diff --git a/features/bootloader.nix b/features/bootloader.nix
index 31e6e2b..e583ebb 100644
--- a/features/bootloader.nix
+++ b/features/bootloader.nix
@@ -3,11 +3,23 @@
     {
       config,
       lib,
+      pkgs,
       inputs,
       ...
     }:
     let
       cfg = config.features.bootloader;
+      keyDir = "/etc/secrets/initrd";
+
+      mkIpString =
+        {
+          address,
+          gateway,
+          netmask,
+          interface,
+          ...
+        }:
+        "${address}::${gateway}:${netmask}::${interface}:none";
     in
     {
       imports = [ inputs.lanzaboote.nixosModules.lanzaboote ];
@@ -23,15 +35,88 @@
           default = "systemd-boot";
         };
 
-        plymouth.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "plymouth boot splash";
+        configurationLimit = lib.mkOption {
+          type = lib.types.int;
+          default = 10;
+        };
+
+        consoleFont = lib.mkOption {
+          type = lib.types.str;
+          default = "ter-v32n";
+        };
+
+        resumeDevice = lib.mkOption {
+          type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.str;
+          default = null;
+        };
+
+        initrdSsh = {
+          enable = lib.mkEnableOption "remote LUKS unlock via ssh in initrd";
+
+          networkModule = lib.mkOption {
+            type = lib.types.str;
+          };
+
+          ip = {
+            enable = lib.mkEnableOption "static IP for initrd (otherwise DHCP)";
+
+            address = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.str;
+            };
+
+            gateway = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.str;
+            };
+
+            netmask = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.str;
+              default = "255.255.255.0";
+            };
+
+            interface = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.str;
+            };
+          };
+
+          authorizedKeys = lib.mkOption {
+            type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
+            default = [ ];
+          };
+        };
       };
 
       config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable (
         lib.mkMerge [
           {
             boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
-            # request the largest framebuffer uefi offers; plymouth inherits it
-            boot.loader.systemd-boot.consoleMode = "max";
+
+            # lanzaboote inherits editor + configurationLimit from systemd-boot.*
+            boot.loader.systemd-boot = {
+              editor = false;
+              inherit (cfg) configurationLimit;
+            };
+
+            boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;
+
+            # block simpledrm so fbcon defers until the gpu driver binds; avoids
+            # the simpledrm -> real-driver fbcon transition that mangles console
+            # text and leaves the luks prompt typing offset from the visible
+            # surface. hosts must put the gpu driver in initrd (nixos-hardware
+            # does this for amd; manual hardware.amdgpu.initrd.enable on others)
+            boot.kernelParams = [ "initcall_blacklist=simpledrm_platform_driver_init" ];
+
+            # verbose boot: kernel messages and systemd unit lines visible end
+            # to end. trade-off: the luks prompt will be interleaved with the
+            # last few "Starting/Started ..." lines (no upstream fix exists
+            # without plymouth). boot.initrd.verbose is a no-op under
+            # systemd-initrd, so not set here.
+
+            # readable luks prompt at panel-native dpi
+            console = {
+              earlySetup = true;
+              font = cfg.consoleFont;
+              packages = [ pkgs.terminus_font ];
+            };
           }
 
           (lib.mkIf (cfg.mode == "systemd-boot") {
@@ -46,26 +131,41 @@
             };
           })
 
-          (lib.mkIf cfg.plymouth.enable {
-            # plymouth needs systemd-initrd to render the luks prompt cleanly
-            boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;
+          (lib.mkIf (cfg.resumeDevice != null) {
+            boot.resumeDevice = cfg.resumeDevice;
+          })
 
-            # host is responsible for early-KMS so plymouth lands on the gpu driver,
-            # not simpledrm (e.g. hardware.amdgpu.initrd.enable on amd hosts)
-            boot.plymouth.enable = true;
-            stylix.targets.plymouth.logoAnimated = false;
+          (lib.mkIf cfg.initrdSsh.enable {
+            boot.initrd.systemd.settings.Manager.DefaultDeviceTimeoutSec = "infinity";
 
