diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef5f7c2..8e4f453 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,90 +1,72 @@
 # jetpham.com
 
-<div align="center">
-  <img src="src/app/icon0.svg" alt="jetpham.com icon" width="200" height="200">
-</div>
+Personal site for Jet Pham.
 
-Jet Pham's personal website. This website comes with a long story. The domain was originally registered in highschool by my teamate on my robotics team as a joke. The site was originally a filesystem full of memes and random files. Once I was in college, the domain expired and I registered it myself.
+The site is a small Vite app with a terminal-style UI, ANSI-rendered text, and a Rust/WebAssembly Conway's Game of Life background.
 
-The site originally contained a blog. It was made in Next.js plainly with plain colors and no real style. I posted a few blogs about my life but eventually lost motivaiton and didn't like sharing it with other people after having been inspired by so many other cool websites.
+## Features
 
-I started to become more obsessed with Rust and rewrote my website from being a blog into a static linktree site made in rust via WASM. It was in ASCII style using a modified fork of ratzilla and had a fun implementation of Conways Game of Life in the background.
+- ASCII/ANSI-inspired visual style with the IBM VGA font
+- Conway's Game of Life running in the background via Rust + WebAssembly
+- Q+A page backed by the site API
+- Single-file oriented frontend build with Vite
+- Reduced-motion aware background controls with a static fallback mode
 
-After leaving that website alone, I started to make more web based projects in Next.js. I realized I could properly make this website awesome and still keep the interesting style in the site while making it more performant, responsive, and accessible. This is the state that you see the website in now.
+## Stack
 
-I have some awesome features packed in this site now that represent all the cool things I'm interested in:
-
-- ANSI rendering of my name in CSS!
-- Terminal style text, font, and colors just like BBS
-- Rust WASM implementation of Conway's Game of Life running in the background
-- List of socials and contact info
-
-Let me know if you have any feedback about the site!
-
-## Tech Stack
-
-- [Next.js 16](https://nextjs.org) with Turbo mode
-- [Tailwind CSS v4](https://tailwindcss.com)
-- [TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/)
-- [React 19](https://react.dev/)
-- Rust + WebAssembly (for Conway's Game of Life)
-- [Bun](https://bun.sh) (package manager)
+- Vite
+- TypeScript
+- Tailwind CSS v4
+- Rust + WebAssembly
+- npm
 
 ## Development
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
-- Bun
-- Rust (for building the Conway's Game of Life WASM module)
-- wasm-pack (or use the install script)
+- Node.js + npm
+- Rust
+- `wasm-pack`
+- `wasm-opt` (used by `build:wasm`)
 
-### Getting Started
-
-1. Clone the repository
-
-2. Build the Rust WASM module:
-
-   ```bash
-   bun run build:wasm
-   ```
-
-   Or use the install script:
-
-   ```bash
-   ./install.sh
-   ```
-
-3. Install dependencies:
-
-   ```bash
-   bun install
-   ```
-
-4. Start the development server:
-
-   ```bash
-   bun run dev
-   ```
-
-The site will be available at `http://localhost:3000`.
-
-## Q&A Mail Safety
-
-The Q&A feature sends notification emails from `qa@...` and uses a static `Reply-To` like `qa@jetpham.com`. Replies are matched back to the right question by parsing the question number from the email subject, e.g. `123 - ...`.
-
-To avoid breaking normal inbound mail when the Q&A API is down:
-
-- set `services.jetpham-website.qaMailDomain = "jetpham.com";`
-- set `services.jetpham-website.qaReplyDomain = "jetpham.com";`
-- route only the exact reply address `qa@jetpham.com` into the Q&A webhook
-- keep your personal mail domain (`extremist.software`) delivering normally without depending on the Q&A webhook
-
-This isolates the automation path from your main inbox. If the Q&A API fails, Q&A replies may be delayed, but personal mail should still deliver normally.
-
-## Project Structure
+### Install
 
+```bash
+npm install
 ```
-src/ - Next.js app router pages
-cgol/ - Rust WASM module for Conway's Game of Life
-public/ - Static assets
+
+### Build the WASM package
+
+```bash
+npm run build:wasm
 ```
+
+### Start the dev server
+
+```bash
+npm run dev
+```
+
+### Check the app
+
+```bash
+npm run check
+```
+
+### Build for production
+
+```bash
+npm run build
+```
+
+## Structure
+
+```text
+src/        frontend app
+cgol/       Rust + WASM Conway's Game of Life module
+```
+
+## Notes
+
+- The homepage and Q+A page are the intended public pages.
+- If WebAssembly fails or motion is disabled, the site falls back to a static background treatment.
diff --git a/cgol/src/lib.rs b/cgol/src/lib.rs
index 60fd1bd..31d55b0 100644
--- a/cgol/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cgol/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 mod utils;
 
