diff --git a/settings/theming.nix b/settings/theming.nix
index 7d876b6..9e699d5 100644
--- a/settings/theming.nix
+++ b/settings/theming.nix
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 # `theme-apply` drops that wallpaper's rendered config into place and nudges
 # every app that can reload without restarting.
 #
-# What follows a switch immediately: quickshell, hyprland, GTK apps, vesktop,
-# folder icon tint. What follows on next launch: btop, zen, spotify-player.
-# Ghostty is reloaded in place when a window exists to send the keybind to,
-# otherwise its (windowless) daemon is restarted.
+# What follows a switch immediately: quickshell, hyprland, vesktop, folder
+# icons, and ghostty (reloaded over its D-Bus action). GTK apps only re-read
+# their stylesheet at startup, so nemo etc. change on next launch; so do btop,
+# zen and spotify-player.
 #
 # stylix stays the source of truth for build-time defaults and for every
 # target not listed here — walls/wallpaper.png remains its image.
@@ -270,21 +270,26 @@ let
     theme[process_end]="${base08}"
   '');
 
-  # One `hyprctl --batch` argument string. Mirrors the colour keys set
-  # statically in settings/hyprland.nix, which stay the build-time fallback
-  # for the window or two before theme-apply first runs.
-  hyprBatch = s: pkgs.writeText "hypr.batch" (lib.concatStringsSep " ; " [
-    "keyword general:col.active_border rgb(${s.base04})"
-    "keyword general:col.inactive_border rgb(${s.base03})"
-    "keyword decoration:shadow:color rgba(${s.base00}99)"
-    "keyword group:col.border_active rgb(${s.base04})"
-    "keyword group:col.border_inactive rgb(${s.base03})"
-    "keyword group:col.border_locked_active rgb(${s.base05})"
-    "keyword group:groupbar:text_color rgb(${s.base05})"
-    "keyword group:groupbar:col.active rgb(${s.base04})"
-    "keyword group:groupbar:col.inactive rgb(${s.base03})"
-    "keyword misc:background_color rgb(${s.base00})"
-  ]);
+  # One `<key> <value>` per line, applied by theme-apply with a separate
+  # `hyprctl keyword` each. NOT `hyprctl --batch`: a batch reports one
+  # combined result, so a single rejected key silently takes the rest of the
+  # colours with it. Per-key, a bad one names itself in the journal and the
+  # other nine still land.
+  #
+  # Mirrors the colour keys set statically in settings/hyprland.nix, which
+  # stay the build-time fallback until theme-apply first runs.
+  hyprKeywords = s: pkgs.writeText "hypr.keywords" ''
+    general:col.active_border rgb(${s.base04})
+    general:col.inactive_border rgb(${s.base03})
+    decoration:shadow:color rgba(${s.base00}99)
+    group:col.border_active rgb(${s.base04})
+    group:col.border_inactive rgb(${s.base03})
+    group:col.border_locked_active rgb(${s.base05})
+    group:groupbar:text_color rgb(${s.base05})
+    group:groupbar:col.active rgb(${s.base04})
+    group:groupbar:col.inactive rgb(${s.base03})
+    misc:background_color rgb(${s.base00})
+  '';
 
   # A featherweight icon theme that inherits Papirus-Dark and overrides only
   # the folder faces, rather than a recoloured copy of the whole 200MB tree
@@ -338,7 +343,7 @@ let
     cp ${gtk4Css s}         $out/gtk4.css
     cp ${ghosttyConf s}     $out/ghostty.conf
     cp ${btopTheme s}       $out/btop.theme
-    cp ${hyprBatch s}       $out/hypr.batch
+    cp ${hyprKeywords s}    $out/hypr.keywords
     cp ${pkgs.writeText "vesktop.css" (stylixize s (builtins.readFile "${inputs.self}/templates/vesktop-quickCss.css"))} $out/vesktop.css
     cp ${pkgs.writeText "zen.css"     (stylixize s (builtins.readFile "${inputs.self}/templates/zen-userChrome.css"))}   $out/zen.css
     ln -s ${iconTheme s} $out/icons
@@ -355,7 +360,7 @@ let
     check gtk3.css    '@define-color window_bg_color'
     check gtk4.css    'adw-gtk3/gtk-4.0/gtk.css'
     check ghostty.conf '^background = #'
-    check hypr.batch  'col.active_border rgb('
+    check hypr.keywords 'col.active_border rgb('
     check vesktop.css '^  --bg-4: #'
   '';
 
