First paint never waits on the Network: inline dark canvas + cached-theme boot in the shared head tags, theme script deferred

ddiff --git a/packages/openvibe-shared/app-icon.js b/packages/openvibe-shared/app-icon.js
iindex 96259c4e..fe920064 100644
---- a/packages/openvibe-shared/app-icon.js
++++ b/packages/openvibe-shared/app-icon.js
@@@ -64,11 +64,18 @@ function manifest({ site = 'network', name, shortName, description, startUrl = '
      };
  }
  
++// First paint must never depend on another server. These two inline tags give every page the network's
++// dark canvas and the visitor's cached theme immediately; theme-loader.js (deferred, from the Network)
++// reconciles with the account afterwards. If the Network is slow or restarting, the page is still
++// styled and readable instead of blank white.
++const CRITICAL = `<style id="ov-critical">html{background:${BG};color:#e6edf7;color-scheme:dark}</style>`
++    + `<script>(function(){try{var r=localStorage.getItem('ov_theme');if(!r)return;var t=JSON.parse(r),v=t&&t.variables;if(!v)return;var e=document.documentElement;for(var k in v)if(k.charAt(0)==='-')e.style.setProperty(k,v[k]);if(v['--bg-primary'])e.style.background=v['--bg-primary'];if(v['--text-primary'])e.style.color=v['--text-primary'];if(v['--color-scheme']==='light'||v['--color-scheme']==='dark')e.style.colorScheme=v['--color-scheme'];if(t.id)e.setAttribute('data-theme',t.id)}catch(_){}})();</script>`;
++
  /** <head> tags every site shares: SVG favicon (inline, no request), theme colour, and the PNG touch icon when the site ships one. */
  function headTags({ site = 'network', iconBase = null } = {}) {
      const uri = 'data:image/svg+xml,' + encodeURIComponent(favicon({ site })).replace(/'/g, '%27');
--    return [`<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" data-ov-icon="${String(site).replace(/[^a-z]/g, '')}" href="${uri}">`, '<meta name="theme-color" content="#0d131d">', `<meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">`,
++    return [`<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" data-ov-icon="${String(site).replace(/[^a-z]/g, '')}" href="${uri}">`, '<meta name="theme-color" content="#0d131d">', '<meta name="color-scheme" content="dark">', CRITICAL,
          iconBase ? `<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="${iconBase}/logo-192.png">` : '', iconBase ? `<link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.webmanifest">` : ''].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
  }
  
--module.exports = { svg, favicon, manifest, headTags, SITES, BG };
++module.exports = { svg, favicon, manifest, headTags, CRITICAL, SITES, BG };
ddiff --git a/packages/openvibe-shared/legal.js b/packages/openvibe-shared/legal.js
iindex 24ffed06..c419fa08 100644
---- a/packages/openvibe-shared/legal.js
++++ b/packages/openvibe-shared/legal.js
@@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ function page(kind, site) {
      return `<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">
  ${head}
  ${require('./app-icon').headTags({ site: site.id })}
--<script src="https://openvibe.network/shared/theme-loader.js"></script><style>${CSS}</style></head><body>
++<script src="https://openvibe.network/shared/theme-loader.js" defer></script><style>${CSS}</style></head><body>
  <noscript><p style="padding:12px 20px;margin:0"><a href="/">${esc(site.name)}</a></p></noscript>
  <main>${article(kind, site)}</main><div id="ov-footer"></div>
  <script src="https://openvibe.network/shared/navbar.js" defer></script><script src="https://openvibe.network/shared/footer.js" defer></script>
ddiff --git a/packages/openvibe-shared/theme-loader.js b/packages/openvibe-shared/theme-loader.js
iindex 6a7a0eb8..bd44091e 100644
---- a/packages/openvibe-shared/theme-loader.js
++++ b/packages/openvibe-shared/theme-loader.js
@@@ -108,6 +108,9 @@
          // Native controls, scrollbars and form fields follow the theme's light/dark mode.
          const scheme = vars['--color-scheme'];
          if (scheme === 'light' || scheme === 'dark') { el.style.colorScheme = scheme; el.setAttribute('data-theme-mode', scheme); }
++        // The inline critical style paints a fixed dark canvas before any stylesheet; keep it in step with the theme.
++        if (vars['--bg-primary']) el.style.background = vars['--bg-primary'];
++        if (vars['--text-primary']) el.style.color = vars['--text-primary'];
          syncChrome();
      }