diff --git a/colorschemes/active.main b/colorschemes/active.main
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..c3f38de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/colorschemes/active.main
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/home/w0ryn/.wryn/colorschemes/christmas.conf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/colorschemes/active.main.alacritty b/colorschemes/active.main.alacritty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b84421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/colorschemes/active.main.alacritty
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+---   # yamllint disable rule:colons
+# do not edit; generated by scwrypts
+colors:
+  primary:
+    background: '0x000505'
+    foreground: '0xCCDDFF'
+  cursor:
+    cursor: '0x46FFB6'
+  normal:
+    black:   '0x22262B'
+    red:     '0xA2152D'
+    green:   '0x288B52'
+    yellow:  '0x489358'
+    blue:    '0x0EA1EE'
+    magenta: '0xA03C6F'
+    cyan:    '0x8195A2'
+    white:   '0x486A8A'
+  bright:
+    black:   '0x3D444E'
+    red:     '0xFF1440'
+    green:   '0x55C9B5'
+    yellow:  '0x5BF887'
+    blue:    '0x00FFFF'
+    magenta: '0xCF4663'
+    cyan:    '0xDFF5FE'
+    white:   '0xEBFFF2'
diff --git a/colorschemes/active.main.getty b/colorschemes/active.main.getty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b0e26e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/colorschemes/active.main.getty
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# source this file to apply colorscheme to linux getty
+[[ "$TERM" =~ ^linux$ ]] || return 0
+
+/bin/echo -e " ]P0000505 ]P1A2152D ]P2288B52 ]P3489358 ]P40EA1EE ]P5A03C6F ]P68195A2 ]P7CCDDFF ]P8FF1440 ]P955C9B5 ]PA5BF887 ]PB00FFFF ]PCCF4663 ]PDDFF5FE ]PE486A8A ]PFEBFFF2 "
+[ ! $NO_CLEAR ] && clear
+return 0
diff --git a/colorschemes/kitty.alternate b/colorschemes/kitty.alternate
deleted file mode 120000
index a5b9805..0000000
--- a/colorschemes/kitty.alternate
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-purple.conf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/colorschemes/kitty.main b/colorschemes/kitty.main
deleted file mode 120000
index f69017b..0000000
--- a/colorschemes/kitty.main
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-christmas.conf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/kitty-alternate-theme b/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/get-hex
similarity index 57%
rename from scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/kitty-alternate-theme
rename to scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/get-hex
index 1a804bd..1db82ec 100755
--- a/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/kitty-alternate-theme
+++ b/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/get-hex
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ use desktop/colorscheme --group dotwryn
 
 CHECK_ENVIRONMENT
 #####################################################################
-SET_THEME alternate
-i3-sensible-terminal &
-PID=$!
-sleep 0.1
-SET_THEME main
-wait $!
+
+MAIN() {
+	unset USAGE
+	GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX $@
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+MAIN $@
diff --git a/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/get-colorscheme-hex b/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/set-theme
similarity index 60%
rename from scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/get-colorscheme-hex
rename to scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/set-theme
index 628bd13..6a62677 100755
--- a/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/get-colorscheme-hex
+++ b/scwrypts/dotwryn/desktop/colorscheme/set-theme
@@ -7,4 +7,10 @@ use desktop/colorscheme --group dotwryn
 CHECK_ENVIRONMENT
 #####################################################################
 
-GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX $@
+MAIN() {
+	unset USAGE
+	SET_THEME $@
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+MAIN $@
diff --git a/scwrypts/dotwryn/lib/desktop/colorscheme.module.zsh b/scwrypts/dotwryn/lib/desktop/colorscheme.module.zsh
index 2a911e0..6324e3f 100644
--- a/scwrypts/dotwryn/lib/desktop/colorscheme.module.zsh
+++ b/scwrypts/dotwryn/lib/desktop/colorscheme.module.zsh
@@ -1,27 +1,261 @@
 #####################################################################
 
-DEPENDENCIES+=(
-	awk sed tr
-)
+DEPENDENCIES+=(awk sed tr)
 REQUIRED_ENV+=()
 
 #####################################################################
 
-GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX() {
-	[ $1 ] && [[ $1 -le 15 ]] && [[ $1 -ge 0 ]] \
-		|| FAIL 1 'must provide ANSI color number 0-15'
+_COLORSCHEME_DIR="$DOTWRYN/colorschemes"
 
