#figured out the white balance so now my pictures can SLAY!!!

[gnawjaw]

Pictures taken on my morning walk, wanted to get out before the frost melted.

[smol-warden]

Hell is Empty chapter 2

Chapter 2 is live! Read it on AO3 here or continue reading below the cut

Word count: 3333

The light snow flurry from earlier had turned into a proper snow shower, further blanketing the area in soft white. A herd of druffalo wandered the hills snuffling under the snow as they foraged for food. Inha watched them for a moment before returning her attention to Varric. The serenity of the atmosphere was a foil to the turmoil churning inside her.

“Okay, so, fuck,” Inha breathed out a sigh and ran her hands through her hair. Her thoughts were jumbled word garbage and her brain couldn��t make sense of them. She breathed in filling her lungs until her chest hurt and reset.

“I spend a lot of time in Orzammar, and around lyrium, so has my family; we may have been exiled but we never actually left.” Inha didn’t try to stop the prideful smirk that tugged at her lips. “While my Stone sense isn’t nearly as strong as dwarva that never leave the city, I still have it.”

Varric arched his eyebrow in a quizzical manner. “I’m failing to understand what that has to do with why you ran out here.”

“Right,” Inha rocked back on her feet and brought her hands together in front of her stomach, toying with her fingers. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and took a deep breath.

“Well, lyrium sings to me and red lyrium is still lyrium so even though it’s not as clear as regular lyrium it sings too and what brought me out here was the tainted call of red lyrium except it was diluted as if it was mixed with something else, but it disappeared as quickly as it came it was something I’ve never felt before, I have no idea what it was.” Her words poured out of her in one long rambling sentence.

Varric’s eyes widened as she spoke. By the time she was done she could see her own surprise reflected in his gaze. Heavy silence enveloped the two dwarves interrupted only by Inha’s ragged breathing. She could feel her heartbeat in her chest and the warmth rising to her cheeks. The sound of her blood rushing in her ears was deafening.

Could she really trust Varric? Would he try to use her for his own gain or would he think she was two nugs short of a litter? Her instinct told her he was harmless but her experiences argued otherwise. She wanted to tear her gaze away from his but she was unable; all she could do was hope he wouldn’t notice her panic. They stood there for what seemed like ages before Varric answered with a whistle.

“You can hear red lyrium? What are the odds?”

Inha hung off the edge of each of his words searching for any malice or ill-intent in them. All she heard was surprise and perhaps admiration. If Varric meant any harm she couldn’t tell.

“You probably shouldn’t tell Cassandra,” he continued, “or she’ll try to use you as some kind of lyrium seeking hound.” He shook his head causing the snow that accumulated there to fall around him.

Inha lifted her hand and waved her glowing scar in Varric’s face, “I’m already her magical demon slaying bitch, what’s one more task? I’m pretty used to being passed around by the Carta.” Inha winced at her own words, they sounded harsher than she meant them.

“Hey,” Varric took her hand and guided it out of his face, “you’re not some thing that just gets tossed from person to person. You’re more than that.”

The sincerity in Varric’s voice caught her off guard and she snapped her hand away from his. He had known her for less than a day and had already accepted her without question. She took her bottom lip between her teeth and cast her eyes down. When she tried to thank him a gust of frigid wind tore across the lake cutting through her. She closed her eyes and tensed from the cold.

“Are you okay?!” Varric shouted at her but his voice sounded miles away.

When she opened her eyes white spots danced across her vision obscuring her field of view. She squeezed her eyes shut then blinked a few times before looking around. The world was fuzzy around the edges and as it came back into focus she was met with Varric looming over her. She was lying on the ground, covered in snow and soaked to the bone. Varric was kneeling beside her with one hand gripping her shoulder, his face contorted with worry.

“What happened?” Inha lifted a hand to rest on her throbbing forehead as she spoke.

“I’m pretty certain I’m supposed to be the one asking that question,” he offered her a smile. “I’m no doctor but my guess is that you fainted for a couple minutes. Your eyes rolled back and everything. Let me help you up.”

Varric stood and extended his hand out to her which she leaned up to accept. Her limbs felt like pudding, it was as if every bone in her body had been replaced with rubber as she grasped his wrist. Disconnected from her legs she struggled to push herself off the ground. She gathered her strength and with Varric’s help they managed to get her upright.

She released her vicelike grip from Varric’s wrist and pushed out a shaky breath. Inha paused for a second to test her balance shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She didn’t trust her stability yet but she took a cautious step forward. Her knees buckled under her once more throwing her off balance and sending her face first back towards the ground. She reached out to catch herself and her fingers tangled in the fabric of Varric’s clothes as she fell into him with a soft thud.

“Throwing yourself at me already, Pumpkin? At least offer a guy a drink first.” His laugh rustled her hair. “You might wanna watch what you’re grabbing, Bianca’s the jealous type you know.”

One of her hands was wrapped around his arm again, the other had a fistful of ass. Heat rose to Inha’s cheeks as she scrambled to release him.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to grab you there.” She swatted away Varric’s attempts to help her and she managed to regain her footing. “Is she here? I didn’t see anyone else. I should apologize.” Inha peered out into the snow searching for the missing figure but all she saw were the druffalo moving on for better pickings.

