diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/creature_anim/driver.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/creature_anim/driver.rs
index f9fab96c..366b2f6c 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/creature_anim/driver.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/creature_anim/driver.rs
@@ -420,6 +420,13 @@ pub(super) fn drive_animations(
     // The missing-clip resolver's DBC source (decision 0082): `None` for the brief window before
     // `AnimationData.dbc` loads, in which every lookup below degrades to identity.
     let catalog = anim_data.as_deref().map(|d| &d.0);
+    // `WOW_ANIM_COST=1` — the memo-sizing counter (1370 item 9's bracket): counts the frame's
+    // RESTING rows, the shape an input-memo fast path would skip. Sizing only — no skip is
+    // taken here (an `AnimParked` filter is law-barred: 0448's off-screen-events law means a
+    // parked unit's driver must keep arming clips; the memo is the only safe shape, built when
+    // this number says it pays).
+    let anim_cost = anim_cost_enabled();
+    let (mut cost_rows, mut cost_resting) = (0u32, 0u32);
     for (
         entity,
         anims,
@@ -553,6 +560,32 @@ pub(super) fn drive_animations(
         // same-frame land+relaunch is a new arc there ([`crate::player::Player::advance_airborne_arc`]).
         let prev_vertical = std::mem::replace(&mut drv.last_vertical_speed, mv.vertical_speed);
         let launched = mv.vertical_speed > JUMP_ARC_MIN_UP && prev_vertical <= JUMP_ARC_MIN_UP;
+        // The resting predicate, counted (never acted on — see the counter's note above): mode
+        // Gait with nothing in flight, nothing pending, grounded and motionless. A strict lower
+        // bound on what an input-memo would skip.
+        if anim_cost {
+            cost_rows += 1;
+            if drv.mode == Mode::Gait
+                && drv.overlay.is_none()
+                && drv.overlay_fade.is_none()
+                && drv.wound.is_none()
+                && drv.sheath_swap.is_none()
+                && !first
+                && !mount_edge
+                && cast_hold.is_none()
+                && !moving
+                && !falling
+                && !was_falling
+                && !launched
+                && !pending.contains_key(&entity)
+                && !pending_wound.contains_key(&entity)
+                && !pending_defense.contains_key(&entity)
+                && !pending_slow.contains(&entity)
+                && !pending_sheath.contains_key(&entity)
+            {
+                cost_resting += 1;
+            }
+        }
         if falling && (!was_falling || launched) {
             drv.jump_arc = mv.vertical_speed > JUMP_ARC_MIN_UP;
         }
@@ -1400,4 +1433,18 @@ pub(super) fn drive_animations(
             commands.entity(entity).remove::<super::NockLatch>();
         }
     }
+    if anim_cost && cost_rows > 0 {
+        use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU32, Ordering};
+        static FRAME: AtomicU32 = AtomicU32::new(0);
+        // Once a second at 60 fps, not per frame — the counter is a sizing read, not a trace.
+        if FRAME.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed).is_multiple_of(64) {
+            eprintln!("[anim-cost] rows={cost_rows} resting={cost_resting}");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// `WOW_ANIM_COST=1` — arms the memo-sizing counter above. Read once, the meter posture.
+fn anim_cost_enabled() -> bool {
+    static ON: std::sync::OnceLock<bool> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var("WOW_ANIM_COST").as_deref() == Ok("1"))
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/dress.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/dress.rs
index ccac0118..665bd705 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/dress.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/dress.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use bevy::prelude::*;
 
 use benilla_assets::materials::WowModelMaterial;
 use benilla_world::billboard::BillboardCard;
-use benilla_world::interact::WorldObject;
+use benilla_world::interact::{CreaturePickPart, GoPickPart, WorldObject};
 use benilla_world::interior::part_interior_lit;
 use benilla_world::model_fade::{FadeSet, JoinedFade, PartFade};
 use benilla_world::model_render::{ModelKind, ModelPart};
@@ -103,6 +103,22 @@ pub(super) fn part_materials<'a>(
     }
 }
 
+/// Stamp a pickable part (or card) with the pick population its kind belongs to: the mouseover
+/// pickers filter by these markers instead of kind-comparing every `WorldObject` row per frame.
+/// One site for both the mesh-part and the billboard-card spawn, so the two can't drift.
+fn insert_pick_marker(child: &mut bevy::ecs::system::EntityCommands<'_>, kind: ModelKind) {
+    match kind {
+        ModelKind::GameObject => {
+            child.insert(GoPickPart);
+        }
+        ModelKind::Creature => {
+            child.insert(CreaturePickPart);
+        }
+        // Doodad/WMO parts (terrain_stream's spawns) are never dressed here and take no marker.
+        ModelKind::Doodad | ModelKind::Wmo => {}
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a> PartMaterials<'a> {
     /// The three handles the appear/despawn ramps feather through — this batch's slice of
     /// [`FadeSet`], so the spawn and the fade can never disagree about which twin it wears.
@@ -212,6 +228,7 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_part(
             card: None,
         },
     ));
+    insert_pick_marker(&mut child, dress.kind);
     // Every part gets a tag: the instance slot plus the live alpha field. Unconditional because the
     // slot is a per-instance identity every part needs (the tint) rather than a skinning detail —
     // and because the two conditional writers that used to seed it (the interior classifier, the
@@ -341,6 +358,7 @@ fn spawn_billboard_part(
         benilla_world::interact::PickMesh(part.geometry.clone()),
         card_follow,
     ));
+    insert_pick_marker(&mut card, dress.kind);
     // A card takes its MODEL's indoor law through the same constructor as the sibling meshes it was
     // split out of (decision 0778), and carries the unit's INSTANCE slot like every sibling part
     // even though it is never skinned by it — it is a batch of the unit's own model, so a tinted
@@ -601,6 +619,85 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    /// The dress path stamps every pickable spawn — the mesh part and the billboard CARD (never
+    /// the bare mirror anchor) — with exactly its kind's pick-population marker, so the mouseover
+    /// pickers' marker-filtered sets equal the old kind-filtered ones by construction. Asserted
+    /// differentially: the marker set must equal the `WorldObject`-kind set, and the other kind's
+    /// marker must land on nothing.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_spawned_part_carries_its_kinds_pick_marker() {
+        for kind in [ModelKind::Creature, ModelKind::GameObject] {
+            let mut app = App::new();
+            app.add_plugins((MinimalPlugins, AssetPlugin::default()))
+                .init_asset::<Mesh>();
+            let unit = app.world_mut().spawn(Transform::default()).id();
+            let mut billboard = part(None, false);
+            billboard.billboard = Some(benilla_assets::BillboardInfo {
+                pivot: Vec3::ZERO,
+                bone: 1,
+                kind: benilla_formats::BillboardKind::Spherical,
+                scale_anim: None,
+                seq_translations: Vec::new(),
+            });
+            let object = WorldObject {
+                kind,
+                label: String::new(),
+                id: 0,
+                detail: String::new(),
+            };
+            let empty: CharSkinMaterials = (None, None, None, (None, None));
+            let dress = PartDress {
+                unit,
+                kind,
+                char_mats: &empty,
+                object: &object,
+                inst_slot: 0,
+                rigged: false,
+                anchors: std::collections::HashMap::new(),
+                bake_center: Vec3::ZERO,
+                idle_aabb: None,
+                now: 0.0,
+                fade: JoinedFade::Steady,
+            };
+            let mut queue = bevy::ecs::world::CommandQueue::default();
+            {
+                let world = app.world();
+                let mut commands = Commands::new(&mut queue, world);
+                spawn_part(&mut commands, &part(None, false), 0, &dress);
+                spawn_part(&mut commands, &billboard, 1, &dress);
+            }
+            queue.apply(app.world_mut());
+            let world = app.world_mut();
+            let by_kind: std::collections::HashSet<Entity> = world
+                .query::<(Entity, &WorldObject)>()
+                .iter(world)
+                .filter(|(_, o)| o.kind == kind)
+                .map(|(e, _)| e)
+                .collect();
+            let (creature, go) = (
+                world
+                    .query_filtered::<Entity, With<CreaturePickPart>>()
+                    .iter(world)
+                    .collect::<std::collections::HashSet<_>>(),
+                world
+                    .query_filtered::<Entity, With<GoPickPart>>()
+                    .iter(world)
+                    .collect::<std::collections::HashSet<_>>(),
+            );
+            let (marked, other) = match kind {
+                ModelKind::Creature => (creature, go),
+                _ => (go, creature),
+            };
+            assert_eq!(
+                by_kind.len(),
+                2,
+                "the mesh part and the card, not the anchor"
+            );
+            assert_eq!(marked, by_kind, "marker set == kind set ({kind:?})");
+            assert!(other.is_empty(), "never the other kind's marker ({kind:?})");
+        }
+    }
+
     /// A batch with no character slot — and a slot whose row the appearance didn't resolve (a bald
     /// style has no hair texture, only tauren author an extra skin) — keeps the shared model's own
     /// built materials. That is the arm a creature, a GameObject and an unresolvable look all take.
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/mod.rs
index 506c659e..dad0d0d8 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/attach/mod.rs
@@ -903,6 +903,9 @@ pub(super) fn attach_entity_visuals(
                         MeshMaterial3d(material),
                         Transform::from_translation(Vec3::Y * lift),
                         object,
+                        // …and into the unit pick's marker-filtered fallback population like any
+                        // dressed creature part.
+                        benilla_world::interact::CreaturePickPart,
                         // The cube has no resident `RenderSubmesh` to cast against — its `Aabb` IS
                         // its shape, which it must SAY (decision 0929): the picker requires pick
                         // geometry rather than inferring a box from its absence.
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/hover_log.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/hover_log.rs
index 1b27047c..4458a4c2 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/hover_log.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/hover_log.rs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ impl Plugin for HoverLogPlugin {
                     out,
                     "frame_ms,cpu_ms,tick_us,resolve_us,measure_us,extract_us,convert_us,\
                      diff_us,quads,solves,skipped,measured,measured_texts,tip_owner,tip_lines,\
-                     tip_first_line"
+                     tip_first_line,spliced"
                 );
                 info!("hover log: recording every frame to {path}");
                 app.insert_resource(Recorder {
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ fn record(
         .unwrap_or_else(|| (String::new(), 0, String::new()));
     let _ = writeln!(
         rec.out,
-        "{frame_ms:.3},{cpu_ms:.3},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{lines},{}",
+        "{frame_ms:.3},{cpu_ms:.3},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{lines},{},{}",
         c.tick,
         c.resolve,
         c.measure,
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ fn record(
         cell(&c.measured_texts.join(" ⏎ ")),
         cell(&owner),
         cell(&first),
+        c.spliced,
     );
     rec.rows.push(Row {
         frame_ms,
@@ -326,6 +327,8 @@ fn parse_row(line: &str) -> Option<Row> {
             quads: num(8)? as usize,
             solves: num(9)? as u64,
             skipped: num(10)? != 0.0,
+            // Appended column (absent in pre-splice recordings — those read back as 0).
+            spliced: fields.get(16).and_then(|f| f.parse().ok()).unwrap_or(0),
         },
         tip: if owner.is_empty() {
             None
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/minimap/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/minimap/mod.rs
index 6707b115..24ee91a9 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/minimap/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/minimap/mod.rs
@@ -691,9 +691,11 @@ fn emit_minimap(
 /// persisting across the transition. Runs before the script tick, so a `SetZoom` fired from a button
 /// handler this frame routes to the right index. `CurrentWmoInterior` is the same containment test the
 /// interior audio/zone tracker uses.
-/// The state push is unconditional (a Minimap widget created *after* a transition — the cluster XML
-/// loads late — would otherwise never be told, and the arena scan is nothing next to a frame). On the
-/// actual inside↔outside *edge* we also fire `MINIMAP_UPDATE_ZOOM`: the active zoom index just switched
+/// The state is pushed on the inside↔outside *edge* and whenever the VM's Minimap-creation count
+/// moved (the cluster XML loads late, and an addon can build one whenever it likes — the counter
+/// is what keeps "a widget created after the last transition is still told" true without walking
+/// the ~3k-frame arena every frame; the memo resets with a fresh VM, whose rebuilt widgets bump
+/// the fresh counter). On the edge we also fire `MINIMAP_UPDATE_ZOOM`: the active zoom index just switched
 /// to the other (independent) level, so the cluster must re-sync the +/- buttons' enabled state to it
 /// — the client's own signal for "the effective zoom changed" (FrameXML `Minimap_OnEvent`). Without it
 /// the buttons keep the level you left (e.g. `ZoomIn` greyed from an outdoor max-zoom, still greyed
@@ -702,13 +704,18 @@ fn feed_minimap_inside(
     script: Option<bevy::ecs::system::NonSendMut<benilla_ui::script::UiScript>>,
     world: benilla_world::world_point::WorldPoint,
     mut was_inside: Local<crate::ui_script::VmMemo<Option<bool>>>,
+    mut pushed_at: Local<crate::ui_script::VmMemo<u64>>,
 ) {
     let Some(mut script) = script else { return };
-    let was_inside = was_inside.get(&script);
     let inside = world.interior().is_some();
-    script.set_minimap_inside(inside);
-    if *was_inside != Some(inside) {
-        *was_inside = Some(inside);
+    let edge = *was_inside.get(&script) != Some(inside);
+    let created = script.minimap_widgets_created();
+    if edge || *pushed_at.get(&script) != created {
+        script.set_minimap_inside(inside);
+        *pushed_at.get(&script) = created;
+    }
+    if edge {
+        *was_inside.get(&script) = Some(inside);
         script.fire_event("MINIMAP_UPDATE_ZOOM", vec![]);
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/nameplates.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/nameplates.rs
index 6879e3c7..880f50f1 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/nameplates.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/nameplates.rs
@@ -120,6 +120,37 @@ fn flag_prefix(player_flags: u32) -> String {
         .collect()
 }
 