@@ -398,25 +403,58 @@ let
     cp -r "$theme"/icons/. "$icons"/
     chmod -R u+w "$icons"
 
-    # Hyprland takes its colours live.
-    ${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl --batch "$(cat "$theme/hypr.batch")" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    # Hyprland takes its colours live, one keyword at a time. hyprctl answers
+    # "ok" and exits 0 even for a key it did not like, so the reply is what
+    # gets checked — anything else is named in quickshell's journal
+    # (journalctl --user -u quickshell) instead of vanishing.
+    while read -r key value; do
+      [ -n "$key" ] || continue
+      reply=$(${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl keyword "$key" "$value" 2>&1)
+      [ "$reply" = "ok" ] \
+        || echo "theme-apply: hyprctl keyword $key $value -> $reply" >&2
+    done < "$theme/hypr.keywords"
 
     # Ghostty holds its config in one process (gtk-single-instance), so a new
-    # window would inherit the old theme. Poke the reload_config keybind at
-    # any live window — the reload is process-wide, so one is enough.
+    # window inherits whatever the daemon parsed at startup — reopening a
+    # terminal is NOT enough to pick up a new theme.
     #
-    # The match has to cover the --class overrides from settings/hyprland.nix
-    # (dev.fred.scratchpad, dev.fred.spotify) as well as the default id: those
-    # windows are the same process, and mistaking them for "no ghostty open"
-    # would restart the daemon out from under a running shell.
-    cls=$(${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl -j clients 2>/dev/null \
-      | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -r 'map(select(.class | test("ghostty|^dev\\.fred\\.")))[0].class // empty')
-    if [ -n "$cls" ]; then
-      ${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl dispatch sendshortcut \
-        "CTRL SHIFT ALT, F12, class:^(''${cls//./\\.})$" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-    else
-      # No windows to lose: the daemon is the only thing holding stale config.
-      ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemctl --user restart ghostty-daemon.service 2>/dev/null || true
+    # It is a GTK application, so it publishes its actions on the session bus;
+    # `reload-config` is the same action the reload_config keybind fires. Going
+    # through D-Bus works with no window open, needs no window focused, and
+    # doesn't depend on synthesising a keypress into the right surface.
+    if ! ${pkgs.glib.bin}/bin/gdbus call --session \
+        --dest com.mitchellh.ghostty \
+        --object-path /com/mitchellh/ghostty \
+        --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate \
+        reload-config '[]' '{}' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      # No instance on the bus, or the action is gone. Restarting the daemon
+      # fixes it but takes every open terminal with it, so that is only on the
+      # table when there is nothing to lose. The class test has to cover the
+      # --class overrides from settings/hyprland.nix (dev.fred.scratchpad,
+      # dev.fred.spotify) — those windows are the same process.
+      if ${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl -j clients 2>/dev/null \
+          | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -e 'any(.[].class; test("ghostty|^dev\\.fred\\."))' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "theme-apply: ghostty reload-config failed; open terminals keep the old theme" >&2
+      else
+        ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemctl --user restart ghostty-daemon.service 2>/dev/null || true
+      fi
+    fi
+
+    # GTK reads ~/.config/gtk-{3,4}.0/gtk.css once at startup and does not
+    # watch it, so running apps only re-read on a theme-name change. Toggling
+    # the gsettings key away and back is the one nudge that reaches them, and
+    # only lands if something is bridging gsettings to GTK (the portal). Nemo
+    # picks the new colours up on next launch regardless.
+    gsettings=${pkgs.glib.bin}/bin/gsettings
+    iface=org.gnome.desktop.interface
+    if cur=$($gsettings get $iface gtk-theme 2>/dev/null); then
+      cur=''${cur//\'/}
+      # The detour has to be a DIFFERENT name or gsettings writes the same
+      # value, emits no change signal, and nothing reloads.
+      away=Adwaita
+      [ "$cur" = "$away" ] && away=Adwaita-dark
+      $gsettings set $iface gtk-theme "$away" 2>/dev/null || true
+      $gsettings set $iface gtk-theme "$cur" 2>/dev/null || true
     fi
   '';
 in