Thirdly

Yeah I figured he wasn't even around then. The irony kills me.

Ironically, I felt there's a touch of Tom Holland in there, ha ha (but then again it could just be his youthfulness and my mind drawing comparisons). But, in the scene (and it's my favorite scene of the whole story) where Peter trusts Wade enough to reveal himself, my thoughts were aligned with Wade's..."beautiful" was right. On that subject, that rooftop scene couldn't have been more perfect. We saw how much Peter trusted Wade, enough to have a few drinks...enough to spar with him...enough to tell him his real name. Not to mention the bold kiss. Full marks for that, Pete. Full marks.

Yes, well I think it worked beautifully. I absolutely adore your version.

I loved the story from start to finish, along with how it somehow read like a real comic issue. Not a single chapter was boring, and everything flowed well. I enjoyed the progression. The action, the bantering, the build-up, the drama, the plot, and even the smut was all well-written. Nothing felt rushed or slow. I'm not normally a fan of stories written in present tense. But , if you're the same way, I ask that you please overlook it. Why? Well, present tense is actually quite fitting for a story that has the flow of a comic book issue. The flow and direction which with this author writes will not lead you astray. This author's a storyteller through and through. It was a very rewarding read!

*gushing tears* I had no idea what I had gotten into when I started reading this. But, before I realized it, I just had to see it through to the end. The Deadpool aspects of it were spot-on, down to the ‘breaking the fourth wall.’ Logan and Domino were also pretty spot-on. I found that I very much enjoyed your rendition of Spidey. My mind couldn’t quite decide which particular Spidey was his original influence, but it never really mattered. Loved the story from start to finish, along with how it somehow read like a real comic issue. Not a single chapter was boring, and everything flowed well. I enjoyed their progression. The action, the bantering, the build-up, the drama, the plot, and even the smut was all well-written. Nothing felt rushed or slow. Will probably revisit this for a second read at some point.Thanks for sharing!

On the flip side of this, as a reader, I am glad whenever my comments are able to express even the tiniest bit of how much I enjoy a story. I try my best to leave a more comprehensive review at the end of what I enjoyed the most or what affected me the most (...however, I'm well aware that I fail at this sometimes and end up babbling incoherently about my reactions as I was reading).

The best laid plans often go awry...?

Ha. I blindly opened up all my notifications in separate tabs and when I got to the Kabal update I was like "what's this?" and then I noticed it said chapter 5 and freaked out over the new chapter. If confusion always ended up in good surprises, I wouldn't mind being confused all the time. Now then, to the actual chapter! Diarmad despised hearing the name ‘Nico’; it felt wrong. - Sure it isn't just misplaced anger, Di? I mean, it doesn't matter what he's called. You have him right there, right? In your house. In your life. H. Never accept no. I. If necessary, play dirty. - Yessssss, Nico. That's what I'm talking about!! Take no prisoners! ...every part of him a tempting sin. Damn him./He had a piercing--a Goddamn Prince Albert. Diarmad moaned and almost smacked his head on the table. - *dying of laughter* It's coming for you, Di. It's coming for your goodies. You better sleep with your eyes open every night. Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the kitchen. - Dagnabbit, Di! Stop running away!! "Oh? Do tell." - LMAO! I adore Ivan. A repetition of what happened must be avoided; I have to keep my distance from him from now on. - Nooooooooooooooooo, dagnabbit, Di. I wish your master would look at me like that." Henry wagged his tail./ "And wag his tail?" - Yes, pretty much. How could he suddenly know Sho was Ivan's mate? His Gran had been in the Order; they recognized human mates and introduced them to their Seraei partner. Could it be that simple? - Woo! OMG! This must happen! Nico, you better call Sho up! Get his bum over there! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~ Later that night, Nico called Sho and told him the king had suggested he needed some more sword training. - Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Hmm. Well, all comments are gold to me. But, let me find a few memorable ones. To be fair, I won't choose any on collaborations since those comments count for two. He's a Bastard: Shout out to @RolandQ, who gave me the very first comment on the first original story I jotted down. The comment was very, very encouraging. My many thanks. Tuesday Staff Meetings: It was surprising to me how many readers and fellow authors enjoyed this one. @Timothy M. @droughtquake @BlindAmbition and, certainly never least, @Puppilull were all wonderfully encouraging (I also view them all as mentors since they're all awesome and then some), as well as everyone else who left their thoughts and comments. @Hellsheild wrote the most hilarious comment at the end that I still enjoy to this day. My Faceless Bus Stalker Alpha (why are my story titles always so weird?): By this point I pretty much kidnapped @Hellsheild and poked at the previously mentioned mentors about miscellaneous opinions and tips. @Wesley8890 @Starrynight22 @Geemeedee @chris191070 @mikedup @JeffreyL @Brokenbind and others are the reason I try my best with each and every chapter. Wesley's reactions are my life. LMAO.