-	grep "^color$1 " "$DOTWRYN/colorschemes/kitty.main" \
-		| awk '{print $2}' \
-		| sed 's/ //g; s/#//g' \
-		| tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' \
-		;
+ACTIVE_THEME_NAME='main'
+ACTIVE_THEME="$_COLORSCHEME_DIR/active.$ACTIVE_THEME_NAME"
+
+GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX() {
+	[ ! $USAGE ] && USAGE="
+		usage: ...args... [...options...]
+
+		options:
+		  -h, --help   show this dialogue and exit
+
+		args:
+		  \$1 [0-15]       gets the indicated color by ANSI color number
+		     background   gets the background color
+		     foreground   gets the foreground color
+		     cursor       gets the cursor color
+		     all          sets all theme variables (returns nothing)
+	"
+
+	local ARGS=()
+	while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]
+	do
+		case $1 in
+			-h | --help ) USAGE; return 0;;
+
+			all ) ARGS=(all); break ;;
+
+			* ) ARGS+=($1) ;;
+		esac
+		shift 1
+	done
+
+	[[ ${#ARGS[@]} -gt 0 ]] || ERROR 'must provide at least one color lookup'
+
+	CHECK_ERRORS || return 1
+
+	##########################################
+
+	local PATTERN
+
+	for A in ${ARGS[@]}
+	do
+		case $A in
+			all )
+				FOREGROUND=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX foreground)
+				BACKGROUND=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX background)
+
+				CURSOR=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX cursor)
+
+				BLACK=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   0)
+				RED=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX     1)
+				GREEN=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   2)
+				YELLOW=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX  3)
+				BLUE=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX    4)
+				MAGENTA=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX 5)
+				CYAN=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX    6)
+				WHITE=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   7)
+
+				BRIGHT_BLACK=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   8 )
+				BRIGHT_RED=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX     9 )
+				BRIGHT_GREEN=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   10)
+				BRIGHT_YELLOW=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX  11)
+				BRIGHT_BLUE=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX    12)
+				BRIGHT_MAGENTA=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX 13)
+				BRIGHT_CYAN=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX    14)
+				BRIGHT_WHITE=$(GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX   15)
+
+				return 0
+				;;
+
+			foreground | background | cursor ) PATTERN="^$A " ;;
+
+			* ) : \
+				&& [ $A ] && [[ $A -le 15 ]] && [[ $A -ge 0  ]] \
+					|| { ERROR 'must provide ANSI color number 0-15'; return 1; }
+
+				PATTERN="^color$A "
+				;;
+		esac
+
+		grep "$PATTERN" "$ACTIVE_THEME" \
+			| awk '{print $2}' \
+			| sed 's/ //g; s/#//g' \
+			| tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' \
+			;
+	done
 }
 