+/// Whether `cached` is exactly the line stack [`drive_nameplates`]'s stale arm would build from
+/// these inputs — compared in place, because the steady frame must not allocate three strings per
+/// shown unit just to learn nothing changed. Equivalent to string equality against the built stack
+/// (the differential test pins it): line 0 is the set [`FLAG_PREFIXES`] tags in slot order glued
+/// onto the name, line 1 the `<{sub}>` decoration when a subname shows.
+fn lines_current(cached: &[String], player_flags: u32, name: &str, sub: Option<&str>) -> bool {
+    let name_line = |line: &str| {
+        let mut rest = line;
+        for (bit, tag) in FLAG_PREFIXES {
+            if player_flags & bit != 0 {
+                match rest.strip_prefix(tag) {
+                    Some(r) => rest = r,
+                    None => return false,
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        rest == name
+    };
+    match (cached, sub) {
+        ([l0], None) => name_line(l0),
+        ([l0, l1], Some(sub)) => {
+            name_line(l0)
+                && l1
+                    .strip_prefix('<')
+                    .and_then(|r| r.strip_suffix('>'))
+                    .is_some_and(|r| r == sub)
+        }
+        _ => false,
+    }
+}
+
 /// The name's world scale for a unit whose overhead anchor sits `d` world units above its feet.
 /// Shared with the raid-target marker ([`crate::raid_marks`]) — §6 of the same geometry law.
 pub(crate) fn height_scale(d: f32) -> f32 {
@@ -469,31 +500,31 @@ pub(crate) fn drive_nameplates(
         if !show {
             continue;
         }
-        let Some(name) = names.resolve(guid.0, &net_commands).map(str::to_owned) else {
+        // Ask-once resolve, then re-read by reference (`peek`, resolve's read-only twin): holding
+        // resolve's `&mut`-tied return across the subname read below is a borrow conflict, and the
+        // `str::to_owned` that used to break it was a per-unit-per-frame allocation made just to
+        // compare against the cache (the steady arm below no longer builds anything).
+        if names.resolve(guid.0, &net_commands).is_none() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        let Some(name) = names.peek(guid.0) else {
             continue;
         };
         // The player flag decorations (a1–a3): glued straight onto the name line, no space.
-        let name = if net.kind == EntityKind::Player {
-            let prefix = flag_prefix(store.map_or(0, |s| s.0.player_flags()));
-            if prefix.is_empty() {
-                name
-            } else {
-                format!("{prefix}{name}")
-            }
+        let flags = if net.kind == EntityKind::Player {
+            store.map_or(0, |s| s.0.player_flags())
         } else {
-            name
+            0
         };
-        let mut lines = vec![name];
-        if net.kind == EntityKind::Unit {
-            if let Some(sub) = benilla_protocol::guid::entry(guid.0)
+        let sub = if net.kind == EntityKind::Unit {
+            benilla_protocol::guid::entry(guid.0)
                 .and_then(|e| names.creature_subname(e))
                 // vmangos ships "" (present-but-empty) for most templates — an empty wire
                 // subname is NO subname, never an empty `<>` line.
                 .filter(|s| !s.trim().is_empty())
-            {
-                lines.push(format!("<{sub}>"));
-            }
-        }
+        } else {
+            None
+        };
         // The color: the ring's byte-verified rank + the shared palette selector.
         let rank = ring_reaction(
             factions.as_deref(),
@@ -521,27 +552,12 @@ pub(crate) fn drive_nameplates(
             ))
         };
 
-        // (Re)build the plate entity when its content changed. The seat below is only the
-        // spawn-frame placement — [`place_nameplates`] re-seats every plate each frame from the
-        // propagated (same-frame) pose.
-        let anchor = overhead_anchor(
-            entity,
-            tf,
-            &anchor_q.0,
-            &anchor_q.1,
-            &anchor_q.2,
-            &anchor_q.3,
-            &anchor_q.4,
-        );
-        let scale = height_scale(anchor.y - tf.translation.y);
-        let place = Transform {
-            translation: anchor,
-            rotation: facing,
-            scale: Vec3::splat(scale),
-        };
         seen.insert(entity);
         match plates.live.get(&entity) {
-            Some((_, l, c)) if *l == lines && *c == color => {}
+            // The steady frame — very nearly all of them — compares the cached stack in place
+            // ([`lines_current`]): the line stack used to be BUILT here (three allocations per
+            // shown unit per frame) only to equality-compare against the cache and be dropped.
+            Some((_, l, c)) if *c == color && lines_current(l, flags, name, sub) => {}
             stale => {
                 if let Some((old, _, _)) = stale {
                     let old = *old;
@@ -549,6 +565,17 @@ pub(crate) fn drive_nameplates(
                         e.despawn();
                     }
                 }
+                // Building the stack allocates, and only this arm does it. [`lines_current`]'s
+                // differential test pins the compare above to exactly this shape.
+                let prefix = flag_prefix(flags);
+                let mut lines = vec![if prefix.is_empty() {
+                    name.to_owned()
+                } else {
+                    format!("{prefix}{name}")
+                }];
+                if let Some(sub) = sub {
+                    lines.push(format!("<{sub}>"));
+                }
                 debug!("nameplates: rebuild {entity} -> {lines:?} ({color:?})");
                 let mesh = plates
                     .meshes
@@ -556,6 +583,25 @@ pub(crate) fn drive_nameplates(
                     .or_insert_with(|| meshes.add(build_name_mesh(atlas, &lines)))
                     .clone();
                 let material = plates.materials[&color].clone();
+                // The spawn-frame seat only — [`place_nameplates`] re-seats every plate each
+                // frame from the propagated (same-frame) pose. Kept (not `Transform::default()`):
+                // the PostUpdate placement can miss a plate whose unit despawned later this same
+                // Update, and a plate must never render a frame at the origin.
+                let anchor = overhead_anchor(
+                    entity,
+                    tf,
+                    &anchor_q.0,
+                    &anchor_q.1,
+                    &anchor_q.2,
+                    &anchor_q.3,
+                    &anchor_q.4,
+                );
+                let scale = height_scale(anchor.y - tf.translation.y);
+                let place = Transform {
+                    translation: anchor,
+                    rotation: facing,
+                    scale: Vec3::splat(scale),
+                };
                 let plate = commands
                     .spawn((Mesh3d(mesh), MeshMaterial3d(material), place, NamePlate))
                     .id();
@@ -653,8 +699,19 @@ fn place_nameplates(
             rotation: facing,
             scale: Vec3::splat(scale),
         };
-        *ptf = place;
-        *pglobal = GlobalTransform::from(place);
+        // The no-op write gate (decision 1362 — the camera's pattern, at the plate): a parked
+        // unit's seat is bit-stable, but writing it anyway marked every plate's transform changed
+        // every frame. Bit equality, not an epsilon: a real sub-epsilon drift must still land.
+        // The global rides the same branch — a root entity's global IS its transform, so the two
+        // are stale together. The mounted rock-damp seat never settles; the gate just misses there.
+        {
+            let t = ptf.bypass_change_detection();
+            if *t != place {
+                *t = place;
+                ptf.set_changed();
+                *pglobal = GlobalTransform::from(place);
+            }
+        }
     }
     // Dismounted or despawned units drop their damping state (a re-mount starts fresh).
     rock.retain(|e, _| anchor_q.4.contains(*e));
@@ -834,6 +891,95 @@ mod tests {
 
     const RED: Color = Color::linear_rgb(1.0, 0.0, 0.0);
 
+    /// The steady arm's in-place compare answers exactly "is the cached stack what the stale arm
+    /// would build from these inputs" — pinned differentially against that build itself (every
+    /// pair of cases, both directions), so the two shapes cannot drift apart. This is also the
+    /// keep-vs-rebuild verdict: `true` keeps the plate entity across frames, `false` rebuilds it —
+    /// e.g. a name that merely LOOKS pre-tagged (`<AFK>Bob`, unflagged) still compares equal to a
+    /// flagged `Bob`, exactly as the built strings do.
+    #[test]
+    fn lines_current_matches_the_built_stack() {
+        let build = |flags: u32, name: &str, sub: Option<&str>| {
+            let mut lines = vec![format!("{}{name}", flag_prefix(flags))];
+            if let Some(sub) = sub {
+                lines.push(format!("<{sub}>"));
+            }
+            lines
+        };
+        let cases: &[(u32, &str, Option<&str>)] = &[
+            (0, "Mankrik", None),
+            (0, "Young Wolf", Some("Beast")),
+            (0, "Young Wolf", None),
+            (0x2, "Bob", None),
+            (0x2 | 0x8, "Bob", None),
+            (0, "<AFK>Bob", None),
+        ];
+        for &(flags, name, sub) in cases {
+            let cached = build(flags, name, sub);
+            for &(f2, n2, s2) in cases {
+                assert_eq!(
+                    lines_current(&cached, f2, n2, s2),
+                    build(f2, n2, s2) == cached,
+                    "cache of ({flags:#x}, {name:?}, {sub:?}) vs ({f2:#x}, {n2:?}, {s2:?})"
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The placement write gate (decision 1362's pattern at the plate): a static world's second
+    /// placement leaves the plate's `Transform`/`GlobalTransform` change ticks untouched, and a
+    /// moved unit still lands its write — bit equality, so any real movement passes.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_parked_plates_seat_takes_no_write() {
+        use bevy::ecs::system::RunSystemOnce;
+
+        let mut world = World::new();
+        world.init_resource::<Time>();
+        world.insert_resource(NameAnchorTrace(false));
+        world.spawn((Transform::default(), WorldCamera));
+        let unit = world.spawn(Transform::from_xyz(3.0, -1.0, 5.0)).id();
+        let plate = world
+            .spawn((Transform::default(), GlobalTransform::default(), NamePlate))
+            .id();
+        let mut plates = Nameplates::default();
+        plates
+            .live
+            .insert(unit, (plate, vec!["Bob".to_string()], NamePaint::Flash));
+        world.insert_resource(plates);
+
+        // First seat: the anchor fallback (no model) is the unit's own translation.
+        world.run_system_once(place_nameplates).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            world.get::<Transform>(plate).unwrap().translation,
+            Vec3::new(3.0, -1.0, 5.0),
+        );
+
+        // A parked frame: bit-identical seat, so neither transform's tick may move.
+        world.clear_trackers();
+        world.run_system_once(place_nameplates).unwrap();
+        let e = world.entity(plate);
+        assert!(
+            !e.get_ref::<Transform>().unwrap().is_changed(),
+            "an unchanged seat must not re-mark the plate's transform"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !e.get_ref::<GlobalTransform>().unwrap().is_changed(),
+            "…nor its global"
+        );
+
+        // A real move still lands, and marks.
+        world.get_mut::<Transform>(unit).unwrap().translation.x += 2.0;
+        world.clear_trackers();
+        world.run_system_once(place_nameplates).unwrap();
+        let e = world.entity(plate);
+        assert_eq!(
+            e.get::<Transform>().unwrap().translation,
+            Vec3::new(5.0, -1.0, 5.0)
+        );
+        assert!(e.get_ref::<Transform>().unwrap().is_changed());
+        assert!(e.get_ref::<GlobalTransform>().unwrap().is_changed());
+    }
+
     /// A populated cache, as a re-bake finds it: one live plate, its mesh, its material.
     fn primed(generation: Option<u64>, unit: Entity, plate: Entity) -> Nameplates {
         let lines = vec!["Young Wolf".to_string()];
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/pipe_warm/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/pipe_warm/mod.rs
index 12fc4e9b..7d49c75b 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/pipe_warm/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/pipe_warm/mod.rs
@@ -129,8 +129,22 @@ fn publish_cover(
 /// Render world, after `PipelineCache::process_pipeline_queue_system` has merged this frame's new
 /// pipelines and started (= on macOS: finished) their builds. `seen` is how many cache entries the
 /// previous frame had — everything past it is new this frame.
-fn watch_pipelines(cache: Res<PipelineCache>, watch: Res<PipeWatch>, mut seen: Local<usize>) {
+fn watch_pipelines(
+    cache: Res<PipelineCache>,
+    watch: Res<PipeWatch>,
+    mut seen: Local<usize>,
+    mut settled_seen: Local<usize>,
+) {
     let covered = watch.0.covered.load(Ordering::Relaxed);
+    // O(1) early-out for the steady state: nothing new since last look AND everything had already
+    // settled then, so the walk below could only re-derive last frame's counts. `size_hint().0`
+    // because the opaque `impl Iterator` hides the backing slice's `.len()`; for a slice iterator
+    // the lower bound is exact. The settled conjunct is load-bearing: Queued/Creating pipelines
+    // settle on later frames without `total` moving.
+    let total = cache.pipelines().size_hint().0;
+    if total == *seen && *settled_seen == total {
+        return;
+    }
     let mut total = 0usize;
     let mut settled = 0usize;
     for (id, pipe) in cache.pipelines().enumerate() {
@@ -164,6 +178,7 @@ fn watch_pipelines(cache: Res<PipelineCache>, watch: Res<PipeWatch>, mut seen: L
         }
     }
     *seen = total;
+    *settled_seen = settled;
     watch.0.created.store(total, Ordering::Relaxed);
     watch.0.settled.store(settled, Ordering::Relaxed);
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/player/setup.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/player/setup.rs
index f6af47df..6167c736 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/player/setup.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/player/setup.rs
@@ -133,15 +133,18 @@ pub(super) fn setup_player(
     if std::env::var_os("WOW_NO_INDIRECT").is_some() {
         world_cam.insert(bevy::render::view::NoIndirectDrawing);
     }
-    // `WOW_NO_CLUSTERS=1` — turn off Bevy's clustered-forward light assignment on the world
-    // camera. An EXPERIMENT knob (the 1370 bracket): every world shader takes its point-light
-    // term off OUR storage buffer (`lighting::global_light` — bevy's clusterable buffer is
-    // fragment-only in the view layout and nothing of ours imports `apply_pbr_lighting`), so
-    // the whole assign/extract/prepare cluster lane is suspected dead work proportional to the
-    // resident `PointLight` population (794 at the SW pin). `ClusterConfig::None` short-circuits
+    // Bevy's clustered-forward light assignment is OFF on the world camera by default (the
+    // 1370 bracket surfaced the lane; the 3-round SW split then measured the skip at −0.28
+    // cpu_ms): every world shader takes its point-light term off OUR storage buffer
+    // (`lighting::global_light` — bevy's clusterable buffer is fragment-only in the view
+    // layout and nothing of ours imports `apply_pbr_lighting`; the WDL far ring is unlit), so
+    // the whole assign/extract/prepare cluster lane is dead work proportional to the resident
+    // `PointLight` population (794 at the SW pin). `ClusterConfig::None` short-circuits
     // `assign_objects_to_clusters` per view and starves the light extract/prepare downstream;
-    // the `Clusters` component stays, so the view bind group still builds.
-    if std::env::var_os("WOW_NO_CLUSTERS").is_some() {
+    // the `Clusters` component stays, so the view bind group still builds. Scoped to THIS
+    // camera: the booth/pane cameras keep bevy's default.
+    // `WOW_CLUSTERS=1` restores bevy's upstream default (the A/B lever back).
+    if std::env::var_os("WOW_CLUSTERS").is_none() {
         world_cam.insert(bevy::light::cluster::ClusterConfig::None);
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/probe_shield.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/probe_shield.rs
index 7d3559e1..d4579984 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/probe_shield.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/probe_shield.rs
@@ -163,9 +163,13 @@ impl ProbeShield {
 /// unattended session logs in with (method.md "The local vmangos server"). Nothing else is ours to
 /// modify: `one` is the director's, and a bystander test account is not a probe.
 fn is_probe_account(user: &str) -> bool {
-    let user = user.to_ascii_lowercase();
-    user.strip_prefix("probe")
-        .is_some_and(|n| !n.is_empty() && n.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_digit()))
+    // Byte-wise (a &str slice at 5 would panic mid-char on non-ASCII input; bytes can't).
+    let Some((prefix, digits)) = user.as_bytes().split_at_checked(5) else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    prefix.eq_ignore_ascii_case(b"probe")
+        && !digits.is_empty()
+        && digits.iter().all(u8::is_ascii_digit)
 }
 
