diff --git a/flake/system.nix b/flake/system.nix
index 80f34c9..5513e3d 100644
--- a/flake/system.nix
+++ b/flake/system.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   inputs,
   self,
   ...
-}: let
+} @ flakeArgs: let
   cfg = config.nixfiles.systems;
   inherit
     (lib)
@@ -227,14 +227,22 @@ in {
             ++ lib.optional config.wsl wslModule;
           extraConfig = {
             inherit (config) system modules;
-            # TODO get rid of specialArgs and pass things as a module
-            specialArgs = let
-              inherit (self) outputs;
-            in {
-              inherit inputs outputs;
-              inherit (outerConfig.nixfiles) vars;
+            specialArgs = {
+              # TODO this is temporary, i prefer to not use specialArgs because
+              # it can't be exported. these are still better than my clunky
+              # "vars" arg that i would arbitrarily add things to.
+              #
+              # we need to merge all of the module args like this because the
+              # module evaluator only calls each module with the args it asks
+              # for, but we explicitly want *all* args to be made available.
+              flakeArgs = outerConfig._module.args // outerConfig._module.specialArgs // flakeArgs;
+
+              # still unsure of what the best way to deal with this is. i can
+              # probably pass this submodule's args for a fairly clean way to
+              # pass it, but i'd want to refactor it because config.nixpkgs and
+              # config.home-manager.input are named inconsistently
               inherit (config) nixpkgs;
-              inherit (config.home-manager) input;
+              home-manager = config.home-manager.input;
             };
           };
           result = config.nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem config.extraConfig;
diff --git a/hosts/nixos-wsl/configuration.nix b/hosts/nixos-wsl/configuration.nix
index 9520473..f6ca490 100644
--- a/hosts/nixos-wsl/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/nixos-wsl/configuration.nix
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
   pkgs,
   config,
   lib,
-  vars,
+  flakeConfig,
   ...
-}: {
+}: let
+  inherit (flakeConfig.nixfiles) vars;
+in {
   config = {
     networking.hostName = "nixos-wsl";
 
diff --git a/hosts/nullbox/configuration.nix b/hosts/nullbox/configuration.nix
index 7096947..37f668f 100644
--- a/hosts/nullbox/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/nullbox/configuration.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  inputs,
   ...
 }: {
   imports = [
diff --git a/hosts/slab/configuration.nix b/hosts/slab/configuration.nix
index a750fb1..aa296cd 100644
--- a/hosts/slab/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/slab/configuration.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  vars,
   ...
 }: {
   imports = [
diff --git a/system/common/nix.nix b/system/common/nix.nix
index 322d2ae..57913eb 100644
--- a/system/common/nix.nix
+++ b/system/common/nix.nix
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
   lib,
   config,
   options,
-  inputs,
+  flakeArgs,
   nixpkgs,
   ...
 }: let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
   cfg = config.nixfiles.common.nix;
 in {
   options.nixfiles.common.nix = {
diff --git a/system/default.nix b/system/default.nix
index 55e1e82..bc78285 100644
--- a/system/default.nix
+++ b/system/default.nix
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
   config,
   lib,
   options,
+  flakeArgs,
   nixpkgs,
   home-manager,
-  inputs,
   utils,
   ...
 } @ args:
@@ -14,8 +14,15 @@
 # inputs/outputs/overlays/etc into scope. this might even make nixfiles
 # portable (it still shouldn't be imported by other flakes probably)
 let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
+
   cfg = config.nixfiles;
   flakeType = cfg.lib.types.flake;
+  mkReadOnlyOption = {...} @ args:
+    lib.mkOption ({
+        readOnly = true;
+      }
+      // args);
 in {
   imports = [
     ./common
@@ -35,7 +42,15 @@ in {
     inputs.lanzaboote.nixosModules.lanzaboote
     ./stylix.nix # imports inputs.stylix
   ];
-  config = {};
+  config = {
+    _module.args.flakeConfig = flakeArgs.config;
+  };
+  options.debug = {
+    args = mkReadOnlyOption {
+      description = "all module args";
+      default = config._module.args // config._module.specialArgs // args;
+    };
+  };
   options.nixfiles = {
     meta.wayland = lib.mkOption {
       description = "Whether to prefer wayland applications and configuration";
@@ -44,12 +59,6 @@ in {
       type = lib.types.bool;
     };
 