+use std::cell::Cell;
 use std::cell::RefCell;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 use wasm_bindgen::prelude::*;
@@ -12,13 +13,18 @@ use web_sys::{CanvasRenderingContext2d, HtmlCanvasElement, ImageData, Window};
 const CELL_SIZE: u32 = 10;
 const TICK_MS: f64 = 1000.0 / 60.0;
 const HUE_PERIOD_MS: f64 = 3000.0;
+const STILL_STEPS: u32 = 5;
 
 /// Cells: 0 = dead, 1-255 = alive with that hue value.
 const DEAD: u8 = 0;
 
 #[inline(always)]
 fn safe_hue(h: u8) -> u8 {
-    if h == DEAD { 1 } else { h }
+    if h == DEAD {
+        1
+    } else {
+        h
+    }
 }
 
 // ── Lookup tables (computed once) ──────────────────────────────────
@@ -66,7 +72,9 @@ impl Luts {
             s += self.sin[h as usize];
             c += self.cos[h as usize];
         }
-        safe_hue((s.atan2(c).rem_euclid(std::f32::consts::TAU) * 256.0 / std::f32::consts::TAU) as u8)
+        safe_hue(
+            (s.atan2(c).rem_euclid(std::f32::consts::TAU) * 256.0 / std::f32::consts::TAU) as u8,
+        )
     }
 }
 
@@ -136,7 +144,11 @@ impl Grid {
                 let alive = cell != DEAD;
 
                 self.buf[i] = if alive {
-                    if count == 2 || count == 3 { cell } else { DEAD }
+                    if count == 2 || count == 3 {
+                        cell
+                    } else {
+                        DEAD
+                    }
                 } else if count == 3 {
                     // Only collect hues for births
                     self.hues.clear();
@@ -185,6 +197,13 @@ struct App {
     dirty: bool,
 }
 
+thread_local! {
+    static APP_STATE: RefCell<Option<Rc<RefCell<App>>>> = const { RefCell::new(None) };
+    static RUNNING: Cell<bool> = const { Cell::new(false) };
+    static LISTENERS_READY: Cell<bool> = const { Cell::new(false) };
+    static RAF_CLOSURE: RefCell<Option<Closure<dyn FnMut()>>> = const { RefCell::new(None) };
+}
+
 impl App {
     fn new() -> Result<Self, JsValue> {
         utils::set_panic_hook();
@@ -194,7 +213,8 @@ impl App {
             .get_element_by_id("canvas")
             .ok_or("no canvas")?
             .dyn_into()?;
-        let ctx: CanvasRenderingContext2d = canvas.get_context("2d")?.ok_or("no 2d ctx")?.dyn_into()?;
+        let ctx: CanvasRenderingContext2d =
+            canvas.get_context("2d")?.ok_or("no 2d ctx")?.dyn_into()?;
         ctx.set_image_smoothing_enabled(false);
 
         let mut app = Self {
@@ -261,26 +281,53 @@ impl App {
             px[i * 4..i * 4 + 4].copy_from_slice(&rgb[cell as usize]);
         }
 
-        if let Ok(img) =
-            ImageData::new_with_u8_clamped_array_and_sh(Clamped(px), self.cw, self.ch)
+        if let Ok(img) = ImageData::new_with_u8_clamped_array_and_sh(Clamped(px), self.cw, self.ch)
         {
             self.ctx.put_image_data(&img, 0.0, 0.0).ok();
         }
     }
+
+    fn render_steps(&mut self, steps: u32) {
+        for _ in 0..steps {
+            let luts = &self.luts as *const Luts;
+            // SAFETY: luts is not mutated during tick()
+            self.grid.tick(unsafe { &*luts });
+        }
+        self.dirty = true;
+        self.draw();
+    }
 }
 
-// ── Entry point ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+fn app() -> Result<Rc<RefCell<App>>, JsValue> {
+    APP_STATE.with(|state| {
+        if let Some(app) = state.borrow().as_ref() {
+            return Ok(app.clone());
+        }
 
-#[wasm_bindgen]
-pub fn start() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
-    let app = App::new()?;
-    let rc = Rc::new(RefCell::new(app));
+        let app = Rc::new(RefCell::new(App::new()?));
+        state.borrow_mut().replace(app.clone());
+        Ok(app)
+    })
+}
 
-    let win = rc.borrow().win.clone();
+fn init_listeners(app: Rc<RefCell<App>>) -> Result<(), JsValue> {
+    let already_ready = LISTENERS_READY.with(|ready| {
+        if ready.get() {
+            true
+        } else {
+            ready.set(true);
+            false
+        }
+    });
+
+    if already_ready {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    let win = app.borrow().win.clone();
     let doc = win.document().unwrap();
 
