Reviews For Asphyxia
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Title: Chapter 1

I want to give you props for this. I read this and thought I'd reviewed it but after reading Incursion I came here to reread this part one of the series and dind't see my review. It's terrifying, as is Lyle feasting on women. That's the thing about staying true to characters. Redemption arcs aren't always plausible. This is plausible. Reading Incursion following this story was a seamless transition and demostrates your brilliance. Kudos again.

Reviewer: James Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 02/02/24 12:45 am
Title: Chapter 1

Blimey this is bloody brilliant! New favorites!

Reviewer: King Of Pain Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 24/01/24 09:49 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Oomph. Profound, horrific.

In your stories Miss Parker usually saves herself. The majority of the time she does. We see her trying to do that here, basically trying to move her hand in a sawing action to make the knife slice the rest of the way through her hand so she can be free. But she doesn't succeed.

Jarod coming in surprised me. You leave it to my imagination to how Jarod arrives and I'm going to say that he and Sydney were in contact. Jarod may have even bugged Sydney's phone. Or Broots begged him to follow Miss Parker when she discovered another victim and went to free the victim.

I think the only reason Jarod didn't end Lyle is because Miss Parker wasn't breathing, ya know? I hope I'm right about my theories. I love this darkness. Please add the rest. Thank you for all of these missing pieces.

Reviewer: Sammi Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 31/07/23 07:54 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Mirage Mirage Mirage. You are the Queen Of Darkness. I don't even have words now.

😲 Amazing, terrifying writing.

^What Broots said.

Reviewer: Jake Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 25/07/23 05:44 pm
Title: Chapter 1

This is a friendly reminder to give us the sequel to wild horses. Is miss Parker ok? She wasn't in Wild Horses and I worry. She has to be completely traumatized. I won't be mad if it doesn't happen immediately as you are writing so many fics for us. I only beg that you please don't forget this. It speaks to me deeply.

Reviewer: Jameason Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 13/05/23 01:29 am
Title: Chapter 1

Impressive as always. Plausible, perfect. You rule

Reviewer: Jami Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 19/09/22 10:51 pm
Title: Chapter 1

So is there more to this? All I can find is Wild Horses which is the prequel to this? What happens next? Oh, please add more. I need more.

Reviewer: Jameason Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 23/10/20 03:14 am
Title: Chapter 1

whoa dark much Mirage? Im gonna read this one again a couple of times and I think I'm reading out of order. Is this a series or a sequel? This is Lyle and as with any person who was a child in the grips of the Centre this iis too plausible . The details the way you describe everything makes it even more terrifying and creepy. Youre a totally versatile way talented author.

Reviewer: Jeremy Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 02/05/20 04:45 am
Title: Chapter 1

Another dark story from Mirage. I still enjoy Wild Horses....I lost my breath when I learned it was Lyle kissing Jarod but in the context it's plausible because those two have danced around slash for a while and seemed like they were flirting more than fighting at times lol.

This one is even darker. You're a brave one, exploring the depths this way and what you came back with and shared with us is pretty freaking awesome Mirage. It's for sure a missing piece and you presented it like no other can. I want to read the rest. You always keep me coming back and you finish what you start. Thank you.

Reviewer: Angela Penn Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 16/04/19 08:14 pm
Title: Chapter 1

So dark and so perfect. I just want more. Please continue installments and give us all the missing pieces.

Reviewer: Jen Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 15/03/19 05:57 pm
Title: Chapter 1

I missed this one somehow? Don't even know how that is possible because I'm a devout follower of all things Mirage.? So this was one of the first stories you wrote and we're only just now reading it now why again? What else are you hiding? Why are you hiding these pieces from us? It's dark yes but it's brilliant and canon and plausible. I'd love more. As always brilliant Mirage.

Reviewer: needlepoint Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 09/03/19 10:10 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Ooooh. So so very very dark. I was delaying reading Forces of Nature and Circles of Hell.. I hear there's rape and affairs and gaslighting oh my. Those aren't marked "nonconsensual sex" and I like that because rape is rape. I don't like the descriptive words nonconsensual sex. I also heard there was some mention of a same sex partnership involving Parker that was mentioned and I'm intrigued but still putting it off for a while. This was the perfect darkness including Lyle who is dark. I am curious how you'd write Jarod dark. I might not put it off. Jarod has always seemed so dark to me and got darker still through the series. Exquisite Mirage. I'm grateful for the recommendation the coworker gave me.