-            boot.kernelParams = [
-              "quiet"
-              "splash"
-              "loglevel=3"
-              "rd.systemd.show_status=false"
-              "rd.udev.log_level=3"
-              "udev.log_priority=3"
-              "plymouth.force-scale=1"
+            boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ cfg.initrdSsh.networkModule ];
+
+            boot.kernelParams = lib.mkIf cfg.initrdSsh.ip.enable [
+              "ip=${mkIpString cfg.initrdSsh.ip}"
             ];
-            boot.consoleLogLevel = 0;
-            boot.initrd.verbose = false;
+
+            boot.initrd.network = {
+              enable = true;
+              ssh = {
+                enable = true;
+                port = 22;
+                hostKeys = [
+                  "${keyDir}/ssh_host_rsa_key"
+                  "${keyDir}/ssh_host_ed25519_key"
+                ];
+                inherit (cfg.initrdSsh) authorizedKeys;
+              };
+            };
+
+            # forward LUKS password prompt to the ssh session (systemd-initrd idiom)
+            boot.initrd.systemd.users.root.shell = "/bin/systemd-tty-ask-password-agent";
+
+            boot.initrd.systemd.network.networks = lib.mkIf (!cfg.initrdSsh.ip.enable) {
+              "10-initrd" = {
+                matchConfig.Driver = cfg.initrdSsh.networkModule;
+                networkConfig.DHCP = "yes";
+              };
+            };
           })
         ]
       );
diff --git a/features/initrd-ssh.nix b/features/initrd-ssh.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 5255914..0000000
--- a/features/initrd-ssh.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,90 +0,0 @@
-{
-  nixos =
-    { lib, config, ... }:
-    let
-      cfg = config.features.initrd-ssh;
-      keyDir = "/etc/secrets/initrd";
-
-      mkIpString =
-        {
-          address,
-          gateway,
-          netmask,
-          interface,
-          ...
-        }:
-        "${address}::${gateway}:${netmask}::${interface}:none";
-    in
-    {
-      options.features.initrd-ssh = {
-        enable = lib.mkEnableOption "initrd ssh";
-
-        ip = {
-          enable = lib.mkEnableOption "static IP for initrd (otherwise DHCP)";
-
-          address = lib.mkOption {
-            type = lib.types.str;
-          };
-
-          gateway = lib.mkOption {
-            type = lib.types.str;
-          };
-
-          netmask = lib.mkOption {
-            type = lib.types.str;
-            default = "255.255.255.0";
-          };
-
-          interface = lib.mkOption {
-            type = lib.types.str;
-          };
-        };
-
-        authorizedKeys = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
-          default = [ ];
-        };
-
-        networkModule = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.str;
-        };
-      };
-
-      config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-        boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ cfg.networkModule ];
-        boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ cfg.networkModule ];
-        boot.kernelParams = lib.mkIf cfg.ip.enable [
-          "ip=${mkIpString cfg.ip}"
-        ];
-
-        boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;
-
-        # remote unlock may take a while; don't let device units give up
-        boot.initrd.systemd.settings.Manager.DefaultDeviceTimeoutSec = "infinity";
-
-        boot.initrd.network = {
-          enable = true;
-          ssh = {
-            enable = true;
-            port = 22;
-            hostKeys = [
-              "${keyDir}/ssh_host_rsa_key"
-              "${keyDir}/ssh_host_ed25519_key"
-            ];
-            inherit (cfg) authorizedKeys;
-          };
-        };
-
-        # systemd-networkd retries DHCP indefinitely, unlike udhcpc
-        boot.initrd.systemd.network.networks = lib.mkIf (!cfg.ip.enable) {
-          "10-initrd" = {
-            matchConfig.Driver = cfg.networkModule;
-            networkConfig.DHCP = "yes";
-          };
-        };
-
-        # forward LUKS password prompt to the SSH session
-        boot.initrd.systemd.users.root.shell = "/bin/systemd-tty-ask-password-agent";
-      };
-    };
-}
diff --git a/features/power.nix b/features/power.nix
index bd580e1..4a3f901 100644
--- a/features/power.nix
+++ b/features/power.nix
@@ -8,11 +8,6 @@
       options.features.power = {
         enable = lib.mkEnableOption "laptop power management";
 
