#in my next project i wanna work with blue light and yellow shadows because i almost always have the reverse w/ warm light cold shadows

[lucidowl]

Actually I should make really stupid art-related posts for fun. Purple multiply layer is for FOOLS and IDIOT CHARLATANS. If someone doesn't profess to hauve covid in your notes is it even worth it. Hey guys HOW DOES COLOR THEORY WORK 😱

[multisfabulis]

Land’s Trust in Light

Arrival in Thornewind (Chapter 1/6)

Word Count: 4090

Oh, look, a new Corona's Shadow entry that doesn't feature Verreth? That's possible?!

I kid but it honestly feels good to not be writing Verreth for CS for a little bit. CS was never meant to be a Verreth love story, it only ended up like that because I went straight into writing "The Road to Forgiveness Be Damned" after finishing "A Single Ray of Light in a Sea of Darkness" because I simply wanted to write more Ven and I started to regret my decision around the time I wrote the rough version of the third chapter. Obviously, I stuck with that decision to the end but it was throughout that time I had wants to write Verreth and I wrote those as well. However, all the Verreth segments are what I consider to be side stories, which I know may be hard to believe but trust me, because Ven and Ferreth are not the main protagonists of CS. Eric, if anyone remembers him, is. The Verreth segments were only added to the CS series because I didn't want to make a whole new series entirely focused on Verreth and take them out of something they are main characters of.

Does this mean I'm done writing Verreth? For now, yes. Outside of occasional updates to "Only Through Acceptance Will Love Find Us", I wanna focus on both this and other smaller projects, like RLD and fanfics. Just in case anyone's lost hope, the next big project is Verreth-related, with Ferreth taking the protag role a la TRFBD. Let's just say we're finally getting a look at his backstory and a reason as to why he has self-worth issues.

God, it feels great to be writing in Eric's POV again. It's been over 2 years since I finished ASRLSD so I am making the most of this!

Surprisingly enough, there wasn't much change during the transition from rough draft to publication, which actually made this harder to write. I'm so used to there being at least one major change that I got tripped up by this. The only major change here is the addition of descriptors and needed elaboration and those, I feel like, are key to "beautifying" writing so I don't count those.

One last thing is the "flirting" present in here. I honestly don't know if that can be considered flirting because I'm not someone who flirts or is flirted with on a daily basis. I'm pretty much the dense harem anime protagonist so please forgive me for the terrible flirting.

Read on AO3 | Read on DA | Support me on Ko-fi!

     Thornewind was gorgeous. Sure, Eric was looking at it from a distance atop Asha, but it made one hell of a good first impression. Thornewind seemed colorful and vibrant and he wanted to explore every last inch of it. He gently kicked Asha’s side and she began walking at a slow, leisurely pace.

     Thornewind was a town nestled in the mountains north of Aurora Zenith. The tiny glimpse he saw of it left him awestruck, from its tall, rich buildings packed closely together to its bright windmills scattered across its many open fields. Then there was the sight that awaited him over the ridge, stealing his breath away.

     There were tulips that stretched as far as the eye could see. A sea of blue, red, orange, pink, and yellow blossoms swayed in the summery breeze. It was strange how all these tulips were in bloom when Augvesta had just rolled around but he didn’t put much thought into it. Botany was more of Ven’s expertise and she would be positively thrilled upon seeing this.

     It was soon after crossing the garden he arrived at the entrance. It surprised him to see how lax security was if they let a complete stranger in without so much as a request for papers. He didn’t mind it, though; it just struck him as odd since no one was allowed entry if they weren’t deemed trustworthy back in his childhood home. He and Asha passed through the threshold and was rendered speechless.

     Towering brick buildings loomed over him while a rainbow of others stood further ahead of him. Paths of smooth stone ran in every direction, the opposite of Aurora Zenith’s dirt roads that swept up dust with enough energy behind it. He could hear the tinkling of wind chimes and the fervor of voices all around him. Thornewind certainly had Brinegarde beat in its lively atmosphere.

     He hopped off Asha, making sure to keep the reins in a firm grip. Her deep brown eyes met his as he slowly put a hand on her face and stroked. She didn’t flinch, which was a good sign of progress.

     “You’re such a good girl, Asha,” he murmured, moving his hand down to stroke her neck. “Let’s find a place for you to rest, hmm?”

     It didn’t take long to find a stable. He led her into one of the empty stalls and fed her a couple sugar cubes as a reward for all the hard work she’d done over the past two weeks. The last thing he did was tell the stableman how to care for her during her stay and that he’d be checking up on her daily. Waving goodbye to Asha, it was time to explore Thornewind.

     With it being mid-afternoon, it was pleasantly warm as people crowded the streets on their day-to-day routine. The sound of the wind chimes grew louder and the scent of delicious meals made his mouth water in anticipation. Thank god his anxiety wasn’t ruining this for him. He could hardly contain the bounce in his step as he excitedly toured around the busy thoroughfares. It was rare for him to see and visit new places so he wanted to make the most of this trip.

     There were two things he noticed. First was that most of the people he saw weren’t humans nor were they elves. Their ears were similar to Ven’s and they had what seemed to be like fangs sticking out from their upper lips. What really threw him off, though, were their sizes. Many of them were easily a foot or so taller than him just from a distance and were definitely well-built. Whatever these people were, they’ve caught his eye and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enticed.

     Then there were the stares. He initially thought they were wondering what a human was doing here till he realized it was what he wore. It wasn’t like he was wearing an extravagant suit but he still clearly looked like a noble, or so he assumed. He wasn’t trying to show people up. He was just taught to always dress his best for important events and he considered his reason for being here to be one such.

     Now came the realization he was lost. He had become so engrossed in his surroundings, an hour flew by without him noticing. He needed to find the lord of this town and talk with them about the relationship between them and Aurora Zenith. Allies were essential in political affairs, after all. The bad part was, he had no idea on where to start looking.

     Well, as much as he hated to, he had to ask someone for directions. It couldn’t be that hard, right? All he’d have to do is go up to a random person, ask them on how to get to the lord’s house, and that’d be it. Simple and easy!

     He felt a hand touch his shoulder and heard a voice ask, “Hey, are you okay?”

     He let out a startled shriek and turned to face the stranger. There was a man in front of him with his hands up in a conciliatory manner towards him. One of the first things he noticed was just how big he was.

     He’d never seen anyone taller than Alek before and it honestly unnerved him. The man had the same pointed ears and fangs as everyone else so he must’ve been one of the not-human, not-elf people. He had dark brown skin, messy brown hair with a small braid that reached his shoulders, and bright green eyes. What was really peculiar about him were the bandages starting from the middle of his arms and ending all the way down to his fingertips. He was definitely hiding something underneath those but Eric could care less about what right now.

     “Hey, hey, hey, calm down, okay?” the man said in a soothing tone. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

     “I would hope not!” Eric breathed in, placed a hand on his chest, and breathed out. “It’s not every day some random stranger walks up, claps a hand on my shoulder, and asks if I’m okay right in my ear.”

     “Well, you seemed troubled so I thought you might’ve needed help,” the man replied, putting his hands down.

     Feeling rather embarrassed with himself for that pathetic display, he cleared his throat and asked, “As a matter of fact, I do. Could you please tell me where the lord of this town is, I need to speak with them right away.”