 SET_THEME() {
-	local THEME="$DOTWRYN/colorschemes/kitty.$1"
-	[ ! -f "$THEME" ] && FAIL 1 "no such theme '$1'"
-	local LOCAL_THEME="$HOME/.config/kitty/theme.conf"
-	rm -- $LOCAL_THEME
-	ln -s "$THEME" "$LOCAL_THEME"
+	[ ! $USAGE ] && USAGE="
+		usage: [...options...]
+
+		options:
+		  -t, --theme          one of the available color themes
+		  -l, --list-themes    show available color themes and exit
+
+		  --only   only set the theme for a specific terminal (alacritty kitty tty)
+
+		  -h, --help   show this dialogue and exit
+
+		generate all source-controlled theme files then link them to the
+		appropriate local theme file to immediately update terminal themes
+	"
+	local SOURCE_THEME EMULATOR
+	while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]
+	do
+		case $1 in
+			-t | --theme        ) THEME_NAME=$2; shift 1 ;;
+
+			-l | --list-themes ) _LIST_THEMES; return 0 ;;
+
+			--only )
+				EMULATOR=$2; shift 1
+				command -v _SET_THEME__$EMULATOR >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+					|| ERROR "terminal emulator '$EMULATOR' not supported"
+				;;
+
+			-h | --help ) USAGE; return 0 ;;
+
+			* ) ERROR "unknown argument '$1'"
+		esac
+		shift 1
+	done
+
+	CHECK_ERRORS || return 1
+
+	##########################################
+
+	[ $THEME_NAME ] || THEME_NAME=$(_LIST_THEMES | FZF 'select a theme')
+	[ $THEME_NAME ] || ABORT
+
+	local THEME="$_COLORSCHEME_DIR/$THEME_NAME.conf"
+	[ -f "$THEME" ] || FAIL 1 "no such theme '$THEME_NAME'"
+
+
+	##########################################
+
+	STATUS "updating theme $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME" \
+		&& ln -sf "$THEME" "$ACTIVE_THEME" \
+		&& SUCCESS "theme $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME set to '$THEME_NAME'" \
+		|| FAIL 2 "unable to set theme $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME to '$THEME_NAME'"
+
+	local EMULATORS=(alacritty kitty getty)
+	[ $EMULATOR ] && EMULATORS=($EMULATOR)
+
+	GET_COLORSCHEME_HEX all
+	for EMULATOR in ${EMULATORS[@]}
+	do
+		STATUS "updating $EMULATOR theme to use $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME" \
+			&& _GENERATE_THEME__$EMULATOR \
+			&& _SET_THEME__$EMULATOR \
+			&& SUCCESS "emulator $EMULATOR successfully set to $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME" \
+			|| ERROR "error setting theme $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME for $EMULATOR"
+
+		[[ $EMULATOR =~ ^getty$ ]] && [[ $TERM =~ ^linux$ ]] && {
+			STATUS 'loading getty theme now' \
+				&& NO_CLEAR=1 source "$ACTIVE_THEME.getty" \
+				&& SUCCESS 'getty theme loaded' \
+				|| ERROR 'getty theme loading error (see above)'
+			}
+	done
+
+	CHECK_ERRORS --no-usage
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+
+_LIST_THEMES() {
+	ls "$_COLORSCHEME_DIR" | grep '.conf$' | sed 's/.conf$//'
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+
+_GENERATE_THEME__alacritty() {
+	STATUS "generating $ACTIVE_THEME_NAME.alacritty"
+	echo "---   # yamllint disable rule:colons
+# do not edit; generated by scwrypts
+colors:
+  primary:
+    background: '0x$BACKGROUND'
+    foreground: '0x$FOREGROUND'
+  cursor:
+    cursor: '0x$CURSOR'
+  normal:
+    black:   '0x$BLACK'
+    red:     '0x$RED'
+    green:   '0x$GREEN'
+    yellow:  '0x$YELLOW'
+    blue:    '0x$BLUE'
+    magenta: '0x$MAGENTA'
+    cyan:    '0x$CYAN'
+    white:   '0x$WHITE'
+  bright:
+    black:   '0x$BRIGHT_BLACK'
+    red:     '0x$BRIGHT_RED'
+    green:   '0x$BRIGHT_GREEN'
+    yellow:  '0x$BRIGHT_YELLOW'
+    blue:    '0x$BRIGHT_BLUE'
+    magenta: '0x$BRIGHT_MAGENTA'
+    cyan:    '0x$BRIGHT_CYAN'
+    white:   '0x$BRIGHT_WHITE'
+" | sed '$d' > "$ACTIVE_THEME.alacritty"
+}
+
+_SET_THEME__alacritty() {
+	local LOCAL_THEME="$HOME/.config/alacritty/theme.yml"
+	ln -sf "$ACTIVE_THEME.alacritty" "$LOCAL_THEME"
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+
+_GENERATE_THEME__kitty() {
+	return 0  # existing theme is compatible with kitty
+}
+
+_SET_THEME__kitty() {
+	local LOCAL_THEME="$HOME/.config/kitty/theme.conf"
+	ln -sf "$ACTIVE_THEME" "$LOCAL_THEME"
+}
+
+#####################################################################
+
+_GENERATE_THEME__getty() {
+	echo "#!/bin/sh
+# source this file to apply colorscheme to linux getty
+[[ \"\$TERM\" =~ ^linux$ ]] || return 0
+
+/bin/echo -e \" \
+\\e]P0$BACKGROUND \
+\\e]P1$RED \
+\\e]P2$GREEN \
+\\e]P3$YELLOW \
+\\e]P4$BLUE \
+\\e]P5$MAGENTA \
+\\e]P6$CYAN \
+\\e]P7$FOREGROUND \
+\\e]P8$BRIGHT_RED \
+\\e]P9$BRIGHT_GREEN \
+\\e]PA$BRIGHT_YELLOW \
+\\e]PB$BRIGHT_BLUE \
+\\e]PC$BRIGHT_MAGENTA \
+\\e]PD$BRIGHT_CYAN \
+\\e]PE$WHITE \
+\\e]PF$BRIGHT_WHITE \
+\"
+[ ! \$NO_CLEAR ] && clear
+return 0" > "$ACTIVE_THEME.getty"
+}
+
+_SET_THEME__getty() {
+	local LOCAL_THEME="$HOME/.config/wryn/tty-colorscheme"
+	ln -sf "$ACTIVE_THEME.getty" "$LOCAL_THEME"
 }
diff --git a/zsh/colors b/zsh/colors
index 88fe78a..99e159e 100644
--- a/zsh/colors
+++ b/zsh/colors
@@ -3,82 +3,7 @@
 