 /// Whether this run wants GM mode **off** — `WOW_GM=off`, or an explicit `gm:off` in `WOW_RIG`.
@@ -193,9 +197,13 @@ fn rig_asks_for_gm_off(spec: &str) -> bool {
     })
 }
 
-/// Whether `WOW_GOD=off` asked for an unshielded run.
+/// Whether `WOW_GOD=off` asked for an unshielded run — a launch-time knob, read once (the shield
+/// drive asks every frame).
 fn disabled_by_env() -> bool {
-    std::env::var("WOW_GOD").is_ok_and(|v| v.eq_ignore_ascii_case("off"))
+    static OFF: std::sync::LazyLock<bool> = std::sync::LazyLock::new(|| {
+        std::env::var("WOW_GOD").is_ok_and(|v| v.eq_ignore_ascii_case("off"))
+    });
+    *OFF
 }
 
 /// Classify one `CHAT_MSG_SYSTEM` line as an answer about god mode. `None` = not about it.
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/target/hover.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/target/hover.rs
index 9b8dbf1d..ed866803 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/target/hover.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/target/hover.rs
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ use crate::net::{Guid, NetEntity, ObjectStore, SelfPlayer};
 use crate::player::CameraControl;
 use crate::ui_script::PointerOverUi;
 use benilla_world::collision::PickOccluder;
-use benilla_world::interact::{ray_mesh_bounds, ray_posed_mesh, PickParts, WorldObject};
-use benilla_world::model_render::ModelKind;
+use benilla_world::interact::{
+    ray_mesh_bounds, ray_posed_mesh, CreaturePickPart, GoPickPart, PickParts,
+};
 use benilla_world::view::WorldCamera;
 
 use super::{Hovered, HoveredObject, PickOcclusion};
@@ -123,15 +124,19 @@ pub(super) fn update_hover(
     child_sets: Query<&Children>,
     // A part child's mesh + its palette-rig link (the rig its vertices pose through).
     parts: Query<(&Mesh3d, &benilla_world::rig_palette::RigPart)>,
-    // Fallback path: a unit's pickable mesh children — `WorldObject` kind, model-local `Aabb`, world
+    // Fallback path: a unit's pickable mesh children, by [`CreaturePickPart`] (stamped beside the
+    // part's `WorldObject` at the attach sites, fallback cube included — the archetype filter that
+    // replaced a per-frame kind-compare over every streamed row) — model-local `Aabb`, world
     // transform, and the link to the streamed parent (whose `Guid` we resolve the hit to).
-    meshes: Query<(
-        &ChildOf,
-        &Aabb,
-        &GlobalTransform,
-        &WorldObject,
-        Option<&InheritedVisibility>,
-    )>,
+    meshes: Query<
+        (
+            &ChildOf,
+            &Aabb,
+            &GlobalTransform,
+            Option<&InheritedVisibility>,
+        ),
+        With<CreaturePickPart>,
+    >,
     units: Query<&Guid, Without<SelfPlayer>>,
 ) {
     hovered.target = None;
@@ -265,17 +270,14 @@ pub(super) fn update_hover(
     // ── Fallback for skinless units only: the model-bounds box test (pre-RE interim) ────────────
     // A unit's parts are separate meshes; testing each and keeping the closest parent is equivalent
     // to testing the union. `dir` is normalized, so `t` is a world distance like the hits above.
-    for (child_of, aabb, gt, obj, drawn) in &meshes {
-        if obj.kind != ModelKind::Creature {
-            continue;
-        }
+    for (child_of, aabb, gt, drawn) in &meshes {
         // …and the same rule on the skinless fallback: a part inherits its root's pass-2 verdict.
         if !drawn.is_none_or(|v| v.get()) {
             continue;
         }
         let parent = child_of.parent();
         if faithful.contains(&parent) || units.get(parent).is_err() {
-            continue; // posed-mesh-tested above, or not a targetable unit (e.g. a GameObject part)
+            continue; // posed-mesh-tested above, or not a targetable unit (e.g. the self player)
         }
         if let Some(t) = ray_mesh_bounds(origin, dir, aabb, gt) {
             if best.is_none_or(|(bt, _)| t < bt) {
@@ -355,9 +357,10 @@ pub(super) fn update_hovered_object(
     // means pass 1 + the unit halo already own the mouseover, so the GO pass 2 stays shut.
     unit_hovered: Res<Hovered>,
     mut hovered: ResMut<HoveredObject>,
-    // Every pickable GameObject part carries `WorldObject { kind: GameObject }` (units/doodads/WMOs
-    // carry other kinds and are excluded — units have their own posed-mesh pick).
-    go_parts: Query<(Entity, &WorldObject)>,
+    // Every pickable GameObject part carries [`GoPickPart`] (stamped beside its
+    // `WorldObject { kind: GameObject }` at the attach sites; units/doodads/WMOs never enter this
+    // query — units have their own posed-mesh pick).
+    go_parts: Query<Entity, With<GoPickPart>>,
     child_of: Query<&ChildOf>,
     guids: Query<&Guid>,
     stores: Query<&ObjectStore>,
@@ -393,14 +396,12 @@ pub(super) fn update_hovered_object(
     // hoverable through the railing, and the hull shows no gear or tooltip.
     let pickable: bevy::platform::collections::HashSet<Entity> = go_parts
         .iter()
-        .filter(|(_, o)| o.kind == ModelKind::GameObject)
-        .filter(|(e, _)| {
-            let root = child_of.get(*e).map_or(*e, |c| c.parent());
+        .filter(|&e| {
+            let root = child_of.get(e).map_or(e, |c| c.parent());
             !stores
                 .get(root)
                 .is_ok_and(|s| matches!(s.0.gameobject_type_id(), 11 | 14 | 15))
         })
-        .map(|(e, _)| e)
         .collect();
     if pickable.is_empty() {
         *last_pick = None;
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_pass.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_pass.rs
index 792797a2..58d433d1 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_pass.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_pass.rs
@@ -710,6 +710,14 @@ fn ui_mesh_frozen() -> bool {
     *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var_os("WOW_FREEZE_UI_MESH").is_some())
 }
 
+/// `WOW_UI_DIFF` presence — launch-time knob, read once (the rebuild path re-ran getenv per frame).
+static UI_DIFF: std::sync::LazyLock<bool> =
+    std::sync::LazyLock::new(|| std::env::var_os("WOW_UI_DIFF").is_some());
+
+/// `WOW_UI_PROBE=1` — launch-time knob, read once (the per-run check re-ran getenv ~90×/frame).
+static UI_PROBE: std::sync::LazyLock<bool> =
+    std::sync::LazyLock::new(|| std::env::var("WOW_UI_PROBE").as_deref() == Ok("1"));
+
 fn rebuild_ui_mesh(
     mut quads: ResMut<UiQuads>,
     mut commands: Commands,
@@ -746,7 +754,7 @@ fn rebuild_ui_mesh(
     // says the BASE lane's dirty flag did it), once a second. The instrument behind the
     // Stormwind mesh-churn hunt: a widget re-emitting a moving/jittering quad every frame drags
     // every batch through a full rebuild and the GPU allocator through ~90 frees+reallocs.
-    if std::env::var_os("WOW_UI_DIFF").is_some() {
+    if *UI_DIFF {
         if q.dirty {
             eprintln!("[ui-diff] BASE lane dirty");
         } else {
@@ -806,7 +814,7 @@ fn rebuild_ui_mesh(
     // Geometry probe (`WOW_UI_PROBE=1`): dump each textured quad's screen rect once — the
     // capture-harness companion for diagnosing extracted-vs-rendered geometry by data instead of
     // by eyeballing PNGs.
-    if std::env::var("WOW_UI_PROBE").as_deref() == Ok("1") {
+    if *UI_PROBE {
         // Fire on every rebuild (rebuilds are change-driven and rare); read the LAST block.
         {
             info!(
@@ -923,7 +931,7 @@ fn rebuild_ui_mesh(
             ),
             None => (Vec4::new(0.0, 0.0, -1.0, -1.0), None),
         };
-        if std::env::var("WOW_UI_PROBE").as_deref() == Ok("1") && run.mask.is_some() {
+        if *UI_PROBE && run.mask.is_some() {
             info!(
                 "ui probe: masked run {i}: mask_rect={mask_rect:?} scale={scale} tex={:?}",
                 run.mask.as_ref().map(|m| m.texture.id())
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/mod.rs
index 69c0ba95..c90139d3 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/mod.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,14 @@ fn gate_log_enabled() -> bool {
     *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var("WOW_UI_GATE").as_deref() == Ok("1"))
 }
 
+/// `WOW_UI_DIFF=1` — the base-lane rebuild-trigger probe (`ui_pass`' twin). Read once; it also
+/// pins the conversion to the FULL path (the probe's job is naming the first differing quad of a
+/// whole-list diff, which the per-entry splice below deliberately never computes).
+fn ui_diff_enabled() -> bool {
+    static ON: std::sync::OnceLock<bool> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var_os("WOW_UI_DIFF").is_some())
+}
+
 /// One line naming why the extract gate did not skip this frame — the input that differed, and for
 /// the render list the first entry that moved. A settled UI is what makes the paint pass free; when
 /// it is never settled, this says what is moving.
@@ -107,6 +115,17 @@ pub(super) struct GateInputs {
     /// The `UiFontAtlas::generation` the held quads' glyph UVs came from — see the gate's own
     /// note below. Moves only when the glyph sheet resets (decisions 1339, 1342).
     generation: Option<u64>,
+    /// Per-entry prefix ends into the conversion's output: entry `i`'s quads occupy
+    /// `spans[i-1]..spans[i]` of `UiQuads::quads` (0 for `i = 0`). Recorded by the full
+    /// conversion, kept current by the splice — this is what lets a one-entry change (the resting
+    /// blink) re-convert one entry instead of the whole interface.
+    spans: Vec<u32>,
+}
+
+/// Entry `i`'s quad range under `spans` (the [`GateInputs::spans`] encoding).
+fn span_bounds(spans: &[u32], i: usize) -> (usize, usize) {
+    let a = if i == 0 { 0 } else { spans[i - 1] as usize };
+    (a, spans[i] as usize)
 }
 