     “You wanna talk to Bris?”

     “If that’s their name, then yes. I have some important business to discuss with them.”

     “He’s not far from here, I can take you to him if you want.”

     That would probably be the best course of action. He was never good at memorizing directions and reciting them to himself only confused him more. He had no one to blame but himself for being in this situation to begin with so…

     “Sure, that’d be great,” Eric conceded. At least this guy was kind and generous enough to show him the way there.

     “All right, let’s make our way over there.” The two men began walking down a street that wasn’t as busy as before. “By the way, my name’s Ferreth.”

     “I’m Eric, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, flashing him a friendly smile.

     “So what brings someone like you to our fair town of Thornewind?” Ferreth asked. “I thought I’d recognized all our visitors since those don’t come by very often.”

     “It’s as I said. I’ve traveled a long way to see Bris in the hopes of discussing important business with him.”

     “What kind of business? Are you an important person?”

     “I’d say being lord counts as pretty important. I’ve come all the way from Aurora Zenith to see if our two towns could potentially become allies.”

     “Oh, wow. I, uh, didn’t think someone as cute as you could be lord.”

     He tilted his head in both curiosity and confusion. “I don’t see what my appearance has to do with anything but I can assure you I wasn’t lying.”

     “I didn’t think you were. I just wasn’t expecting a man in your position to be so…good-looking.”

     “So what were you expecting?”

     “You know, somebody the complete opposite. I mean, I’m figuring you’re, like, smart, charismatic, kind, and everything else Bris is like.”

     Ah, that’s what was happening here. He had an inkling of it the first time Ferreth mentioned his appearance but now he was sure. Alek had never done it with him and there wasn’t really a need for him to. As flattered as he was by it, his heart was and always will be Alek’s.

     Chuckling, he said, “Well, I think my boyfriend would agree with you on some of those things but I’m more modest about them.”

     “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Ferreth had a defeated smile on his face, gracefully accepting his loss. Eric liked how easygoing he was.

     “So what’s your relationship with Bris like?” he asked.

     “Oh, me and him are best friends. We’ve known each other since childhood but I’d say we’re more like brothers than friends by this point.”

     “Sounds like you get along with him really well.”

     “Don’t get me wrong, Bris and I have had our fair share of arguments but what friendship hasn’t? We have each others’ backs and no fight’s ever gonna change that.”

     Ferreth had a certain fondness in his voice when he spoke about Bris. It was easy to see the love and devotion he held for Bris and it warmed Eric’s heart. He was admittedly envious of their friendship. He never had any friends as a child aside from Alek and, while Alek’s irreplaceable, he wished he was able to make some back then. At least that seemed to be changing with him befriending Ven during his trip to Brinegarde so maybe he still had a chance to form everlasting relationships.

     “Here we are!”

     The two stopped before a giant windmill. Dark red brick made up the exterior and the blades turned gently in the breeze, creaking ever so slightly. There were hardly any windows aside from the two in front and there was a wraparound balcony set up just below the wooden roof. Eric didn’t know windmills could be habitable, which made him want to live here if only a little.

     “Wow…”

     “Let’s go on up, shall we?”

     They climbed up the stone steps leading to the front door. It was a tall, dark wooden door stretching up towards the wraparound balcony, with a black, wrought iron ring on the side as its knocker. Before he could think of a script in his head, Ferreth grabbed the ring and hit it against the door a few times.

     Almost immediately after, a woman answered. She wasn’t much taller than him, though he figured the top of his head would be just scraping her chin, and the slim blue dress she wore did little to hide her defined muscles. She had porcelain skin, long, wavy rose pink hair flowing down to her waist, and sandy brown eyes, reminding him of the shores of Aurora Zenith’s beaches. She was stunningly beautiful and his throat felt suddenly dry.

     “Ah, Ferreth, are you here to see Master Brirsyrun today?” she asked. Her voice sounded soft and airy like a lovely breeze.

     “Hey, Aissyl, I’m actually here because my new friend wanted to speak with Bris regarding some important matters, right?” Ferreth put a hand squarely on Eric’s back and pushed him forward slightly.

     “Oh, uh, yes!” he spoke quickly. “My name is Eric Travere and I’m the lord of Aurora Zenith. I’m here today because I needed to talk to Brirsyrun about improving the relationship between our two towns.”

     “I see. I shall ask Master Brirsyrun if he’ll see you now, please wait a moment.” She closed the door.

     That could have gone a little better, he thought as he released a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding in. He heard Ferreth trying to stifle a laugh from beside him and promptly wanted to die. Guess he wasn’t the only one she had that effect on, if this has happened before.

     “She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Ferreth asked, pretending like he didn’t know the answer.

     “Yes, well, I can’t deny that she’s quite beautiful,” he replied, clearing his throat. “Have you tried anything with her?”

     “When I first met her, yeah, and she swiftly turned me down.” He clicked his tongue, as if remembering the memory wasn’t pleasant. “Let’s just say she’s not interested in men like us. Or any man, really.”

     Before he could say any more, the woman known as Aissyl opened the door and invited them inside. The room he entered seemed to be what he’d liken to a waiting room or lounge. What little of the walls he saw that weren’t decorated in exquisite murals were painted a warm honey color. There were a couple of cushioned chairs sitting by the small window and a low table set in front of them. He didn’t have time to check out much more before Aissyl led them through an arched threshold into another room he presumed to be Bris’ office.

     It wasn’t terribly big but it worked fine for its purpose. Unlike the lounge, the walls were a cerulean blue, similar to the sky at dawn before the sunrise. There were tall bookcases standing on one side of the room and a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor on the other. A leather chair sat behind a pine desk atop a nondescript forest green rug. He figured the unusual empty space in front of the desk was for additional chairs if they had guests over. They must not get many of them if they hadn’t gotten a chair specifically for this room. A man was sitting at the desk when he looked up and Eric believed him to be Bris.

     The first thing he noticed was the cream-colored scarf worn around his neck, which he found odd since it was late summer. He looked to have a lean yet muscled body and, when he stood up, seemed to be just shy of Aissyl’s height. He had sun-kissed skin, cropped blond hair, and cloudy gray eyes. A smile broke out across his face upon seeing Ferreth and he walked around his desk.

     “Hey, I was wondering when I’d see you,” said Bris.

     “Well, I was planning on coming by here anyway but my new friend here--” Ferreth wrapped an arm around Eric’s shoulders, making him jump slightly-- “needed help finding you so why not save a trip?”

     “Right.” Bris walked up and offered a hand. “I’m Brirsyrun, son of Nulzrot and Tallo of the air.”

     That was a…unique way of introducing himself, he thought curiously as he put his hand in Bris’ and said, “I’m Eric Travere, lord of Aurora Zenith.”

     “Aissyl said you had some important matters to discuss?”

     “Yes, well, I wanted to talk with you regarding the relationship between Thornewind and Aurora Zenith.” He took a step forward, shrugging off Ferreth’s arm. “You see, I’m planning on going to the rest of the major cities and asking them for their cooperation. In simpler terms, I’m in want of allies. I already have the town of Brinegarde as one so Thornewind’s my second stop.”

     “I see. Well, I’d like to talk more of this tomorrow morning because I have some things that need attending to today. Will that be all right with you?”