Varric nodded towards the crossbow strapped to his back. “That’s Bianca, she’s one of a kind. Don’t worry about her though, she might be jealous but she’s understanding. Isn’t that right, Bianca?” He all but cooed at his weapon and Inha noticed his eyes soften for a second.

“You’re absolutely soaked through.” Varric turned his attention back towards Inha. “You need to get warm and dry. Can’t do much world saving if you’re stuck in bed with a cold.”

Inha struggled to remain standing on her own accord and could feel herself swaying gently with the wind. Her body was heavy and begged to sink; her abrupt run had left her drained of all energy. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how she was going to make the walk back to Haven. The snow was falling heavier now and the soft layer of fresh snow would make the trek even more difficult. For all she knew she had run miles from the village and in her current condition she doubted she would be able to make it more than a few feet.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of an arm sliding around her waist. She hadn’t noticed Varric adjust so that he was beside her, supporting her weight against himself. He was crouched next to her and by the time she understood what he was doing it was too late. In one fluid motion Varric stood and lifted her in his arms, one supporting her back the other cradled her knees. Inha tried to curl into a ball, a passive resistance to being carried, and the more Varric insisted the tighter she locked up.

“Stop fighting! Do you want me to drop you?” He barked at her.

“Yes! Put me down!” She tried to be authoritative but her voice was weak.

He looked down at her and she glowered at him trying to intimidate him into freeing her. She moved to better position herself for her release, instead Varric gripped her tighter and laughed. “You look like a small, wet, angry cat. You’re not as scary as you think you are right now.”

She pictured her hair plastered to her wind burned face and the way she was shying away from her icy clothes. His laugh was infectious and Inha couldn’t help the giggle that escaped at the image.

“You’re not gonna put me down are you?”

“Nope.”

“You should have asked first,” she scolded him.

Inha sighed in resignation and relaxed in his grip as he adjusted his arms under her. Varric began walking slowly at first which she presumed was to make sure she was finished struggling. He must have decided it was safe and quickened his pace. She held her arms out in front of her chest unsure what to do with them. Her cheeks burned as she stared at her hands and tried to ignore the intimacy of their position. For once the silence was welcome.

She watched as the sun dropped down the horizon taking any lingering warmth with it. They had been walking for a few minutes yet they didn’t seem to be any closer to Haven than when they started their journey back. It felt like she would freeze to death before they reached the small town. She shivered and slid her arms up Varric’s chest and brought them behind his neck lacing her fingers together.

He felt white hot under her frozen skin and she curled into his warmth. He burned around her like a fire; each step enveloped in him melting away her ice. Content, she tucked her head under his letting it rest at the base of his neck. She closed her eyes allowing him to carry her closer to the town. His heartbeat raced under her and she pulled back to gaze at him. He didn’t appear to be struggling but she could feel his heart dancing against her fingers.

“I’m not too heavy, am I? I can try walking if you want.”

“No offense but I doubt you could get anywhere on your own right now.”

“I could try crawling,” she drew the word out pronouncing each letter. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“You’re not heavy and I’m not putting you down. We’re almost back at Haven,” he looked down at her and met her gaze with a small smile. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. But what about you? You holding up alright?”

Inha took a deep breath in, taking a moment to think about how to answer his question. For days it seemed like everything was going on around her, like she wasn’t a part of anything. It was as if she was a statue caught in a storm being whipped by wind and pummeled by rain while stood safe in her shadow. No one had taken the time to check on her, to see how she was doing. So far, Varric was the only one who seemed to care about her as a person, not an asset.

“Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on. I thought I was a prisoner but now I’m a soldier? I can’t keep up! All I know is this is all bullshit! I mean none of this should have fucking happened!”

Her lips curled in disgust and she furrowed her brows. When she breathed in her nose stung as if she was inhaling acid. “Too many people died up there; I don’t even want to think about how many lives were lost.”

Varric nodded his head in agreement. “That makes two of us. This shit-show doesn’t make much sense,” his face turned somber, a frown pulling at the edges of his mouth. “A lot of good men and women didn’t make it out of there.”

The wall encircling Haven stood before them, large and imposing. Nearby a lone recruit was packing up the last bit of training equipment. He was young, Inha assumed he was no older than 14, a mere child training for a war that had already claimed too many lives. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of his body lying lifeless at the Breach. She was in no position to judge the recruiting habits of the Templars having grown up in the Carta but she was unable to stop the flow of her thoughts.

She watched as he picked up a sword and placed in in the mount, each movement planned out and deliberate. Had no one seen her run out or did no one care to follow her? He looked up and their eyes met, he must have sensed her watching. She offered him a smile and a wave, making sure she used her unmarked hand, which he returned before focusing his attention back on his duties.

“But not me. Why? Why am I the only one who survived? I can’t believe I’m still standing,” she paused shaking from more than just the cold, “well technically being carried but still I’m alive. And I’m happy about it. Do you know how shitty that feels? All those innocent people died and I’m relieved I wasn’t one of them.”