-        resumeDevice = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.str;
-          default = null;
-        };
-
         lidSwitch = lib.mkOption {
           type = lib.types.str;
           default = "suspend-then-hibernate";
@@ -40,8 +35,6 @@
       };
 
       config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-        boot.resumeDevice = lib.mkIf (cfg.resumeDevice != null) cfg.resumeDevice;
-
         services.logind.settings.Login = {
           HandleLidSwitch = cfg.lidSwitch;
           HandlePowerKey = cfg.powerKey;
diff --git a/flake/hosts.nix b/flake/hosts.nix
index 288f0eb..9e66c77 100644
--- a/flake/hosts.nix
+++ b/flake/hosts.nix
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ in
         "git"
         "gnupg"
         "harmonia"
-        "initrd-ssh"
         "localisation"
         "neovim"
         "networkmanager"
diff --git a/hosts/fw16/configuration.nix b/hosts/fw16/configuration.nix
index 395e521..723c8d9 100644
--- a/hosts/fw16/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/fw16/configuration.nix
@@ -10,16 +10,13 @@
     inputs.nixos-hardware.nixosModules.framework-16-amd-ai-300-series
   ];
 
-  features.bootloader.plymouth.enable = true;
+  features.bootloader.resumeDevice = "/dev/mapper/vg0-swap";
   features.desktop.bluetooth.enable = true;
   features.gnupg.yubikey.enable = true;
   features.udev = {
     ledger.enable = true;
     keyboard-zsa.enable = true;
   };
-  features.power.resumeDevice = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/ff4750e7-3a9f-42c2-bb68-c458a6560540";
-
-  boot.kernelParams = [ "pcie_aspm.policy=powersupersave" ];
 
   programs.nix-ld.libraries = options.programs.nix-ld.libraries.default;
 
diff --git a/hosts/fw16/hardware-configuration.nix b/hosts/fw16/hardware-configuration.nix
index a27e69c..d2857e3 100644
--- a/hosts/fw16/hardware-configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/fw16/hardware-configuration.nix
@@ -37,10 +37,7 @@
   fileSystems."/boot" = {
     device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/42D9-FAFD";
     fsType = "vfat";
-    options = [
-      "fmask=0022"
-      "dmask=0022"
-    ];
+    options = [ "umask=0077" ];
   };
 
   swapDevices = [
diff --git a/hosts/tower/configuration.nix b/hosts/tower/configuration.nix
index 3ae111f..d44d050 100644
--- a/hosts/tower/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/tower/configuration.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@
   features.nix-settings.towerCache.enable = false;
   features.bootloader = {
     mode = "lanzaboote";
-    plymouth.enable = true;
+    initrdSsh = {
+      enable = true;
+      networkModule = "r8169";
+      authorizedKeys = userKeys.sshAuthorizedKeys;
+    };
   };
   features.desktop.bluetooth.enable = true;
   features.gnupg.yubikey.enable = true;
@@ -16,17 +20,14 @@
     ledger.enable = true;
     keyboard-zsa.enable = true;
   };
-  features.initrd-ssh = {
-    networkModule = "r8169";
-    authorizedKeys = userKeys.sshAuthorizedKeys;
-  };
 
   # nix store signing
   sops.secrets.nix-signing-key.sopsFile = ../../secrets/tower.yaml;
   nix.settings.secret-key-files = [ config.sops.secrets.nix-signing-key.path ];
 
   boot.kernelParams = [ "btusb.reset=1" ];
-  # early kms so plymouth lands on amdgpu, not simpledrm
+  # pairs with bootloader's simpledrm initcall blacklist: amdgpu owns fbcon
+  # from the start, no driver-swap mode-set
   hardware.amdgpu.initrd.enable = true;
 
   services.udisks2.enable = true;