     “No, that’s good, that’s great! I’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

     Wow, a guaranteed meeting? No waiting for someone because they were fooling around instead of doing work in their office? This trip was already leagues better than Brinegarde’s and it was all due to Bris being a responsible adult. That pompous jackass Lianthorne could take some pointers.

     “I think, with that being settled, we’re done here.” Bris gestured towards Ferreth. “Ferr, could you show Eric to the Dravitae Inn so he’ll have a place to stay during his time here?”

     “Of course, my lord,” Ferreth replied with a joking smile.

     “Don’t call me that, even if it’s a joke,” Bris protested, despite his own grin.

     Aissyl led the two men outside with Bris following behind. Eric and Ferreth gave a short wave goodbye and they were off. He made sure to remember any and all distinctive markers on the roads as they walked. He didn’t want to be late for the meeting tomorrow because he was lost again.

     “So, how was your first impression of Bris?” Ferreth asked, folding his hands behind his head. “Pretty nice guy, right?”

     “Yeah, he seems like a really decent person--” he let out a chuckle before sighing wearily-- “which is a lot more than I can say about Brinegarde’s lord.”

     “I’m guessing they weren’t as nice.”

     “God, you would not believe. They’re probably the most arrogant and pretentious asshole I’ve ever met.”

     “At least Bris isn’t like that, thankfully.”

     “Yeah, thank god.”

     Despite his complaining of it, he didn’t regret his trip to Brinegarde. It was a beautiful town, like many other coastal towns, and the sweets were to die for. Meeting and becoming friends with Ven, however, was easily the best part of that trip. No beauty or tasty treats will come close to the joy having her in his life brought. She was Brinegarde’s saving grace.

     “You know, I’m curious…” He put a finger to his chin as if thinking about something before continuing. “What do you do around here, Ferreth? It must be a job that gives you a lot of free time if you’re allowed to cart me around all day.”

     “Oh, I guess I’m what you’d call a handyman,” Ferreth replied. “I do general repairs wherever they’re needed and I basically do work people don’t wanna do themselves.”

     “So it’s like you’re an errand boy, then?”

     “I’d say handyman’s an upgrade from that but yeah. It may not be the most ideal job but it lets me help people and it doesn’t pay so bad, either.”

     “No offense and all but…isn’t there something you’d rather be doing than being a handyman? I mean, I guess I don’t really understand it but still… Do you have something to aspire to?”

     He swore he saw him tense up and a glimmer of something he couldn’t quite detect before it disappeared as he answered with, “Not really.”

     That was most definitely a lie. He couldn’t figure out why Ferreth would lie to him over an innocent question like that but it was none of his business. There might’ve been more going on underneath the surface and they had only just met earlier today. No sane person tells a complete stranger their entire life story hours after meeting them. He was entitled to his secrets, as was he.

     It was soon after they arrived at the Dravitae Inn. It was a simple four-story building, with pale green walls, a dark red shingled roof, a pair of large double doors serving as the entrance, and windows on either side that allowed passersby a peek inside the establishment. On the corner was a hanging metal sign that had the name of the inn inscribed on it with a sleeping dragon below. It seemed like a good enough place to stay in during his visit.

     “Here we are.” Ferreth turned towards him. “You gonna need help getting to Bris’ tomorrow?”

     “No, I should be good. Besides--” he placed a finger to his temple-- “I have a pretty good memory so I think I have the path there memorized.”

     “All right, well, good luck tomorrow,” he said, gesturing his hand in a motion reminiscent of a salute. “Enjoy the rest of your stay.”

     He began walking back the way they came. Eric watched his figure shrink smaller and smaller before he was out of sight completely. He hoped he’d have a chance to talk with him more throughout his stay here in Thornewind. He had questions he wanted answers to, such as the nature of the people here and what he was like. For now, though, it was time to check in.

     A quick chat with the innkeeper later and he had his room. It was slightly smaller than his room back at home but it brought some comfort. A queen-sized bed sat on the right side of the room and an average cupboard opposite it. The armoire was tucked away into the upper left-hand corner while a small table and chairs were in the upper right-hand corner. A single window was set at the back, which gave him a decent view of Thornewind in the late afternoon.

     He set his bag and key down on the table before flopping onto the bed. God, he wanted nothing more than to lay there for a minute or hour. He still wasn’t used to walking and talking by himself so he was thankful for the short rest. Hey, maybe by the time he goes to Emberranth, he’ll have the skills of a functioning human being and not that of an introverted shut-in.

     He sat up, reached into his pocket, and took out his pendant. The crystal inside the bottle glinted slightly upon being held up to the light. He smiled as he brought it close to his chest, hoping his mother was watching over him.

     Tomorrow was his meeting with Bris. Other than that, he had a few days to spend time doing whatever he wanted. Sightseeing, buying souvenirs, trying out Thornewind’s cuisine, he may as well treat himself as a tourist more than a visitor. He never got to do these things before now so he wanted to make the most of it.

     May he leave Thornewind with an unforgettable experience.

[maximelebled]

My quick review of the ASUS XG27UQ monitor (4K, HDR, 120Hz)

I originally wanted to tweet this series of bullet points out but it was getting way too long, so here goes! I got this to replace a PG278Q, which was starting to develop odd white stains, and never had good color reproduction in the first place (TN film drawbacks, very low gamma resulting in excessively bright shadows, under-saturated shadows, etc.)

The hardware aesthetic is alright! The bezels may feel a bit large to some people, but I don’t mind them at all. If you’re a fan of the no-bezel look, you’ll probably hate it. There is a glowing logo on the back that you can customize (Static Cyan is my recommendation), but it isn’t bright enough to be used as bias lighting, which would’ve been nice.

The built-in stand is decent; it comes with a tacky and distracting light projection feature at the bottom. It felt quite stable, though I don’t care about it because it got instantly replaced by an Ergotron LX arm. (I have two now, I really recommend them in spite of their price.) 

The coating is a little grainy and this is noticeable on pure colors! You can kinda see the texture come through, a bit more than I’d like. Not a huge deal though.

The rest of the review will be under the cut.

The default color preset (”racing mode”), which the monitor is calibrated against, is very vivid and saturated. It looks great! But it’s inherently inaccurate, which bothers me, so I don’t like it. It looks like as if sRGB got stretched into the expanded gamut of the monitor.

sRGB “emulation” looks very similar to my Dell U2717D, whose sRGB mode is factory-calibrated. However, the XG27UQ’s sRGB mode has lower gamma (brighter shadows), so while the colors are accurate, the gamma is not. It feels 1.8-ish. Unless you were in a bright room, it would be inappropriate for work that needs to have accurate shadows. This mode also locks other controls, so it’s not the most useful, but the brightness is set well on it, so it is usable!

The “User Mode” settings use the calibrated racing mode as a starting point, which is a big relief. So it’s possible to tweak the color temperature and the saturation from there! I checked pure white against my Dell monitor and my smartphone (S9+) and tried to reach a reasonable 3-way compromise between them, knowing that the Dell is most likely the most accurate, and that Samsung also allegedly calibrates their high-end smartphones well. My configuration ended up being R:90/G:95/B:100 + SAT:42. This matches the saturation of the U2717D sRGB mode fairly closely. You also get to choose between 1.8, 2.2, and 2.5 gamma too, which is not too granular, but great to have. It kinda feels like my ideal match is between 2.2 and 2.5, but 2.2 is fine.

