. And I really believe that Parker would only ever be free the day she admitted that she’s never consented to much of her life in the Centre, that she did a lot she never want to do because of fear, and that she might love Jarod and he might know her inside and out, with an access to her darkness that no other man will ever have, but that she needs to be allowed to save herself. And this ending might seem sad, but she does save herself, sort of. She stops herself from letting other people push her they life they see fit for her, even if Jarod is doing it out of love.  

This was recommended by Muriel at fanfic but I've been afraid to read it as I'm told it is very dark. The first chapter already has that feel that something awfull will happen and it's dark here. I think I'll come back to this after you finish "Nemes" which I know I have some catchng up to do on. You are one of the best arthurs here please know that but I want lighter reads now. I'll read the rest of Nemes and some other arthurs first. Please don't take offence.

Author's Response:

Hello and thanks for the feedback, Jules. *Horrified* Someone recommended this? Well, please try to forgive that user, haha. Some very, very horrible things happen in this fic and unlike the other (wordy) fics I've written, Jarod is the one doing all of the horrible things and Parker is, unfortunately, on the receiving end of his *ahem* horribleness. I refer to this fic as my muse's "monstrosity" for a reason: It is a monstrosity. If you never come back to this fic, I won't be offended.

~M

It just didn't get any better than this, Mirage. I think that even though you mentioned that Irreconcilable Differences was the original ending, it's this ending, Perdition, you gave more of yourself, there's a great deal more detail. I loved the mirrored similarities between ending 2 and 3 and the way you carried this to the end. Jarod always wins in the end and the fact that the entire relationship was a lie and that everyday from before Carthis to the end of this chapter where we read about their life in Greece was a pretend on his part. It's brilliant, plausible and it's obvious that you poured every ounce of your pessimism into this ending and thought out every single detail to meticulously build this plot and the exhillirating climax and finally the end where Parker is still lying though she doesn't know why. I adore this ending and your audacity to post even if some readers were put off by the extremely anamorphic ending. Gutsy. This is my favourite ending, and considering that these two are products of the Centre, it's a very probable ending. Exceptional work here, Mirage.

Author's Response:

Thanks, DarkAngel.

I couldn't write a "forgive, forget and live happily ever after" ending because, fact is, it's not always possible to overcome the odds. 

ITA was indeed written for the shippers. I knew the only way I could give any hope of happiness was to type up a dream sequence.

ID - glad you liked.

Ah, Perdition. You're probably right that I've put off some readers but, it seemed to fit the story. Besides, Jarod is a genius. He can be anything he wants to be, including an evil, controling bastard. 

I began reading this about six months ago and wanted to reserve my comment for the completion because it seemed that you were planning an unlikely and very cliche happy ending, the likes of which have become canon among the fan fic community. I am so pleased with your attention to detail and your very realistic, if even pessmistic, perception of everyone's favourite malfunctioning non couple. Since you gave us three separate endings, I will coment on each one individually.

The first, "In The Abstract" is, if I understand correctly, your gift to the Parker-Jarod shippers and even though it almost has that stench of same old happy ending despite the odds, you left much to the imagination and also you spanned the story over four plus years and that's very realistic, I believe. I enjoyed it for what it was: A gesture of appeasement to the fans and a valliant nod to the writers-creators of The Pretender and their fascination with The Wizard Of Oz. Good Job on this one, Mirage.

Wanted to comment on each of them, since you gave us 3 possibilities...  I look at the first 2 as hopeful, even though this one is more tenuous than chapter 38.  At least Parker's made some sort of breakthrough, and Jarod remains faithful and loving, no matter what.  Of course, what's coming next struck me almost as a funhouse mirror parody of that - Jarod does love Parker, and they get a happily ever after, but both in a terribly skewed manner.

I think I prefer this one out of all three.  The characters have still gone through the horrible events we've been visiting with them, and now it appears Jarod and Parker are far apart.  However, my Pollyanna side envisions a future for them (post many, many, MANY hours of therapy and counseling) as a family - disfunctional of course, but able to be as happy as they can together.