 /// Per frame: screen size → `tick` (OnUpdate) → `resolve` → `extract` → [`UiQuads`]. Script errors
@@ -445,6 +464,7 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
                 quads: quads.quads.len(),
                 solves,
                 skipped: true,
+                spliced: 0,
             };
         }
         if printing {
@@ -472,6 +492,170 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
             booths.images.0 == prev.portraits,
         );
     }
+    // ── The per-entry splice: 1361's shape one layer up ──────────────────────────────────────
+    // The gate above is all-or-nothing, so ONE animating entry (the resting blink, a sweeping
+    // cooldown) used to re-convert the whole interface every frame. When the only input that
+    // moved is the extracted list itself, the lists are index-aligned (same length — the
+    // traversal is stable when nothing was created/destroyed/restacked), few entries differ,
+    // and every differing entry converts to nothing but quads (no link spans, no minimap slot,
+    // no booth panes), the changed entries re-convert alone — through the same [`convert_entry`]
+    // body, which is what makes the spliced output equal the full path's by construction — and
+    // stitch into last frame's `UiQuads` at the ranges `prev.spans` remembers. Everything else
+    // (the side channels, the panes map, the engine's link spans) keeps last frame's values,
+    // which the unchanged entries prove are this frame's too: the settled path's own argument,
+    // applied per entry.
+    'splice: {
+        if capture.is_some()
+            || ui_diff_enabled()
+            || prev.dims != Some(dims)
+            || prev.generation != generation
+            || text_ui != prev.text_ui
+            || booths.images.0 != prev.portraits
+            || prev.extracted.len() != extracted.len()
+            || prev.spans.len() != extracted.len()
+            // spans describe `quads.quads` — if any future writer replaces the base lane out
+            // from under this pass, degrade to the full conversion instead of mis-stitching.
+            || prev.spans.last().copied().unwrap_or(0) as usize != quads.quads.len()
+        {
+            break 'splice;
+        }
+        // The changed entry set, bounded: a real UI transition (a window opening) moves many
+        // entries, and the full conversion is the right tool there anyway.
+        const SPLICE_MAX: usize = 8;
+        let mut changed: Vec<usize> = Vec::with_capacity(SPLICE_MAX);
+        for (i, (now, was)) in extracted.iter().zip(&prev.extracted).enumerate() {
+            if now != was {
+                if changed.len() == SPLICE_MAX {
+                    break 'splice;
+                }
+                changed.push(i);
+            }
+        }
+        // The all-equal case belongs to the settled gate above; reaching here empty means a
+        // comparison razor slipped — take the full path rather than risk skipping a change.
+        if changed.is_empty() {
+            break 'splice;
+        }
+        // Only entries whose conversion writes quads alone are spliceable — old AND new: an
+        // entry morphing into a side-channel kind must reach the full path's plumbing.
+        let simple = |eq: &benilla_ui::script::ExtractedQuad| {
+            matches!(
+                &eq.content,
+                QuadContent::Frame
+                    | QuadContent::Cooldown { .. }
+                    | QuadContent::Backdrop { .. }
+                    | QuadContent::Texture {
+                        portrait_unit: None,
+                        ..
+                    }
+            )
+        };
+        if !changed
+            .iter()
+            .all(|&i| simple(&extracted[i]) && simple(&prev.extracted[i]))
+        {
+            break 'splice;
+        }
+        // Re-convert just the changed entries. The scratch side channels are a tripwire:
+        // `simple` makes them unreachable today, and if an arm ever grows a new side effect
+        // the full path is the only safe answer.
+        let mut scratch: Vec<UiQuad> = Vec::new();
+        let mut scratch_ranges: Vec<std::ops::Range<usize>> = Vec::with_capacity(changed.len());
+        let mut scratch_links = Vec::new();
+        let mut scratch_slot = None;
+        for &i in &changed {
+            let at = scratch.len();
+            convert_entry(
+                extracted[i].clone(),
+                s,
+                h,
+                &mut assets,
+                &mut images,
+                &mut font_atlas,
+                &mut booths,
+                text_ui.as_ref(),
+                false,
+                &mut scratch,
+                &mut scratch_links,
+                &mut scratch_slot,
+            );
+            scratch_ranges.push(at..scratch.len());
+        }
+        if !scratch_links.is_empty() || scratch_slot.is_some() {
+            break 'splice;
+        }
+        let counts_stable = changed.iter().zip(&scratch_ranges).all(|(&i, r)| {
+            let (a, b) = span_bounds(&prev.spans, i);
+            b - a == r.len()
+        });
+        let mut dirtied = false;
+        if counts_stable {
+            // The blink's shape — same quad count, new bytes: write the spans in place.
+            for (&i, r) in changed.iter().zip(&scratch_ranges) {
+                let (a, b) = span_bounds(&prev.spans, i);
+                if quads.quads[a..b] != scratch[r.clone()] {
+                    quads.quads[a..b].clone_from_slice(&scratch[r.clone()]);
+                    dirtied = true;
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            // An entry's quad count moved: stitch a fresh list from the kept spans plus the
+            // re-converted ones, and re-derive the span table.
+            let mut new_out: Vec<UiQuad> = Vec::with_capacity(quads.quads.len() + scratch.len());
+            let mut new_spans: Vec<u32> = Vec::with_capacity(prev.spans.len());
+            let mut ci = 0;
+            for i in 0..extracted.len() {
+                if ci < changed.len() && changed[ci] == i {
+                    new_out.extend_from_slice(&scratch[scratch_ranges[ci].clone()]);
+                    ci += 1;
+                } else {
+                    let (a, b) = span_bounds(&prev.spans, i);
+                    new_out.extend_from_slice(&quads.quads[a..b]);
+                }
+                new_spans.push(new_out.len() as u32);
+            }
+            prev.spans = new_spans;
+            quads.quads = new_out;
+            dirtied = true;
+        }
+        if dirtied {
+            quads.dirty = true;
+        }
+        for &i in &changed {
+            prev.extracted[i] = extracted[i].clone();
+        }
+        drop(extract_span);
+        let us_spl = lap();
+        if cost_on {
+            let solves = script.layout_solves() - solves_before.unwrap_or(0);
+            *ui_cost = super::UiFrameCost {
+                measured: ui_cost.measured,
+                measured_texts: std::mem::take(&mut ui_cost.measured_texts),
+                tick: us_tick,
+                resolve: us_resolve,
+                measure: us_measure,
+                extract: us_exm,
+                convert: us_spl,
+                diff: 0,
+                quads: quads.quads.len(),
+                solves,
+                skipped: false,
+                spliced: changed.len(),
+            };
+        }
+        if printing {
+            let solves = script.layout_solves() - solves_before.unwrap_or(0);
+            eprintln!(
+                "[ui-cost] tick={us_tick} resolve={us_resolve} measure={us_measure} \
+                 exm={us_exm} exa={us_spl} diff=0 eq={n_extracted} quads={} \
+                 solves={solves} changed={} skip=0 spliced={}",
+                quads.quads.len(),
+                u8::from(dirtied),
+                changed.len()
+            );
+        }
+        return;
+    }
     prev.dims = Some(dims);
     prev.generation = generation;
     prev.text_ui = text_ui.clone();
@@ -482,272 +666,25 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
     // is still this frame's truth — clearing it above the gate would make every quiet frame put the
     // body panes' cameras to sleep and freeze their animation.
     booths.panes.0.clear();
+    let mut spans: Vec<u32> = Vec::with_capacity(prev.extracted.len());
     for eq in extracted {
-        let Some(r) = eq.rect else { continue };
-        // WoW UI space is y-up from the bottom-left in 768-virtual units; the quad pass is
-        // y-down window px from the top-left — scale ×s, then flip through the window height.
-        let rect = Rect::new(r.left * s, h - r.top * s, r.right * s, h - r.bottom * s);
-        // The ScrollFrame clip (decision 0112), through the same conversion as `rect` —
-        // `UiQuad::clip` is the CPU-clip stand-in `ui_pass` already applies uniformly to
-        // every quad (texture, backdrop, and glyph alike), so this is the entire app-side plumb.
-        let clip = eq
-            .clip
-            .map(|c| Rect::new(c.left * s, h - c.top * s, c.right * s, h - c.bottom * s));
-        match eq.content {
-            // Frames draw nothing themselves in v1 (regions carry the visuals).
-            QuadContent::Frame => continue,
-            // The `<Minimap>` widget's content hole: parked for the minimap renderer (an
-            // UiQuadAppend producer), which fills it at this exact z — the widget slot itself
-            // emits nothing here (decision 0203 phase 1).
-            QuadContent::Minimap { zoom, inside_zoom } => {
-                minimap_slot = Some(crate::minimap::MinimapSlot {
-                    rect,
-                    z: eq.z,
-                    zoom,
-                    inside_zoom,
-                    alpha: eq.alpha,
-                });
-                continue;
-            }
-            // The Cooldown widget's pie wipe + finish flash (decision 0137 phase 4) — the
-            // byte-pinned look of `UI-Cooldown-Indicator.m2`, rebuilt natively (see
-            // [`cooldown_quads`]).
-            QuadContent::Cooldown { fraction, flash } => {
-                cooldown_quads(
-                    rect,
-                    eq.z,
-                    eq.alpha,
-                    fraction,
-                    flash,
-                    clip,
-                    &mut assets,
-                    &mut images,
-                    &mut out,
-                );
-                continue;
-            }
-            QuadContent::Texture {
-                path,
-                color,
-                additive,
-                tex_coords,
-                circular,
-                portrait_unit,
-                rotation,
-                desaturated,
-            } => {
-                // A live unit portrait (`SetPortraitTexture(region, unit)`): sample this token's
-                // source ([`crate::portrait::PortraitImages`]) — the off-screen model bake, or the
-                // ref's 2D TemporaryPortrait stand-in while the model streams in. Absent entry (no
-                // booth yet) draws nothing rather than the run-splitter's white default.
-                if let Some(token) = &portrait_unit {
-                    use crate::portrait::PortraitSource;
-                    // A **square** binding is a booth pane (`BenillaSetBoothTexture`, decision
-                    // 0208 §5), not a round unit portrait: publish the rect's aspect so the booth
-                    // can bake at the shape it will be stretched into, and know it is on screen at
-                    // all (decision 1069). Recorded before the readiness `continue` below — a pane
-                    // whose bake hasn't landed yet is still a pane being drawn. The region's rect
-                    // is the whole answer because no pane crops its bake; a pane that grew
-                    // `<TexCoords>` would have to fold that UV window in here too.
-                    if !circular && rect.height() > 0.0 {
-                        booths
-                            .panes
-                            .0
-                            .insert(token.clone(), rect.width() / rect.height());
-                    }
-                    // The bake is a render target and carries PREMULTIPLIED colour; the 2D stand-in
-                    // is an ordinary straight-alpha BLP. The quad pass has to be told which, or it
-                    // premultiplies the bake a second time and erases every effect the pane draws
-                    // over empty space (see [`crate::ui_pass::UiQuad::premultiplied`]).
-                    let (handle, premultiplied) = match booths.images.0.get(token) {
-                        Some(PortraitSource::Live(h)) => (Some(h.clone()), true),
-                        Some(PortraitSource::File(p)) => (
-                            assets
-                                .as_mut()
-                                .and_then(|a| a.sprite_texture(p, &mut images)),
-                            false,
-                        ),
-                        None => (None, false),
-                    };
-                    let Some(handle) = handle else {
-                        continue;
-                    };
-                    out.push(UiQuad {
-                        rect,
-                        z_key: eq.z,
-                        texture: Some(handle),
-                        // A portrait binding honours `<TexCoords>`/`SetTexCoord` like any other
-                        // texture region — the bake is just the sampled image. The ref crops one
-                        // this way: the character micro button samples the same portrait slot as
-                        // the unit frame through a narrow (0.2..0.8, 0.0666..0.9) window, and
-                        // swaps that window when the button is pushed. This branch used to pin
-                        // UvRect::FULL, which silently squashed the whole square bake into
-                        // whatever rect the region had.
-                        uv: match tex_coords {
-                            Some(TexCoords::Rect(edges)) => UvRect::from_tex_coords(edges),
-                            Some(TexCoords::Corners(corners)) => UvRect::from_corners(corners),
-                            None => UvRect::FULL,
-                        },
-                        color: [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, eq.alpha],
-                        // The binding's mask flag: `SetPortraitTexture` regions cut the inscribed
-                        // circle (the ref stamps the same shape into its 64² bake's alpha — and
-                        // rounds the square stand-in art the same way); `BenillaSetBoothTexture`
-                        // (the paper-doll model pane, decision 0208 §5) samples the bake square.
-                        circular,
-                        premultiplied,
-                        clip,
-                        ..default()
-                    });
-                    continue;
-                }
-                // An unset texture region (no file, no color — e.g. a cleared icon) draws nothing;
-                // defaulting it to white would paint phantom quads.
-                if path.is_none() && color.is_none() {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                // A portrait region samples the circular-masked variant so the square icon/model
-                // doesn't poke past the frame ring's thin band (SetPortraitToTexture, decision 0084).
-                //
-                // A path the archives don't have draws **nothing** — never a white slab. This arm
-                // used to fall through to `color.unwrap_or(WHITE)` with a `None` texture, which
-                // `ui_pass` renders as the shared 1×1 white image tinted white: an opaque white
-                // rectangle at the region's rect, which is how B221's macro icons reached the
-                // director's screen. wow-re settles what the reference does: `TextureCreate` does
-                // build an 8×8 placeholder, but `CSimpleTexture::SetTexture` (`0x770200`) checks the
-                // status severity and at ≥2 releases it and returns **without touching the widget's
-                // texture** — the widget keeps what it had, and Lua gets `nil`. Nothing goes white.
-                // We can't keep the *previous* art (a path is re-resolved per frame at extract, not
-                // latched at `SetTexture`), so the faithful-enough result is an empty cell; what
-                // matters is that it is never a phantom quad. The `Backdrop` and live-portrait arms
-                // already guard exactly this way.
-                //
-                // `assets` missing ENTIRELY is a data-less run (the headless UI tests), not a bad
-                // path — those keep the old behaviour rather than blanking every textured quad.
-                let handle = match (path.as_deref(), assets.as_mut()) {
-                    (Some(p), Some(a)) => {
-                        let resolved = if circular {
-                            a.portrait_texture(p, &mut images)
-                        } else {
-                            a.sprite_texture(p, &mut images)
-                        };
-                        if resolved.is_none() {
-                            continue;
-                        }
-                        resolved
-                    }
-                    _ => None,
-                };
-                // A pathless Texture region is a solid color; a textured one tints by it.
-                let mut color = color.unwrap_or([1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0]);
-                color[3] *= eq.alpha;
-                // `<TexCoords>`/`SetTexCoord` slices the sampled sub-rect. The 4-edge form
-                // `[left,right,top,bottom]` maps to raw UV corners (`left→u0, right→u1, top→v0,
-                // bottom→v1`) — carried through [`UvRect`] rather than a normalized `Rect` so a
-                // mirrored slice (`left>right`, e.g. PlayerFrameTexture) keeps its flip to the
-                // vertex buffer. The 8-arg affine form is already per-corner in the `push_quad`
-                // winding (the route-line quads). Absent = the full texture.
-                let uv = match tex_coords {
-                    Some(TexCoords::Rect(edges)) => UvRect::from_tex_coords(edges),
-                    Some(TexCoords::Corners(corners)) => UvRect::from_corners(corners),
-                    None => UvRect::FULL,
-                };
-                out.push(UiQuad {
-                    rect,
-                    z_key: eq.z,
-                    texture: handle,
-                    uv,
-                    color,
-                    additive,
-                    clip,
-                    // The engine's SetRotation is counterclockwise-positive; the quad pass spins
-                    // clockwise-on-screen (`UiQuad::rotation`) — negate to convert.
-                    rotation: -rotation,
-                    desaturated,
-                    ..default()
-                });
-            }
-            QuadContent::Backdrop {
-                path,
-                color,
-                uvs,
-                tile,
-            } => {
-                // A frame Backdrop piece (bg or one of the 8 border pieces). Repeat-sampled when
-                // `tile` (edges tile past UV 1; a tiled bg wraps) — its own GPU image + cache
-                // (`sprite_texture_tiled`) since clamp/repeat bake into the `Image`. The four UVs are
-                // explicit per-corner (the rotated TOP/BOTTOM edges), so they go straight to `UvRect`.
-                let handle = assets.as_mut().and_then(|a| {
-                    if tile {
-                        a.sprite_texture_tiled(&path, &mut images)
-                    } else {
-                        a.sprite_texture(&path, &mut images)
-                    }
-                });
-                // No texture (missing BLP) ⇒ draw nothing rather than a phantom solid quad.
-                let Some(handle) = handle else { continue };
-                let mut color = color;
-                color[3] *= eq.alpha;
-                out.push(UiQuad {
-                    rect,
-                    z_key: eq.z,
-                    texture: Some(handle),
-                    uv: UvRect::from_corners(uvs),
-                    color,
-                    clip,
-                    ..default()
-                });
-            }
-            QuadContent::Text {
-                text,
-                color,
-                justify_h,
-                justify_v,
-                font,
-                font_height,
-                text_height,
-                shadow,
-                outline,
-                alpha_gradient,
-            } => {
-                // No atlas (no client data / Friz Quadrata unreadable — see `ui_text`'s startup
-                // system) means text simply doesn't render, same graceful-absence posture as a
-                // missing `WorldAssets`. The rasterization itself (editbox window, ellipsis,
-                // shadow, links, caret) lives in `text::emit`.
-                let (Some(atlas), Some(text)) = (font_atlas.as_deref_mut(), text) else {
-                    continue;
-                };
-                text::emit(
-                    atlas,
-                    &text,
-                    text::TextStyle {
-                        color,
-                        justify_h,
-                        justify_v,
-                        font,
-                        font_height,
-                        text_height,
-                        shadow,
-                        outline,
-                        alpha_gradient,
-                    },
-                    text::TextHost {
-                        z: eq.z,
-                        alpha: eq.alpha,
-                        target: eq.target,
-                        rect,
-                        clip,
-                        ebox: text_ui.as_ref(),
-                        screen_h: h,
-                        scale: s,
-                        font_scale: eq.scale,
-                        caret_pinned: capture.is_some(),
-                    },
-                    &mut out,
-                    &mut link_spans,
-                );
-            }
-        }
+        convert_entry(
+            eq,
+            s,
+            h,
+            &mut assets,
+            &mut images,
+            &mut font_atlas,
+            &mut booths,
+            text_ui.as_ref(),
+            capture.is_some(),
+            &mut out,
+            &mut link_spans,
+            &mut minimap_slot,
+        );
+        spans.push(out.len() as u32);
     }
+    prev.spans = spans;
     // The payload held on the cursor draws last (a 32×32 icon at the mouse, over the whole UI) —
     // but ONLY in capture mode (decision 0216 §5): a normal run shows it as the hardware cursor
     // instead (`crate::cursor`), which can't appear in a screenshot's pixels, so the quad is the
@@ -789,7 +726,7 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
     if changed {
         // `WOW_UI_DIFF=1` — the base-lane half of the rebuild-trigger probe (`ui_pass`' twin):
         // names the first Lua-UI quad that differs from last frame's extraction.
-        if std::env::var_os("WOW_UI_DIFF").is_some() {
+        if ui_diff_enabled() {
             match quads.quads.iter().zip(&out).position(|(a, b)| a != b) {
                 Some(i) => {
                     let (b, a) = (&quads.quads[i], &out[i]);
@@ -827,6 +764,7 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
             quads: n_quads,
             solves,
             skipped: false,
+            spliced: 0,
         };
         if printing {
             eprintln!(
@@ -839,6 +777,286 @@ pub(super) fn drive_script(
     }
 }
 