The color gamma according to lagom.nl looked fine, but I had to open the picture in Paint, otherwise it was DPI-scaled in the browser, and that messed with the way it works!! (That website is an amazing resource for quick monitor checks.)

Colors are however somewhat inaccurate in this mode. It’s easy to see by comparing the tweaked User Mode vs. sRGB emulation. There are some rather sizeable hue shifts in certain cases. I believe part of this is caused by the saturation tweak not operating properly.

Here’s a photo of what the Photoshop color picker looks like when Saturation is set to 0 on the monitor, vs. what a proper grayscale conversion should be. It’s definitely not using the right coefficients. 

So in practice, when using the Racing & User modes, compared to the U2717D sRGB, here’s a few examples of what I see:

Reds are colder (towards the purple side) & oversaturated

Bright yellow (255,215,90) is undersaturated

Bright green (120,200,130) is undersaturated

Dark green (0,105,60) is fine

Magenta (220,13,128) is oversaturated

Dark reds & brown (150,20,20 to 90,15,10) is oversaturated

Cyan (0,180,240) is fine 

Pink (230,115,170) is fine

Some shades of bright saturated blue (58,48,220) have the biggest shifts.

The TF2 skin tone becomes slightly desaturated and a bit colder

It’s not inaccurate to the point of being distracting, and you always have the  sRGB mode (with flawed gamma?) to check things with, but it’s definitely not ideal, and some of these shifts go far enough that I wouldn’t recommend this monitor for color work that needs to be very accurate.

I’ve went back and forth, User vs sRGB, several times, on my most recent work (True Sight 2019 sequences). I’ve found the differences were acceptable for the most part; they bothered me the most during the Chronosphere sequence, in which the hazy sunset atmosphere turned a bit into to a rose gold tint, which wasn’t unpleasant at all — and looked quite pretty! — but it wasn’t what I did.

I’m coming from the point of view of a “prosumer” who cares about color accuracy, but who ultimately recognizes that this quest is impossible in the face of so many devices out there being inaccurate or misconfigured one way or the other. In the end, my position is more pragmatic, and I feel that you gotta be able to see how your stuff’s gonna look on the devices where it’ll actually be watched. So while I’ve done color grading on a decent-enough sRGB-calibrated monitor, I’ve always checked it against the inaccurate PG278Q, and I’ve done a little bit of compromising to keep my color work looking alright even once gamma shifted. And so, now, I’ll also be getting to see what my colors look like on a monitor that doesn’t quite restrain itself to sRGB gamut properly.

Well, at least, all of that stuff is out of the box, but...

TFTCentral (one of the most trustworthy monitor review websites, in my opinion) has found suspiciously similar shifts. But after calbration, their unit passed with flying colors (pun intended), so if you really care about this sort of stuff and happen to have a colorimeter... you should give it a try!

I hope one day we’ll be able to load and apply an ICC/ICM profile computer-wide, instead of only being able to load a simple gamma curve on the GPU with third-party tools like DisplayCAL. Even if it had to squeeze the gamut a bit...

Also, there are dynamic dimming / auto contrast ratio features which could potentially be useful in limited scenarios if you don’t care about color accuracy and want to maximize brightness. I believe they are forced on for HDR. But you will probably not care at all.

IPS glow is not very present on my unit; less than on my U2717D. However, when it starts to show up (more than a 30°-ish angle away), it shows up more. UPDATED: after some more time with the monitor, I wanna say that, in fact, IPS glow isit's slightly stronger, and shows up sooner (as in, from broader angles). It requires me to sit a greater distance from the monitor in order to not have it show up and impede dark scenes. It is worse than on my U2717D.

Backlight bleed, on the other hand, is there, and a little bit noticeable. On my unit, there’s a little bit of blue-ish bleed on the lower left corner, and some dark-grey-orange bleed for a good third of the upper-left. However, in practice, and to my eyes, it doesn’t bother me, even when I look for it. It ain’t perfect, but I’ve definitely seen worse, especially from ASUS. The photo above was taken at 100% brightness, and I’ve tried to make it just a tad brighter than what my eyes see, so hopefully it’s a decent sample.

Dead pixels: on my unit, I have 5 stuck dead green subpixels overall. There are 4 in a diamond pattern somewhat down and right to the center of the screen, and another one, a bit to the right of that spot. All of them kinda “shimmer” a little bit, in the sense that they become stronger or weaker based on my angle of view. They’re a bummer but I haven’t found them to be a hindrance. Took me a few days to even notice them for the first time, after all.

HDR is just about meaningless and uses some global dimming techniques, as well as stuff that feels like... you know that Intel HD driver feature that brightens the content on the screen, while lowering the panel backlight power in tandem, to save power, but it kinda flattens (and sometimes clips) highlights? It kinda looks like that sometimes. Without local dimming, HDR is just about meaningless.

Unfortunately, the really nice HDR support in computer monitors is still looking like it’s going to be at the very least a year out, and even longer for sub-1000 price ranges. (I was holding out for the PG27UQX at first, but it still has no word on availability, a whole year after being announced, and will probably cost over two grand, so no thanks.)

G-Sync (variable refresh rate) support is... not there yet?! The latest driver does not recognize the monitor as being compatible with the feature. And it turns out that the product page says that G-Sync support is currently being applied for. Huh. I thought they had special chips in those monitors solely for the feature, but it’s possible this one does it another way? (The same way that Freesync monitors do it?)

DSC (Display Stream Compression) enables 4K 120Hz to work through a single DisplayPort cable, without chroma subsampling. And it’s working for me, which came as a surprise, as I was under the impression this feature required a 2000-series Turing GPUs. (I have a 1080 Ti.) I was wrong about this, it’s 144 Hz that requires DSC. And I don’t have it on this Pascal card. But I don’t really care since I prefer to run this monitor at 120 Hz, as it’s a multiple of the 60 Hz monitor next to it.

Windows DPI scaling support is okay now. Apps that are DPI-aware, and the vast majority of them are now, scale back and forth between 150% and 100% really well as they get dragged between the monitors! The only program I’ve had issues with is good old Winamp, which acted as if it was 100% on the XG27UQ... and shrinked down on another monitor. So I asked it to override DPI scaling behaviour (”scaling performed by: application”), which keeps the player skin at 100% on every monitor, but any call to system fonts and UI (Bento skin’s playlist + Settings panel) are still at 150%. So I had to set the playlist font size to 7 for it to look OK on the non-scaled monitor!

A few apps misbehave in interesting ways; TeamSpeak, for example, seen above, scales everything back from 150% to 100%, and there is no blurriness, but the “larger layout” (spacing, etc.) sticks.

Games look great with 4K in 27 inches. Well, I’ve only really tried Dota 2 so far, but man does it get sharp, especially with the game’s FXAA disabled. It was already a toss-up at 1440p, but at 4K I would argue you might as well keep it disabled. However, going from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 requires some serious horsepower. It may look like a +50% upgrade in pixels, but it’s actually a +125% increase! (3.68 to 8.29 million pixels.) For a 1080 Ti, maxed-out Dota 2 at 1440p 120hz is really trivial, but once you go to 4K, not anymore...  you could always lower resolution scale though! (Not an elegant solution if you like to use sharpening filters though, looking at you RDR2.)

