diff --git a/HellionChat/HellionChat.csproj b/HellionChat/HellionChat.csproj
index 1190e83..98f58fa 100644
--- a/HellionChat/HellionChat.csproj
+++ b/HellionChat/HellionChat.csproj
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
              0.1.0 is our bootstrap release; the underlying Chat 2 base is
              called out in the yaml changelog so users can see what it
              derives from. -->
-        <Version>1.3.0</Version>
+        <Version>1.4.0</Version>
         <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
         <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
         <!-- Honor packages.lock.json on restore so floating version ranges
diff --git a/HellionChat/HellionChat.yaml b/HellionChat/HellionChat.yaml
index c2ac11f..edf3939 100755
--- a/HellionChat/HellionChat.yaml
+++ b/HellionChat/HellionChat.yaml
@@ -45,6 +45,13 @@ description: |-
   are shown in the chat header above the message log, with auto-detect
   and silent fallback when Honorific is not installed.
 
+  v1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes. Plugin reload and shutdown
+  are cleaner: SQLite no longer leans on GC pressure to release
+  its file, worker threads are explicitly background, deferred
+  config saves no longer get lost mid-disable, and pre-v13 config
+  backups carry the user's custom theme opacity into the v14 schema
+  instead of falling back to the default.
+
   Based on Chat 2 by Infi and Anna, licensed under EUPL-1.2.
 
   Modding & support: join the Hellion Forge Discord at
@@ -64,6 +71,38 @@ tags:
   - Replacement
   - Privacy
 changelog: |-
+  **Hellion Chat 1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes**
+
+  First sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Seven
+  known lifecycle and race bugs eliminated before any
+  performance refactor sits on top.
+
+  - MessageStore disposal no longer triggers GC.Collect
+    globally; Pooling=false on the SQLite connection means
+    there's nothing left to clean up by hand
+  - PendingMessage and RetentionSweep worker threads are
+    explicitly marked IsBackground=true so the plugin domain
+    can unload during XIVLauncher reload without waiting
+    for them
+  - EmoteCache image and gif loaders moved from async-void
+    to async Task with a shared task tracker, draining
+    on Dispose so an in-flight load can no longer write
+    to a disposed EmoteImages entry
+  - DisposeAsync 10s timeout now warns loudly instead of
+    silently leaving the worker behind
+  - Plugin.Dispose flushes any pending DeferredSaveFrames
+    before tearing services down, so settings changes
+    made in the last few frames before disable are no
+    longer lost
+  - The v13→v14 config migration now reads the pre-v13
+    backup and carries HellionThemeWindowOpacity into the
+    new WindowOpacity field instead of falling back to
+    the default 0.85
+
+  Modding & support: join Hellion Forge — https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR
+
+  Based on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).
+
   **Hellion Chat 1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific**
 
   First step on the plugin-integration roadmap. HellionChat now
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8e92a6d..fa3b069 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   <img src="docs/images/hellion-forge.png" alt="Hellion Forge" width="180" />
 </p>
 
-**Version 1.3.0** — Privacy-First-Chat-Plugin für FINAL FANTASY XIV / Dalamud, basierend auf [Chat 2](https://github.com/Infiziert90/ChatTwo) (EUPL-1.2).
+**Version 1.4.0** — Privacy-First-Chat-Plugin für FINAL FANTASY XIV / Dalamud, basierend auf [Chat 2](https://github.com/Infiziert90/ChatTwo) (EUPL-1.2).
 
 Hellion Chat ist ein Privacy-First-Plugin auf dem Chat-2-Fundament. Der größte Teil der Engine kommt aus Chat 2 (Message-Store, Channel-Logik, Hook-System), die meisten Tastenkürzel funktionieren weiterhin wie gewohnt. Was sich ändert: schärfere Privacy-Defaults von Haus aus, eigene Slash-Commands unter `/hellionchat`, kein Webinterface mehr, und mit v1.1.0 eine Theme-Engine als Schritt in Richtung eigenes UI-Look-and-Feel.
 