+/// One extracted entry converted to its screen quads, pushed onto `out` — with the side channels
+/// some arms carry: chat link spans (Text), the minimap widget slot (Minimap), the booth pane
+/// aspects (portrait-bound Texture). The ONE conversion body: the full pass and the per-entry
+/// splice both call this, which is what makes the splice's output equal the full path's by
+/// construction. An arm is splice-eligible only if it writes nothing but `out` — keep
+/// [`splice_simple`] in agreement when an arm's side effects change.
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)] // the conversion's whole environment, threaded explicitly
+fn convert_entry(
+    eq: benilla_ui::script::ExtractedQuad,
+    s: f32,
+    h: f32,
+    assets: &mut Option<ResMut<WorldAssets>>,
+    images: &mut Assets<Image>,
+    font_atlas: &mut Option<ResMut<UiFontAtlas>>,
+    booths: &mut crate::portrait::BoothBridge,
+    text_ui: Option<&benilla_ui::script::EditBoxTextUi>,
+    caret_pinned: bool,
+    out: &mut Vec<UiQuad>,
+    link_spans: &mut Vec<(
+        benilla_ui::widget::FrameHandle,
+        benilla_ui::layout::Rect,
+        String,
+        String,
+    )>,
+    minimap_slot: &mut Option<crate::minimap::MinimapSlot>,
+) {
+    let Some(r) = eq.rect else { return };
+    // WoW UI space is y-up from the bottom-left in 768-virtual units; the quad pass is
+    // y-down window px from the top-left — scale ×s, then flip through the window height.
+    let rect = Rect::new(r.left * s, h - r.top * s, r.right * s, h - r.bottom * s);
+    // The ScrollFrame clip (decision 0112), through the same conversion as `rect` —
+    // `UiQuad::clip` is the CPU-clip stand-in `ui_pass` already applies uniformly to
+    // every quad (texture, backdrop, and glyph alike), so this is the entire app-side plumb.
+    let clip = eq
+        .clip
+        .map(|c| Rect::new(c.left * s, h - c.top * s, c.right * s, h - c.bottom * s));
+    match eq.content {
+        // Frames draw nothing themselves in v1 (regions carry the visuals).
+        QuadContent::Frame => {}
+        // The `<Minimap>` widget's content hole: parked for the minimap renderer (an
+        // UiQuadAppend producer), which fills it at this exact z — the widget slot itself
+        // emits nothing here (decision 0203 phase 1).
+        QuadContent::Minimap { zoom, inside_zoom } => {
+            *minimap_slot = Some(crate::minimap::MinimapSlot {
+                rect,
+                z: eq.z,
+                zoom,
+                inside_zoom,
+                alpha: eq.alpha,
+            });
+        }
+        // The Cooldown widget's pie wipe + finish flash (decision 0137 phase 4) — the
+        // byte-pinned look of `UI-Cooldown-Indicator.m2`, rebuilt natively (see
+        // [`cooldown_quads`]).
+        QuadContent::Cooldown { fraction, flash } => {
+            cooldown_quads(
+                rect, eq.z, eq.alpha, fraction, flash, clip, assets, images, out,
+            );
+        }
+        QuadContent::Texture {
+            path,
+            color,
+            additive,
+            tex_coords,
+            circular,
+            portrait_unit,
+            rotation,
+            desaturated,
+        } => {
+            // A live unit portrait (`SetPortraitTexture(region, unit)`): sample this token's
+            // source ([`crate::portrait::PortraitImages`]) — the off-screen model bake, or the
+            // ref's 2D TemporaryPortrait stand-in while the model streams in. Absent entry (no
+            // booth yet) draws nothing rather than the run-splitter's white default.
+            if let Some(token) = &portrait_unit {
+                use crate::portrait::PortraitSource;
+                // A **square** binding is a booth pane (`BenillaSetBoothTexture`, decision
+                // 0208 §5), not a round unit portrait: publish the rect's aspect so the booth
+                // can bake at the shape it will be stretched into, and know it is on screen at
+                // all (decision 1069). Recorded before the readiness `continue` below — a pane
+                // whose bake hasn't landed yet is still a pane being drawn. The region's rect
+                // is the whole answer because no pane crops its bake; a pane that grew
+                // `<TexCoords>` would have to fold that UV window in here too.
+                if !circular && rect.height() > 0.0 {
+                    booths
+                        .panes
+                        .0
+                        .insert(token.clone(), rect.width() / rect.height());
+                }
+                // The bake is a render target and carries PREMULTIPLIED colour; the 2D stand-in
+                // is an ordinary straight-alpha BLP. The quad pass has to be told which, or it
+                // premultiplies the bake a second time and erases every effect the pane draws
+                // over empty space (see [`crate::ui_pass::UiQuad::premultiplied`]).
+                let (handle, premultiplied) = match booths.images.0.get(token) {
+                    Some(PortraitSource::Live(h)) => (Some(h.clone()), true),
+                    Some(PortraitSource::File(p)) => (
+                        assets.as_mut().and_then(|a| a.sprite_texture(p, images)),
+                        false,
+                    ),
+                    None => (None, false),
+                };
+                let Some(handle) = handle else {
+                    return;
+                };
+                out.push(UiQuad {
+                    rect,
+                    z_key: eq.z,
+                    texture: Some(handle),
+                    // A portrait binding honours `<TexCoords>`/`SetTexCoord` like any other
+                    // texture region — the bake is just the sampled image. The ref crops one
+                    // this way: the character micro button samples the same portrait slot as
+                    // the unit frame through a narrow (0.2..0.8, 0.0666..0.9) window, and
+                    // swaps that window when the button is pushed. This branch used to pin
+                    // UvRect::FULL, which silently squashed the whole square bake into
+                    // whatever rect the region had.
+                    uv: match tex_coords {
+                        Some(TexCoords::Rect(edges)) => UvRect::from_tex_coords(edges),
+                        Some(TexCoords::Corners(corners)) => UvRect::from_corners(corners),
+                        None => UvRect::FULL,
+                    },
+                    color: [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, eq.alpha],
+                    // The binding's mask flag: `SetPortraitTexture` regions cut the inscribed
+                    // circle (the ref stamps the same shape into its 64² bake's alpha — and
+                    // rounds the square stand-in art the same way); `BenillaSetBoothTexture`
+                    // (the paper-doll model pane, decision 0208 §5) samples the bake square.
+                    circular,
+                    premultiplied,
+                    clip,
+                    ..default()
+                });
+                return;
+            }
+            // An unset texture region (no file, no color — e.g. a cleared icon) draws nothing;
+            // defaulting it to white would paint phantom quads.
+            if path.is_none() && color.is_none() {
+                return;
+            }
+            // A portrait region samples the circular-masked variant so the square icon/model
+            // doesn't poke past the frame ring's thin band (SetPortraitToTexture, decision 0084).
+            //
+            // A path the archives don't have draws **nothing** — never a white slab. This arm
+            // used to fall through to `color.unwrap_or(WHITE)` with a `None` texture, which
+            // `ui_pass` renders as the shared 1×1 white image tinted white: an opaque white
+            // rectangle at the region's rect, which is how B221's macro icons reached the
+            // director's screen. wow-re settles what the reference does: `TextureCreate` does
+            // build an 8×8 placeholder, but `CSimpleTexture::SetTexture` (`0x770200`) checks the
+            // status severity and at ≥2 releases it and returns **without touching the widget's
+            // texture** — the widget keeps what it had, and Lua gets `nil`. Nothing goes white.
+            // We can't keep the *previous* art (a path is re-resolved per frame at extract, not
+            // latched at `SetTexture`), so the faithful-enough result is an empty cell; what
+            // matters is that it is never a phantom quad. The `Backdrop` and live-portrait arms
+            // already guard exactly this way.
+            //
+            // `assets` missing ENTIRELY is a data-less run (the headless UI tests), not a bad
+            // path — those keep the old behaviour rather than blanking every textured quad.
+            let handle = match (path.as_deref(), assets.as_mut()) {
+                (Some(p), Some(a)) => {
+                    let resolved = if circular {
+                        a.portrait_texture(p, images)
+                    } else {
+                        a.sprite_texture(p, images)
+                    };
+                    if resolved.is_none() {
+                        return;
+                    }
+                    resolved
+                }
+                _ => None,
+            };
+            // A pathless Texture region is a solid color; a textured one tints by it.
+            let mut color = color.unwrap_or([1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0]);
+            color[3] *= eq.alpha;
+            // `<TexCoords>`/`SetTexCoord` slices the sampled sub-rect. The 4-edge form
+            // `[left,right,top,bottom]` maps to raw UV corners (`left→u0, right→u1, top→v0,
+            // bottom→v1`) — carried through [`UvRect`] rather than a normalized `Rect` so a
+            // mirrored slice (`left>right`, e.g. PlayerFrameTexture) keeps its flip to the
+            // vertex buffer. The 8-arg affine form is already per-corner in the `push_quad`
+            // winding (the route-line quads). Absent = the full texture.
+            let uv = match tex_coords {
+                Some(TexCoords::Rect(edges)) => UvRect::from_tex_coords(edges),
+                Some(TexCoords::Corners(corners)) => UvRect::from_corners(corners),
+                None => UvRect::FULL,
+            };
+            out.push(UiQuad {
+                rect,
+                z_key: eq.z,
+                texture: handle,
+                uv,
+                color,
+                additive,
+                clip,
+                // The engine's SetRotation is counterclockwise-positive; the quad pass spins
+                // clockwise-on-screen (`UiQuad::rotation`) — negate to convert.
+                rotation: -rotation,
+                desaturated,
+                ..default()
+            });
+        }
+        QuadContent::Backdrop {
+            path,
+            color,
+            uvs,
+            tile,
+        } => {
+            // A frame Backdrop piece (bg or one of the 8 border pieces). Repeat-sampled when
+            // `tile` (edges tile past UV 1; a tiled bg wraps) — its own GPU image + cache
+            // (`sprite_texture_tiled`) since clamp/repeat bake into the `Image`. The four UVs are
+            // explicit per-corner (the rotated TOP/BOTTOM edges), so they go straight to `UvRect`.
+            let handle = assets.as_mut().and_then(|a| {
+                if tile {
+                    a.sprite_texture_tiled(&path, images)
+                } else {
+                    a.sprite_texture(&path, images)
+                }
+            });
+            // No texture (missing BLP) ⇒ draw nothing rather than a phantom solid quad.
+            let Some(handle) = handle else { return };
+            let mut color = color;
+            color[3] *= eq.alpha;
+            out.push(UiQuad {
+                rect,
+                z_key: eq.z,
+                texture: Some(handle),
+                uv: UvRect::from_corners(uvs),
+                color,
+                clip,
+                ..default()
+            });
+        }
+        QuadContent::Text {
+            text,
+            color,
+            justify_h,
+            justify_v,
+            font,
+            font_height,
+            text_height,
+            shadow,
+            outline,
+            alpha_gradient,
+        } => {
+            // No atlas (no client data / Friz Quadrata unreadable — see `ui_text`'s startup
+            // system) means text simply doesn't render, same graceful-absence posture as a
+            // missing `WorldAssets`. The rasterization itself (editbox window, ellipsis,
+            // shadow, links, caret) lives in `text::emit`.
+            let (Some(atlas), Some(text)) = (font_atlas.as_deref_mut(), text) else {
+                return;
+            };
+            text::emit(
+                atlas,
+                &text,
+                text::TextStyle {
+                    color,
+                    justify_h,
+                    justify_v,
+                    font,
+                    font_height,
+                    text_height,
+                    shadow,
+                    outline,
+                    alpha_gradient,
+                },
+                text::TextHost {
+                    z: eq.z,
+                    alpha: eq.alpha,
+                    target: eq.target,
+                    rect,
+                    clip,
+                    ebox: text_ui,
+                    screen_h: h,
+                    scale: s,
+                    font_scale: eq.scale,
+                    caret_pinned,
+                },
+                out,
+                link_spans,
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// One pass of the FontString measure round-trip: hand every unmeasured FontString to the font
 /// engine and push the answers back. Returns whether anything was measured — the caller's gate for
 /// its backstop pass (see the call site for why the order matters).
@@ -1093,10 +1311,8 @@ mod extract_gate_tests {
     use crate::portrait::PortraitImages;
 