-    // Mouse
-    let s = rc.clone();
+    let s = app.clone();
     let cb = Closure::wrap(Box::new(move |e: web_sys::MouseEvent| {
         let mut a = s.borrow_mut();
         a.ccol = e.client_x() / CELL_SIZE as i32;
@@ -290,8 +337,7 @@ pub fn start() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
     doc.add_event_listener_with_callback("mousemove", cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
     cb.forget();
 
-    // Touch move
-    let s = rc.clone();
+    let s = app.clone();
     let cb = Closure::wrap(Box::new(move |e: web_sys::TouchEvent| {
         e.prevent_default();
         if let Some(t) = e.touches().get(0) {
@@ -304,8 +350,7 @@ pub fn start() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
     doc.add_event_listener_with_callback("touchmove", cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
     cb.forget();
 
-    // Touch start
-    let s = rc.clone();
+    let s = app.clone();
     let cb = Closure::wrap(Box::new(move |e: web_sys::TouchEvent| {
         e.prevent_default();
         if let Some(t) = e.touches().get(0) {
@@ -318,56 +363,121 @@ pub fn start() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
     doc.add_event_listener_with_callback("touchstart", cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
     cb.forget();
 
-    // Touch end
-    let s = rc.clone();
+    let s = app.clone();
     let cb = Closure::wrap(Box::new(move |_: web_sys::TouchEvent| {
         s.borrow_mut().cursor_on = false;
     }) as Box<dyn FnMut(_)>);
     doc.add_event_listener_with_callback("touchend", cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
     cb.forget();
 
-    // Resize
-    let s = rc.clone();
+    let s = app;
     let cb = Closure::wrap(Box::new(move || {
-        s.borrow_mut().resize();
+        let mut a = s.borrow_mut();
+        a.resize();
+        if RUNNING.with(|running| running.get()) {
+            a.draw();
+        } else {
+            a.render_steps(STILL_STEPS);
+        }
     }) as Box<dyn FnMut()>);
     win.add_event_listener_with_callback("resize", cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
     cb.forget();
 