Overall, the XG27UQ is a good monitor, and I’m satisfied with my purchase, although slightly disappointed by the strong IPS glow and the few dead subpixels. 7/10

[funkymeihem-fiction]

My Lovely Assistant- Chapter 6 (Junkenstein Meihem)

Dr. Junkenstein was hard at work, soldering in the guts of yet another of his zomnic toys. Far from his usual grumbling and muttering, he whistled to himself as he worked, one of his favorite classical pieces. He’d always been a good whistler, though it tended to be done only when he was happy…and it had been a long time since he’d been this happy. In The Hall of the Mountain King whistled and tootled from his pursed lips, uncaring of the blue sparks flying near his face and goggles. “Doctor!” Mei’s voice called from behind him. He whirled around on his stool, dropping his soldering irons and immediately sat straight to attention. “Yes? What is it, love?” The soft shuffle of her cloth slippers hurried across the room, hop-hop-hop, coming to a stop beside him and waving a wax-sealed envelope. “A raven just dropped this off at the window. A letter!” “Give!” He snatched the paper from her claws, ripping it open as she crowded in beside him, listening to him muttering under his breath before lowering it to his lap in a baffled manner. “Uh…Well, that’s new? The Lord of the Castle is erm, inviting me to a party?” “A party?” she echoed, brow furrowing. “But…you said your Lord wasn’t fond of you.” “He’s not!” Junkenstein spat, turning on her with more vehemence than he meant, both hands gesturing rapidly. “He hates me, he hates everything I do! He’s never appreciated all the work I’ve done for this crumbling empire. I could have turned this fetid hole into the center of a scientific and magical Renaissance, and instead he turned me away, time and time again. Well he may be content to sit there and rot in these ruins…so that’s exactly what he’ll do, when we’re done with him! Him and his Engineer and all the villagers who mocked me, and his whole decayed kingdom! And now that I know the secrets of life, I’ll bring him back. I’ll bring him back just so I can destroy him again! And again! And again! It’ll never end!” Mei was silent for a long moment, watching his hands shaking and nearly tearing the paper in two. Hesitantly, she reached out to rest a gloved claw upon his shoulder. “Doctor? What about the invitation?” “Oh, right, the invite…” He focused, adjusting his goggles as he stared down at the paper with disgust. “Much as I’d love to throw this in the privy hole where it belongs, one can’t just ignore a missive from their Lord, eh? Especially don’t need them poking around at a time like this. Not when we’re so close. I’ll show my pretty face for a moment, just long enough to show I’m there, then come right back. Can you get my formals out of the closet, sweetness? Might need some cobwebs cleaned off them too. Tch…Asking me to a party now, of all times. After what they’ve done to me?!” The jiangshi’s arms encircled him abruptly, pulling him in against the crane sigil on her chest and holding him to the top of her bosom. His enraged trembling halted, burrowing his face against the dark cloth of her robe as she placed cool lips to his always-fevered brow. “Do you want us to keep a watch here while you handle them in the castle?” He uttered a muffled “Mmmhmm,” against her breasts before pulling his face out with a sigh. “Keep a lockdown until I’m back, sweetness. Anyone besides me tries to get in…well, feel free to eat them.” “You’re very kind, Doctor,” she said with a fanged smile. “Heh, aren’t I just the best? At least you see me for what I am, darl. And when all this is done, everyone else will see my greatness too!”

*** Dr. Junkenstein had never liked his formal wear. The coat and ruffles around the throat had been inherited from some dead relative or other and were decades out of style, but he’d never much bothered to update his wardrobe. Mei had done a bang-up job with what they had, though. He was clean, primmed, and pressed, and she’d even managed to slick his hair back…a little. It was starting to spring up in places it shouldn’t, but that was hardly a thing to worry about now, as he limped his way across the courtyards, to the castle proper. The castle was as dark and dilapidated as the rest of the grounds, but cheerful yellow lights flickered in the window as the doctor invited himself inside. It wasn’t much of a party, even by his standards. He saw a handful of local villagers, a handful of others from the next village over; and there was Lord Balderich himself, standing head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the party, and his ‘royal’ Engineer, who had grown in the other direction and stood head and shoulders shorter than anyone else as well. A single cello, being played rather badly, had been set up in the corner, and Dr. Junkenstein saw nothing of interest save for a table full of food and steins of beer. If he was going to be forced to this wretched gathering with these wretched people, he could at least get some decent grub and a drink out of it. He loaded up a platter with finger foods, snorting a bit when he took a bite. It didn’t taste anywhere near as good as the meals made for him by his lovely jiangshi. But what else could he expect from these dirty commoners? He shoved a handful of biscuits into his jaws, his cheeks almost overflowing, when he felt a gigantic hand clap around his shoulder. He nearly leapt right out of his coat and ruffles, turning wide-eyed and wide-cheeked to the form of Lord Balderich looming over him, casting him in his enormous shadow, big enough to even give his own Monster a run for his proverbial money. The doctor choked a bit, trying to swallow. “Mmmfmm?!” “Just the man I was wanting to see,” the giant boomed, smiling with large white teeth. “Our very own Dr. Junkenstein.” Dr. Junkenstein managed a leery smile and coughed a mouthful of crumbs up out of his throat, voice dry. “Y-you wanted to see me, sir?” Lord Balderich brushed the debris from the front of his shirt, his Engineer standing nearby and watching in disapproval as his Lord wrapped one bulky arm around the scrawny doctor and started to lead him through the gathering. “We haven’t seen you in a while, Dr. Junkenstein. Where have you been?” “Oh, uh! You know, doing this and that. Busy, busy.” The badly-played cello was getting fainter and they were getting further away from the party, off into the side rooms, and Junkenstein swallowed a bit nervously. “I mean, after all, Lord Balderich, you didn’t seem to very interested in my last creations…” Lord Balderich opened up one of the doors, to a room holding little more than a few flickering candles and an enormous keg. Junkenstein found himself abruptly sat down on one of the chairs, and a mug seemingly appeared from nowhere in front of him, sloshing with brew. Lord Balderich and the Engineer sat across from him, each with their own drinks, and his Lord smiled at him again in a rather unnerving way. “Sit with us, doctor, have a drink. Allay our…concerns.” “Concerns?” “Have a drink, doctor? A gift from some of the brewers to the north, much better than the ones up at the main event. Have a drink.” Lord Balderich seemed to be waiting, and at a loss, Junkenstein tilted back his drink. He sputtered a bit, not used to whatever brew was inside, some kind of strong beer that he’d never tasted before. With a cough, he offered a polite, “Uh, thanks. S’good?” The Engineer smiled. “Damn right. Now, why don’t we all sit down and have a good, hearty man-to-man chat…” ***

