diff --git a/settings/quickshell.nix b/settings/quickshell.nix
index 70add44..9ec8fcb 100644
--- a/settings/quickshell.nix
+++ b/settings/quickshell.nix
@@ -572,32 +572,41 @@ in
                 // and every status colour below is harmonised toward it, so a
                 // bad pick tints the whole bar rather than just the highlights.
                 //
-                // NOT pal.base0D on its own. The generator fills each slot
-                // independently and is free to hand that one a colour from
-                // outside the rest of the palette's family: on the amber
-                // wallhaven-5y39p9 every accent slot comes back orange
-                // (H=0.08) except base0D, which comes back blue-grey (8590ae,
-                // H=0.62) — that was a blue NixOS logo in an otherwise amber
-                // bar. So audition all six and take whichever sits nearest a
-                // good accent saturation.
+                // Two things have to be right, and the generator only gets one
+                // of them wrong at a time:
                 //
-                // Nearest 0.6, not "the most saturated": max picks the neon
-                // fe5162 (S=0.99) on wallhaven-k8dqr6, near enough to `err`
-                // that errors stop reading as errors. On a monochrome
-                // wallpaper every slot collapses to the same value, so the
-                // choice stops mattering rather than going wrong.
-                readonly property real accentSat: 0.60
+                // HUE — it fills each slot independently and can hand base0D a
+                // colour from outside the rest of the palette's family. On the
+                // amber wallhaven-5y39p9 every other accent slot comes back
+                // orange (H=0.08) while base0D comes back blue-grey (8590ae,
+                // H=0.62): a blue NixOS logo in an amber bar. So the hue is
+                // taken from whichever slot carries the most chroma, which is
+                // the one actually holding the wallpaper's colour.
+                //
+                // STRENGTH — how loud the accent is against the ink. That the
+                // generator gets right, because it scales it to the palette:
+                // a cyan scheme whose base05 is 55ffff wants a vivid accent,
+                // and one whose base05 is the cream f1e2b6 wants a quiet one.
+                // Overriding it with a fixed target made that amber bar shout.
+                // So saturation and lightness stay base0D's own.
+                //
+                // Net effect: base0D's punch, corrected onto the palette's hue.
+                // Where base0D is already the carrier the accent is unchanged.
                 readonly property color accent: {
                     const slots = [pal.base09, pal.base0A, pal.base0B,
                                    pal.base0C, pal.base0D, pal.base0E];
-                    let best = Qt.color("#" + pal.base0D);
-                    let bestD = Math.abs(best.hslSaturation - accentSat);
+                    let carrier = Qt.color("#" + pal.base0D);
+                    let best = -1;
                     for (let i = 0; i < slots.length; i++) {
                         const c = Qt.color("#" + slots[i]);
-                        const d = Math.abs(c.hslSaturation - accentSat);
-                        if (d < bestD) { best = c; bestD = d; }
+                        // Chroma, not hslSaturation: saturation reads high for
+                        // a pale wash, and a wash is exactly what has no hue
+                        // worth trusting.
+                        const ch = Math.max(c.r, c.g, c.b) - Math.min(c.r, c.g, c.b);
+                        if (ch > best) { best = ch; carrier = c; }
                     }
-                    return best;
+                    const base = Qt.color("#" + pal.base0D);
+                    return Qt.hsla(carrier.hslHue, base.hslSaturation, base.hslLightness, 1);
                 }
 
                 // ── Status colours: fixed hues, pulled toward the theme.
@@ -4205,9 +4214,13 @@ in
                             anchors.centerIn: parent
                             text: "image"
                             font.pixelSize: 18
-                            color: bar.activeDropdown === wallDropdown ? Theme.accent
-                                : wallMa.containsMouse ? Theme.base05 : Theme.base04
-                            Behavior on color { ColorAnimation { duration: Theme.animFade } }
+                            // base05 flat, like every other opener in the
+                            // column. It used to idle at base04 and brighten on
+                            // hover, which made it the one dim icon in a row of
+                            // bright ones; and no other opener accents itself
+                            // while its dropdown is up, because the open panel
+                            // already says which one it is.
+                            color: Theme.base05
                         }
 
                         MouseArea {