diff --git a/docs/port/HANDOFF.md b/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
index 5d602690..2d8c7b7c 100644
--- a/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/docs/port/HANDOFF.md
@@ -2533,6 +2533,39 @@ whatever it returns — the same reason a truncated log and a t=0 render both lo
 fine from inside. Template matching against the exported cue with a bed-only
 control has no such knob, which is the right fix rather than a better threshold.
 
+## 🔴 2026-08-30 — `rest` is NOT a settled pose, and I have the disc-wide number
+
+Your `ptlogo_back2eff1` finding — `rest.t` sitting at the peak of its own 4-unit
+sparkle — is a **general defect**, and I converged on it from the file side without
+knowing you were looking.
+
+| | |
+|---|---|
+| elements with ≥ 2 keyframes | 13 991 |
+| have a plateau — the dwell fallback never runs | 11 686 |
+| **have none — the fallback decides** | **2 305** |
+| **of those, it returns a VISIBLE pose** | **1 697 (74 %)** |
+
+**`GP_TITLE`: 5 fires, 4 visible — and all four are on the SPLASH screens you
+ship.** `palogo_sqex_eff.t32` and `palogo_anima_eff.t32`, entries 10/11/13/14, each
+`[0:a0 15:a255 30:a212 45:a0]` — a flash peaking at t=15, dead by t=45, and `rest()`
+returns **t=30, a=212**. Near the peak of a transient, exactly like your sparkles.
+
+⚠️ **The rule this gives, and it is the one your `verify-screen` header now
+states:** a render posed at `rest` is a legitimate **common reference for comparing
+two decoders**, and is **not** a frame to score against a capture. You reached that
+from a wrong result; the census says it holds far beyond the case that taught it.
+
+✅ **And the item `MISSION` wanted the JP capture for is dissolved.**
+`ptlogo_eff3.t32` was listed as the one element discriminating the `rest()`
+candidates. Its keyframes in the corpus were the **stale parser's** — `[46,61,103,-]`
+against the true `[0,46,61,103]` — which moves the longest gap from `61→103` (one end
+a=255 at 200 %) to `0→46` (**both ends a=0**). Build 7 now renders byte-identical
+under both surviving readings. The capture was still worth taking, for your
+`title_jp` question; not for that one.
+[`ui-resting-pose.md`](../re/structures/ui-resting-pose.md) ·
+[census](../re/data/rest-fallback-census.txt)
+
 ## ✅ 2026-08-30 — the JAPANESE TITLE AT REST, captured. Your `title_jp` ask.
 
 [`live-title-jp-at-rest.png`](../re/captures/title-builds/live-title-jp-at-rest.png) ·