-    // Animation loop
-    let f: Rc<RefCell<Option<Closure<dyn FnMut()>>>> = Rc::new(RefCell::new(None));
-    let g = f.clone();
-    let s = rc.clone();
-    let w = win.clone();
-
-    *g.borrow_mut() = Some(Closure::wrap(Box::new(move || {
-        let now = s.borrow().now();
-
-        {
-            let mut a = s.borrow_mut();
-
-            if now - a.last_tick >= TICK_MS {
-                a.last_tick = now;
-                let luts = &a.luts as *const Luts;
-                // SAFETY: luts is not mutated during tick()
-                a.grid.tick(unsafe { &*luts });
-                a.dirty = true;
-            }
-
-            if a.cursor_on {
-                let (cr, cc) = (a.crow, a.ccol);
-                let hue = ((now % HUE_PERIOD_MS) / HUE_PERIOD_MS * 256.0) as u8;
-                a.grid.stamp(cr, cc, 2, hue);
-                a.dirty = true;
-            }
-
-            a.draw();
-        }
-
-        w.request_animation_frame(f.borrow().as_ref().unwrap().as_ref().unchecked_ref())
-            .ok();
-    }) as Box<dyn FnMut()>));
-
-    win.request_animation_frame(g.borrow().as_ref().unwrap().as_ref().unchecked_ref())?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn ensure_animation_loop(app: Rc<RefCell<App>>) {
+    RAF_CLOSURE.with(|slot| {
+        if slot.borrow().is_some() {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        let win = app.borrow().win.clone();
+        let f: Rc<RefCell<Option<Closure<dyn FnMut()>>>> = Rc::new(RefCell::new(None));
+        let g = f.clone();
+        let s = app.clone();
+        let w = win.clone();
+
+        *g.borrow_mut() = Some(Closure::wrap(Box::new(move || {
+            if !RUNNING.with(|running| running.get()) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            let now = s.borrow().now();
+
+            {
+                let mut a = s.borrow_mut();
+
+                if now - a.last_tick >= TICK_MS {
+                    a.last_tick = now;
+                    let luts = &a.luts as *const Luts;
+                    // SAFETY: luts is not mutated during tick()
+                    a.grid.tick(unsafe { &*luts });
+                    a.dirty = true;
+                }
+
+                if a.cursor_on {
+                    let (cr, cc) = (a.crow, a.ccol);
+                    let hue = ((now % HUE_PERIOD_MS) / HUE_PERIOD_MS * 256.0) as u8;
+                    a.grid.stamp(cr, cc, 2, hue);
+                    a.dirty = true;
+                }
+
+                a.draw();
+            }
+
+            if RUNNING.with(|running| running.get()) {
+                w.request_animation_frame(f.borrow().as_ref().unwrap().as_ref().unchecked_ref())
+                    .ok();
+            }
+        }) as Box<dyn FnMut()>));
+
+        slot.borrow_mut().replace(g.borrow_mut().take().unwrap());
+    });
+}
+
+// ── Entry point ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+#[wasm_bindgen]
+pub fn start() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
+    let app = app()?;
+    init_listeners(app.clone())?;
+
+    if RUNNING.with(|running| running.get()) {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    RUNNING.with(|running| running.set(true));
+    ensure_animation_loop(app.clone());
+
+    RAF_CLOSURE.with(|slot| {
+        if let Some(cb) = slot.borrow().as_ref() {
+            app.borrow()
+                .win
+                .request_animation_frame(cb.as_ref().unchecked_ref())
+        } else {
+            Err(JsValue::from_str("no animation closure"))
+        }
+    })?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[wasm_bindgen]
+pub fn stop() -> Result<(), JsValue> {
+    let _ = app()?;
+    RUNNING.with(|running| running.set(false));
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[wasm_bindgen]
+pub fn render_still(steps: u32) -> Result<(), JsValue> {
+    let app = app()?;
+    init_listeners(app.clone())?;
+    RUNNING.with(|running| running.set(false));
+    let steps = steps.max(1);
+    let mut app = app.borrow_mut();
+    app.resize();
+    app.render_steps(steps);
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 9a389de..ebad12d 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
         "anser": "^2.3.5",
         "escape-carriage": "^1.3.1",
         "eslint": "^10",
-        "gray-matter": "^4.0.3",
-        "marked": "^15.0.12",
         "prettier": "^3.8.1",
         "prettier-plugin-tailwindcss": "^0.7.2",
         "tailwindcss": "^4.2.1",
@@ -1595,7 +1593,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-DpzbrH7wIcBaJibpKo9nnSQL0MTRdnWttGyE5haGwK86xgMOkFLp7vEyfQPGLOJh5wNYiJ3V9PmUMDhV9u8kkQ==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "undici-types": "~7.18.0"
       }
@@ -1645,7 +1642,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-klQbnPAAiGYFyI02+znpBRLyjL4/BrBd0nyWkdC0s/6xFLkXYQ8OoRrSkqacS1ddVxf/LDyODIKbQ5TgKAf/Fg==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "@typescript-eslint/scope-manager": "8.56.1",
         "@typescript-eslint/types": "8.56.1",
@@ -1837,7 +1833,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-UVJyE9MttOsBQIDKw1skb9nAwQuR5wuGD3+82K6JgJlm/Y+KI92oNsMNGZCYdDsVtRHSak0pcV5Dno5+4jh9sw==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "bin": {
         "acorn": "bin/acorn"
       },
@@ -1879,16 +1874,6 @@
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
-    "node_modules/argparse": {
-      "version": "1.0.10",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/argparse/-/argparse-1.0.10.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-o5Roy6tNG4SL/FOkCAN6RzjiakZS25RLYFrcMttJqbdd8BWrnA+fGz57iN5Pb06pvBGvl5gQ0B48dJlslXvoTg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "sprintf-js": "~1.0.2"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/balanced-match": {
       "version": "4.0.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/balanced-match/-/balanced-match-4.0.4.tgz",
@@ -2061,7 +2046,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-uYixubwmqJZH+KLVYIVKY1JQt7tysXhtj21WSvjcSmU5SVNzMus1bgLe+pAt816yQ8opKfheVVoPLqvVMGejYw==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "@eslint-community/eslint-utils": "^4.8.0",
         "@eslint-community/regexpp": "^4.12.2",
@@ -2162,20 +2146,6 @@
         "url": "https://opencollective.com/eslint"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/esprima": {
-      "version": "4.0.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/esprima/-/esprima-4.0.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-eGuFFw7Upda+g4p+QHvnW0RyTX/SVeJBDM/gCtMARO0cLuT2HcEKnTPvhjV6aGeqrCB/sbNop0Kszm0jsaWU4A==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "BSD-2-Clause",
-      "bin": {
-        "esparse": "bin/esparse.js",