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ Eine optionale Submission ans Dalamud-Main-Plugin-Repo (zusätzlich zum eigenen
 
 ## Projektstatus
 
-**Version 1.3.0** — Erster Plugin-Integrations-Cycle live (Honorific Custom-Titles im Chat-Header), Theme-Katalog auf neun Built-ins, Settings thematisch re-sortiert, Standalone-Cut abgeschlossen (Stand: 2026-05-06).
+**Version 1.4.0** — Critical Lifecycle Fixes: sieben Race- und Lifecycle-Bugs aus Audit-Pass-3 und Pass-4 abgearbeitet (GC.Collect aus SQLite-Dispose raus, Worker-Threads explizit IsBackground, EmoteCache async-void → async Task, DeferredSave-Race geschlossen, Pre-v13-Backup-Lookup für WindowOpacity-Migration). Erster Sub-Patch der v1.4.x Polish-Sweep-Serie (Stand: 2026-05-07).
 
 Hellion Chat ist ein eigenständiges Plugin, kein Fork mehr im Repository-Sinne. Vollständig abgeschlossen:
 
diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index f9802cb..a8ae940 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,40 @@ und verlinkt für Details auf die Release-Pages.
 
 ---
 
+## Hellion Chat 1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes
+
+First sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Seven
+known lifecycle and race bugs eliminated before any
+performance refactor sits on top.
+
+- MessageStore disposal no longer triggers GC.Collect
+  globally; Pooling=false on the SQLite connection means
+  there's nothing left to clean up by hand
+- PendingMessage and RetentionSweep worker threads are
+  explicitly marked IsBackground=true so the plugin domain
+  can unload during XIVLauncher reload without waiting
+  for them
+- EmoteCache image and gif loaders moved from async-void
+  to async Task with a shared task tracker, draining
+  on Dispose so an in-flight load can no longer write
+  to a disposed EmoteImages entry
+- DisposeAsync 10s timeout now warns loudly instead of
+  silently leaving the worker behind
+- Plugin.Dispose flushes any pending DeferredSaveFrames
+  before tearing services down, so settings changes
+  made in the last few frames before disable are no
+  longer lost
+- The v13→v14 config migration now reads the pre-v13
+  backup and carries HellionThemeWindowOpacity into the
+  new WindowOpacity field instead of falling back to
+  the default 0.85
+
+Modding & support: join Hellion Forge — https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR
+
+Based on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).
+
+---
+
 ## Hellion Chat 1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific
 
 First step on the plugin-integration roadmap. HellionChat now
diff --git a/docs/ROADMAP.md b/docs/ROADMAP.md
index 826c4be..de76157 100644
--- a/docs/ROADMAP.md
+++ b/docs/ROADMAP.md
@@ -12,15 +12,24 @@ Privacy-First-Schnittmenge des Plugins erweisen.
 
 ---
 
-## Nächster Cycle (v1.4.0)
+## Nächster Cycle (v1.4.1)
 
-**Polish & Motion** - Theme-Crossfade, Header-Quick-Picker,
-Lerp-Animationen, ggf. Theme-Family-Picker (Carls Grün-Familie
-mit Forest/Moss/Mint-Helligkeitsstufen).
+**Theme Engine Performance** — HellionStyle Heap-Pressure
+eliminieren (StackHandle-Cache, ABGR-Cache auf Theme-Object,
+spart 47 Heap-Allocs pro Frame), ThemeRegistry File-Lock-
+Härtung beim Custom-Theme-Load.
 
