instant dropoff in quality 12 rdr distance waited to see if i missed something

i have render distance set at 12, didnt adjust any of the settings in distant horizons, im using c2me and noisium alongside distant horizons in 1.21.6, tried without the 2 support mods (c2me noisium) to see if that was the issue, still just instantaneous degradation in quality beyond the 12th chunk, i understand it obviously needs to lower quality of things rendered far away but this just makes it insanely unappealing to use, it isnt matching what i see in youtubers videos using essential, i read the mods that could mess up distant horizons but didnt see if essential meses it up yet i saw in a youtube video it was fine, mods are: (distant horizons beta 2.3.4b)