-        "esvalidate": "bin/esvalidate.js"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=4"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/esquery": {
       "version": "1.7.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/esquery/-/esquery-1.7.0.tgz",
@@ -2222,19 +2192,6 @@
         "node": ">=0.10.0"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/extend-shallow": {
-      "version": "2.0.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/extend-shallow/-/extend-shallow-2.0.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-zCnTtlxNoAiDc3gqY2aYAWFx7XWWiasuF2K8Me5WbN8otHKTUKBwjPtNpRs/rbUZm7KxWAaNj7P1a/p52GbVug==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "is-extendable": "^0.1.0"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=0.10.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/fast-deep-equal": {
       "version": "3.1.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fast-deep-equal/-/fast-deep-equal-3.1.3.tgz",
@@ -2373,22 +2330,6 @@
       "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC"
     },
-    "node_modules/gray-matter": {
-      "version": "4.0.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/gray-matter/-/gray-matter-4.0.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-5v6yZd4JK3eMI3FqqCouswVqwugaA9r4dNZB1wwcmrD02QkV5H0y7XBQW8QwQqEaZY1pM9aqORSORhJRdNK44Q==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "js-yaml": "^3.13.1",
-        "kind-of": "^6.0.2",
-        "section-matter": "^1.0.0",
-        "strip-bom-string": "^1.0.0"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=6.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/ignore": {
       "version": "5.3.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ignore/-/ignore-5.3.2.tgz",
@@ -2409,16 +2350,6 @@
         "node": ">=0.8.19"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/is-extendable": {
-      "version": "0.1.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/is-extendable/-/is-extendable-0.1.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-5BMULNob1vgFX6EjQw5izWDxrecWK9AM72rugNr0TFldMOi0fj6Jk+zeKIt0xGj4cEfQIJth4w3OKWOJ4f+AFw==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=0.10.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/is-extglob": {
       "version": "2.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/is-extglob/-/is-extglob-2.1.1.tgz",
@@ -2469,20 +2400,6 @@
         "jiti": "lib/jiti-cli.mjs"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/js-yaml": {
-      "version": "3.14.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/js-yaml/-/js-yaml-3.14.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-PMSmkqxr106Xa156c2M265Z+FTrPl+oxd/rgOQy2tijQeK5TxQ43psO1ZCwhVOSdnn+RzkzlRz/eY4BgJBYVpg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "argparse": "^1.0.7",
-        "esprima": "^4.0.0"
-      },
-      "bin": {
-        "js-yaml": "bin/js-yaml.js"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/json-buffer": {
       "version": "3.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/json-buffer/-/json-buffer-3.0.1.tgz",
@@ -2514,16 +2431,6 @@
         "json-buffer": "3.0.1"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/kind-of": {
-      "version": "6.0.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/kind-of/-/kind-of-6.0.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-dcS1ul+9tmeD95T+x28/ehLgd9mENa3LsvDTtzm3vyBEO7RPptvAD+t44WVXaUjTBRcrpFeFlC8WCruUR456hw==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=0.10.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/levn": {
       "version": "0.4.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/levn/-/levn-0.4.1.tgz",
@@ -2825,19 +2732,6 @@
         "@jridgewell/sourcemap-codec": "^1.5.5"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/marked": {
-      "version": "15.0.12",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/marked/-/marked-15.0.12.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-8dD6FusOQSrpv9Z1rdNMdlSgQOIP880DHqnohobOmYLElGEqAL/JvxvuxZO16r4HtjTlfPRDC1hbvxC9dPN2nA==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "bin": {
-        "marked": "bin/marked.js"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 18"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/micromatch": {
       "version": "4.0.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/micromatch/-/micromatch-4.0.8.tgz",
@@ -2997,7 +2891,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-5gTmgEY/sqK6gFXLIsQNH19lWb4ebPDLA4SdLP7dsWkIXHWlG66oPuVvXSGFPppYZz8ZDZq0dYYrbHfBCVUb1Q==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=12"
       },
@@ -3050,7 +2943,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-UOnG6LftzbdaHZcKoPFtOcCKztrQ57WkHDeRD9t/PTQtmT0NHSeWWepj6pS0z/N7+08BHFDQVUrfmfMRcZwbMg==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "bin": {
         "prettier": "bin/prettier.cjs"
       },
@@ -3156,7 +3048,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-2oMpl67a3zCH9H79LeMcbDhXW/UmWG/y2zuqnF2jQq5uq9TbM9TVyXvA4+t+ne2IIkBdrLpAaRQAvo7YI/Yyeg==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "@types/estree": "1.0.8"
       },
@@ -3196,20 +3087,6 @@
         "fsevents": "~2.3.2"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/section-matter": {
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/section-matter/-/section-matter-1.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-vfD3pmTzGpufjScBh50YHKzEu2lxBWhVEHsNGoEXmCmn2hKGfeNLYMzCJpe8cD7gqX7TJluOVpBkAequ6dgMmA==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "extend-shallow": "^2.0.1",
-        "kind-of": "^6.0.0"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=4"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/semver": {
       "version": "7.7.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/semver/-/semver-7.7.4.tgz",
@@ -3256,23 +3133,6 @@
         "node": ">=0.10.0"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/sprintf-js": {
-      "version": "1.0.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/sprintf-js/-/sprintf-js-1.0.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-D9cPgkvLlV3t3IzL0D0YLvGA9Ahk4PcvVwUbN0dSGr1aP0Nrt4AEnTUbuGvquEC0mA64Gqt1fzirlRs5ibXx8g==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "BSD-3-Clause"
-    },
-    "node_modules/strip-bom-string": {
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/strip-bom-string/-/strip-bom-string-1.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-uCC2VHvQRYu+lMh4My/sFNmF2klFymLX1wHJeXnbEJERpV/ZsVuonzerjfrGpIGF7LBVa1O7i9kjiWvJiFck8g==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=0.10.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/tailwindcss": {
       "version": "4.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tailwindcss/-/tailwindcss-4.2.1.tgz",