-    utils = lib.mkOption {
-      description = "nixpkgs `utils` argument passthrough";
-      default = utils;
-      readOnly = true;
-    };
-
     workarounds.nvidiaPrimary = lib.mkOption {
       description = "Whether to enable workarounds for NVIDIA as the primary GPU";
       default = false;
diff --git a/system/hardware/sound.nix b/system/hardware/sound.nix
index 659c8dc..17b03d4 100644
--- a/system/hardware/sound.nix
+++ b/system/hardware/sound.nix
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  inputs,
+  flakeArgs,
   ...
 }: let
-  cfg = config.nixfiles.hardware.sound;
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
   inherit (lib) optionals mkEnableOption mkIf mkDefault;
+  cfg = config.nixfiles.hardware.sound;
 in {
   # Enable sound.
   # sound.enable = true;
diff --git a/system/minecraft.nix b/system/minecraft.nix
index dd51793..660846e 100644
--- a/system/minecraft.nix
+++ b/system/minecraft.nix
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  inputs,
+  flakeArgs,
   ...
-}: {
+}: let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
+in {
   imports = [
     inputs.nix-minecraft.nixosModules.minecraft-servers
   ];
diff --git a/system/mitigations.nix b/system/mitigations.nix
index 3d57e4d..01357f5 100644
--- a/system/mitigations.nix
+++ b/system/mitigations.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 {
   pkgs,
   config,
-  lib,
-  inputs,
-  nixpkgs,
+  flakeArgs,
   ...
 }: let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
   p5 = config.services.xserver.desktopManager.plasma5.enable;
   p6 = config.services.desktopManager.plasma6.enable;
 
diff --git a/system/package-sets/gaming.nix b/system/package-sets/gaming.nix
index 81bd1db..a91d8a5 100644
--- a/system/package-sets/gaming.nix
+++ b/system/package-sets/gaming.nix
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  inputs,
   ...
 }: let
   cfg = config.nixfiles.packageSets.gaming;
diff --git a/system/profile/base.nix b/system/profile/base.nix
index 80c8ea3..fa10659 100644
--- a/system/profile/base.nix
+++ b/system/profile/base.nix
@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  options,
-  inputs,
-  outputs,
   ...
 } @ args: let
   cfg = config.nixfiles.profile.base;
diff --git a/system/programs/android.nix b/system/programs/android.nix
index bc8dc4e..7f9d64a 100644
--- a/system/programs/android.nix
+++ b/system/programs/android.nix
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
-  outputs,
-  vars,
+  flakeConfig,
   ...
 } @ args: let
+  inherit (flakeConfig.nixfiles) vars;
   cfg = config.nixfiles.programs.adb;
 in {
   options.nixfiles.programs.adb = {
diff --git a/system/sessions/hyprland.nix b/system/sessions/hyprland.nix
index 2d59ff7..1ae29fd 100644
--- a/system/sessions/hyprland.nix
+++ b/system/sessions/hyprland.nix
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
   lib,
   pkgs,
   config,
-  inputs,
+  flakeArgs,
   ...
 }: let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
   cfg = config.nixfiles.sessions.hyprland;
   flake-package = inputs.hyprland.packages.${pkgs.system}.hyprland;
   flake-portal = inputs.hyprland.packages.${pkgs.system}.xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland;
diff --git a/system/stylix.nix b/system/stylix.nix
index 5785b61..d1aa102 100644
--- a/system/stylix.nix
+++ b/system/stylix.nix
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
   pkgs,
   config,
   lib,
-  inputs,
+  flakeArgs,
   ...
-} @ args: {
+} @ args: let
+  inherit (flakeArgs) inputs;
+in {
   imports = [inputs.stylix.nixosModules.stylix];
 
   config = {