     fn app_with_marker() -> App {
-        let script = UiScript::new().unwrap();
-        script
-            .run(
-                r#"
+        app_from_script(
+            r#"
             local plain = CreateFrame("Frame", "Plain")
             plain:SetPoint("TOPLEFT", 0, 0)
             plain:SetSize(50, 50)
@@ -1104,8 +1320,15 @@ mod extract_gate_tests {
             marker:SetTexture(1, 0, 0)
             marker:SetAllPoints()  -- templateless Lua region: no implicit anchor (1310)
         "#,
-            )
-            .unwrap();
+        )
+    }
+
+    /// The same headless app around an arbitrary boot script. The splice tests boot a SECOND
+    /// app straight into a mutated app's final state: its first frame is by construction the
+    /// full conversion the spliced output must equal.
+    fn app_from_script(lua: &str) -> App {
+        let script = UiScript::new().unwrap();
+        script.run(lua).unwrap();
         let mut app = App::new();
         app.insert_non_send_resource(script);
         app.init_resource::<UiQuads>();
@@ -1222,4 +1445,142 @@ mod extract_gate_tests {
             "every straight-alpha region stays unflagged — the flag is the booth's alone"
         );
     }
+
+    /// The per-entry splice, in-place half: a one-entry paint write must ride the splice
+    /// (`UiFrameCost::spliced == 1` — nonzero is the proof the path FIRED, without which this
+    /// test is vacuous) and produce byte-identically what the full conversion produces —
+    /// checked against a fresh app booted straight into the final state.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_one_entry_paint_write_splices_and_matches_the_full_conversion() {
+        let mut app = app_with_marker();
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<crate::ui_script::UiCostWanted>()
+            .0 = true;
+        app.update();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<UiQuads>().dirty = false;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .non_send_resource_mut::<UiScript>()
+            .run("marker:SetTexture(0, 0, 1)")
+            .unwrap();
+        app.update();
+        assert_eq!(
+            app.world()
+                .resource::<crate::ui_script::UiFrameCost>()
+                .spliced,
+            1,
+            "the color write is one splice-simple entry"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            app.world().resource::<UiQuads>().dirty,
+            "the spliced write re-marks the quads dirty"
+        );
+        let mut reference = app_from_script(
+            r#"
+            local plain = CreateFrame("Frame", "Plain")
+            plain:SetPoint("TOPLEFT", 0, 0)
+            plain:SetSize(50, 50)
+            marker = plain:CreateTexture(nil, "ARTWORK")
+            marker:SetTexture(0, 0, 1)
+            marker:SetAllPoints()  -- templateless Lua region: no implicit anchor (1310)
+        "#,
+        );
+        reference.update();
+        assert!(
+            app.world().resource::<UiQuads>().quads
+                == reference.world().resource::<UiQuads>().quads,
+            "spliced output equals the full conversion of the same model"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The stitch half: a write that CHANGES an entry's quad count (a cleared texture emits
+    /// nothing) re-derives the span table — and a later splice against the re-derived spans
+    /// still matches the full conversion, in both directions (1 → 0 quads, then 0 → 1).
+    #[test]
+    fn a_count_changing_write_stitches_and_keeps_the_spans_true() {
+        let mut app = app_with_marker();
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<crate::ui_script::UiCostWanted>()
+            .0 = true;
+        app.update();
+        let before = app.world().resource::<UiQuads>().quads.len();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<UiQuads>().dirty = false;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .non_send_resource_mut::<UiScript>()
+            .run("marker:SetTexture(nil)")
+            .unwrap();
+        app.update();
+        assert_eq!(
+            app.world()
+                .resource::<crate::ui_script::UiFrameCost>()
+                .spliced,
+            1,
+            "the clear rides the splice (stitch branch)"
+        );
+        let quads = app.world().resource::<UiQuads>();
+        assert!(quads.dirty, "a vanished quad is a real change");
+        assert_eq!(
+            quads.quads.len(),
+            before - 1,
+            "the cleared marker's quad is gone from the stitched list"
+        );
+        // The follow-up (0 → 1 quads) splices against the RE-DERIVED spans.
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<UiQuads>().dirty = false;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .non_send_resource_mut::<UiScript>()
+            .run("marker:SetTexture(0, 1, 0)")
+            .unwrap();
+        app.update();
+        assert_eq!(
+            app.world()
+                .resource::<crate::ui_script::UiFrameCost>()
+                .spliced,
+            1
+        );
+        let mut reference = app_from_script(
+            r#"
+            local plain = CreateFrame("Frame", "Plain")
+            plain:SetPoint("TOPLEFT", 0, 0)
+            plain:SetSize(50, 50)
+            marker = plain:CreateTexture(nil, "ARTWORK")
+            marker:SetTexture(0, 1, 0)
+            marker:SetAllPoints()  -- templateless Lua region: no implicit anchor (1310)
+        "#,
+        );
+        reference.update();
+        assert!(
+            app.world().resource::<UiQuads>().quads
+                == reference.world().resource::<UiQuads>().quads,
+            "post-stitch splice output equals the full conversion"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A raster-environment change (window resize) must pin the conversion to the FULL path —
+    /// the splice's held quads were rasterized under the old seam and every one of them is
+    /// wrong-sized (decision 1342's edge, applied to the splice).
+    #[test]
+    fn a_resize_takes_the_full_path_not_the_splice() {
+        let mut app = app_with_marker();
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<crate::ui_script::UiCostWanted>()
+            .0 = true;
+        app.update();
+        let win = app
+            .world_mut()
+            .query_filtered::<Entity, With<PrimaryWindow>>()
+            .single(app.world())
+            .unwrap();
+        app.world_mut().get_mut::<Window>(win).unwrap().resolution = UVec2::new(800, 600).into();
+        app.world_mut()
+            .non_send_resource_mut::<UiScript>()
+            .run("marker:SetTexture(0, 0, 1)")
+            .unwrap();
+        app.update();
+        assert_eq!(
+            app.world()
+                .resource::<crate::ui_script::UiFrameCost>()
+                .spliced,
+            0,
+            "a moved raster environment forbids splicing"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/text.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/text.rs
index 87197643..e17880a8 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/text.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/extract/text.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ use benilla_ui::widget::FrameHandle;
 use crate::ui_pass::{UiQuad, UvRect};
 use crate::ui_text::{layout_text_quads, layout_text_quads_links, UiFontAtlas};
 
+/// `WOW_TEXT_PROBE=1` — launch-time knob, read once (the check ran per Text quad per frame).
+static TEXT_PROBE: std::sync::LazyLock<bool> =
+    std::sync::LazyLock::new(|| std::env::var("WOW_TEXT_PROBE").as_deref() == Ok("1"));
+
 /// The `QuadContent::Text` payload minus the text itself — the region's resolved style, passed
 /// verbatim from the destructure at the [`super::drive_script`] call site.
 pub(super) struct TextStyle {
@@ -183,7 +187,7 @@ pub(super) fn emit(
     }
     // The probe prints the DISPLAY string (post-ellipsis, post-editbox-window) — what this pass
     // actually draws, which is what a truncation report needs to show.
-    let probe = std::env::var("WOW_TEXT_PROBE").as_deref() == Ok("1");
+    let probe = *TEXT_PROBE;
     if probe {
         // For the focused edit box, also the two numbers that must agree: where the engine puts the
         // caret (`caret=`, advance-table-derived) and how wide the text this pass actually draws is
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/mod.rs
index 7395d4d8..898dc6f6 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/ui_script/mod.rs
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ pub(crate) struct UiFrameCost {
     pub(crate) quads: usize,
     pub(crate) solves: u64,
     pub(crate) skipped: bool,
+    /// How many entries the per-entry splice re-converted this frame — `0` on a settled or
+    /// full-conversion frame. Nonzero is the proof the splice path fired (the equivalence tests
+    /// and the live `[ui-cost] spliced=` field both read it).
+    pub(crate) spliced: usize,
 }
 
 /// Does anything want [`UiFrameCost`] filled in this run? Measuring the split costs a clock read
diff --git a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/event.rs b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/event.rs
index 65154c40..11de2bcf 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/event.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/event.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 //! caught (mlua's `Function::call` is a protected call) and returned to the caller, which records
 //! them in [`super::Model::errors`] — never a panic, never a print.
 