Nico: Ah, Diarmad, mi amor...I know where you sleep at night. When you least expect it I will tie you up and flog you with a horse crop for being such a stubborn stallion. Something like that! (I'm totally joking)

One hour turned to four somehow. Now, where was I? Right! Nico was learning about Henry. ...my heart had never been free for him, as it always belonged to Diarmad, whom I still loved, even if I didn't see it at the time. - Tell it like it is, Kris. He arrogantly assumed I’d drop everything as soon as I learned the truth. - Uh, Nico buddy, Diarmad stepped aside for you...you'll hopefully find out later. “What? Are you implying I should use my abilities for my own personal gain, against the law, without a court order, on the king, my mate no less?” - YES. For the love of God, yes. If only! That is why I’m wearing this necklace, which activates when I read someone. I would never do that! - It's called you hide the necklace, get a peek, and then put it back on. "So you think he still... cares for me?" - Dagnabbit, Nico...you saw the piano. All I'm saying is this will be hard work, and I need you to know that and not chicken out when it gets ugly, and believe me, it will. - Tell it like it is, Ivan. Okay, I'm going upstairs. - Like hell you are, get your butt back down there Diarmad. "You'll bring him his lunch." "He won't like it." "Tough." - LMAO! Best part ever. And now I'm wondering what the "big guns" are. Honestly, Nico, just wear your swimming trunks and sit on his desk with a rose between your teeth.

Strangely, the dog looked as if it understood everything. - LMAO! First cleaning, then to a veterinarian, then feed it. When it…’ and here he turned the poor dog on its back to check out its gender, ’when he is presentable and free of fleas and other vermin, he will be called Henry and guard the house. - LMAO!! He asked me not to lose hope and mused that some people simply needed to meet twice to understand they were meant to be together. - Actually, that kind of thing really happened with my cousin and her husband. They were high school sweethearts and he ended up having a tryst with an older woman for a while, had a kid with said woman, but eventually came back to my cousin and they've been married for over 20 years now and have a kid of their own together. Uh-oh! I have to clock out at work. I'll continue with reading and the rest of my review in about an hour!

Somehow Nico was relieved that he had been given a short reprieve before he had to encounter his mate. - All the while we're just waiting anxiously as the readers. As if that hadn’t been enough, he played one of Noël‘s favorite pieces. He almost stormed out the minute he recognized the song. - Agony, misery, though it's different for each~ Always ten steps behind, always ten steps below ~ And she's HE'S just out of reach! ~ For a moment, he saw such longing in the midnight blue eyes it made his heart stop, then it was gone and he was sure he had only imagined it. - Dagnabbit, Nico. You weren't imagining things and you know it!

"There is only one telepath known who could do that, and I have the feeling that at least some of them are very glad he is currently in Japan, separated from his mate, and therefore not available." He grinned wickedly. "Nobody knows yet that you're back; it will be a pleasant surprise for some of them." - Woo!

