diff --git a/builder/build-iso.sh b/builder/build-iso.sh
index 6f919d0..78e0b4a 100755
--- a/builder/build-iso.sh
+++ b/builder/build-iso.sh
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ cp "/tmp/$NODE_FILENAME" "$build_cache_dir/airootfs/opt/packages/"
 # The selected omarchy-settings package is needed here so its post_install hook
 # drops Omarchy's plymouthd.conf into /etc/plymouth before mkarchiso builds the
 # live initramfs.
-arch_packages=(linux-t2 git gum jq openssl plymouth python-terminaltexteffects tzupdate omarchy-keyring "$OMARCHY_SETTINGS_PACKAGE" lvm2 cryptsetup parted)
+arch_packages=(linux-t2 git gum jq openssl plymouth ttfx tzupdate omarchy-keyring "$OMARCHY_SETTINGS_PACKAGE" lvm2 cryptsetup parted)
 printf '%s\n' "${arch_packages[@]}" >> "$build_cache_dir/packages.x86_64"
 
 # The live ISO boots linux-t2 (see airootfs/etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux-t2.preset), so
diff --git a/configs/airootfs/root/configurator b/configs/airootfs/root/configurator
index 44e428b..6a53d0a 100644
--- a/configs/airootfs/root/configurator
+++ b/configs/airootfs/root/configurator
@@ -121,36 +121,42 @@ greeter() {
 
   # ColorShift the logo: a green base (indexed color 2) with a cyan accent (6)
   # drifting through, settling on green. Indexed ANSI colors, not hex — the
-  # framebuffer console can't render tte's truecolor faithfully (it crushes the
+  # framebuffer console can't render truecolor faithfully (it crushes the
   # palette to a muddy lavender), but the 16 indexed colors map to the Tokyo
-  # Night palette and render true. One long-running invocation (many cycles) so
-  # it never restarts — a restart is what flashed. The effect reads from
-  # /dev/null so it never swallows the Return; --reuse-canvas paints upward from
-  # the saved cursor, anchored one row below the logo.
-  if command -v tte >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    printf '\033[%d;1H\0337' "$((logo_row + logo_h))"
-    # Run tte directly (not inside a `while` subshell) so $anim is tte's own
-    # PID: killing a wrapping subshell would orphan tte, which then keeps
-    # painting the logo over the keyboard step. --cycles is high enough that it
-    # never ends on its own before Return.
-    tte -i "$LOGO_PATH" \
-      --canvas-width "$cols" \
-      --anchor-text c \
-      --frame-rate 60 \
-      --reuse-canvas \
-      colorshift \
-      --gradient-stops 2 10 6 10 \
-      --gradient-frames 3 \
-      --cycles 1000 \
-      --final-gradient-stops 2 \
-      </dev/null >/dev/tty 2>/dev/null &
-    anim=$!
-  fi
+  # Night palette and render true. --xterm-colors is what keeps them indexed:
+  # ttfx resolves even indexed stops to truecolor otherwise, which would put the
+  # settle color out of step with the `gum style --foreground 2` logo underneath.
+  # One long-running invocation (many cycles) so it never restarts — a restart is
+  # what flashed. The effect reads from /dev/null so it never swallows the
+  # Return; --reuse-canvas paints upward from the saved cursor, anchored one row
+  # below the logo.
+  printf '\033[%d;1H\0337' "$((logo_row + logo_h))"
+  # Run ttfx directly (not inside a `while` subshell) so $anim is ttfx's own
+  # PID: killing a wrapping subshell would orphan ttfx, which then keeps
+  # painting the logo over the keyboard step. --cycles is high enough that it
+  # never ends on its own before Return.
+  # Two columns narrower than the console: ttfx centers its text two columns
+  # right of plain centering, so a full-width canvas would sit the animated
+  # logo a column off the gum-drawn one underneath it.
+  ttfx -i "$LOGO_PATH" \
+    --canvas-width "$((cols > 2 ? cols - 2 : cols))" \
+    --anchor-text c \
+    --frame-rate 60 \
+    --reuse-canvas \
+    --xterm-colors \
+    colorshift \
+    --gradient-stops 2 10 6 10 \
+    --gradient-frames 3 \
+    --cycles 1000 \
+    --final-gradient-stops 2 \
+    </dev/null >/dev/tty 2>/dev/null &
+  anim=$!
 