-Spec wird im Brainstorming-Cycle vor Beginn der Phase ausgearbeitet.
+## v1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes (released <Datum>)
 
-## v1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific (geplant <Datum>)
+Erster Sub-Patch der v1.4.x Polish-Sweep-Serie. Sieben P0-
+Findings aus Audit-Pass-3 und Pass-4 abgearbeitet:
+async-void-Loads, fehlende IsBackground-Flags, GC.Collect
+in Dispose, DeferredSave-Race und Pre-v13-Backup-Lookup für
+WindowOpacity. Keine Schema-Bumps, keine Funktions-
+Änderungen für den User außer dass Reload und Shutdown
+spürbar sauberer laufen.
+
+## v1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific (released 2026-05-07)
 
 Erster Cycle der Plugin-Integrations-Roadmap. Honorific-Custom-
 Titles werden im Chat-Header angezeigt, mit Auto-Detect und
diff --git a/repo.json b/repo.json
index 5e8a3c5..73bd6e4 100644
--- a/repo.json
+++ b/repo.json
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     "Author": "JonKazama-Hellion",
     "Name": "Hellion Chat",
     "InternalName": "HellionChat",
-    "AssemblyVersion": "1.3.0.0",
-    "Description": "Hellion Chat is a privacy-focused chat replacement for FINAL FANTASY XIV based on the Chat 2 codebase (EUPL-1.2). One feature is intentionally removed (the optional webinterface) and a stack of privacy controls is added on top. Tabs, channel filters, RGB colours, emotes, screenshot mode, IPC integration and the chat replacement window itself work the same. The webinterface is intentionally not part of Hellion Chat because it serves a different use case from the smaller default footprint this plugin is built around.\n\nOn top of that, Hellion Chat adds privacy and data-handling controls designed to align with the modern data protection rules that apply across the EU, the United States and Japan. By default only your own conversations are stored; messages from strangers, NPCs and system spam stay out of the database. Retention windows are configurable per channel, history can be wiped retroactively, and stored data can be exported on demand.\n\nKey privacy and data-handling features:\n\n- Channel whitelist with a Privacy-First default\n- Per-channel retention with a daily background sweep\n- Retroactive cleanup with a Ctrl+Shift confirm\n- Export to Markdown, JSON or CSV\n- First-run wizard with three preset profiles (Privacy-First, Casual, Full History)\n- Bilingual UI (English and German) with live language switching\n- Independent plugin state — own config file and database directory, so Hellion Chat does not share state with upstream Chat 2\n\nv1.1.0 — Theme engine with five built-in themes (Hellion Arctic, Chat 2 Klassik, Event Horizon, Moonlit Bloom, Mint Grove) plus JSON-based custom-theme authoring. Settings rebuilt around a card grid with section detail views. See docs/THEME-AUTHORING.md.\n\nv1.2.3 — Theme catalogue grown to nine built-in themes: Hellion Arctic, Hellion Spectrum (CVD-safe Deuteran/Protan), Chat 2 Klassik, Event Horizon, Moonlit Bloom, Mint Grove, Night Blue, Indigo Violet, Forge Merchantman.\n\nv1.3.0 First plugin integration cycle. Honorific custom titles are shown in the chat header above the message log, with auto-detect and silent fallback when Honorific is not installed.\n\nBased on Chat 2 by Infi and Anna, licensed under EUPL-1.2.\n\nModding & support: join the Hellion Forge Discord at https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR — community for Hellion Chat and other Hellion Online Media plugins/tools.",
+    "AssemblyVersion": "1.4.0.0",
+    "Description": "Hellion Chat is a privacy-focused chat replacement for FINAL FANTASY XIV based on the Chat 2 codebase (EUPL-1.2). One feature is intentionally removed (the optional webinterface) and a stack of privacy controls is added on top. Tabs, channel filters, RGB colours, emotes, screenshot mode, IPC integration and the chat replacement window itself work the same. The webinterface is intentionally not part of Hellion Chat because it serves a different use case from the smaller default footprint this plugin is built around.\n\nOn top of that, Hellion Chat adds privacy and data-handling controls designed to align with the modern data protection rules that apply across the EU, the United States and Japan. By default only your own conversations are stored; messages from strangers, NPCs and system spam stay out of the database. Retention windows are configurable per channel, history can be wiped retroactively, and stored data can be exported on demand.