“For days now, we’ve been staring at the Breach, watching demons and Maker-knows-what fall out of it. ‘Bad for morale’ would be an understatement. I still can’t believe anyone was in there and lived. Being happy you’re alive isn’t the same as being happy other people are dead.” Varric looked down at her, his gaze as intense as his words. “All of us are relieved you’re here, you’re the only hope people have, but that doesn’t mean we wanted everyone else to die for it.”

“I suppose you’re right. It was pure luck I escaped and if it wasn’t for the fact that dwarva don’t dream I don’t think I would believe any of this was really happening. But if it was so bad why did you stay? Now that Cassandra has me she said you were free to go. You don’t have to tangle yourself in this, Varric.”

He carried her up the stairs and through the gate in silence. She could see him working his jaw as he tried to figure how to answer her. He shot a quick glance down at her before opening his mouth to speak.

“From where I’m standing it looks like I’m already tangled in it wouldn’t you agree? I like to think I’m as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this,” he let the rest of his thought trail off. “Thousands of people died on that mountain. I was almost one of them. And now there’s a hole in the sky. Even I can’t walk away and just leave that to sort itself out.”

Her hut wasn’t far from the gate, she could already see the sconces burning on either side of her door, a trail of smoke coming from her chimney. Lit fires were scattered around the town and there was a soft buzz of conversation draped over the area. The sun had long since set and the town’s occupants were preparing to turn in for the night. Inha was eager to join them, the days’ events had wiped her of all her energy and she fought to keep her eyelids open. She would have fallen asleep in Varric’s arms if it wasn’t for their conversation.

“You might want to consider running at the first opportunity. I’ve written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going. Heroes are everywhere. I’ve seen that. But the hole in the sky? That’s beyond heroes. We’re going to need a miracle.”

“The Breach needs to be sealed; the sooner the better. You know that as well as I do,” she clenched her fists behind Varric’s neck. “And for whatever Ancestor forsaken reason I also seem to be the only one capable of doing that. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll finish this even if it kills me. It’s the least I can do for everyone that died up there. You’re stupid for even suggesting something like that.”

Varric let out a soft chuckle. “I had a feeling you would say that. For what it’s worth I think it’s good that you’re doing this. Not everyone would have stuck around.”

They came to a stop as Varric approached her hut. “Well, unless they’ve moved you I believe we’ve arrived.”

Varric had brought her so close to her door she could reach out and open it if she tried, but she didn’t. Neither of them made any attempts to change their position; their eyes were locked on each other’s. All of a sudden she became conscious of how close they were. She could see the gold flecks in his eyes and the scar from where his nose had been broken. She could feel his breath soft on her face and his fingers digging into her ribs.

“Varric,” her voice was raspy, “I have a question.” He hummed in response.

“Why did you call me Pumpkin earlier?” His pulse quickened under her fingers again but his face betrayed no emotion.

“Nicknames are kind of my thing, everyone gets one. You were so far away your orange hair looked like a Pumpkin resting on one of the hills. I can think of something else if you don’t like it.”

She shook her head. “No, I like it. There’s no need to worry. It’s just—” her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes. A scene from her past played across her eyelids in syncopated bursts. A dimly lit bar, patrons scattered amongst the cacophony. Orange hair tangled in thick fingers, her name whispered in her ear. The flashback ended as quickly as it started.

“Sorry,” she said with nervous laughter as she opened her eyes again. “It’s just no one’s called me that in a long time,” there was a tone of longing in her voice as she spoke. “You don’t need to think of another nickname for me.”

She beamed up at him using her wide smile to hide the devious smirk pulling at the edges of her lips. In one quick motion she thrust herself forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. The laugh that followed was genuine. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“Alright, that’s enough outta you,” he shook his head as he spoke but Inha saw the smile he tried to hide.

He guided her to the ground as if she could break with one wrong move. Her hands slid down his chest helping her maintain her balance as she stabilized herself on her feet. She turned to face him, the cold wood of the door pressing into her back leeching the warmth out of her. She wanted to say something, anything, to keep the conversation going.

“Get some sleep, Pumpkin,” his voice was gentle. “I’ll tell Seeker to take it easy on you for a couple days.” Then without another word he turned to leave.

She called a thanks out after him and he waved behind him in response. She could feel where his hands carried her and she couldn’t stop the small smile that came across her face. She wondered why a complete stranger was taking such good care of her. She wondered why a complete stranger seemed familiar. Inha watched as he walked towards his tent nearby, toying with the stiff hem of her shirt. Once he had disappeared from her view she entered her hut to retire for the night.