 alias ls='ls --color=auto --group-directories-first'
 
-#####################################################################
-
-_TTY_LOAD_COLORSCHEME() {
-	[[ "$TERM" =~ ^linux$ ]] || return 0
-
-	local TARGET="$HOME/.config/wryn/tty-colorscheme"
-	[ ! -f $TARGET ] && TARGET="$DOTWRYN/colorschemes/kitty.main"
-	
-	local PARSE() {
-		grep "$1" $TARGET | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/ //g; s/#//g' | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'
-	}
-	
-	/bin/echo -e "\
-		\e]P0$(PARSE '^background ')
-		\e]P1$(PARSE '^color1 ')
-		\e]P2$(PARSE '^color2 ')
-		\e]P3$(PARSE '^color3 ')
-		\e]P4$(PARSE '^color4 ')
-		\e]P5$(PARSE '^color5 ')
-		\e]P6$(PARSE '^color6 ')
-		\e]P7$(PARSE '^foreground ')
-		\e]P8$(PARSE '^color9 ')
-		\e]P9$(PARSE '^color10 ')
-		\e]PA$(PARSE '^color11 ')
-		\e]PB$(PARSE '^color12 ')
-		\e]PC$(PARSE '^color13 ')
-		\e]PD$(PARSE '^color14 ')
-		\e]PE$(PARSE '^color7 ')
-		\e]PF$(PARSE '^color15 ')
-	"
-	clear
-}
-_TTY_LOAD_COLORSCHEME
-
-#####################################################################
-
-alias kitty-change-colorscheme='CHANGE_COLORSCHEME kitty main'
-alias kitty-change-colorscheme-alternate='CHANGE_COLORSCHEME kitty alternate'
-alias tty-change-theme='CHANGE_COLORSCHEME tty'
-
-CHANGE_COLORSCHEME () {
-	local TYPE="$1"
-	local TARGET_LINK EXTRA_OPTIONS
-	case $TYPE in
-		tty )
-			TARGET_LINK="$HOME/.config/wryn/tty-colorscheme"
-			EXTRA_OPTIONS=(default)
-			;;
-		kitty )
-			TARGET_LINK="./kitty.$2"
-			EXTRA_OPTIONS=()
-			;;
-	esac
-	local COLORSCHEMES=($(cd $DOTWRYN/colorschemes; ls *.conf) $EXTRA_OPTIONS)
-	local COLORSCHEME=$(\
-		echo $COLORSCHEMES | sed 's/\s\+/\n/g' | sort -u \
-		| sed 's/\.conf//g; s/^./\U&/; s/-\(.\)/\U\1/g; s/^Default/& (use kitty theme)/' \
-		| fzf -i --height=50% --reverse --prompt 'select a theme : ' \
-		| sed 's/^./\L&/; s/[A-Z]/-\L&/g'
-	)
-
-	cd "$DOTWRYN/colorschemes/"
-	case $COLORSCHEME in
-		'' ) return 1 ;;
-		default* ) ;;
-		* )
-			COLORSCHEME="$COLORSCHEME.conf"
-			[ ! -f $COLORSCHEME ] && { echo "no such theme">&2; return 2; }
-			;;
-	esac
-
-	rm -- $TARGET_LINK >/dev/null 2>&1
-	ln -s $COLORSCHEME $TARGET_LINK
-
-	echo "'$TYPE' theme changed successfully! (effective on new session)"
-	_TTY_LOAD_COLORSCHEME
-}
+[ -f "$HOME/.config/wryn/tty-colorscheme" ] \
+	&& source "$HOME/.config/wryn/tty-colorscheme"
 
 #####################################################################