*stretches and gets comfortable* Ok, let's do this! Simon rolled his eyes. "Of course. I checked the dates as well as the passenger list.""How did you get your hands on the… Never mind, there he is!" - It's his precious brother, of course he would somehow get his hands on the whole passenger list! Night Noël err... Nico- Yep, that's gonna be me the whole story long if Noel insists on answering to Nico from now on. I came back to warn you, to help. - Yay!

*in a deep announcer's voice* You've read The Holly and the Ivy. You've lived the highs and lows; the suspense and drama of the first installment of The King's Mate series. Now, join Noël and Diarmad as they face more political and physical dangers. Could someone be orchestrating Diarmad's demise in the shadows? Dive into Caesura and find out!

Whew. Ok, I had to go back to see where I last left off. I've been seeing the updates, but I've been so swamped with homework and other things and thought "nope, I'm gonna get sucked into reading again and this deadline's in a few minutes" So, it's not that I've been ignoring the updates, but that I had to DENY myself the enjoyment of reading. Let's see, last I left off reading, Noel and Kris spent a lifetime together pretty much and Kris died of natural causes. He and Landyn had changed their appearances so many times in the last years he couldn't remember his natural hair color anymore. Landyn always recommended looking at his carpet; it was still his natural blond. - LMAO. It's tough living for so long. Simon gave him a once over and then stated casually, "You look like shit." "Simon!" Landyn put his mug on the coffee table with a clang. - Best. Part. Ever. All I'm saying is that maybe they weren't ready when fate hit them. - *grumbling like a spoiled little kid* Yeah, yeah. I GUESS I should be more patient about it. "Don't forget there are still people out there who want to murder our King and usurp control. It might be better if we had a functioning relationship between our King and his mate." - *waves frantically toward him* What Simon said! I'm with Simon! Well, this second installment was a huge and unexpected rollercoaster of angst, drama, and deceit. Can't wait to start part 3! *shuffles over to Kabal*

Well, to be honest, the most damaging to me were the manipulations of twisted folk...far beyond reading adult themed books. I do agree with what you're saying, though.

Actually, there isn't anything I really dislike about your work, even when I'm freaking out over the characters. I grew up on Latin soap operas and live for drama, angst, and romance.

You're like the reigning ruler of drawing out reactions. I'm going to try my best to say something more technical about your writing style and flow in my next comment or something.

Well, when I was a kid, I loved to read anything and I was given all kinds of books by others to read. So, I'd skip all the lovemaking scenes in romance novels because I didn't understand much of what they were doing. There was one book from a series that my older cousin was reading and she let me borrow that traumatized me a bit...something about a young pregnant woman whose caretaker or aunt or something drugged her whenever she was about to give birth so that she could kill and bury the babies...she did manage to escape that house and live on her own, protecting her unborn kid, but still. Freaked me out at the time. Now as an adult I kind of want to find that book again to figure out just who the heck kept getting her pregnant in the first place.

Yeah, I have no idea. I read a story to the end even if I find it boring halfway through and then babble about all the things I liked at the end. There isn't a story I haven't commented at least once in. I even try to comment to every single chapter as I read and jot down my reactions. Sometimes I'm so riveted to click to the next chapter that I end up delayed in my comments, but I never NOT comment at some point. The newer generations that grew up on Facebook and shifted to Instagram, where "likes" were faster and easier than comments, especially on mobile devices. They've become too frustrated to try to type on such a tiny screen with their thumbs unless something really speaks to them because of the way that the sites changed to add that "like" feature. Even on mobile devices, I leave comments because I have fairly thin fingers and very little problem with tiny keyboards.

8 grown women went to Disney's Animal Kingdom and acted like kids all day (even eating ice cream). It was the best! 🤣

Yes, it’s awful that Morgan got caught up in it. LMAO! Asshur.

You’ve already caught up by the time I saw this comment, but I’m very glad you’ve enjoyed what you read so far!