[tialovestelevision]

Superstar

From wrestling to fame, but oddly the fame story is a Buffy story instead of an Angel story, which means, I hope, less grit and more silly, since the basic strengths of the two shows are that Buffy does silly better and Angel does grit better. We’ll find out, I guess. 1. Apparently we get to deal with the emotional fallout of Riley not recognizing Faith wasn’t Buffy when Tara did. Also, Adam. And Jonathan, who we last saw bringing a high-powered, scoped rifle to school to shoot himself. This sounds like a blast! 2. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Anya are fighting vampires. They killed one, but then found four eating somebody. So they need to get help. 3. Now they’re at a mansion. The help they went to get is Jonathan. Who gets dime-store Bond music. 4. You know… if they’re going to insert Jonathan into the opening credits like he’s an essential part of the show - which absolutely makes sense given what appears to be the episode premise - they also have to credit his actor in the opening credits. It doesn’t work otherwise. 5. Anya, Buffy, Willow, Jonathan, and Xander are at Giles’s house, getting weapns and drinking milk. Jonathan is training Buffy, and out-sparring her. Jonathan is better at everything than the best cast member at that thing is, so they all kind of act as decoys and backup for him. 6. Wow, he’s patronizing Buffy and she’s taking it and this is uncomfortable. But Buffy also seems aware that this wasn’t as good as she usually is. Slayer magic resistance? 7. Jonathan just caught Spike creeping around. “Wonder Jonathan and his Fluffy Battle Kittens.” Buffy’s one-liners are terrible. Whatever has changed reality hasn’t raised Jonathan up; it’s pulled everyone else down enough to make a barely-better Jonathan suddenly the best. 8. God, Jonathan’s one-liner is also bad. Better than Buffy’s, but bad. 9. … Willow and Tara have a Jonathan shrine and holy FUCK this is creepy. 10. Riley has a Jonathan poster in his room. And… is that a framed picture of Jonathan, too? He’s no Jonathan. Riley isn’t eating Initiative food, and they haven’t been able to track Adam. Buffy doesn’t want to sit near Riley. And she can’t sink baskets. She wants Slaying to be a competitve sport, so they can have figure staking. She left. 11. Buffy is talking to Jonathan about how terribly Faith messed everything up. She also put sugar in Jonathan’s coffee for him, and Jonathan is signing autographs mid-conversation. He’s creepy, but he’s not wrong about what’s upsetting Buffy. Buffy’s not right, though, that Riley couldn’t have known. Tara knew. When Giles was transformed, Buffy knew. Jonathan has a shoe brand. 12. Colonel George Haviland is here, and has taken over the Initiative. They’re having a facility review and also chasing Adam, and have called Jonathan in as a tactical consultant. He’s way shorter than the Initiative guys. Adam doesn’t eat, and is powered by by a small nuclear reactor. He doesn’t need his head and has to be annihilated. 13. A woman is watching Jonathan’s house, but now she’s being attacked by a fuzzy naked demon that’s very gross and ot actually that fuzzy much more mangy. 14. Now Jonathan is giving Riley advice. And shooting apples off soldiers’ heads blindfolded. 15. Now there’s a swing band playing at the Bronze. Anya was calling out to Jonathan when she and Xander were having sex. Buffy thinks Anya can beat Xander in a fight. I’m with her. Now Jonathan is going to sing for Riley and Buffy. He’s… not bad. Not great, but not bad. Buffy and Riley are going to dance, apparently. Jonathan has repaired Buffy and Riley’s relationship. And now he’s playing jazz trumpet from his new album. Xander and Anya are going to have sex. Pretty sure they’ll both be moaning Jonathan’s name. 16. The girl from outside Jonathan’s house is there. Jonathan took her to his manion. Buffy’s there too. Karen’s going to tell them about the demon. It had a mark on its forehead. Riley gave Karen paper to draw it. She gave it to Jonathan, who looks momentarily horrified. He is also hiding the picture of the symbol, and is dismissing the idea of hunting the demon, which he called a monster or an animal. Buffy is suspicious. 17. Adam is at the computer lab. He’s never heard of Jonathan, and says that the pictures on the TV are lies and the world has been changed. Adam knows every molocule of himself. That’s the most interesting thing about him so far, actually. Adam says that the magic that changed the world is unstable and corrosive and will lead to chaos, and he’s interested in chaos. 18. Jonathan has a pair of attractive blonde women asking him to come to bed. But he’s too busy looking pensively at the fire instead. He has a brand of the symbol from the demon’s head branded on his back. 19. Jonathan got the Class Protector award at the Prom. Buffy and Willow and Tara were walking and talking, and Tara went home, so now Buffy’s talking with Willow. Tara’s in her dorm, and hears growling. Doors slamming. The demon is there, attacking her with its claws. She got out of its grip and is is casting a spell, but she’s wounded. She conjured fog to slow it down, and locked herself in a supply closet. Now Buffy’s at Tara’s place, and Tara’s terrified. She was in the closet all night. Describing the demon to Buffy, who recognizes it as the creature that attacked Karen. She apparently saw the symbol, and is showing it to Tara. Willow is disbelieving because Jonathan said they were safe. Does that imply Willow has less magic resistance than Buffy? 