They had kept refilling his beer and asking him questions. Where had he been? Busy. In the tower. With what? New projects, probably nothing His Lordship would be interested in, as usual. What had those strange noises been, coming from his lab at night? Rats. Probably rats. Big ones. What of the omnic slaves he’d been working? Oh, all those got decommissioned aged ago, just like they’d wanted. Who was the shadowy figure stealing ducks out of the pond that one night? No idea, mate. The Engineer poured yet more beer into his mug, even as the doctor tried to shake his head, swaying slightly. “And we’ve had reports of  figures, not yours, moving about your tower. More of your little machines playing at people, or do you have…visitors?” “Visitors?! S-sure I dunno what you mean by that!” Junkenstein sputtered, bubbles popping in the foam of his beer as they watched him drink more. “I know you have a tendency to talk to yourself, doctor. But I hear that you’ve been talking to…someone else,” The Engineer growled. “What are you up to, in there?” “Work! S’called work, not like you would know anything about that!” “Then you wouldn’t mind opening up that tower and showing us your work?” The Engineer stood, as if meaning to head to the tower right that moment. “Like hell! That’s my personal property, and you’re not gonna disturb us!” “Technically, Dr. Junkenstein,” Lord Balderich rumbled, “That is my personal property. And if you’re doing unscrupulous things, I have every right-” Sweat rolled down the doctor’s forehead. “You stay out of it, old man! S-sorry! Sorry, I meant, Your Lordship! But I won’t let you, you leave us alone.” “Us? Who is ‘us’ and what have you been doing?” “I’ve been busy, arright?!” He shouted petulantly, stomping his peg against the stone. “I’ve had a lot on my mind! I’ve got more things going on than anyone here could understand. No-body! Nobody except her!” “…her?” The Engineer said. “Yeah, I got a her now, and you better stay out of it!” “Who is ‘her’?” The short bearded man grilled him further. Junkenstein swayed on his foot and peg, his eyes unfocused behind his goggles. Some part of him knew that telling them about having a ravenous undead Chinese vampire as an assistant was not the best idea, but his being able to brag was an even bigger concern. “I told you I got a ‘her’ now. Ya wanna know why I been busy, mates? Because I got a lovely lady and I needed to put things right with her!” Both Lord Balderich and his Engineer looked surprised, shooting glances to one another before the shorter man asked doubtfully. “You? With a woman?” Balderich shushed him with a wave of his hand, smiling slightly and looking on to the mad doctor in slight approval. “Well that is…unexpected news. No wonder your behavior’s been stranger than normal. I had thought that you had more nefarious purposes, not simply problems with women-” “Well they aren’t exactly problems. And don’t act so surprised! Because I’m a man, with manly concerns, now. Had it with a woman, I did.” The doctor’s scrawny chest puffed, the lace around his neck even seeming to flare like a peacock’s feathers. “Then congratulations to you, my boy!” Balderich seemed strangely pleased to hear the news, his relief obvious. The doctor gave him a suspicious look, but Balderich merely continued, eyes growing nostalgic. “I suppose I need to apologize for assuming the worst. So you’ve been sneaking about with a woman? Hah! I wouldn’t have guessed it. But I’m sure we all remember our firsts. Or well, perhaps my Engineer is starting to forget after how many children?” The Engineer smirked and plucked at his beard, “I plan to remember again with her tonight, actually! Ha ha haaa!” Junkenstein blinked groggily, but smiled along with them. It had been such a long time since either of them had shown the slightest interest in him, and even if they weren’t bowing before him or praising his scientific advancements, he felt a little glow in his chest at even their minute approval. “She’s ace, mates. Dark eyes. Red cheeks. Grabbed right onto those nice plump hips, I did. Right down on the ground like beasts, we did! It was wild!” He took another drink of beer and it made his head spin. Balderich’s giant palm slammed into his bony back, nearly spilling his drink all over as he laughed heartily. “Now that sounds like the kind of woman we all need!” The doctor gave them a watery grin. “Couldn’t walk right for the whole night, then had to wash my trousers and everything…Like a man! I mean, that still counts, right?” “Hmm?” “Like kind of going all over the inside of your trousers because of all the grindin’ and movin’ and suckin’…” He rested his bony chin in his hands. The Engineer’s grin slowly faded and he gave a cough, and even Lord Balderich seemed unsure of what to say, giving the young man a look of half pity. “Well that’s…grrhmm…progress? You might not have reached your, er, full destination, but the journey is half the fun, they say! It’s good for a young hot-blooded man like you to live a little, sow your wild oats, do…normal…things. Just be decent to the girl, yes? Who is she? Not someone from the village, I suspect?” Junkenstein sighed dreamily, downing more beer. “No, she’s from…real far away. Ordered her out of a catalog…” Lord Balderich slowly put one hand over his face and the Engineer shook his head, muttering something about ‘other shoes always dropping’. “She’s not like anyone here, no. She’s real pretty but in a different sort of way. Real sweet, too. I don’t care that she can get somewhat strange or if she feels a bit cold or that she smells a little like mothballs! Sometimes you gotta…you gotta overlook little things in the name of love, eh?” His head was starting to hurt and his gut was definitely roiling, and he decided that the best thing to do was drink more beer to quiet it all down again. “Well, son, that’s a real noble way of looking at love. Good for you. Sometimes you have to overlook the little flaws in each other!” “Yeah! Yeah, mate!” he slurred into the woodgrain of the table. “Like…if she can overlook all my flaws, although not like there’s many, I can overlook hers.” “Hear, hear!” Junkenstein waved his arms, spilling more beer. “I’ll still love her the way she is!” “That’s the spirit!” “Yeah! It don’t even really matter to me that she’s dead! I brought her back! I love ‘er!” The others stopped and stared at the doctor took yet another deep drink, their smiles fading. Even through the haze of alcohol over his senses, Junkenstein could feel the mood in the room change. He looked at them over the rim of his cup, a dribble of amber liquid oozing from the corner of his chapped lips. “Uh?” And then Balderich launched out of his chair, roughly snatched onto the front of Junkenstein’s coat, ripping the lapels of it and starting go drag him away through the doors with a series of loud bangs. Dr. Junkenstein flailed, gripping at his arm, squirming wildly with cries of ‘What gives?!’ and ‘What’s the big idea?!’ but the massive man ignored him. His boot and metal peg leg scraped occasionally at the ground, even his massive height held aloft as he was carried towards the entrance of the castle, trailed by the scowling face of the Engineer close behind. Then there came the creaking of larger doors, and the cool night air on his face, and Junkenstein felt himself spinning end over end until he landed face first into the black mud and sewage of the overflowing ditch outside the castle gate. He peeled himself up out of the sickly mess with a groan, nearly retching, trying to wipe the muck from his goggles. Curious faces started to appear in the yellow windows and around Lord Balderich and the Engineer, peering around them at the crumpled form of the scorned doctor. “I told you before, Junkenstein! I will not have my subjects graverobbing, consorting with the dead, or you continuing your obsession with…with unnatural things!” Balderich’s huge finger pointed down at him. “I gave you a chance after we caught you digging up the cemetery…twice! But whatever wretched dead woman or whatever poor creatures you are keeping in that tower, I will not allow it.” He looked down to his grinning Engineer. “Get your men and unlock that tower. Break it down if you have to. And you-” He narrowed his eyes at the figure in the mud below him. “Get out.” Even with his senses reeling and his gut churning, Junkenstein knew that things had gone extremely poorly at this party. He tried to stagger upward, slipping in the stinking sludge as he saw the Engineer vanish back inside. Baring his teeth, he spat out a mouthful of black and faced down the Lord of the Castle. “Don’t you goddamn dare, you overgrown homonculus! You so much as lay one finger on that door, I’ll…I’ll call down the storms on you! You aren’t gonna get her, aren’t gonna get any of them! They’re mine! They’re all mine!” Something pelted him across the face. One of the villagers had purloined a sandwich from the party, hurtling it through the open door and hitting him on the forehead. Roast beef and tomato slid down his already filthy features, and as he went to wipe it away, a much more solid apple hit him square in the gut, almost making him keel over as he found himself beset by a storm of hors d’oeuvres. The villagers always had enjoyed a good show, after all, especially if the lunatic doctor was on the receiving end. And as usual, the Lord of the Castle stood by and watched, disgust written on his features as the man was humiliated further. Dr. Junkenstein turned and sloppily retaliated, throwing a chunk of bread that missed its target by a mile, staggering back towards the relative safety of his courtyard and his tower. A pastry smacked him in the back of the head for his troubles, the villagers booing and jeering at him as he went. He hobbled as quick as he could, his drunken state making it harder than usual to steer himself towards home. And it made it even easier for the Engineer and his band of followers to catch up to him, even trying to move past him to intercept his path to his own tower. Judging by the tools in their hands, they intended to break their way in sooner than later. “Don’t you dare! Don’t you fuckin’ dare!” The doctor shrieked, grabbing at the handle of the bolt cutters one of them carried and pulling back, trying to wrench it from his grasp. “You aren’t getting in!” They shrugged him off and he tried again, until he was roughly thrown back by the bulky arm of the Engineer. “Step aside, boy. You can pack up your things after we’ve made sure the Lord’s holdings are secure.” Torches were starting to appear amongst the gathering crowd, and Junkenstein knew it was only a matter of time before the pitchforks came out as well. He grasped onto the Engineer’s arm, uselessly trying to throw him back, spattering them both with more stinking mud. “I said no! It’s mine, she’s mine, they’re all mine! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you! Worthless, stinking, wretched cretins! I’ll kill-” A fist landed upside his nose and he spun like a ballet performer, red droplets flying to speckle over the sludge as he fell back. A cold breeze swept through the courtyard like a living thing, the flames of the torches flickering and guttering to one side all at the same time. As the crowd’s eyes turned to look, a purple and black blur hurtled across the dark expanse of mud and stone, moving so fast that the wind whistled behind it. It hit the Engineer like a well-aimed thunderbolt, the impact making a loud cracking sound as the stocky man was suddenly sent flying backwards. His back hit the stone wall, limbs splaying outward in almost a silly manner as he groaned loudly, peeling slowly off the vertical surface and landing face-down in the muck as well. Mei landed noiselessly beside the doctor, leaning down to wrap both arms under him and gently lift him upward. Caring nothing for his filthy state, she teetered him into a standing position before turning to the shocked sea of faces before her, irritably adjusting her glasses and placing her hands on her hips, lips screwing up around her fangs with an expression like a very, very displeased schoolmarm. “So mean! Honestly!”

