diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Controls/PlayStateIcon.razor.css b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Controls/PlayStateIcon.razor.css
index af69c89..9d996ec 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Controls/PlayStateIcon.razor.css
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Controls/PlayStateIcon.razor.css
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@
     background-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-play-chip), var(--deepdrft-navy-mid) 25%);
 }
 
-/* The glyph reads against the chip, not the page: in dark mode the chip is moss-green
-   and the MudIconButton's Color.Primary green glyph would vanish, so pin the glyph to the
-   theme-aware --deepdrft-play-glyph (navy on the green dark chip; unchanged in light, where
-   the token resolves to navy over the soft-grey chip). ::deep reaches the portaled-in-scope
-   MudIconButton icon, which doesn't carry this component's scope attribute. */
-.icon-container ::deep .mud-icon-button {
+/* In dark mode the chip is moss-green and MudIconButton's Color.Primary/Secondary green
+   glyph would vanish against it, so pin the glyph to --deepdrft-play-glyph (navy) in dark
+   only. In light mode the token also resolves to navy, but applying it there overrides
+   Color.Secondary (green-accent) on hero/row mounts — a visible regression. Scoping to
+   .deepdrft-theme-dark preserves the MudBlazor Color prop in light and fixes only dark.
+   ::deep reaches the portaled-in-scope MudIconButton icon, which doesn't carry this
+   component's scope attribute. */
+.deepdrft-theme-dark .icon-container ::deep .mud-icon-button {
     color: var(--deepdrft-play-glyph);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/About.razor.css b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/About.razor.css
index 9619063..ef69432 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/About.razor.css
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/About.razor.css
@@ -279,14 +279,15 @@
 }
 
 /* Graceful-degrade slot shown until a portrait file lands. A flat tonal panel in
-   the navy family, matching the circular portrait frame. */
+   the navy family, matching the circular portrait frame. Mixes a touch of navy into
+   --deepdrft-page-surface so the gradient inverts with the section in dark mode. */
 .bio-portrait-placeholder {
     width: 100%;
     aspect-ratio: 1 / 1;
     background:
         linear-gradient(160deg,
-            color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-navy) 8%, var(--deepdrft-white)) 0%,
-            color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-navy) 16%, var(--deepdrft-white)) 100%);
+            color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-navy) 8%, var(--deepdrft-page-surface)) 0%,
+            color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-navy) 16%, var(--deepdrft-page-surface)) 100%);
 }
 
 /* The marginalia caption — mono, sits directly under the framed portrait. */
diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/Home.razor.css b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/Home.razor.css
index fa16963..9944e61 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/Home.razor.css
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Pages/Home.razor.css
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@
 
 .connect-option:hover {
     border-color: var(--deepdrft-green-accent);
-    background: #f3f6f4;
+    background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--deepdrft-page-surface), var(--deepdrft-green-accent) 8%);
 }
 
 .option-icon {
diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic/wwwroot/styles/deepdrft-styles.css b/DeepDrftPublic/wwwroot/styles/deepdrft-styles.css
index 8dfcf9d..c6e12a1 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic/wwwroot/styles/deepdrft-styles.css
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic/wwwroot/styles/deepdrft-styles.css
@@ -358,16 +358,17 @@ h2, h3, h4, h5, h6,
     font-family: var(--deepdrft-font-mono) !important;
 }
 
-/* Default MudBlazor popover surface (Phase 18, T4 — symptom #1). Selects, menus, tooltips, and
-   the share-popover body render inside .mud-popover. Their visible surface is the inner .mud-paper,
-   which paints background-color: var(--mud-palette-surface). Inspection settled the root cause: the
-   "too dark" is NOT --deepdrft-panel-ground leakage (the bespoke dark-glass panels are MudOverlay
-   .mud-overlay-content surfaces and never match .mud-popover) — it is simply that the popover surface
-   tracks --mud-palette-surface with no desaturated-navy treatment. So re-point --mud-palette-surface
-   to the theme-aware --deepdrft-popover-surface *within the popover scope only*: a soft desaturated-navy
-   wash in light, the existing panel-ground charcoal in dark. Scoping the variable (not a flat
-   background) means any inner .mud-paper, .mud-list, or menu picks it up for free, while the global
-   surface used elsewhere on the page is unaffected. */
+/* Default MudBlazor popover surface (Phase 18, T4 — symptom #1). Selects, menus, and the
+   share-popover body render inside .mud-popover. (Tooltips are NOT covered here — MudBlazor
+   tooltips paint from --mud-palette-text, not the popover surface.) Their visible surface is the
+   inner .mud-paper, which paints background-color: var(--mud-palette-surface). Inspection settled
+   the root cause: the "too dark" is NOT --deepdrft-panel-ground leakage (the bespoke dark-glass
+   panels are MudOverlay .mud-overlay-content surfaces and never match .mud-popover) — it is simply
+   that the popover surface tracks --mud-palette-surface with no desaturated-navy treatment. So
+   re-point --mud-palette-surface to the theme-aware --deepdrft-popover-surface *within the popover
+   scope only*: a soft desaturated-navy wash in light, the existing panel-ground charcoal in dark.
+   Scoping the variable (not a flat background) means any inner .mud-paper, .mud-list, or menu picks
+   it up for free, while the global surface used elsewhere on the page is unaffected. */
 .mud-popover {
     --mud-palette-surface: var(--deepdrft-popover-surface);
     background-color: var(--deepdrft-popover-surface);