   IFS= read -r _ </dev/tty || true
-  # Tolerate tte's kill signal in `wait` so a future `set -e` here can't abort.
-  [[ -n ${anim:-} ]] && { kill "$anim" 2>/dev/null; wait "$anim" 2>/dev/null || true; }
-  # tte leaves the tty in raw/no-echo mode when killed; restore it or the gum
+  # Tolerate ttfx's kill signal in `wait` so a future `set -e` here can't abort.
+  kill "$anim" 2>/dev/null
+  wait "$anim" 2>/dev/null || true
+  # ttfx leaves the tty in raw/no-echo mode when killed; restore it or the gum
   # prompts in the keyboard step that follows silently die.
   stty sane </dev/tty 2>/dev/null || true
   # Reset the screen so the leftover animation frame doesn't linger under the
diff --git a/configs/airootfs/usr/local/bin/omarchy-install-dashboard b/configs/airootfs/usr/local/bin/omarchy-install-dashboard
index bf6da9d..82e1f34 100755
--- a/configs/airootfs/usr/local/bin/omarchy-install-dashboard
+++ b/configs/airootfs/usr/local/bin/omarchy-install-dashboard
@@ -142,8 +142,18 @@ LOGO_HEIGHT="$(logo_height)"
 (( LOGO_WIDTH > 0 )) || LOGO_WIDTH=81
 (( LOGO_HEIGHT > 0 )) || LOGO_HEIGHT=1
 CONTENT_WIDTH="$LOGO_WIDTH"
+# Rows the progress screen occupies: logo, blank, title, blank, bar, blank, tip.
+PROGRESS_HEIGHT=$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 6))
+TOP_ROW=1
 DYNAMIC_ROW=$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 3))
+LAST_SIZE=""
 LAST_PM=10
+# The finish screen mirrors the greeter's frame — logo, blank, one line, gap,
+# one button — so the last thing the installer shows matches the first. It runs
+# one row taller: `gum confirm` always paints prompt/blank/button and clears all
+# three, so the button cannot sit closer than two rows under a title we drew.
+FINISH_HEIGHT=$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 5))
+FINISH_TOP_ROW=2
 
 # ── Install progress ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 #
@@ -389,15 +399,40 @@ current_tip() {
   printf '%s' "${tips[$(( (NOW - DASH_T0) / 8 % ${#tips[@]} ))]}"
 }
 
+# Vertically center a block of the given height, echoing the row it starts on.
+# Both screens here center the way the configurator's greeter centers its
+# welcome, so the install opens, runs, and closes on the same composition
+# rather than stacking each frame from row one.
+centered_top_row() {
+  local height="$1" rows top
+  rows="$(term_size)"
+  rows="${rows%% *}"
+  [[ $rows =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || rows=24
+  top=$(( (rows - height) / 2 ))
+  (( top < 0 )) && top=0
+  printf '%d' "$(( top + 1 ))"
+}
+
+measure_progress_layout() {
+  LAST_SIZE="$(term_size)"
+  TOP_ROW="$(centered_top_row "$PROGRESS_HEIGHT")"
+  DYNAMIC_ROW=$(( TOP_ROW + LOGO_HEIGHT + 1 ))
+}
+
 render_static() {
-  printf '%s' "$CLEAR"
-  blank_line
+  measure_progress_layout
+  printf '%s%s%d;1H' "$CLEAR" "$CSI" "$TOP_ROW"
   render_logo
   blank_line
 }
 