@@ -3364,7 +3224,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-jl1vZzPDinLr9eUt3J/t7V6FgNEw9QjvBPdysz9KfQDD41fQrC2Y4vKQdiaUpFT4bXlb1RHhLpp8wtm6M5TgSw==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
-      "peer": true,
       "bin": {
         "tsc": "bin/tsc",
         "tsserver": "bin/tsserver"
@@ -3434,7 +3293,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-w+N7Hifpc3gRjZ63vYBXA56dvvRlNWRczTdmCBBa+CotUzAPf5b7YMdMR/8CQoeYE5LX3W4wj6RYTgonm1b9DA==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
-      "peer": true,
       "dependencies": {
         "esbuild": "^0.27.0",
         "fdir": "^6.5.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2131baa..b3819be 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@
     "anser": "^2.3.5",
     "escape-carriage": "^1.3.1",
     "eslint": "^10",
-    "gray-matter": "^4.0.3",
-    "marked": "^15.0.12",
     "prettier": "^3.8.1",
     "prettier-plugin-tailwindcss": "^0.7.2",
     "tailwindcss": "^4.2.1",
diff --git a/src/content/projects/cgol.md b/src/content/projects/cgol.md
deleted file mode 100644
index a183399..0000000
--- a/src/content/projects/cgol.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
----
-title: Conway's Game of Life
-description: WebAssembly implementation of Conway's Game of Life, running as the background of this website.
----
-
-The background animation on this site is a WebAssembly implementation of
-Conway's Game of Life, written in Rust and compiled to WASM.
-
-It runs directly in your browser using the HTML5 Canvas API, simulating
-cellular automata in real-time.
diff --git a/src/global.d.ts b/src/global.d.ts
index 9193a96..145ad9e 100644
--- a/src/global.d.ts
+++ b/src/global.d.ts
@@ -14,23 +14,3 @@ declare module "*.utf8ans?raw" {
   const content: string;
   export default content;
 }
-
-declare module "virtual:projects" {
-  interface Project {
-    slug: string;
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-    html: string;
-  }
-  const projects: Project[];
-  export default projects;
-}
-
-declare module "gray-matter" {
-  interface GrayMatterResult {
-    data: Record<string, string>;
-    content: string;
-  }
-  function matter(input: string): GrayMatterResult;
-  export = matter;
-}
diff --git a/src/lib/background.ts b/src/lib/background.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6beb9a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/background.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+const STORAGE_KEY = "background-motion-preference";
+const MOTION_QUERY = "(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)";
+const STILL_STEPS = 5;
+
+type MotionPreference = "auto" | "off" | "on";
+type BackgroundMode = "animated" | "still" | "failed";
+
+interface BackgroundActions {
+  start: () => void;
+  stop: () => void;
+  renderStill: (steps: number) => void;
+}
+
+function readPreference(): MotionPreference {
+  const stored = window.localStorage.getItem(STORAGE_KEY);
+  return stored === "off" || stored === "on" || stored === "auto"
+    ? stored
+    : "auto";
+}
+
+function writePreference(preference: MotionPreference) {
+  window.localStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, preference);
+}
+
+function getMode(
+  preference: MotionPreference,
+  reducedMotion: boolean,
+): BackgroundMode {
+  if (preference === "on") return "animated";
+  if (preference === "off") return "still";
+  return reducedMotion ? "still" : "animated";
+}
+
+function applyCanvasState(mode: BackgroundMode) {
+  const canvas = document.getElementById("canvas");
+  document.body.dataset.backgroundMode = mode;
+  if (canvas) {
+    canvas.toggleAttribute("hidden", mode === "failed");
+  }
+}
+
+function updateControls(
+  preference: MotionPreference,
+  mode: BackgroundMode,
+  reducedMotion: boolean,
+) {
+  const button = document.getElementById(
+    "background-toggle",
+  ) as HTMLButtonElement | null;
+  const status = document.getElementById("background-status");
+  if (!button || !status) return;
+
+  button.textContent = `motion ${preference}`;
+
+  if (mode === "failed") {
+    status.textContent = "background unavailable";
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (mode === "still") {
+    status.textContent =
+      preference === "auto" && reducedMotion
+        ? "still frame"
+        : "background still";
+    return;
+  }
+
+  status.textContent = "background live";
+}
+
+export function initBackgroundControls(actions: BackgroundActions) {
+  const media = window.matchMedia(MOTION_QUERY);
+  let preference = readPreference();
+  let mode: BackgroundMode = getMode(preference, media.matches);
+
+  const applyMode = () => {
+    mode = getMode(preference, media.matches);
+    applyCanvasState(mode);
+    updateControls(preference, mode, media.matches);
+
+    if (mode === "animated") {
+      actions.start();
+      return;
+    }
+
+    actions.stop();
+    actions.renderStill(STILL_STEPS);
+  };
+
+  const button = document.getElementById(
+    "background-toggle",
+  ) as HTMLButtonElement | null;
+
+  button?.addEventListener("click", () => {
+    preference =
+      preference === "auto" ? "off" : preference === "off" ? "on" : "auto";
+    writePreference(preference);
+    applyMode();
+  });
+
+  media.addEventListener("change", () => {
+    applyMode();
+  });
+
+  return {
+    applyInitialMode() {
+      applyMode();
+    },
+    setFailed() {
+      mode = "failed";
+      applyCanvasState(mode);
+      updateControls(preference, mode, media.matches);
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/site.ts b/src/lib/site.ts
index a0f578a..a142232 100644
--- a/src/lib/site.ts
+++ b/src/lib/site.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ export function renderFooter() {
         <span aria-hidden="true">|</span>
         <a href="/ssh.txt" data-native-link>ssh</a>
         <span aria-hidden="true">|</span>
+        <button type="button" id="background-toggle" class="qa-inline-action">motion auto</button>
+        <span id="background-status" class="qa-meta" aria-live="polite"></span>
+        <span aria-hidden="true">|</span>
         <a href="${mirror.href}">${mirror.label}</a>
       </div>
     </div>`;
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index d6d49dd..4433705 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import "~/styles/globals.css";
-import init, { start } from "cgol";
+import init, { render_still, start, stop } from "cgol";
 import { route, initRouter } from "~/router";
+import { initBackgroundControls } from "~/lib/background";
 import { renderFooter } from "~/lib/site";
 import { homePage } from "~/pages/home";
 import { qaPage } from "~/pages/qa";
@@ -10,12 +11,25 @@ route("/", "Jet Pham - Home", homePage);
 route("/qa", "Jet Pham - Q+A", qaPage);
 route("*", "404 - Jet Pham", notFoundPage);
 
