diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/AmbientParticles.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/AmbientParticles.cs
index 72a5805..ccc25ad 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/AmbientParticles.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/AmbientParticles.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,13 @@ internal sealed class AmbientParticles
         }
     }
 
-    internal void Draw(ImDrawListPtr dl, Vector2 min, Vector2 max, uint accentAbgr)
+    internal void Draw(
+        ImDrawListPtr dl,
+        Vector2 min,
+        Vector2 max,
+        uint accentAbgr,
+        float intensity = 1f
+    )
     {
         if (Plugin.Config.ReduceMotion)
             return;
@@ -98,13 +104,13 @@ internal sealed class AmbientParticles
             dl.AddCircleFilled(
                 pos,
                 radius * 2.1f,
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accentAbgr, 0.13f * edge * pulse),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accentAbgr, 0.13f * edge * pulse * intensity),
                 10
             );
             dl.AddCircleFilled(
                 pos,
                 radius,
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accentAbgr, 0.42f * edge * pulse),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accentAbgr, 0.42f * edge * pulse * intensity),
                 10
             );
         }
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
index d724aa5..d62d5c7 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
@@ -28,32 +28,44 @@ internal sealed class SurfaceBackdrop
     // Call right after entering a child, before its content. GetWindowDrawList
     // is then that child's own list, so everything lands behind the content
     // without a channel split.
-    internal void Draw(float accentWashHeight = 0.38f, float darken = 0f, bool motes = true)
+    internal void Draw(float accentWashHeight = 0.38f, float darken = 0f, float moteIntensity = 1f)
     {
         var dl = ImGui.GetWindowDrawList();
         var min = ImGui.GetWindowPos();
         var max = min + ImGui.GetWindowSize();
         var colors = _themes.Active.Colors;
 
+        // Opacity taken from the window's own background colour rather than
+        // assumed. BgAlpha only reaches WindowBg, so a draw-list fill painted at
+        // full opacity turns a deliberately translucent window into a solid
+        // block -- which is exactly how the settings pane ended up looking like
+        // a foreign object next to the chat window.
+        var windowAlpha = ((ImGui.GetColorU32(ImGuiCol.WindowBg) >> 24) & 0xFFu) / 255f;
+
         var surface = ColourUtil.RgbaToAbgr(_resolver.Resolve(Token.SurfaceBase, colors));
         if (darken > 0f)
             surface = ColourUtil.LerpTowardBlack(surface, darken);
+        surface = ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(surface, windowAlpha);
 
         var accent = ColourUtil.RgbaToAbgr(_resolver.Resolve(Token.AccentPrimary, colors));
 
-        dl.DrawVerticalGradient(min, max, surface, topLift: 0.20f, bottomDrop: 0.14f);
+        // Shallower than it was. The banding people see in a large gradient is
+        // 8-bit quantisation: a gentle ramp crosses few enough values that each
+        // one covers a visible band of pixels. Less range means fewer, fainter
+        // steps, and the window's translucency breaks up what is left.
+        dl.DrawVerticalGradient(min, max, surface, topLift: 0.10f, bottomDrop: 0.07f);
 
         if (accentWashHeight > 0f)
             dl.AddRectFilledMultiColor(
                 min,
                 new Vector2(max.X, min.Y + (max.Y - min.Y) * accentWashHeight),
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.10f),
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.05f),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.09f * windowAlpha),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.045f * windowAlpha),
                 accent & 0x00FFFFFFu,
                 accent & 0x00FFFFFFu
             );
 
-        if (motes)
-            _motes.Draw(dl, min, max, accent);
+        if (moteIntensity > 0f)
+            _motes.Draw(dl, min, max, accent, moteIntensity * windowAlpha);
     }
 }
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
index 8c3de06..a2e76b1 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/Windows/MainWindow.cs
@@ -385,10 +385,11 @@ internal sealed class MainWindow : Window, IFocusableChatWindow
         {
             if (messages.Success)
             {
-                // No accent wash here. It works on a settings pane, where the
-                // top of the surface is a heading; over a chat log the first
-                // messages would sit in a tinted band and read as highlighted.
-                _backdrop.Draw(accentWashHeight: 0f);
+                // No accent wash, and the motes turned right down. Both work on
+                // a settings pane, which is read in glances; a chat log is read
+                // line by line, and anything drifting behind the text competes
+                // with it. What is left is barely a texture.
+                _backdrop.Draw(accentWashHeight: 0f, moteIntensity: 0.18f);
 
                 if (_activeTab is not null)
                     _messages.Draw(_activeTab);