 render_dynamic() {
   local pm
+  # The console can still resize under us (the framebuffer settles late in VMs).
+  # Horizontal padding is recomputed every frame anyway, but the logo is drawn
+  # once, so redraw the static half at the new center rather than leave the
+  # centered layout stranded against a stale geometry.
+  [[ "$(term_size)" == "$LAST_SIZE" ]] || render_static
   set_now
   install_progress
   pm=$PROGRESS_PM
@@ -452,30 +487,40 @@ render_finish() {
   local duration effect_canvas_width
   duration="$(install_duration || true)"
   duration="${duration:-Complete}"
+  # ttfx centers its text two columns right of plain centering, so hand it a
+  # canvas two columns narrower and the animated logo lands exactly on the
+  # static one left_padding already drew. Otherwise the logo jumps a column
+  # sideways when the effect starts and again when it ends.
   effect_canvas_width="$(term_cols)"
-  (( effect_canvas_width > 1 )) && effect_canvas_width=$((effect_canvas_width - 1))
+  (( effect_canvas_width > 2 )) && effect_canvas_width=$((effect_canvas_width - 2))
+
+  # Set before anything that can fail, so reboot_prompt still lands on the
+  # button row even if the logo or the effect below never renders.
+  FINISH_TOP_ROW="$(centered_top_row "$FINISH_HEIGHT")"
 
   {
-    printf '%s%s' "$SHOW_CURSOR" "$CLEAR"
-    blank_line
+    printf '%s%s%s%d;1H' "$SHOW_CURSOR" "$CLEAR" "$CSI" "$FINISH_TOP_ROW"
     render_logo
     blank_line
     center "Installed Omarchy in ${duration}" "$CONTENT_WIDTH"
     blank_line
   } >"$TTY_PATH"
 
-  if command -v tte >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v timeout >/dev/null 2>&1 && [[ -f $LOGO_PATH ]]; then
-    # TTE reuse mode restores a saved cursor before moving up over its input.
-    # Save this anchor so the effect redraws the same logo rows shown above.
-    printf '%s%d;1H\0337' "$CSI" "$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 2))" >"$TTY_PATH"
-    timeout 8s tte -i "$LOGO_PATH" \
+  if [[ -f $LOGO_PATH ]]; then
+    # Reuse mode restores a saved cursor before moving up over its input. Save
+    # this anchor so the effect redraws the same logo rows shown above.
+    printf '%s%d;1H\0337' "$CSI" "$((FINISH_TOP_ROW + LOGO_HEIGHT))" >"$TTY_PATH"
+    # Smoke runs ~4s at 60fps, so the 8s cap is a stuck-process guard rather than
+    # a trim. The rate is the effect's pacing: the 260 this carried for laseretch
+    # finishes smoke in under a second, which reads as a flicker, not a send-off.
+    timeout 8s ttfx -i "$LOGO_PATH" \
       --canvas-width "$effect_canvas_width" \
       --anchor-text c \
-      --frame-rate 260 \
+      --frame-rate 60 \
       --reuse-canvas \
-      laseretch \
+      smoke \
       >"$TTY_PATH" 2>/dev/null || true
-    printf '%s%d;1H' "$CSI" "$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 8))" >"$TTY_PATH"
+    printf '%s%d;1H' "$CSI" "$((FINISH_TOP_ROW + LOGO_HEIGHT + 5))" >"$TTY_PATH"
   fi
 }
 
@@ -486,8 +531,10 @@ reboot_prompt() {
   # applies, so setting both stops on the finish screen without a keyboard.
   interactive || return 0
 
-  # Position the cursor one blank line below the title so the button sits right there.
-  printf '%s%d;1H%s' "$CSI" "$((LOGO_HEIGHT + 5))" "$CLEAR_LINE" >"$TTY_PATH"
+  # gum paints its prompt row at the cursor and the button two rows under it, so
+  # anchor on the row right below the title to put the button as close to it as
+  # gum allows. FINISH_HEIGHT budgets for the same three rows.
+  printf '%s%d;1H%s' "$CSI" "$((FINISH_TOP_ROW + LOGO_HEIGHT + 2))" "$CLEAR_LINE" >"$TTY_PATH"
 
   prompt_pad=$(( ( $(term_cols) - 18 ) / 2 ))
   (( prompt_pad < 0 )) && prompt_pad=0