Reviewer: Jia Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 07/03/19 11:41 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Dark. So so dark and canon. Can I say how spot on perfect the characters are all written and fleshed out? You are the master. Your original characters fit with the ones we know. They are well developed and real enough to touch.

I had a shiver of excitement when Jarod entered and quickly subdued Lyle and resuscitated Miss Parker. Jarod vomiting and losing time was a stroke of genius. I think Jarod would be physically ill after seeing Sydney dead and after seeing what Lyle did to those woman. Jarod feels things deeply and takes this personal. He would blame himself for Sydney's death and everything that Lyle has done because he's the one that bought this Miss Parker's attention.

While you wrote this respectfully and we didn't "SEE" the rape you did something else that...wow. All I could say for half an hour was "Oh my god Oh my god."I still have chill bumps all over me. I haven't felt this emotionally upset by literature since reading Circles of Hell.

What you did began before Parker went back inside for the second woman. The way you talked about now and experiencing the future.. future "nows" and still having a foot in "then" you are saying it doesn't end really and rape isn't something people ever completely get over. There will always be the memory and no matter what the violation happened and nothing will change it. You said it all without saying the word rape. We know what happened without you describing it.

I was reminded of Circles Of Hell and Miss Parker trying to clean herself inside and outside. No one else writes about rape this way. No one else wants to tell the dirty truth. The truth is hard and sick. It can't be easy to write it.

You did that same thing again through Broots at the end, how a person would be changed forever after that. You make it so real and it's terrifying. It's amazing writing and it's disturbing because it's real.. it's so raw. It makes me worry about you. You go way deep... like you go to some other dimension.. a really dark and scary one. This is why you're my favorite author. So congrats on this and thank you for not writing rape like it's a little speed bump that can be forgiven. There's no driving on and forgetting. Thanks for giving us this haunting and scary missing piece of the Pretender puzzle.



Author's Response:
I feel compelled to explain myself. Dark is subjective. You see darkness. I see life.

When I first began writing years ago and realized I was writing I wanted to be the kind of person that writes only beauty, fluff (this is where people usually laugh) (and laugh and laugh) (and laugh some more) (take all the time you need).

And then I read the positively fugly (that isn't a typo) ficlets I'd written. I was horrified. I tried, after the fact, to put positive spins on them, however, it felt dishonest and forced (because it was both). I'm a realist. I can't be those people that believe life is fair and good and everyone has equal potential for success and happiness and that hard work pays off eventually and the world isn't as bad as people say - yes, it's easy to say those words while gazing out the window of my comfortable home at a flawless sky and drinking my comforting wine, but those words are not true for everyone. This world doesn't make sense and things fall apart. Hell, people fall apart.


Truth is hard- you're correct. Truth is often ugly and unfortunately not-so fleeting; it's enduring, often unchanging, eternal, but it's the truth. Nothing is easy to write. I like the part where the story is complete.

The Brootster in all of his infinitealthough no always evidentwisdom, is never exactly wrong. He's certainly not wrong in this ficlet. You're not wrong either; the horrific events that people survive can't be undone, they aren't forgotten, and cannot be changed (not without some epic brain frying drugs or a lobotomy). The phrase 'get over' is baffling. It seems more appropriate to refer to the aftermath of trauma as a process in which one finds a place to put all of the incomprehensible fuckery that is foisted upon them and continues, until death, routine maintenance to ensure the hinges and locks remain intact and engaged on that fuckery and that it stays where one puts it- but yes, you're correct that it doesn't vanish. The incomprehensible fuckery might escape, plot to leap when one least expects it, but it doesn't simply pack its bags and fly to Milan to retire. I'm in complete agreement with you.

Thank you for reading, The Miss Parker, and for the generous review and thoughts.