+renderFooter();
+const background = initBackgroundControls({
+  start() {
+    start();
+  },
+  stop() {
+    stop();
+  },
+  renderStill(steps) {
+    render_still(steps);
+  },
+});
+
 try {
   await init();
-  start();
+  background.applyInitialMode();
 } catch (e) {
+  background.setFailed();
   console.error("WASM init failed:", e);
 }
 
 initRouter();
-renderFooter();
diff --git a/src/pages/home.ts b/src/pages/home.ts
index 66aa238..3b2d890 100644
--- a/src/pages/home.ts
+++ b/src/pages/home.ts
@@ -46,20 +46,22 @@ export function homePage(outlet: HTMLElement) {
   ) as HTMLSpanElement;
   let resetTimer: number | null = null;
 
-  copyButton.addEventListener("click", async () => {
-    try {
-      await navigator.clipboard.writeText("jet@extremist.software");
-      copyStatus.textContent = "copied";
-      copyStatus.style.color = "var(--light-green)";
-    } catch {
-      copyStatus.textContent = "copy failed";
-      copyStatus.style.color = "var(--light-red)";
-    }
+  copyButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
+    void (async () => {
+      try {
+        await navigator.clipboard.writeText("jet@extremist.software");
+        copyStatus.textContent = "copied";
+        copyStatus.style.color = "var(--light-green)";
+      } catch {
+        copyStatus.textContent = "copy failed";
+        copyStatus.style.color = "var(--light-red)";
+      }
 
