Stellar

I did leave it there.

When your senses are pushing the physical world into your brain, it's those first seconds of consciousness that are the worst. To say that I was not a morning person was putting it mildly. The cheery bouncy happy demeanour that other people seemed capable of mustering so early in the day was a categorical lie, as far as I was concerned. Certainly since becoming a teenager, I had garnered a substantial amount of hatred towards anyone that tried to wake me before the sun was well up in the sky.

Thanks Cia. Here's a repost of my reply to Yettie One's review: Mira is very uncomplicated, and it seems that people like him just as much as they do Shay, if not more! I love all the cast for different reasons, but he has become my undisputed favourite, though I am more than slightly biased in this Re: the speed by which the apocalypse can occur: do not underestimate how devastating a fast-moving disease can be to a well-populated, industrialised planetary society. A virus with no cure and early symptoms that mimic the common cold can spread awfully quickly; consider also that sharpelings are actively assisting the spread and as more are created, more infections would occur. Once it reaches any large city, it's going to snowball. You've since read up to chapter 7 at this point and do know the full date. While the timeline may have moved on a good while further, the original duration between the outbreak of the Sharpe virus and the collapse of Lucere's government was less than 4 months. It could potentially have even been quicker than that too.

León, Sofia and Carlos are definitely not finished, not hardly The background info is really just the tip of a sizeable iceberg, and meeting Konstantin sorta opens the door to learning for Shay to learn so much more about everything

That's a good defence! I use it in real life all the time; conversely my memory for fictional characters is far more impressive. Yep, a brain that cares more about Imagination-Land than Real-World .. that's me! Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. The 'TV series or movie' analogy has been used before to describe my writing, so there must be something to it. I think in part because though it's constructed as a book format, in my mind, I often feel I am writing a screenplay for a TV serial, both in terms of how the 'camera', the eye of perspective, shifts (even if it is first person) all the way through to dialogue and dramatic moments. It's not even an intentional thing really, I guess I just consider it how I best interpret my creative energy. Noted, traditionally I have been a third-person writer, so this does feel like more of a challenge to do in first POV. Thank you much! More is under production.

Wow, thanks for the reviews on all 7 chapters So I'll reply to all in this one instead of individually Mira! Several readers do seem attached to him and as I've noted elsewhere, it pleases me a lot because of my own attachment. Interestingly, I wouldn't be concerned about having a killing machine attracted to me either, but I have a macabre fascination with beautiful and deadly things. I'm guilty of having a very graphic imagination when it comes to the particulars of physical conflict, so my mental imagery of Leon's death was *very* detailed. Messy is a good description, and it isn't be the last time they end up in that kind of struggle. So whether or not he gets tortured mercilessly .. I'm really not going to say Just that the road will definitely NOT be easy. On the question of sexual content, most opinions are trending toward the 'less is more' philosophy for Hidden Sunlight. It's good to know readers think this way, since it largely matches my intended arc regarding how Shay and Mira's relationship develop. There is a sexual attraction there, but the core of their emotional connection is what has far more significance towards how things will end up and I think I want to highlight that. Anyhow, thanks again Nephylim for taking the time to comment on every chapter Appreciated.

Good questions, all of those! Why indeed did he stay in stasis so long without being ejected by the failsafe? Why did he emerge when he did? How did he stay alive for so long anyways? You're not the only one who thinks there is a big conspiracy going on. IS THERE?! Well ... Thanks very much for your comments I'm really happy you're so absorbed in my writing.

Actually, the thing with Carlos was quite deliberate. He was the plausible alternative, though it was never going to go that way. As to the future .. now that would be telling. Thank you. You are coming down where the majority of people have and it reinforces my approach to how I deal with the sexual content of the story. Don't worry, that group does indeed become a part of the narrative.

you're welcome, thanks for reading You bring up valid questions regarding Mira; certainly one wonders how much of his ability is due to his animalistic prior form or to some kind of training. Bear in mind, he is physically around the same age as Shay, perhaps slightly older.

That was the intention. There is more where that came from too! I feel compelled here to note: it's Mira not Miro .. someone else was spelling it that way as well, I have no idea why. Maybe it's from a phonetic pronunciation or something He is, however, a very unique character, with a lot going on inside him.

there is more detail on his condition in chapter 7, so if it was at all obscure in the brief description you see in the first chapter, more comes later. The fact you do not see them signing paperwork is because it has no significance to the plot; it happens 'off-camera' so to speak

The 3rd person is intoxicating. It's so much easier for me to write than Shay! Weird? Depends on where an author's strength lies, I suppose. You ask some vital questions. Indeed how *did* he survive? Was it really something man-made or just a gigantic slice of revenge from Mother Nature? Most of all, don't you wonder why Earth hasn't come calling in the last 214 years? Makes you think, doesn't it?

Thank you I'm not going to say anything about that sharpeling, I'll just leave people guessing. The date was a major revelation, but dare I say it .. it's not the biggest one in the story, not even close!

Thank you! There is some non-verbal communication going on there, so it's not without some understanding. You are correct though, not being able to directly talk is limiting.

Thank you! I'm excited to be done with peer review You know, it *was* unintentional but the first time I had Konstantin address him that way, I heard him say it just like Smith, only with a heavy Russian accent. The mind's eye still draws a pair of sunglasses on his face every time I do it.

thank you!

There are many times in your life when you might have good cause to question your sanity. Up until that moment there had been a number of occasions, for me, that had reached the very borderline stage where that same burning question always presented itself. The question that would thrust the issue into my conscious mind whether I desired to answer it or not. The question that I had managed to successfully marginalise and minimise time and again, never allowing it far enough to give any real cred

Hey Karcist, thanks for checking it out. Glad you found it to your liking. Your comment about the lack of scifi with plausible gay characterisation is interesting (and I think true, to a large degree). I know the tags for the story description include 'gay' and the genre says 'Romance' (amongst other things) .. but honestly? I don't really think of my protagonist and his partner-in-crime as having a very developed sense of sexual identity. It's all sort of .. incidental and not really front-and-centre to their lives, though naturally falling in love with someone of the same gender does tend to make one question quite a few things that were previously just assumed. But I do know what you mean. There needs to be more quality writing in the genre. Here's hoping. Anyhow, Chapter 7 is under construction, though I couldn't give you a timeframe on when it would be done.

Awww .. I'm sorry to leave you hanging haha

Thank you. I doubt it would come to more than a couple of scenes. The rest would just be the kind of touching you would expect from two amorous teenagers awakening to things for the first time. Intimate, but not really gratuitous.

Haha! I couldn't resist. Naughty or nice, naughty or nice ... Naught ended up winning. The beginning of Chapter 7 however should see that question answered, definitively.

Thanks for the heads up. In the process of fixing that now, should hopefully be sorted soon. The best praise for me from anyone is that my characterisation is believable, that they actually seem like real people. If I've achieved that, then I feel very happy with what I've done, since the rest of it feels simple by comparison. Ah, Carlos. Makes you wonder about everyone's motives, huh?

Thank you Your comment represents the other end of the spectrum in my mind and is a good cause for indecision. Certainly is making me think.

I sure did! Bastard Mode Activated! There were a couple of possible ways to end Chapter 6 and ultimately I decided on a cliffhanger-type finish. Originally, it was going to be the date at the end of 6, but then I got cruel and shifted it to the start of 7 instead. Me too, graphic depictions can be somewhat offputting.

Thanks for posting! Agreed, Nifty is definitely the first stopping point for that kind of thing. I guess I'm just not totally sold on how much I want to portray, at least not yet.