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
 use mlua::{Function, Lua, MultiValue, Table, Value};
 
 use super::{Model, ScriptValue, REG_SCRIPTS};
@@ -203,6 +205,22 @@ fn fire(
     invoke_with_globals(lua, wrapper, &func, event_name, extra)
 }
 
+/// The legacy `argN` global names, pre-spelled through the arities that occur in practice so the
+/// per-arg save/set/restore below allocates nothing.
+const ARG_NAMES: [&str; 16] = [
+    "arg1", "arg2", "arg3", "arg4", "arg5", "arg6", "arg7", "arg8", "arg9", "arg10", "arg11",
+    "arg12", "arg13", "arg14", "arg15", "arg16",
+];
+
+/// The global name for arg `i` — **1-based**, matching the globals themselves (`arg1..`). Past
+/// [`ARG_NAMES`] it falls back to allocating.
+fn arg_name(i: usize) -> Cow<'static, str> {
+    match ARG_NAMES.get(i - 1) {
+        Some(&name) => Cow::Borrowed(name),
+        None => Cow::Owned(format!("arg{i}")),
+    }
+}
+
 /// The RF-0025 calling convention itself — the single home for it, shared by [`fire`] (registry
 /// handlers: events, OnUpdate, OnShow/OnHide) and the loader's bottom-up `OnLoad` (which holds the
 /// compiled `Function` directly). Sets the legacy `this`/`event`/`arg1..argN` globals and passes the
@@ -222,7 +240,7 @@ pub(crate) fn invoke_with_globals(
     let n = extra.len();
     let mut saved_args: Vec<Value> = Vec::with_capacity(n);
     for i in 1..=n {
-        saved_args.push(g.get::<Value>(format!("arg{i}"))?);
+        saved_args.push(g.get::<Value>(arg_name(i).as_ref())?);
     }
 
     g.set("this", wrapper.clone())?;
@@ -230,7 +248,7 @@ pub(crate) fn invoke_with_globals(
         g.set("event", lua.create_string(ev)?)?;
     }
     for (i, v) in extra.iter().enumerate() {
-        g.set(format!("arg{}", i + 1), v.clone())?;
+        g.set(arg_name(i + 1).as_ref(), v.clone())?;
     }
 
     let mut modern: Vec<Value> = Vec::with_capacity(2 + n);
@@ -246,7 +264,7 @@ pub(crate) fn invoke_with_globals(
     g.set("this", saved_this)?;
     g.set("event", saved_event)?;
     for (i, v) in saved_args.into_iter().enumerate() {
-        g.set(format!("arg{}", i + 1), v)?;
+        g.set(arg_name(i + 1).as_ref(), v)?;
     }
 
     outcome
diff --git a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/layout.rs b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/layout.rs
index 2775ffb3..e5f53ffe 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/layout.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/layout.rs
@@ -1061,20 +1061,24 @@ impl UiScript {
     /// alone left those rects zero-width and their anchored neighbours overlapping.
     pub fn fontstrings_needing_measure(&mut self) -> Vec<MeasureRequest> {
         let mut model = self.model_mut();
-        let mut out = Vec::new();
-        let handles: Vec<RegionHandle> = model
+        // ANY FontString with text — not only the auto-sized ones. A region with both axes
+        // declared needs no measure for its *layout*, but `GetStringWidth` still has to answer
+        // with the string's natural width, and only a measure can supply it (decision 0997: a
+        // kit that reads that number and then SETS a width on the string would otherwise stop
+        // receiving measures the instant it did so, and start reading its own box back). The
+        // key cache is what keeps this from costing a re-measure per frame — and the staleness
+        // check runs allocation-free ([`stale_measure_key`]) so the whole-roster sweep stays
+        // cheap: the request build (text/font clones, the id mint) is paid only by rows that
+        // actually need a measure, which on a quiet frame is none.
+        let needy: Vec<RegionHandle> = model
             .region_data
             .iter()
-            // ANY FontString with text — not only the auto-sized ones. A region with both axes
-            // declared needs no measure for its *layout*, but `GetStringWidth` still has to answer
-            // with the string's natural width, and only a measure can supply it (decision 0997: a
-            // kit that reads that number and then SETS a width on the string would otherwise stop
-            // receiving measures the instant it did so, and start reading its own box back). The
-            // key cache below is what keeps this from costing a re-measure per frame.
             .filter(|(_, d)| d.text.as_deref().is_some_and(|t| !t.is_empty()))
             .map(|(&rh, _)| rh)
+            .filter(|&rh| stale_measure_key(&model, rh).is_some())
             .collect();
-        for rh in handles {
+        let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(needy.len());
+        for rh in needy {
             if let Some(req) = measure_request_for(&mut model, rh) {
                 out.push(req);
             }
@@ -1149,17 +1153,7 @@ impl UiScript {
 /// agree byte for byte on the cache key, or a same-tick measure and the batch pass would each think
 /// the other's answer was stale and re-measure forever.
 pub(super) fn measure_request_for(model: &mut Model, rh: RegionHandle) -> Option<MeasureRequest> {
-    let region = model.arena.region(rh)?;
-    if !matches!(region.kind, crate::widget::RegionKind::FontString) {
-        return None;
-    }
-    // The owner's effective_scale: the host measures at the drawn raster size
-    // ([`MeasureRequest::scale`]), and the key carries it so a SetScale re-measures.
-    let scale = model
-        .arena
-        .frame(region.owner)
-        .map(|f| f.effective_scale)
-        .unwrap_or(1.0);
+    let (key, scale) = stale_measure_key(model, rh)?;
     let d = model.region_data.get(&rh)?;
     let text = d.text.clone().filter(|t| !t.is_empty())?;
     let wrap_width = d.size.map(|s| s.0).filter(|w| *w > 0.0);
@@ -1167,12 +1161,6 @@ pub(super) fn measure_request_for(model: &mut Model, rh: RegionHandle) -> Option
     let height = d.font_height;
     let text_height = d.text_height;
     let outline = d.outline;
-    // The shared key recipe ([`RegionData::measure_key`]) — the metric reads (region.rs) check the
-    // stored measure against the same hash.
-    let key = d.measure_key(scale);
-    if d.measured.map(|m| m.key) == Some(key) {
-        return None;
-    }
     let id = model.region_id(rh);
     Some(MeasureRequest {
         id,
@@ -1186,3 +1174,33 @@ pub(super) fn measure_request_for(model: &mut Model, rh: RegionHandle) -> Option
         key,
     })
 }
+
+/// The staleness half of [`measure_request_for`], allocation-free: `Some((key, scale))` iff `rh`
+/// is a FontString holding text whose stored measure no longer matches its current key. This is
+/// the ONE place the "does this region need a measure?" question is answered — the per-frame
+/// sweep ([`super::UiScript::fontstrings_needing_measure`]) asks it for every FontString, so it
+/// must not clone; the request build above pays the clones only after this says stale.
+fn stale_measure_key(model: &Model, rh: RegionHandle) -> Option<(u64, f32)> {
+    let region = model.arena.region(rh)?;
+    if !matches!(region.kind, crate::widget::RegionKind::FontString) {
+        return None;
+    }
+    // The owner's effective_scale: the host measures at the drawn raster size
+    // ([`MeasureRequest::scale`]), and the key carries it so a SetScale re-measures.
+    let scale = model
+        .arena
+        .frame(region.owner)
+        .map(|f| f.effective_scale)
+        .unwrap_or(1.0);
+    let d = model.region_data.get(&rh)?;
+    if d.text.as_deref().is_none_or(|t| t.is_empty()) {
+        return None;
+    }
+    // The shared key recipe ([`RegionData::measure_key`]) — the metric reads (region.rs) check the
+    // stored measure against the same hash.
+    let key = d.measure_key(scale);
+    if d.measured.map(|m| m.key) == Some(key) {
+        return None;
+    }
+    Some((key, scale))
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/mod.rs
index 174bbc97..f2d14d4c 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/mod.rs
@@ -690,7 +690,10 @@ impl UiScript {
     /// Push the player's WMO-containment state onto every Minimap widget (the client's `0xceaa60`).
     /// It selects which of the two persisted zoom indices `GetZoom`/`SetZoom` act on, so the zoom
     /// buttons drive the indoor level while indoors and the outdoor level while outside. The app
-    /// owns the containment test, so it owns this push — call it before the script tick.
+    /// owns the containment test, so it owns this push — call it before the script tick. The
+    /// caller pushes on the inside↔outside edge and whenever [`Self::minimap_widgets_created`]
+    /// moved (a widget born after the last transition still gets told, without paying the arena
+    /// walk every frame).
     pub fn set_minimap_inside(&mut self, inside: bool) {
         for (_, frame) in self.model_mut().arena.iter_frames_mut() {
             if let KindState::Minimap(m) = &mut frame.kind_state {
@@ -699,6 +702,12 @@ impl UiScript {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Monotonic count of Minimap widgets ever created in this VM — the O(1) signal that a new
+    /// one exists and needs the containment state pushed.
+    pub fn minimap_widgets_created(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.model_ref().arena.minimap_created()
+    }
+
     /// Seed every Minimap widget's two zoom indices from the persisted levels — the client's
     /// minimap reset path copying each CVar object's parsed int into its live index
     /// (`[0x86f698] ← [[0xb4b410]+0x28]`, `[0x86f69c] ← [[0xb4d90c]+0x28]`; wow-re
diff --git a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/types.rs b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/types.rs
index 77abd00d..fba7b884 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/types.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-ui/src/script/types.rs
@@ -582,7 +582,10 @@ impl RegionData {
     pub(crate) fn measure_key(&self, scale: f32) -> u64 {
         use std::hash::{Hash, Hasher};
         let mut hasher = std::collections::hash_map::DefaultHasher::new();
-        self.text.clone().unwrap_or_default().hash(&mut hasher);
+        // By reference: `String` hashes exactly as `str` does, and this runs for every
+        // FontString on every frame's staleness sweep — a clone here was ~1.5k heap allocs a
+        // frame at a city pin, all discarded at the key compare.
+        self.text.as_deref().unwrap_or("").hash(&mut hasher);
         self.font_path.hash(&mut hasher);
         self.font_height.map(f32::to_bits).hash(&mut hasher);
         self.text_height.map(f32::to_bits).hash(&mut hasher);
diff --git a/crates/benilla-ui/src/widget/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-ui/src/widget/mod.rs
index 44419b64..57e6a4ea 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-ui/src/widget/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-ui/src/widget/mod.rs
@@ -373,6 +373,10 @@ pub struct WidgetArena {
     regions: Arena<Region>,
     names: HashMap<String, FrameHandle>,
     next_insertion: u32,
+    /// Monotonic count of Minimap-kind frames ever created — an O(1) "a new Minimap widget
+    /// exists" signal, so the per-frame state feed (`set_minimap_inside`'s caller) re-pushes
+    /// exactly when one appears instead of walking every frame to find out.
+    minimap_created: u64,
 }
 
 impl Default for WidgetArena {
@@ -389,9 +393,15 @@ impl WidgetArena {
             regions: Arena::new(),
             names: HashMap::new(),
             next_insertion: 0,
+            minimap_created: 0,
         }
     }
 
+    /// Monotonic count of Minimap widgets ever created (see the field note).
+    pub fn minimap_created(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.minimap_created
+    }
+
     // ── Read access ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     /// Borrow a frame, or `None` if the handle is stale/unknown.
@@ -585,6 +595,9 @@ impl WidgetArena {
             next_decl: 0,
         };
 
+        if matches!(kind, FrameKind::Minimap) {
+            self.minimap_created += 1;
+        }
         let (index, generation) = self.frames.insert(frame);
         let handle = FrameHandle { index, generation };
 