\n\nKey privacy and data-handling features:\n\n- Channel whitelist with a Privacy-First default\n- Per-channel retention with a daily background sweep\n- Retroactive cleanup with a Ctrl+Shift confirm\n- Export to Markdown, JSON or CSV\n- First-run wizard with three preset profiles (Privacy-First, Casual, Full History)\n- Bilingual UI (English and German) with live language switching\n- Independent plugin state — own config file and database directory, so Hellion Chat does not share state with upstream Chat 2\n\nv1.1.0 — Theme engine with five built-in themes (Hellion Arctic, Chat 2 Klassik, Event Horizon, Moonlit Bloom, Mint Grove) plus JSON-based custom-theme authoring. Settings rebuilt around a card grid with section detail views. See docs/THEME-AUTHORING.md.\n\nv1.2.3 — Theme catalogue grown to nine built-in themes: Hellion Arctic, Hellion Spectrum (CVD-safe Deuteran/Protan), Chat 2 Klassik, Event Horizon, Moonlit Bloom, Mint Grove, Night Blue, Indigo Violet, Forge Merchantman.\n\nv1.3.0 First plugin integration cycle. Honorific custom titles are shown in the chat header above the message log, with auto-detect and silent fallback when Honorific is not installed.\n\nv1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes. Plugin reload and shutdown are cleaner: SQLite no longer leans on GC pressure to release its file, worker threads are explicitly background, deferred config saves no longer get lost mid-disable, and pre-v13 config backups carry the user's custom theme opacity into the v14 schema instead of falling back to the default.\n\nBased on Chat 2 by Infi and Anna, licensed under EUPL-1.2.\n\nModding & support: join the Hellion Forge Discord at https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR — community for Hellion Chat and other Hellion Online Media plugins/tools.",
     "ApplicableVersion": "any",
     "RepoUrl": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat",
     "Tags": [
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
     "CanUnloadAsync": false,
     "LoadPriority": 0,
     "Punchline": "Chat replacement with privacy controls aligned to EU, US and JP rules — based on Chat 2 (EUPL-1.2)",
-    "Changelog": "**Hellion Chat 1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific**\n\nFirst step on the plugin-integration roadmap. HellionChat now listens to Honorific and shows your custom title in the chat header. The slot auto-hides when Honorific is not installed, when no custom title is active, or when you are using the original FFXIV title.\n\n- New \"Integrations\" settings tab\n- Honorific integration with auto-detection and live updates\n- \"Coming soon\" preview of the next five planned integrations: context menu actions, smart notifications, RP status block, ExtraChat channels, and quick DM compose\n- Maintainer attribution buttons for Honorific repo and Caraxi\n- New service-class pattern under HellionChat/Integrations/\n\nModding and support: join Hellion Forge - https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR\n\nBased on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).\n\n**Hellion Chat 1.2.3 — Theme Expansion**\n\nFour new built-in themes round out the picker. No engine changes, no settings touched — just more colour options.\n\n- **Night Blue** — Royal Blue on deep marine. Cool tech-dashboard mood, distinct from the brand themes.\n- **Indigo Violet** — Royal Violet on deep indigo with a turquoise-mint counter for an aurora glitter feel. Sister to Event Horizon but darker and denser; the turquoise accent keeps the two distinguishable.\n- **Forge Merchantman** — Patina bronze on workshop slate, warm amber counter. Hellion Forge given a theme of its own — sister to Hellion Arctic but greener and warmer instead of cold cyan.\n- **Hellion Spectrum** — Deuteran/Protan-safe channel colours using Wong/Okabe-Ito palette tones. Channel identity (Tell pink, Yell yellow, Shout orange, Party blue, FC green) is preserved; tones are chosen so each channel stays distinguishable under red-green colour vision deficiency. Covers the ~99% of CVD cases that are red-green.\n\nNo schema bump, no migration. Default theme is unchanged (Hellion Arctic). Existing custom themes keep working.\n\nBased on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).\n\n---\n\nEarlier history: https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases",