Reviewer: The Miss Parker Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 11/01/19 10:22 pm
Title: Chapter 1

I don't see my review or the review I left you when I noticed the review was missing. I'm gonna try that again if it's ok. I was wrong about you. Very wrong about you. You don't hate Jarod at all do you? I think you were keeping them in character and that does mean that Parker will cut him up from time to time. It took reading  your earlier work to completely understand and I know I don't know you and will still not completely understand but I'm glad I was wrong. You are perfect with twists and on the same level as Craig and Steve. I'm thankful you were asked to go back into the dark chamber for this earlier work. It's dark but it's in line with Lyle a predator that feasts on women and Parker promised Jarod she wouldn't let Lyle kill another woman. There's not much to say that hasn't been said. This is a solid chapter of Pretender caliber and a missing piece. You must continue this series and go into the details of how Parker copes and what role Jarod plays in that. I look forward to reading. You excel in all aspects but particularly in the aftermath of tradegy. Thank you for writing this and sharing your natural talents and skills with us. Ciao. Until next time.



Author's Response:

No, I don't hate Jarod. How can anyone hate Jarod? You heard what Broots said: Jarod attached raw meat to a clown/child-molester's (pardon the redundancy) microscropic dangly bits and locked the son of a bitch in a cage with a lion. A. fucking. lion. Confession: That. Is. My. Favorite. Thing. About. Jarod. Vengeance (justice) (more redundancy) is sexy as hell (is easily as sexy as intelligence). Jarod, on his own, thousands of miles from Miss Parker, is quite nice (yes, this is paragraph is rather conditional).

Brace yourself for the strangeness that is my mind: I like Sylvester the Cat (he's hella adorbs when the claws are retracted and he's asleep). I also like Tweety Bird. Sylvester, however, is a major bastard when he stumbles across Tweety.

And Jarod is a bastard, too, when he ambles along and rattles Parker's cage (like Sylvester, Jarod looked completely sweet & innocent when he was asleep) (and that was rather misleading).

I liked Jarod when he was terrorizing someone who wasn't named Miss Parker (it's not as if there was a shortage of rapists to feed to animals). Even when Parker suffered from Jarod's mm Jarodness, it wasn't so much that I disliked Jarod as that I was sympathetic to Parker, "Centre prisoner." Jarod seemed particularly duplicitous when he insisted Parker pursue answers while hanging on to her mother's diary filled, presumably, withwait for itanswers and then he turned her pursuit into a competetion "first one wins" and then a deadly competetion "first one lives", and, assuming he had the answers (diary), he'd already won, was free; she wasn't. He could have given her the diary and she might have finally unlocked the secret of leaving the Centre alive, however, in doing so he would have forfeited his own search for truth and lost an ally/someone who wouldn't imprison/shoot him (he knew she wouldn't do either of those things because that would have been the equivlant of defying Catherine). It's possible that I spend more time explaining how I don't hate Jarod than I do writing. Thank you for reading and reviewing. You're rather generous.




Reviewer: Michael Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 02/01/19 09:56 pm
Title: Chapter 1

so ok I love this and I really love your writing style. You didn't write this too graphically but mostly gave us Lyle's perspective which is scary as hell and I've read some of your stories but they are lighter than this and I don't know how you can write both the light and slightly sweet and then go and write something so dark ... and I guess you wrote the darker stories first and then the lighter??... but it's so well written and you wrote it respectfully. I'm relieved that Parker is alive. Congrats! I want more!!



Author's Response:

Thank you for reading and reviewing, MandyR lovesJarod.

Reviewer: MandyR lovesJarod Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 01/01/19 10:58 pm
Title: Chapter 1

So Christmasy Mirage lol. This isn't what I expected but should have been because when you wrote a Centre xmas story for us it ended with Parker filling Raines with lead. I should have expected this. It's amazing and you know I love the dark honey and so this was like the second thing you wrote after watching our beloved tv series?? It's freaking amazing like everything you write and in character. You do Lyle as well as you do Jarod and Miss Parker and the last two are really hard characters to get just right. Lyle seems easier and you nailed him too. I can see Parker cutting herself loose, trying to get free and that makes so much sense. She would never just give up. And Lyle doing that... I can totally see it happening. It's like a lost episode and a much needed one.

I have ?s. Lyle isn't in jail later on in Wild Horses and Jarod has to go back so.. please fill in the missing pieces for us. I know you have them in your Mirarchives so get them and post them. Please??! Sugar and cherries on top? Whipped cream on top? Ok... this is beginning to sound dirty. Just give us more. Hope the Holidays were nice for you.

Please update this. We need more.