-    if (resetTimer !== null) window.clearTimeout(resetTimer);
-    resetTimer = window.setTimeout(() => {
-      copyStatus.textContent = "";
-      resetTimer = null;
-    }, 1400);
+      if (resetTimer !== null) window.clearTimeout(resetTimer);
+      resetTimer = window.setTimeout(() => {
+        copyStatus.textContent = "";
+        resetTimer = null;
+      }, 1400);
+    })();
   });
 }
diff --git a/src/pages/project.ts b/src/pages/project.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 04af49e..0000000
--- a/src/pages/project.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-import projects from "virtual:projects";
-import { frostedBox } from "~/components/frosted-box";
-
-export function projectPage(outlet: HTMLElement, params: Record<string, string>) {
-  const project = projects.find((p) => p.slug === params.slug);
-  if (!project) {
-    outlet.innerHTML = `
-      <div class="flex flex-col items-center justify-start px-4">
-        ${frostedBox(`
-          <h1 style="color: var(--light-red);">Project not found</h1>
-          <p class="mt-[1ch]"><a href="/projects">[BACK TO PROJECTS]</a></p>
-        `)}
-      </div>`;
-    return;
-  }
-
-  outlet.innerHTML = `
-    <div class="flex flex-col items-center justify-start px-4">
-      ${frostedBox(`
-        <h1 style="color: var(--yellow);">${project.title}</h1>
-        <div class="project-content mt-[2ch]">${project.html}</div>
-      `)}
-    </div>`;
-}
diff --git a/src/pages/projects.ts b/src/pages/projects.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index e022f7c..0000000
--- a/src/pages/projects.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import projects from "virtual:projects";
-import { frostedBox } from "~/components/frosted-box";
-
-export function projectsPage(outlet: HTMLElement) {
-  const list = projects
-    .map(
-      (p) => `
-    <li class="mb-[1ch]">
-      <a href="/projects/${p.slug}" style="color: var(--light-cyan);">${p.title}</a>
-      <p style="color: var(--light-gray);">${p.description}</p>
-    </li>`,
-    )
-    .join("");
-
-  outlet.innerHTML = `
-    <div class="flex flex-col items-center justify-start px-4">
-      ${frostedBox(`
-        <h1 style="color: var(--yellow);">Projects</h1>
-        <ul class="mt-[2ch]">${list}</ul>
-      `)}
-    </div>`;
-}
diff --git a/src/styles/globals.css b/src/styles/globals.css
index 76d299c..8abbd95 100644
--- a/src/styles/globals.css
+++ b/src/styles/globals.css
@@ -347,10 +347,15 @@ a[aria-current="page"] {
   display: flex;
   flex-wrap: wrap;
   justify-content: center;
+  align-items: center;
   gap: 1ch;
   color: var(--dark-gray);
 }
 
+#background-status {
+  margin-top: 0;
+}
+
 .sr-only {
   position: absolute;
   width: 1px;
@@ -364,39 +369,3 @@ a[aria-current="page"] {
 }
 
 /* Project markdown content */
-.project-content h2 {
-  color: var(--light-cyan);
-  margin-top: 2ch;
-  margin-bottom: 1ch;
-}
-
-.project-content h3 {
-  color: var(--light-green);
-  margin-top: 1.5ch;
-  margin-bottom: 0.5ch;
-}
-
-.project-content p {
-  margin-bottom: 1ch;
-}
-
-.project-content ul,
-.project-content ol {
-  margin-left: 2ch;
-  margin-bottom: 1ch;
-}
-
-.project-content code {
-  color: var(--yellow);
-}
-
-.project-content pre {
-  border: 2px solid var(--dark-gray);
-  padding: 1ch;
-  overflow-x: auto;
-  margin-bottom: 1ch;
-}
-
-.project-content a {
-  color: var(--light-blue);
-}
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 706181b..80034fa 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -9,20 +9,9 @@
     "skipLibCheck": true,
     "baseUrl": ".",
     "paths": {
-      "~/*": [
-        "./src/*"
-      ]
+      "~/*": ["./src/*"]
     }
   },
-  "include": [
-    "src",
-    "vite.config.ts",
-    "vite-plugin-ansi.ts",
-    "vite-plugin-markdown.ts"
-  ],
-  "exclude": [
-    "node_modules",
-    "dist",
-    "cgol/pkg"
-  ]
+  "include": ["src", "vite.config.ts", "vite-plugin-ansi.ts"],
+  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist", "cgol/pkg"]
 }
diff --git a/vite-plugin-markdown.ts b/vite-plugin-markdown.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2914eda..0000000
--- a/vite-plugin-markdown.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-import fs from "node:fs";
-import path from "node:path";
-import matter from "gray-matter";
-import { marked } from "marked";
-import type { Plugin } from "vite";
-
-export default function markdownPlugin(): Plugin {
-  const virtualModuleId = "virtual:projects";
-  const resolvedId = "\0" + virtualModuleId;
-  const projectsDir = path.resolve("src/content/projects");
-
-  return {
-    name: "vite-plugin-markdown",
-    resolveId(id) {
-      if (id === virtualModuleId) return resolvedId;
-    },
-    load(id) {
-      if (id !== resolvedId) return;
-
-      const files = fs.readdirSync(projectsDir).filter((f) => f.endsWith(".md"));
-      const projects = files.map((file) => {
-        const raw = fs.readFileSync(path.join(projectsDir, file), "utf-8");
-        const { data, content } = matter(raw);
-        const html = marked(content);
-        const slug = file.replace(".md", "");
-        return { slug, ...data, html };
-      });
-
-      return `export default ${JSON.stringify(projects)};`;
-    },
-  };
-}
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 0b3d1b3..ef3f64c 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -4,12 +4,10 @@ import wasm from "vite-plugin-wasm";
 import topLevelAwait from "vite-plugin-top-level-await";
 import { viteSingleFile } from "vite-plugin-singlefile";
 import ansi from "./vite-plugin-ansi";
-import markdown from "./vite-plugin-markdown";
 
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [
     ansi(),
-    markdown(),
     tailwindcss(),
     wasm(),
     topLevelAwait(),