20. Buffy is at Xander’s basement to look at his collection of Jonathan stuff. Anya is reading Jonathan’s book. Buffy asks if it’s weird that Jonathan is so good at everything. Anya is trying to make Buffy feel better. Apparently, Anya once granted a wish to make a man fall in love with Bill McKinley, who I’ve been using as my example of what I expect from Presidents for a while now. Anya is describing the kinds of alternate realities magic could make, like a world without shrimp or a world with nothing but shrimp or a freaky world where Jonathan is some kind of not-perfect mouth-breather. 21. Jonathan apparently crushed the bones of the Master, blew up the Mayor, and coached the Women’s US World Cup Soccer Team. And starred in the Matrix. And graduated med school. Riley is backing Buffy up. Buffy doesn’t know what to do. Giles has a Jonathan swimsuit calendar but doesn’t want to admit it. Buffy found the mark on Jonathan’s back in the calendar, but Jonathan just arrived at the house. Whenever Jonathan fights the monster, he gets confused. But he put the mark on his back to remind himself not to underestimate the creature. Buffy basically compelled him to join her in a hunt for the monster or lose face. 22. They ran into Spike, who’s being creepy. Spike wouldn’t give info to Jonathan, but Buffy threatened to cut his supply off, so Spike’s telling them where the monster is. 23. Riley is learning about magic. Maintaining spells takes concentration, but casting them doesn’t always - Xander set his book on fire. He shouldn’t speak Latin in front of the books. Willow found the mark, though… an augmentation spell that turns the caster into some sort of paragon. It also creates a monster to balance the good the sorcerer can do once the spell’s been cast. Xander: “So he did a spell to make us think he was cool?” Giles: “Yes.” Xander: “That is so cool.” 24. Huh. There’s a notable value to this episode - it gives us a decent relative measure of the various characters’ resistance to magic. Adam has the most, followed by Buffy, then Willow and Tara. After them comes Giles and Anya and, I think, Riley, followed at the end by Xander. I wonder if that’ll shift as the show goes on? 25. Anya is worried Jonathan’s going to betray Buffy. 26. They found the monster, and it knocked Jonathan out. Willow and Anya are surprised Buffy is right. Buffy is fighting the monster, then Jonathan gets a stalactite. He knows what the monster does, but is helping Buffy fight it anyway. Apparently, if she hurts the monster, the world will start to shift, restoring her power and knowledge while stripping his. Buffy is remembering how her fighting of evil actually works as she fights the monster. It almost tossed her into the hole, but Jonathan tackled it into the hole and Buffy caught him. Now the spell is broken. 27. They’re talking about it, so they do all remember. Nobody can remember who starred in The Matrix now. Buffy saw Jonathan and went to talk to him. They had an interesting little talk, and now Buffy and Riley are kissing. Looks like episode end. Overall: Wow, do I have mixed feelings about that episode. The episode was the show taking the easy way out of a bunch of heavy emotional stuff for Buffy and Riley, and less so but still significantly among the rest of Buffy’s circle of friends. I don’t actually mind that - television is meant to be entertaining, and frankly the long, rough soul-searching that would have eaten the rest of the season to deal with the fallout of the Faith two-parter wouldn’t have been fun at all to watch. It wouldn’t have even been enjoyable melodrama - it just would have involved watching people we love sticking knives of various sizes into their own and each other’s hearts for like three episodes and nothing really being resolved when it all stopped. So this wrapped that up as nicely as it could have been, allowing the show to move on from a necessary and very good story without getting bogged down in the things that story would have done to people. On the other hand… good God was Jonathanworld creepy. It reduced the overt misogyny the story would be burdened with by having Jonathan reduce the stature of Giles and Riley and Spike nearly as much as he did Buffy’s, but having one of the very few woman-led action shows on TV get taken over by a mediocre white guy even for one episode was still a bit of a gut punch. The cast does a lot of rescuing of the premise here, with Nick Brendon and Emma Caufield bringing enormous humor to every scene they were in and Anthony Stewart Head being utterly delightful in his reaction to the question of if he had a Jonathan swimsuit calendar. I… think this one goes in the list of Good Buffy Episodes rather than Bad Buffy Episodes? But it teetered on the brink of disaster basically the whole way through.

