diff --git a/src/components/islands/ParticleField.tsx b/src/components/islands/ParticleField.tsx
index cc5c8f8..081f72d 100644
--- a/src/components/islands/ParticleField.tsx
+++ b/src/components/islands/ParticleField.tsx
@@ -43,38 +43,44 @@ function fbm(P: number[], x: number, y: number, octaves = 4): number {
 
 const PARTICLE_CONFIG = {
   count:        40,      // number of particles
-  reach:        130,     // max connection distance (px)
-  flowSpeed:    1.8,     // field drift speed (1–10 scale)
-  fieldScale:   4,       // noise zoom level
-  dimAtMin:     0.55,    // opacity reduction at field minimum (0–1)
+  reach:        600,     // max connection distance (px)
+  flowSpeed:    1.0,     // field drift speed (1–10 scale)
+  fieldScale:   1,       // noise zoom level
+  dimAtMin:     0.3,    // opacity reduction at field minimum (0–1)
 
-  particleSpeed: 0.28,
-  particleMinR:  1.2,
-  particleMaxR:  2.4,
+  particleSpeed: 0.14,
+  particleMinR:  0.8,
+  particleMaxR:  1.6,
 
   fieldOffscreenW: 80,
   fieldOffscreenH: 52,
   fieldUpdateMs:   50,
   fieldOctaves:    4,
 
-  timeConstantX: 0.000014 * 60,
-  timeConstantY: 0.0000085 * 37,
+  timeConstantX: 0.000014 * 30,
+  timeConstantY: 0.0000085 * 20,
 
   // Warm neutral palette — fg-on-dark-2/3 register (#AE9B7F range)
   lineColor:      "174,140,100",
-  lineColorMouse: "210,185,150",
   glowColorInner: "200,170,130",
   glowColorMid:   "155,120,82",
 
   // Dot colour at fv=0 (dim) and per-unit boost at fv=1 (bright)
   dotBaseR: 174, dotBaseG: 145, dotBaseB: 110,
   dotBoostR: 30, dotBoostG:  35, dotBoostB:  40,
+
+  // Glow: base radius multiplier (relative to particle r); field peaks expand by +1.5×
+  glowScale: 1.2,
+
+  // Master opacity applied to the entire field (0–1); 0.5 = half brightness
+  masterOpacity: 0.4,
+  // Max brightness boost on particles near the cursor (0–1); 0.30 = 30% increase
+  cursorBoostMax: 1.0,
 };
 
 // ---- Types -----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 interface Particle { x: number; y: number; vx: number; vy: number; r: number; }
-type DrawNode = { x: number; y: number; r: number; isMouse?: boolean };
 
 // ---- Component -------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -152,11 +158,13 @@ export default function ParticleField() {
     }
 
     function draw() {
-      const { reach, lineColor, lineColorMouse, glowColorInner, glowColorMid,
-              dotBaseR, dotBaseG, dotBaseB, dotBoostR, dotBoostG, dotBoostB } = cfg;
+      const { reach, lineColor, glowColorInner, glowColorMid,
+              dotBaseR, dotBaseG, dotBaseB, dotBoostR, dotBoostG, dotBoostB,
+              glowScale, masterOpacity, cursorBoostMax } = cfg;
       const reach2 = reach * reach;
 
       c.clearRect(0, 0, W, H);
+      c.globalAlpha = masterOpacity;
 
       for (const p of particles) {
         p.x += p.vx; p.y += p.vy;
@@ -164,34 +172,26 @@ export default function ParticleField() {
         if (p.y < 0 || p.y > H) p.vy *= -1;
       }
 
-      const all: DrawNode[] = [
-        ...particles,
-        { x: mouse.x, y: mouse.y, r: 0, isMouse: true },
-      ];
-      const n  = all.length;
-      const fv = all.map(p => sampleField(p.x, p.y));
+      const fv = particles.map(p => sampleField(p.x, p.y));
       const fo = fv.map(v => fieldToOpacity(v));
 
-      for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-        for (let j = i + 1; j < n; j++) {
-          const a = all[i], b = all[j];
+      for (let i = 0; i < particles.length; i++) {
+        for (let j = i + 1; j < particles.length; j++) {
+          const a = particles[i], b = particles[j];
           const dx = a.x - b.x, dy = a.y - b.y;
           const d2 = dx * dx + dy * dy;
           if (d2 >= reach2) continue;
-          const dist    = Math.sqrt(d2);
-          const t01     = dist / reach;
-          const expFade = (1 - t01) ** 3;
+          const dist     = Math.sqrt(d2);
+          const t01      = dist / reach;
+          const expFade  = (1 - t01) ** 3;
           const lineMult = Math.sqrt(fo[i] * fo[j]);
-          const alpha   = expFade * lineMult * 0.85;
+          const alpha    = expFade * lineMult * 0.85;
           if (alpha < 0.005) continue;
-          const isMc = a.isMouse || b.isMouse;
           c.beginPath();
           c.moveTo(a.x, a.y);
           c.lineTo(b.x, b.y);
-          c.strokeStyle = isMc
-            ? `rgba(${lineColorMouse},${alpha * 0.9})`
-            : `rgba(${lineColor},${alpha * 0.7})`;
-          c.lineWidth = isMc ? 0.9 : 0.5;
+          c.strokeStyle = `rgba(${lineColor},${alpha * 0.7})`;
+          c.lineWidth = 0.5;
           c.stroke();
         }
       }
@@ -202,9 +202,10 @@ export default function ParticleField() {
         const opMult = fo[i];
         const dx = p.x - mouse.x, dy = p.y - mouse.y;
         const md = Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);
-        const mb = md < reach ? 0.4 * (1 - md / reach) : 0;
-        const gA    = Math.max(0.02, opMult * 0.85 + mb);
-        const glowR = p.r * (2.5 + f * 1.5);
+        const proximity = md < reach ? 1 - md / reach : 0;
+        const cursorBoost = cursorBoostMax * proximity ** 3;
+        const gA    = Math.max(0.02, opMult * 0.85 * (1 + cursorBoost));
+        const glowR = p.r * (glowScale + f * 1.5);
 
         const grd = c.createRadialGradient(p.x, p.y, 0, p.x, p.y, glowR * 3);
         grd.addColorStop(0,    `rgba(${glowColorInner},${gA * 0.55})`);
@@ -223,6 +224,8 @@ export default function ParticleField() {
         c.fillStyle = `rgba(${dR},${dG},${dB},${gA})`;
         c.fill();
       }
+
+      c.globalAlpha = 1;
     }
 
     function loop(ts: number) {