[tmntreasures]

Prom Night (Leonardo)

Prompt: A boy at your high school, named George, has asked you out; not because he likes you, but because you were his last option. Obviously, you turn him down since you have a turtle boyfriend who was going to meet with you behind the school. On the night of prom, you go outside to wait for your secret love. But the boy who had asked you out corners you outside and acts aggressive…

The whole situation still had you shaking from nervousness. No human boy had ever asked you out before, let alone spoken to you. So for George to not only approach you while you had been on your way to the lair, but to then ask you out had shaken you to the core. Obviously you had rejected him, but somehow you still felt guilt swimming in your gut; not because you had rejected the boy, but because you felt like you had somehow betrayed Leonardo.

It was such an odd feeling. You knew you had done nothing wrong or even gave the boy any hint that you knew he existed, but it something about the situation just made you feel gross. Perhaps it had been the way George scoffed at you when you had told him of you were taken already. Or the accusatory tone he had when he asked who you were dating. You had told him it was none of his business and quickly made your way to the sewers the moment he had stormed off.

The moment you entered the lair you made a beeline for the dojo. Leonardo had a habit of starting training as early as possible so he could hang out with you more, and it looked like you had arrived just as he was finishing up his session.

The blue turtle did not look at you as he struck at his imaginary opponent, his swords glimmering in the light. “Hey!” He said, acknowledging your presence as he struck again.

“Hey,” You returned the greeting, sitting down to watch him work.

Leonardo did not pause but he did glance at you. “You okay?” He asked. There had been something in your tone that sounded off. Clearly there was something on your mind.

At first you hesitated, but then reminded yourself that it was Leonardo. If anyone would be able to help, it was him. “Some boy called George asked me out to prom today.”

The turtle paused at the confession, his fingers gripping the katanas tightly for a moment before he resumed the form. “What'd you tell him?”

“That my boyfriend was taking me,” You couldn't help but smile at the mutant, your eyes never leaving his body. “It didn't sound like he believed me though. Either way, he left. But I thought you should know.”

Leonardo couldn't help but smirk, feeling his chest swell a little at the idea of you rejecting someone for him. He finally relaxed and sheathed his swords, panting a little as he made his way to you. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” he smiled before taking a seat next to you. “Though it sounds weird he didn't believe you.”

You nodded, hugging your knees to your chest. “The whole thing's weird. I only have one class with him and even then I've never spoken to him. I don't even think we've been in a group project together.”

At that information Leonardo frowned. Now something definitely sounded weird about this Chris character. “But he still asked you out?”

“Yeah...” You mumbled as your brain tried to think of why George picked you. “I think...he just didn't wanna go alone. But he couldn't find anyone else to go with him so he tried me?” You shrugged and continued, “I mean, I don't really talk to the guys in my school because I got you. So maybe he thought I was single because of that?”

He hummed and tapped his chin in thought, “Maybe.” Although he did not have any social experience with other teenagers outside of his family and you, there was something about the exchange you had with George that just didn't feel right. It wasn't that he was jealous a human boy found you attractive, you were gorgeous after all, but he never once felt threatened or worried that you would leave him for someone else.

Leonardo knew you had a life on the surface and sometimes that would involve you interacting with the opposite sex. If he got angry every time you spoke to a human boy, he would have blood pressure issues. No, it was something else entirely that sounded threatening. Perhaps it was the way that Chris reacted when you had rejected him.

“Well I'm definitely going to your school now,” he finally spoke. Anytime his gut gave him a hint that a bad situation was about to appear, he listened and took no chances. It was a skill he had learned to master quickly, especially as leader. Now that this involved you, there was no way in hell he was going to take any chances.

You frowned at him. When they had announced the prom date you had asked the turtle if he would be willing to go. Obviously he wouldn't be able to go into the building, but if he could meet you outside or on the roof top, then the two of you could have your own private prom night. The mutant turtle had been hesitant about it for a while, but now that he was confirming his attendance it made your gut twist in guilt. “Are you sure? I don't want you to go because you feel like you have to, Leo.”

“I'm not,” He admitted, staring you in the eyes to show off his honesty. “I was going to surprise you today by telling you I was gonna go anyway.” He grabbed your hand and squeezed it, “Besides. I really want to see what you'll look like in a dress.”

“Aww, Leo.” You smiled before planting a kiss on his cheek. “I know you'll like the color,” you hinted with a wink.

He gave you an incredulous look and smirked. “It's blue isn't it?”

Your smile grew wider, “Maaaybe.”

The turtle chuckled and pulled you in close. “Well, how'd you know I wouldn't prefer green? Or yellow?”