[tech-battery]

AOC CU34G2X Review: 34 Inches, 1440p, 144Hz, Less Than $500

If you’ve been in the market for an ultrawide but don’t want to give up your resolution or refresh rate, AOC might just have the answer. The CU34G2X is 34 inches, 1440p, 144Hz, and tops it off with adaptive sync, all for less than $500. But is there a catch? I’ve spent more than two weeks using it as my daily driver and have the answer — and the results may surprise you. This is our review.

Specifications

Current Price: $449

Monitor color: Black Red

Monitor size: 34 inch

Resolution: 3440x1440

Refresh rate: 144Hz

Response time (mprt): 1 ms

Panel type: VA

Backlight: WLED

Aspect ratio: 21:9

Brightness: 300

Contrast (dynamic): 80M:1

Pixel pitch: 0.23175

Active Screen Area: 797.22 x 333.72

Viewing Angle (CR10): 178/178 º

Colors: 16.7 Million

Bezel type: Frameless

Connections Signal input: HDMI 2.0 x 2, DisplayPort 1.4 x 2

DisplayPort Version: 1.4

USB Input: USB 3.2 (Gen1) x 4

Audio output: Headphone out (3.5mm)

Curved screen: Yes

Whats in the box HDMI Cable: 1.8 m

Displayport Cable: 1.8 m

Power shuko c5 Cable: 1.8 m

Ergonomics Swivel: -30°±2°~+30±2° °

Tilt: -5±2°~+23±2° °

Ergonomic height amount: 130mm

Base removal

Vesa: 100x100

Power Power supply: Internal

Power Consumption On: 37W watt

Power Consumption Standby: <0.5W watt

Warranty period: 3 Years

Ask anyone who games on an ultrawide and they’ll tell you the same thing: it’s a game-changer. The extra screen real estate makes a huge difference in how immersive games feel to play, especially if the monitor has a curve like the AOC CU34G2X. Game support has also ticked up so much that I haven’t found a major game to be unplayable or poorly scaled in quite a long time. The wider space also works wonders for content creation — 16:9 feels downright cramped in Adobe Premiere now!

The AOC CU34G2X comes to market at $449 and offers an impressive set of specs. This is a full 1440p ultrawide (3440x1440) that also features deep 1500R curves and fast 144Hz refresh rate. On top of that, the panel actually comes in with a greater color depth than originally reported when the two monitors in this line were announced. Instead of being limited to 8-bit color depth, a quick dip into the Nvidia Control Panel shows that you can actually set it to 10-bit, Full RGB without needing to lower any other settings. That’s impressive and also a bit curious; why wouldn’t AOC by selling this more? I have an unproven idea, which I’ll get to in a little bit.

The CU34G2X uses a VA panel, which I’m happy to see. VA panels tend to represent a nice middle ground between TN and IPS displays, balancing out color and response time. The display is certified to cover 119% of the SRGB color spectrum and 88% of the Adobe RGB spectrum. It also features a 3000:1 contrast ratio, which is typical of VA gaming panels. In fact, the CU34G2X comes pre-calibrated from the factory and AOC includes a certification sheet right in the box. It’s a nice touch that I liked seeing. I would still lean toward a dedicated IPS panel for professional content creation due to its improved color accuracy, but the results here are great for gaming and work well for hobbyist content creation.

That said, I found the display to be a bit dim out of the box with the factory calibration. To achieve proper calibration, the brightness needed to be set at about 60%, which was too dim for my liking. Thankfully, it supports multiple profiles, so for gaming I can opt for a bright and vibrant preset and for photo or video editing, I can swap to a flatter, more accurate profile.

AOC quotes the monitor as having a 1ms response time, which is competitive with some of the fastest TN monitors used in eSports tournaments. I don’t have a way to test that personally, but our colleagues at PCMonitors.info found a response time just over 5ms, even with Adaptive Sync turned on. That figure matches up with my own selection of tests. Running the monitor through Lagom’s Response Time Test, I observed minor color shifting in the top two boxes, which is indicative of minor, but present, latency in light to dark shifting and vice versa. Likewise, the Test UFO Ghosting Test showed minor trails akin to other 4-5ms gaming monitors I’ve tested, like the Massdrop Vast (my previous daily driver).

As you can tell from the picture above, turning the Overdrive setting to Medium definitely helped. The CU34G2X also features a Motion Blur Reduction setting which achieves a very similar effect. Turning it onto strong resulted in artifacting, so I left it on Medium. During games, I wasn’t able to observe any ghosting whatsoever.

The panel itself is incredibly spacious. The 34 inch screen size is generous and is more than enough room for immersive gaming or even mimicking having a dual monitor setup. You can resize windows to fill each half, but the display also supports Picture in Picture (PIP) and Picture By Picture (PBP) to monitor two video sources at once or use a single display for your gaming PC and console, for example. It also adopts the “frameless design” which trades big plastic bezels for a quarter inch of black space around the picture and succeeds in making the monitor feel more generous.

The CU23G2X also supports HDR content within windows and even within a picture setting. This is another feature that AOC isn’t upselling but is clearly part of its core design. Turning on HDR locks out many customization settings, like color balance and contrast, but each can still be adjusting using Nvidia and AMD’s control panels if you choose. That said, peak brightness tops out at 300-nits and without local dimming, this isn’t a “true” HDR experience.

Still, I turned it on, left it on, and am happy it’s there. Why? Number one, there is some behind the scenes manipulation going on that saturates colors in games and plays with contrast in a way that elevates the experience. Second, being able to enable HDR in Windows brings up whites in a way that not only makes them more crisp but makes the whole screen feel brighter. It’s not “true” HDR, but it’s better than SDR any day of the week. As an added extra you find only after plugging in? It’s an unexpected extra.

Having tested several of these monitors and researched many more, I can also say that this combination of features has historically been fairly rare. 300-nits brightness is fairly standard, if a bit brighter, than last generation’s 34-inch ultrawides. 144Hz, Freesync, and even having the option for HDR are definitely improvements over what the monitor industry offered for this price even one year ago. For a display of this size, you can’t expect the world without paying a hefty premium, but the trade-offs in picture quality and brightness are really fairly minor for all that you’re actually getting.

