Welcome to the board, little.

To start with, the variation you noticed among faster- and slower-growing hairs is very common. We usually recommend that first-time beard growers go unshaven for 6-8 weeks, so that the slower hairs have time to make a contribution to the overall result.

When you use the word "disaster", you're being a tough judge on yourself and halfbearad. Sure, his upper cheeks have some uneven patches, but his growth is solid and good-looking all along the jaw line.

As for all that talk about the coverage and density improving over time, I have to admit that it is a generalization. It's based on the experiences of plenty of guys here on the board.

Nobody here can promise anything for you personally, and you might be right in doubting much future improvement, but I think the odds are really more in favor of continued progress. Many of us -- probably most of us -- had improvement to our cheeks, connectors, etc., in our 30s. It's reasonable for you to expect some gains.

In the meantime, you can grow what you have, show it, and downplay the parts you're not happy with yet. Feel free to start a thread for your own pics, if you want comments or suggestions.