diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 83d05e3..e95a52a 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -267,22 +267,11 @@
                                     <option v-for="em in carrierEmojiList" :key="em" :value="em">{{ em }}</option>
                                 </select>
                             </label>
-                        </div>
-                        <div v-if="tbSingleCarrier" class="tokenade-payload-drop">
-                            <div class="drop-zone" 
-                                 @dragover.prevent 
-                                 @drop="handleTokenadeDrop"
-                                 @paste="handleTokenadePaste"
-                                 title="Drag/Drop or paste emojis here to embed into the carrier">
-                                Drop or paste emojis to embed →
-                            </div>
-                            <div class="payload-list" v-if="tbPayloadEmojis.length">
-                                <div class="payload-item" v-for="(em, idx) in tbPayloadEmojis" :key="idx">
-                                    <span class="payload-emoji">{{ em }}</span>
-                                    <button class="decode-button" @click="removeTokenadePayloadAt(idx)" title="Remove">✖</button>
-                                </div>
-                                <button class="decode-button" @click="clearTokenadePayload" title="Clear all">Clear</button>
-                            </div>
+                            <label v-if="tbSingleCarrier" title="Advanced: use this symbol or string as the embedded payload for encoding">
+                                Advanced: custom carrier text
+                                <input type="text" v-model="tbCarrierManual" placeholder="e.g., ⚙️ or ::tag::" />
+                                <small>When set, this overrides quick picks and dropdown.</small>
+                            </label>
                         </div>
                         <div class="token-bomb-actions">
                             <button class="transform-button" @click="generateTokenBomb" title="Build the tokenade with current settings">
diff --git a/js/app.js b/js/app.js
index 445e17c..b4113db 100644
--- a/js/app.js
+++ b/js/app.js
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ window.app = new Vue({
         selectedEmoji: null,
         carrierEmojiList: [...window.emojiLibrary.EMOJI_LIST],
         quickCarrierEmojis: ['🐍','🐉','🐲','🔥','💥','🗿','⚓','⭐','✨','🚀','💀','🪨','🍃','🪶','🔮','🐢','🐊','🦎','🐍'],
+        tbCarrierManual: '',
         // Token Bomb Generator
         tbDepth: 3,
         tbBreadth: 4,
@@ -1744,7 +1745,8 @@ window.app = new Vue({
             }
 
             if (this.tbSingleCarrier) {
-                const carrier = (this.tbCarrier && String(this.tbCarrier)) || (this.selectedEmoji ? String(this.selectedEmoji) : '💥');
+                const manual = (this.tbCarrierManual || '').trim();
+                const carrier = manual || (this.tbCarrier && String(this.tbCarrier)) || (this.selectedEmoji ? String(this.selectedEmoji) : '💥');
                 function countUnits(level) {
                     if (level === 0) return breadth;
                     return breadth * countUnits(level - 1);
@@ -1753,13 +1755,7 @@ window.app = new Vue({
                 const totalUnits = Math.max(1, repeats * unitsPerBlock);
 
                 let payload = [];
-                if (this.tbPayloadEmojis && this.tbPayloadEmojis.length > 0) {
-                    for (let i = 0; i < totalUnits; i++) {
-                        payload.push(String(this.tbPayloadEmojis[i % this.tbPayloadEmojis.length]));
-                    }
-                } else {
-                    payload = pickEmojis(totalUnits);
-                }
+                payload = pickEmojis(totalUnits);
 
                 function toTagSeqForEmojiChar(ch) {
                     const cp = ch.codePointAt(0);