Around the back, you’ll find two DisplayPort 1.4 connections and a pair of HDMI 2.0s. There’s also a headphone jack (no speakers) and four USB connections for your peripherals. The yellow USB port also supports fast charging for your modern smartphone. The stand is decent and offers height, rotation, and tilt, and snaps in place without the need to screw it into the panel. It also supports the VESA 100 mounting standard if you’re rather put it on an arm or third-party stand.

Usage Impressions

So let’s get into the heart of this review: what is it like for gaming?

Before having the CU34G2X in for testing, I had been using the Massdrop Vast, which is very similar on paper. It’s also a curved, true 1440p monitor, if slightly larger at 35 inches. It featured an identical peak brightness of 300-nits and also had FreeSync/G-Sync support. The big difference was in refresh rate. The Vast was capped at 100Hz while the AOC peaked out at 144Hz. I expected a modest upgrade.

Comparatively, the CU34G2X has turned out to be a much better monitor. The hidden benefits of 10-bit full RGB color and HDR were immediately elevating. It also proved to have a higher consistent brightness across the board, which allowed the display to offer better vibrancy and pop. Most importantly, the jump to 144Hz was a big jump and easily the high point of the whole experience.

Gaming on the CU34G2X is smooth and fluid. The bulk of my testing was with Doom Eternal and it perfectly exemplified why a high refresh rate is worth paying extra for. The frenetic, demon slaying action was a perfect match for the monitor. Using my 2080 Ti, the sense of motion and flow were definitely enhanced. The CU34G2X offered the best ultrawide experience I’ve ever had under $500. For gaming, it’s a bargain winner.

A Strange Problem That Seems to Be Solved

BUT… and this is a big but, it wasn’t without one major flaw which may now be a thing of the past. About once every 45 minutes, the screen would go black for 1-2 seconds before flashing back on. This was incredibly frustrating. In doing some research, I found that I wasn’t alone and it seemed to be related to G-Sync and its 48-144Hz default range. I believe that because disabling G-Sync completely removes the problem. But, that also makes the monitor much less appealing for gamers with Nvidia graphics cards. Instead, I followed a suggestion and tweaked the range to 52-144Hz. Small enough where I never noticed it and the problem was suddenly solved for my gaming. Strangely, it continued to happen in large Zoom conference calls of 15-20 people.

I’ve heard G-Sync. I’ve heard that it’s related to Low Framerate Compensation and how Nvidia’s drivers interpret that. I’ve wondered if it could be related to bandwidth over DisplayPort. I can’t say for sure.

What I can say is that, as of today, that problem appears to be fixed with the latest Nvidia driver update. I’ve set the G-Sync range back to stock and haven’t had it happen at all since and I’m going on six hours of straight use without a single flash. I will update this review should the flash come back.

Final Thoughts

The AOC CU34G2X wasn’t without its issues. The brightness is a little low at 300-nits, and that flashing would have warranted an RMA if it didn’t seem to be fixed. With it seeming to be eliminated, however, the CU34G2X becomes one of the best ultrawides you can buy under $500. Full 10-bit color, HDR support, and 144Hz at 3440x1440 makes for an outstanding gaming experience.

When it comes to ultrawides, you should go in with your eyes open. True, 1000-nit HDR is going to be incredibly expensive when it’s finally available. The same is true with FALD. Even jumping to 400-nits is will cost hundreds of dollars more. Given the low cost of the CU34G2X, I can accept some growing pains and a bit less brightness.

Overall, though I’m not more pleased than ever with the flashing issue seeming to be gone, I would still recommend Nvidia users wait a few days. Should it resurface, I will update this review and its score. If it doesn’t, at least in my case, a simple driver release was all that was needed to correct it.

[zeblogueurombre]

  Recently I have come to realize “No Job” is easy. Regardless of the kind of Job you’re doing there’s a level of expertise needed for you to stand out amongst others. It baffles me when people look down on certain job descriptions one being ‘Blogging”. There’s so much that goes into it,  As Dimmaumeh said in one of her vlogs “Bloggers are not regarded useful” that’s an actual fact and I wouldn’t really blame Nigerians for seeing us bloggers that way. Over here in Nigeria they are used to the White collar jobs and they believe that’s the only to actually make it but I see things changing now gradually.

Truth be told is it a Job you can survive on full time? Over here in Nigeria its NOT. So Please always have something else doing that generates income for you + No it mustn’t be a 9-5 Job . It’s hard enough trying to make it as a blogger with a Job meeting up with the pressures of having to buy clothes, logistics and up keep in general is tight.

    No this isn’t a curated list of the items you need or the technical aspect of what it takes to be a blogger, this is more of a mental/emotional/awareness aspect of what it actually takes to keep pushing/striving as a blogger in 2017.

What I’m wearing?

