diff --git a/src/App.css b/src/App.css
index 056038df..879b1930 100644
--- a/src/App.css
+++ b/src/App.css
@@ -4993,10 +4993,15 @@ body.has-player .chat-fab {
   max-width: none;
 }
 
+/* Subordination is carried by the dimming and the tighter box, not by
+   dropping the fill: a theme is free to draw its cards with the surface alone
+   (smooth and melange both set --card-border: transparent), so blanking the
+   background there left nothing to see — text floating on the page, or, in
+   melange, a shadow around a hole. Whatever skin the theme gives a card is
+   kept; only its weight comes down. */
 .related-section .dump-card {
   border-width: 1px;
   border-radius: var(--radius-lg);
-  background: transparent;
   opacity: 0.78;
   transition: border-color var(--dur-base), opacity var(--dur-base);
 }
@@ -5040,7 +5045,6 @@ body.has-player .chat-fab {
 .collections-section .playlist-card {
   border-width: 1px;
   border-radius: var(--radius-lg);
-  background: transparent;
   opacity: 0.78;
   transition: border-color var(--dur-base), opacity var(--dur-base);
 }