“Because I just do,” you smacked his arm playfully and pulled away from him. “Go shower, you're all sweaty.”

He grinned mischievously before wiping his moist head against your neck. When you recoiled and tried wiping his sweat off your skin he shrugged. “Oops. Guess you gotta go with me.”

You laughed and tried to push him but he hopped out of the way. “All you had to do was ask!” You called after him as you chased after the turtle through the lair.

The glorified party had been going on for a few hours before you started to feel lonely. You had gone with your friend, but seeing all the dancing couples made you long for your own secret date. As if on cue, your phone buzzed, revealing a message from Leonardo.

“I'll be outside. Come out when you're ready,” It read.

You smiled from ear-to-ear and went to get one more cup of punch. The moment the drink hit your tongue it tasted bitter. “Euch!” You managed to swallow the tiny bit you had tasted, but held the rest of it out as if it were moldy. “What's wrong with this?”

Your friend overheard you and poured herself a glass, taking a sip. “Oooh!” Her eyes widened in realization and she pointed at the beverage. “It's spiked! Someone put alcohol in the punch!”

You looked down at the drink, completely perplexed. It had been fine when the party started; someone must have added the alcohol recently. A sudden cold chill ran over your body and you could feel someone's eyes on you. Every fiber of your body told you not to look for the source, but a part of you wanted to confirm your suspicions.

Staring at you through the crowd of teenagers was George. Your blood ran cold and your knees tightened as if preparing for a long sprint. The human boy did not break the gaze as he took a long drink from his red solo cup. Although you couldn't prove it, your gut told you he was the one who had altered the school's beverage. Any hint of fear from you would give him the upper hand. You had to take a stance to show some courage or else he may not let this up. Unfortunately, the only thing you could think of was deliberately throwing the drink out before you finally turned away to break his stare.

As you walked towards the back of the school, dipping underneath any block they had set up to keep the students out, you couldn't help but feel like you were being followed. Every time you looked back, however, no one was there. The only thing that kept you calm was knowing who was waiting for you outside in the shadows.

–

Leonardo had perched himself on one of the few trees behind the large building. Every part of him felt giddy as he waited for you to appear. Although the risk of getting caught was high, when it came to you he was willing to take the risk. Besides, it was just one night and luckily the school had planted a few trees; if he needed to, he could hide among the leaves.

The sound of an old door creaking open caught his attention. The light from the building spilled out on the blacktop and his heart raced at the sight of you. He had never seen your hair done that way before and the blue dress you wore seemed to accentuate your features. The smile on his face quickly turned to confusion when a second figure followed you.

“First you don't like me, now you don't like my drinks?”

When the human boy barked at you, Leonardo wanted nothing more than to jump down and sucker punch him. However, the ninja trusted you could handle yourself and kept himself planted on the branch. Only when you needed help would he interject.

“I don't even know you,” You answered, trying to sound as bored as you could. The boy had followed you out so quickly and quietly. Had you been so focused on seeing Leonardo that you didn't notice the boy following you?

George scoffed and smiled. “When does that matter? Everyone is here with someone. My friend is with some chick he never spoke to. Stop being stuck up!”

You narrowed your eyes at him and crossed your arms. “First off, I have a boyfriend. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't be caught dead with a prick like you.” Your own tone surprised you, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins was giving such a boost of confidence. You hoped it would be off-putting and that the boy would back off.

Unfortunately, the alcohol was potent on his breath and he stepped forward. “Who are you, huh? Thinkin' you're better than me?” The boy grabbed your arms and squeezed tightly as he began to shake you.

The moment Leonardo saw the boy grab you he acted. He landed behind the boy and kicked the side of his leg, striking the nerve that made it temporarily useless. Once his body began to cripple and bend forward, the mutant grabbed his arm and turned him so his knee could collide with his soft gut. The impact not only knocked the wind out of your attacker but it made him pass out. Very swiftly, he scooped the limp body in his arms and carried him back to the school, tossing him inside the hallway before closing the door.

As soon as the light disappeared he was in front of you. “Are you okay?” He asked, his fingers running over your arms gingerly as he tried to asses the damage.

“Y-yeah,” you nodded and panted. Your heart was racing and your breathing became a little erratic. The whole situation had happened so fast that your mind was still trying to process what happened.

Leonardo stared down at you and recognized the behavior. He squeezed your shoulders firmly and stared into your eyes. “Hey. Are you okay?” He asked again, more firm this time.

Everything went still and you finally felt like you could think straight. George had tried to attack you; you remember smelling the alcohol on the boy's breath. Your arms began to throb from the pain left by him; but in that pain, you recognized the three-fingered hands on your shoulders. Leonardo had stopped George before things got worse. The large mutant turtle was here, right now, with you. In the end, that was all that mattered.

“Yeah. I'm okay.” You smiled up at him.

He stared at you for a moment before finally letting out a sigh of relief. His arms wrapped around your smaller body and pulled you in for a hug. For now he just wanted to keep you close, relieved he was there to stop the human boy from going any further. There was a small pang of guilt that he should have intervened sooner, but he quickly pushed it aside. You were alive and there was no fatal injury. Everything was okay now.

“You like my dress?” You asked, trying to change the atmosphere to a happier one.

Leonardo was taken aback by the question, forgetting where the two of you were for a moment. “It's pretty,” He finally smiled, pushing you gently back so he could finally look at you. “But you were already beautiful before you put it on.”

Your cheeks turned a bright pink at his compliment and you giggled as you were rendered speechless for the moment.

He smiled, a little proud he make you feel good with just words and nodded down to himself. “Sorry I'm a little under-dressed.”

“You're perfectly fine, Leo.” You managed to find words. Although muffled, you could hear the slow beat and smooth voice of a song being played. You looked up at him expectantly, knowing this was the start of the rest of the night.

Had he been watching this on a screen, he would have complained about how cheesy this scene would be; after all, what were the odds of a slow song playing after such an intense moment? But life had a funny way of being cliché at times.

Leonardo chuckled and offered a hand out to you. “I'm just going to warn you now: I may have two left feet.”

Without hesitation you grabbed his hand, smiling as he slid his other hand onto your waist. “Good thing it's a slow song then.” He was too tall for you to wrap your arms around his neck, so you resorted to putting them on his chest.

“Thank you,” you said just as the two of you began to sway in-time with the song.

He looked down to make sure he wasn't going to step on your feet. “You don't need to thank me for that.” He frowned and shook his head. “If I'd known he was going to come at you like that, I would've come in sooner. I'm sorry.”

You flicked at his rough skin to get his attention. The moment those blue eyes met yours you smiled. “It's not your fault, Leo. The guy was crazy, you couldn't have known.”

For a moment his mind began to reel at what could have happened had he not been there on time. What the boy could have done to you, what you could have done to the boy, if anyone would have come out to help you. When he felt the panic start to settle in he stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself. He had been there and you were safe now.

Everything was okay.

“Hey,” You tugged on one of the tails of his bandanna to get his attention. The moment he turned to you, you got on your tip-toes and brushed your lips against his. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

He smiled and bent down to return the gesture, making sure it lasted longer. “Well you know I wouldn't do this for just anybody.”

“Oh, lucky me,” You giggled.

For the rest of the night you both were lost in each other's company. There was no longer a George, there had no longer been an attack. It was just you and Leonardo and that made you perfectly content.