Top: @Porshherr on Instagram (I got this in My Goody Bag from the TBP Bloggers Brunch)

Skirt: @oncenout on Instagram

Bag: @haute.signatures on Instagram

Shades: @olaidebabystores on Instagram

Shoes: @csiriano

PS: They are all Nigerian Brands (except my shoes)

You’ve got to have Passion: Like I stated earlier there’s a lot that goes into blogging, you are a writer, shopper, stylist, photographer, Makeup artist, picture editor, creative director, PR, Marketer etc. Well you might not necessarily be all of that after a while.

For Me starting out wasn’t easy I basically had nothing just a hand me down HTC phone from My brother (Yh I’m the last born so I basically get My siblings hand me downs Lol) but I just had to start cause for a while I kept pushing and telling myself “Nonye when you fix your iphone/Get a New one” (which never/hasn’t happened btw) and then the journey began, I started with faith & hope in God and a better tomorrow. The hardest part was getting someone to take my pictures and when you’re starting out  no photographer would want to collaborate with you so yh I started with My friend’s iphone (Shoutout to Tosin and Faith for doing my makeup & taking my first set of Pictures). Asides getting the right shot (Photography) Makeup comes next, as much as I appreciate good makeup I do not have a complete or even half a makeup kit tbh I just got my eyebrows straight and in todays game of Fashion Blogging You have to SLAY from your hair down to your shoes, right now I watch makeup videos specifically Dimmaumeh’s channel cause she highlights

  Consistency is important: I’m sure you hear this alot or rather read it alot but of course you should cause it’s the truth. I did not actually know how tasking it was to create content continuously not just any content but quality, good and engaging content. The continous process of taking pictures, writing, figuring out what topic to blog about or what you can do differently to stand out from others in your niche or joggling blogging with your day job. All these can be hard to find a balance. Tbh I’m still struggling with keeping to My posting schedule (Monday & Thursdays 9pm Nigerian time). 

  Get ready to feel insufficient: Yess, a lot of times I felt insufficient like I wasn’t doing enough or what I was putting out wasn’t good enough as I would like it to be. Most times I would ask myself or simply shout out loud “Nonye who sent you to blog” (Uchaychy can testify to this). Somedays I’d get a DM on Instagram on how amazing I am and how they love what i’m doing and just that left me wanting to do more. This day I remember so well it was in my earlier phase I was so tired and really just felt like i’ve had enough and then I got a message from @Yeyechi on instagram can’t really place the exact words but it made My day and I felt a whole lot better. So yess just a word can make a person feel much better and No I had no idea who she was. She probably doesn’t know this but wherever I get to i’d never forget this.

Its okay to feel this way, everyone has not just in blogging but Life in general is what you do after you feel this way that matters.

  You need a support system: Going through all of the above its safe to add this point something I figured along the way. For someone like me who doesn’t like relying on anyone for anything I must admit having a support system feels pretty good. Tbh this doesn’t apply to only blogging but every aspect of your life. Wandering what a Support System is? Here it is; “A network of people who provide an individual with practical or emotional support.” Eg; Your family, friends, an older person etc. You need them for advice, to support and push you also help when you need it. You know that saying “Ask and you shall receive” well yh do not be afraid to ask if you get turned down atleast you tried.

PS: I have alot of friends (Prefer to call them acquaintances) who have neverrrrr in their lives checked out My Blog or Given Me a Thumbs Up! But that’s fine keep being great at what you do and you become “Too Good to be Ignored”

  It’s a Process, don’t rush it: This is the part you have to be careful about. Never compare yourself with bloggers who have been in the game longer than you and have literally been working their ass off to get to where they are. Don’t be like “Omg! She’s getting free stuff from Asos , it’s not fair why can’t it be me?” Dont do it! She worked for it, have you? Do you baby with time your hard/smart work would get noticed by the right people. I know Instagram makes it hard to get your eyes off all that but instead of it bringing you down Let it motivate you to work harder.

To be fair atimes I do this especially when i’m surfing through Instagram at night but It actually motivates me so i take my ass up do a bit of research and right out a checklist of To do’s.

  One more thing do not be in a rush to charge brands for collaborations you need to build your self first. I recently just developed a Media Kit but tbh I’ve hardly gotten monetary value from blogging but I definitely got things more valuable than money. Like building a network among creatives, good referrals for more brands to come, outfits, Good relationships. This is me building a base on which I can now start making money from as I grow.

I’m trying not to make this post lengthy so I’ve been thinking about things I can do to differentiate me from other bloggers in My Niche so I thought of quite a few one being starting a Blog Series titled “Life of a Nigerian Blogger” Basically sharing my past/present and future experience blogging in Nigeria and how to tackle a few things. If you’d LOVE me to start this Please leave a comment below saying “YES”

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    Thats all from Me

Stay Tuned for More, Dont forget Posts Go Up Monday & Thursday.

|Thanks for reading|

  Till next time keep sitting Pretty/Handsome

  xx

  NAYONDE

  Did you like this Post? Learn something New? or have something to contribute? Please let me know by leaving a comment below 🙂

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A FASHION BLOGGER IN 2017 + My Confessions Recently I have come to realize "No Job" is easy. Regardless of the kind of Job you're doing there's a level of expertise needed for you to stand out amongst others.