+    "Changelog": "**Hellion Chat 1.4.0 — Critical Lifecycle Fixes**\n\nFirst sub-patch of the v1.4.x Polish Sweep series. Seven known lifecycle and race bugs eliminated before any performance refactor sits on top.\n\n- MessageStore disposal no longer triggers GC.Collect globally; Pooling=false on the SQLite connection means there's nothing left to clean up by hand\n- PendingMessage and RetentionSweep worker threads are explicitly marked IsBackground=true so the plugin domain can unload during XIVLauncher reload without waiting for them\n- EmoteCache image and gif loaders moved from async-void to async Task with a shared task tracker, draining on Dispose so an in-flight load can no longer write to a disposed EmoteImages entry\n- DisposeAsync 10s timeout now warns loudly instead of silently leaving the worker behind\n- Plugin.Dispose flushes any pending DeferredSaveFrames before tearing services down, so settings changes made in the last few frames before disable are no longer lost\n- The v13→v14 config migration now reads the pre-v13 backup and carries HellionThemeWindowOpacity into the new WindowOpacity field instead of falling back to the default 0.85\n\nModding & support: join Hellion Forge — https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR\n\nBased on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).\n\n**Hellion Chat 1.3.0 - Plugin Integrations: Honorific**\n\nFirst step on the plugin-integration roadmap. HellionChat now listens to Honorific and shows your custom title in the chat header. The slot auto-hides when Honorific is not installed, when no custom title is active, or when you are using the original FFXIV title.\n\n- New \"Integrations\" settings tab\n- Honorific integration with auto-detection and live updates\n- \"Coming soon\" preview of the next five planned integrations: context menu actions, smart notifications, RP status block, ExtraChat channels, and quick DM compose\n- Maintainer attribution buttons for Honorific repo and Caraxi\n- New service-class pattern under HellionChat/Integrations/\n\nModding and support: join Hellion Forge - https://discord.gg/X9V7Kcv5gR\n\nBased on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).\n\n**Hellion Chat 1.2.3 — Theme Expansion**\n\nFour new built-in themes round out the picker. No engine changes, no settings touched — just more colour options.\n\n- **Night Blue** — Royal Blue on deep marine. Cool tech-dashboard mood, distinct from the brand themes.\n- **Indigo Violet** — Royal Violet on deep indigo with a turquoise-mint counter for an aurora glitter feel. Sister to Event Horizon but darker and denser; the turquoise accent keeps the two distinguishable.\n- **Forge Merchantman** — Patina bronze on workshop slate, warm amber counter. Hellion Forge given a theme of its own — sister to Hellion Arctic but greener and warmer instead of cold cyan.\n- **Hellion Spectrum** — Deuteran/Protan-safe channel colours using Wong/Okabe-Ito palette tones. Channel identity (Tell pink, Yell yellow, Shout orange, Party blue, FC green) is preserved; tones are chosen so each channel stays distinguishable under red-green colour vision deficiency. Covers the ~99% of CVD cases that are red-green.\n\nNo schema bump, no migration. Default theme is unchanged (Hellion Arctic). Existing custom themes keep working.\n\nBased on Chat 2 1.35.3 (upstream Infiziert90/ChatTwo, EUPL-1.2).\n\n---\n\nEarlier history: https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases",
     "AcceptsFeedback": true,
-    "DownloadLinkInstall": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.3.0/latest.zip",
-    "DownloadLinkUpdate": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.3.0/latest.zip",
-    "DownloadLinkTesting": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.3.0/latest.zip",
-    "TestingAssemblyVersion": "1.3.0.0",
+    "DownloadLinkInstall": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.4.0/latest.zip",
+    "DownloadLinkUpdate": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.4.0/latest.zip",
+    "DownloadLinkTesting": "https://github.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/releases/download/v1.4.0/latest.zip",
+    "TestingAssemblyVersion": "1.4.0.0",
     "IconUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/main/HellionChat/images/icon.png",
     "ImageUrls": [
       "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/main/HellionChat/images/chatWindow.png",