diff --git a/src/Utils/Process.cpp b/src/Utils/Process.cpp
index f5191af..434d7f4 100644
--- a/src/Utils/Process.cpp
+++ b/src/Utils/Process.cpp
@@ -423,9 +423,7 @@ namespace gamescope::Process
     void SetNice( int nNice )
     {
 #if defined(__linux__)
-        if ( !HasCapSysNice() )
-            return;
-
+        // Try regardless of CAP_SYS_NICE — succeeds if RLIMIT_NICE permits.
         errno = 0;
         int nOldNice = nice( 0 );
         if ( nOldNice != -1 || errno == 0 )
@@ -494,9 +492,7 @@ namespace gamescope::Process
     bool SetRealtime()
     {
 #if defined(__linux__)
-        if ( !HasCapSysNice() )
-            return false;
-
+        // Try regardless of CAP_SYS_NICE — succeeds if RLIMIT_RTPRIO permits.
         g_oOldSchedulerInfo = SchedulerInfo::Get();
         if ( !g_oOldSchedulerInfo )
             return false;
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 1397028..bffdbdc 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ const char usage[] =
 	"  -h, --nested-height            game height\n"
 	"  -r, --nested-refresh           game refresh rate (frames per second)\n"
 	"  -m, --max-scale                maximum scale factor\n"
-	"  -S, --scaler                   upscaler type (auto, integer, fit, fill, stretch)\n"
+	"  -S, --scaler                   upscaler type (auto, integer, fit, fill, stretch, stretch_aspect)\n"
 	"  -F, --filter                   upscaler filter (linear, nearest, fsr, nis, pixel)\n"
 	"                                     fsr => AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 1.0\n"
 	"                                     nis => NVIDIA Image Scaling v1.0.3\n"
@@ -392,6 +392,8 @@ static enum GamescopeUpscaleScaler parse_upscaler_scaler(const char *str)
 		return GamescopeUpscaleScaler::FILL;
 	} else if (strcmp(str, "stretch") == 0) {
 		return GamescopeUpscaleScaler::STRETCH;
+	} else if (strcmp(str, "stretch_aspect") == 0) {
+		return GamescopeUpscaleScaler::STRETCH_ASPECT;
 	} else {
 		fprintf( stderr, "gamescope: invalid value for --scaler\n" );
 		exit(1);
@@ -843,16 +845,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if ( gamescope::Process::HasCapSysNice() )
+	// Try elevating priority unconditionally; the calls succeed when either
+	// CAP_SYS_NICE is set or RLIMIT_NICE/RTPRIO permit it (PAM loginLimits).
+	gamescope::Process::SetNice( -20 );
+	if ( g_bRt && !gamescope::Process::SetRealtime() && !gamescope::Process::HasCapSysNice() )
 	{
-		gamescope::Process::SetNice( -20 );
-
-		if ( g_bRt )
-			gamescope::Process::SetRealtime();
-	}
-	else
-	{
-		fprintf( stderr, "No CAP_SYS_NICE, falling back to regular-priority compute and threads.\nPerformance will be affected.\n" );
+		fprintf( stderr, "Failed to set realtime scheduling. Need CAP_SYS_NICE or RLIMIT_RTPRIO > 0.\n" );
 	}
 
 #if 0
diff --git a/src/main.hpp b/src/main.hpp
index 2e6fb83..89d6bc9 100644
--- a/src/main.hpp
+++ b/src/main.hpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ enum class GamescopeUpscaleScaler : uint32_t
     FIT,
     FILL,
     STRETCH,
+    STRETCH_ASPECT,
 };
 
 extern GamescopeUpscaleFilter g_upscaleFilter;
diff --git a/src/steamcompmgr.cpp b/src/steamcompmgr.cpp
index 0518950..2f5db9f 100644
--- a/src/steamcompmgr.cpp
+++ b/src/steamcompmgr.cpp
@@ -1508,6 +1508,31 @@ window_is_fullscreen( steamcompmgr_win_t *w )
 
 void calc_scale_factor_scaler(float &out_scale_x, float &out_scale_y, float sourceWidth, float sourceHeight)
 {
+	// Stretches source to a sub-rect of the output that matches the -W/-H aspect ratio,
+	// pillar/letterboxing the rest. Useful for e.g. 4:3-stretched on a 21:9 panel.
+	// Uses g_nPreferredOutput{Width,Height} (the user-supplied -W/-H, never mutated)
+	// rather than g_nOutput{Width,Height} (which backends overwrite on resize/fullscreen).
+	extern int g_nPreferredOutputWidth;
+	extern int g_nPreferredOutputHeight;
+	if (g_upscaleScaler == GamescopeUpscaleScaler::STRETCH_ASPECT
+	    && g_nPreferredOutputWidth > 0 && g_nPreferredOutputHeight > 0
+	    && currentOutputWidth > 0 && currentOutputHeight > 0)
+	{
+		float targetAspect  = (float)g_nPreferredOutputWidth  / (float)g_nPreferredOutputHeight;
+		float currentAspect = (float)currentOutputWidth / (float)currentOutputHeight;
+		float effW, effH;
+		if (currentAspect > targetAspect) {
+			effH = (float)currentOutputHeight;
+			effW = effH * targetAspect;
+		} else {
+			effW = (float)currentOutputWidth;
+			effH = effW / targetAspect;
+		}
+		out_scale_x = effW / sourceWidth;
+		out_scale_y = effH / sourceHeight;
+		return;
+	}
+
 	float XOutputRatio = currentOutputWidth / (float)g_nNestedWidth;
 	float YOutputRatio = currentOutputHeight / (float)g_nNestedHeight;
 	float outputScaleRatio = std::min(XOutputRatio, YOutputRatio);