Reviewer: TheDarkAngel Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 28/12/18 09:36 pm
Title: Chapter 1

OOoh so dark. I love how you summon the dark so easily and make it so intriguing. I've always been afraid for MP where Lyle is concerned. He tried to kill her at least once before with a bomb so I can easily see this happening. Very dark and frightening. I'm glad Jarod saved her. And usually with you she either saves herself or needs saving FROM Jarod so... um. yeah. Perfect piece here. Adding to favorites and can't give it nothing but a 10.

Reviewer: Archange Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 27/12/18 10:14 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Dark + Lyle =extra dark. Parker adds a deadly combination and she did promise she'd keep an eye on Lyle's homicidal exploits! You follow along with canon and give us the what ifs? that I never even considered. So plausible. You always deliver for us and I'm so thankful. Happy hols!!

Reviewer: Gunner Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 26/12/18 11:33 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Congrats! Love how Parker tried to cut herself loose... never seen that done before and it's something she'd do...keep fighting always and never giving up and then Jarod questioning himself. Those two are so strong and you capture that and their characters. But ... Sydney. I know how much you love Syd but he's not innocent and sometimes seems evil. More of this. Love the dark.

Reviewer: Melinda Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 26/12/18 06:20 pm
Title: Chapter 1

More please!

Reviewer: Robert Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 25/12/18 11:52 pm
Title: Chapter 1

So you wrote darker stuff first but then shared the lighter stuff first. You are an enigma. The Pretender is unique in that it was often dark and occassionaly cheesy. kidnrapping is dark stuff. Catherine raped to have Ethan is dark. Catherines supposed suicide is dark. Catherine murdered by Raines dark. It's all dark.

THIS is plausible really realistic. As Parker began to lose it and die she couldn't think straight at all and that happens. She died probably thinking that Lyle raped her but he didn't but if she lives she will still probably be confused.

I love how you explored what we know about Lyle and what we know about Parker and Jarod. She promised Jarod she'd keep an eye on Lyle and she did and she nearly died because of it.

You know in television and movies that the heroine always saves herself or is saved or always takes out the bad guy and you kept it real. Parker dies. Jarod has to bring her back. This happens. Sometimes good loses and bad wins.

I love this. Not because of the dark but because it's in keeping with the show and plausible and well written. I don't always like what you write but I always love the way you write. Your style is so clean and professional. More. I need to know what happens next and how we go from here to Wild horses. What happens between? Please? Sugar on top? Cherry on top? Please? Happy Holidays Mirage!

Reviewer: Christoph Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 24/12/18 01:52 am
Title: Chapter 1

More of this please. It's so dark just like the Pretender tv series was and it's good to see Lyle in all his pychopathic glory. I love how Jarod finally comes around to helping Lyle who is also like Kyle and Ethan. They are all similar even Jarod. Continue this exploration please. I want to read all of this completed soon.

Reviewer: Ellen B. Anonymous starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 23/12/18 05:51 pm
Title: Chapter 1

Dark chamber is dead on right girl. Dammmmnn. It is written brilliantly like everything you write and plausible as always and although it is dark and I don't usually go for the dark I love it. The quality of writing and level of professional, your craft, the wordsmith-manship ... all of it. I love it.               You've been holding back all of this and hoarding it away in your Mirarchives but I need more. We don't really see Miss Parker in Wild Horses either but you sort of wrote as if she's still alive. You don't tell us about quality of life. I knew when I read Wild Horses something was different like the whole feel had changed to the way future and I like that would be perfect to film and then with flashbacks to this sequel or just mention of what happened. But Parker is alive and she wasn't raped and she will be okay eventually. I totally love that you continue Craig and Steve's style of showing us this through Broots' eyes and he's right. Nothing will be the same. Witnessing that would change anyone... and Sydney!! I can't believe it. I know you love him and I can see why you held back not sharing the major darkness so early in your sharing. You wrote it out and put it away. I can see that. It makes sense. I love Jarod's struggle with this... wanting to kill Lyle but needing to save Miss Parker. I still want Lyle to die. I wait eagerly for your next installments. I do ask that when it's all shared with us that you put in series format. Thanks for sharing with us. Happy Holidays and yule.

Reviewer: Chloe Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: 22/12/18 11:07 pm
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