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/decal.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/decal.rs
index b072da38..9a842fe7 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/decal.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/decal.rs
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ pub(crate) fn project_decal(
         }
         for i in trimesh.bvh().intersect_aabb(&gather) {
             let tri = trimesh.triangle(i);
-            let poly = clip_to_frame([tri.a, tri.b, tri.c], frame);
-            if poly.len() < 3 {
+            let (poly, n) = clip_to_frame([tri.a, tri.b, tri.c], frame);
+            if n < 3 {
                 continue;
             }
             let vert = |p: Vec3| {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ pub(crate) fn project_decal(
             };
             // Fan-triangulate the clipped convex polygon, unrolled (the stream's tri-list
             // topology: identity indices, no shared vertices).
-            for k in 1..poly.len() - 1 {
+            for k in 1..n - 1 {
                 out.push(vert(poly[0]));
                 out.push(vert(poly[k]));
                 out.push(vert(poly[k + 1]));
@@ -155,8 +155,9 @@ pub(crate) fn project_decal(
 /// horizontal rectangle (clipping in the rotated frame is exactly the texture frame, so UVs stay
 /// in `[0,1]` and the texture can never wrap ghost copies in at the corners) and the vertical
 /// slab. Interpolates full 3D positions along clipped edges, so the result stays on the source
-/// triangle's plane. Returns fewer than 3 vertices when the triangle lies outside the box.
-fn clip_to_frame(tri: [Vec3; 3], frame: &DecalFrame) -> Vec<Vec3> {
+/// triangle's plane. Returns the polygon buffer and its vertex count — fewer than 3 when the
+/// triangle lies outside the box.
+fn clip_to_frame(tri: [Vec3; 3], frame: &DecalFrame) -> ([Vec3; 9], usize) {
     let rx = |p: Vec3| frame.in_frame(p).0;
     let rz = |p: Vec3| frame.in_frame(p).1;
     // Signed inside-distances for the six half-planes of the box.
@@ -168,26 +169,34 @@ fn clip_to_frame(tri: [Vec3; 3], frame: &DecalFrame) -> Vec<Vec3> {
         &|p: Vec3| (frame.center.y + frame.max_y) - p.y,
         &|p: Vec3| p.y - (frame.center.y + frame.min_y),
     ];
-    let mut poly: Vec<Vec3> = tri.to_vec();
+    // Stack ping-pong (this runs per gathered triangle per frame): a convex clip grows the
+    // polygon by at most one vertex per plane, so 3 + 6 = 9 bounds both buffers.
+    let mut poly = [Vec3::ZERO; 9];
+    let mut next = [Vec3::ZERO; 9];
+    poly[..3].copy_from_slice(&tri);
+    let mut len = 3;
     for dist in planes {
-        let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(poly.len() + 1);
-        for i in 0..poly.len() {
-            let (a, b) = (poly[i], poly[(i + 1) % poly.len()]);
+        let mut out = 0;
+        for i in 0..len {
+            let (a, b) = (poly[i], poly[(i + 1) % len]);
             let (da, db) = (dist(a), dist(b));
             if da >= 0.0 {
-                out.push(a);
+                next[out] = a;
+                out += 1;
             }
             // The edge crosses the plane → emit the intersection point.
             if (da >= 0.0) != (db >= 0.0) {
-                out.push(a + (b - a) * (da / (da - db)));
+                next[out] = a + (b - a) * (da / (da - db));
+                out += 1;
             }
         }
-        poly = out;
-        if poly.len() < 3 {
-            return poly;
+        std::mem::swap(&mut poly, &mut next);
+        len = out;
+        if len < 3 {
+            return (poly, len);
         }
     }
-    poly
+    (poly, len)
 }
 
 /// **Project a decal onto the world's receiving surfaces** — the face for every lane that draws
@@ -235,3 +244,70 @@ impl WorldDecal<'_, '_> {
         self.surfaces.contains(entity)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// An axis-aligned 2×2×2 box around the origin (`(sin, cos) = (0, 1)`), so in-frame
+    /// coordinates ARE world `(x, z)` and the expected polygons can be written by hand.
+    fn frame() -> DecalFrame {
+        DecalFrame {
+            center: Vec3::ZERO,
+            sin: 0.0,
+            cos: 1.0,
+            min_x: -1.0,
+            max_x: 1.0,
+            min_z: -1.0,
+            max_z: 1.0,
+            min_y: -1.0,
+            max_y: 1.0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_triangle_inside_the_box_passes_through_unchanged() {
+        let tri = [
+            Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(0.5, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.5),
+        ];
+        let (poly, n) = clip_to_frame(tri, &frame());
+        assert_eq!(n, 3);
+        // Same vertices, same order — the caller's fan (`poly[0], poly[k], poly[k+1]`) rides it.
+        assert_eq!(&poly[..3], &tri);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_half_clipped_triangle_emits_the_hand_computed_polygon() {
+        // Crosses only the `max_x` plane; every value below is exact in f32, so `==` is honest.
+        let tri = [
+            Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(2.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.5),
+        ];
+        let (poly, n) = clip_to_frame(tri, &frame());
+        assert_eq!(n, 4);
+        // The emit order: each surviving vertex first, then its edge's crossing point.
+        assert_eq!(
+            &poly[..4],
+            &[
+                Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+                Vec3::new(1.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+                Vec3::new(1.0, 0.0, 0.25),
+                Vec3::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.5),
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_triangle_outside_the_box_clips_to_nothing() {
+        let tri = [
+            Vec3::new(2.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(3.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+            Vec3::new(2.0, 0.0, 1.0),
+        ];
+        let (_, n) = clip_to_frame(tri, &frame());
+        assert!(n < 3, "the caller drops it before fanning");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/entity_shade.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/entity_shade.rs
index 0bd5a673..3035f7af 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/entity_shade.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/entity_shade.rs
@@ -233,12 +233,16 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
     // A card is a world ROOT (the facing system owns its transform), so the descendant walk below
     // cannot reach one — it carries its owner instead. Disjoint from `parts` by the filter above.
     mut cards: Query<(&crate::billboard::BillboardCard, &mut MeshTag)>,
-    // Reused across frames: every entity in a shaded root's tree → that root's shade byte, so the
-    // card pass is one lookup per card instead of a walk per card.
-    mut tree_shade: Local<bevy::platform::collections::HashMap<Entity, u8>>,
+    // Reused across frames: each shaded ROOT → its shade byte this frame (a few hundred entries).
+    // The card pass walks `ChildOf` up to the nearest such root — this map used to record every
+    // descendant too (~10-20k inserts/frame) so that walk could be a single lookup.
+    mut root_shade: Local<bevy::ecs::entity::EntityHashMap<u8>>,
+    // The card pass's up-walk: a card can follow a deep JOINT (`following_joint` — the swinging
+    // lamp's glow), and a joint is not a shade root.
+    child_of: Query<&ChildOf>,
     mut self_log: Local<f32>,
 ) {
-    tree_shade.clear();
+    root_shade.clear();
     let Some(streamer) = streamer else {
         return;
     };
@@ -248,10 +252,7 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
         // `WOW_INTERIOR_LOG=1`: a periodic SELF-node dump (every 3 s) — the probe run's definitive
         // "what state is the parked character actually in" line, attributable unlike the
         // change-triggered `[node]` lines below (wandering NPCs fire those constantly).
-        if is_self.is_some()
-            && time.elapsed_secs() - *self_log > 3.0
-            && std::env::var_os("WOW_INTERIOR_LOG").is_some()
-        {
+        if is_self.is_some() && time.elapsed_secs() - *self_log > 3.0 && interior_log_enabled() {
             let p = gt.translation();
             eprintln!(
                 "[self-node] at wow ({:.1}, {:.1}, {:.1})  t {:.2} -> {:.2} (I {:.2})  indoor {} \
@@ -296,9 +297,7 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
         // `WOW_INTERIOR_LOG=1`: one line whenever a node's intensity target moves — the live
         // instrument for "which stage is this character actually in?" — MCSH-shadowed 0.5 ⇒ t 1;
         // exterior lit and day/night both ⇒ t 0.75 / committed 1.0 while the gain cap stands (0821).
-        if (target - shade.logged_target).abs() > f32::EPSILON
-            && std::env::var_os("WOW_INTERIOR_LOG").is_some()
-        {
+        if (target - shade.logged_target).abs() > f32::EPSILON && interior_log_enabled() {
             eprintln!(
                 "[node] root {root:?} at ({:.1}, {:.1}, {:.1}) -> target t {target:.2} \
                  (I {:.2}, indoor {}) from t {:.2}",
@@ -328,12 +327,11 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
         let byte = (shade.t * 255.0).round().clamp(0.0, 255.0) as u8;
         // Push to every part below the root (body submeshes are direct children; held items/helm ride
         // joint entities deeper down — same full-tree walk as the self-fade). Change-gated per part on
-        // the byte, so a settled entity writes nothing and never re-triggers render extraction.
-        tree_shade.insert(root, byte);
+        // the byte, so a settled entity writes nothing and never re-triggers render extraction. The
+        // walk itself is unconditional: it is the MeshTag re-assert over the classifier's exterior
+        // reclaim (1358), not a change-only push.
+        root_shade.insert(root, byte);
         for part in children.iter_descendants(root) {
-            // Recorded whether or not it is a drawable part: a card can follow a JOINT
-            // (`following_joint` — the swinging lamp's glow), and a joint carries no `MeshTag`.
-            tree_shade.insert(part, byte);
             let Ok((mut tag, lit)) = parts.get_mut(part) else {
                 continue;
             };
@@ -349,12 +347,12 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
     // the reference shades every batch of an object through one node (0778) — but it is a world root,
     // so the walk above skips it and it kept the lit rung while its owner dimmed. 0811 scoped this to
     // GameObjects because 0809 had pinned units flat; 0814 put units back on the chase, so it is once
-    // again every carried card — a torch's flame card dims with the hand that holds it.
+    // again every carried card — a torch's flame card dims with the hand that holds it. The owner (an
+    // anchor or a deep joint) resolves to the NEAREST shaded root above it: with nested roots (a
+    // mounted unit — rider and mount each carry a node) that is the mount's, matching the
+    // one-node-per-object structure above; the old whole-tree map made this pick last-writer-wins.
     for (card, mut tag) in &mut cards {
-        let Some(byte) = card
-            .follows()
-            .and_then(|owner| tree_shade.get(&owner).copied())
-        else {
+        let Some(byte) = card_root_shade(&root_shade, &child_of, card.follows()) else {
             continue; // a fixed terrain doodad's card — its shade rides the material selector
         };
         if shade_of(tag.0) != byte {
@@ -363,6 +361,30 @@ pub(crate) fn update_ground_shade(
     }
 }
 
+/// The shade byte a card inherits: the NEAREST shaded root at or above `follows` (the owner itself
+/// first, then the `ChildOf` chain). `None` — no owner, or no shaded root over it — skips the card,
+/// exactly as the old whole-tree map's miss did.
+fn card_root_shade(
+    root_shade: &bevy::ecs::entity::EntityHashMap<u8>,
+    child_of: &Query<&ChildOf>,
+    follows: Option<Entity>,
+) -> Option<u8> {
+    let mut node = follows?;
+    loop {
+        if let Some(&byte) = root_shade.get(&node) {
+            return Some(byte);
+        }
+        node = child_of.get(node).ok()?.parent();
+    }
+}
+
+/// `WOW_INTERIOR_LOG=1` — the interior/shade instrument lines. Resolved once: the raw env read ran
+/// per root per frame.
+fn interior_log_enabled() -> bool {
+    static ON: std::sync::OnceLock<bool> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var_os("WOW_INTERIOR_LOG").is_some())
+}
+
 /// One linear ramp step toward a target, never past it (the binary's clamp-no-overshoot chase).
 fn ramp_toward(v: f32, target: f32, step: f32) -> f32 {
     if v < target {
@@ -371,3 +393,73 @@ fn ramp_toward(v: f32, target: f32, step: f32) -> f32 {
         (v - step).max(target)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use bevy::ecs::entity::EntityHashMap;
+    use bevy::ecs::system::SystemState;
+
+    /// Run the card resolve against a world's live `ChildOf` topology.
+    fn resolve(world: &mut World, map: &EntityHashMap<u8>, follows: Option<Entity>) -> Option<u8> {
+        let mut state: SystemState<Query<&ChildOf>> = SystemState::new(world);
+        card_root_shade(map, &state.get(world), follows)
+    }
+
+    /// A card's owner can sit arbitrarily deep in its root's tree (a held torch's flame card
+    /// follows a hand JOINT under an item entity under the unit) — the up-walk finds the root's
+    /// byte; the root itself, as an owner, is the walk's zero-hop case.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_card_takes_its_roots_byte_from_any_depth() {
+        let mut world = World::new();
+        let root = world.spawn_empty().id();
+        let a = world.spawn(ChildOf(root)).id();
+        let b = world.spawn(ChildOf(a)).id();
+        let c = world.spawn(ChildOf(b)).id();
+        let mut map = EntityHashMap::default();
+        map.insert(root, 7);
+        assert_eq!(resolve(&mut world, &map, Some(c)), Some(7), "3 deep");
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve(&mut world, &map, Some(root)),
+            Some(7),
+            "the root itself"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// No owner (a fixed terrain doodad's card), and an owner whose ancestor chain holds no shaded
+    /// root (a card of something this system doesn't shade) — both skip, like the old map miss.
+    #[test]
+    fn an_unshaded_card_is_skipped() {
+        let mut world = World::new();
+        let stray_root = world.spawn_empty().id();
+        let stray = world.spawn(ChildOf(stray_root)).id();
+        let mut map = EntityHashMap::default();
+        map.insert(world.spawn_empty().id(), 9);
+        assert_eq!(resolve(&mut world, &map, None), None, "follows nothing");
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve(&mut world, &map, Some(stray)),
+            None,
+            "no shaded ancestor"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Nested shade roots — a mounted unit: rider root and mount root each carry a node, the mount
+    /// a descendant of the rider. A card under the MOUNT takes the mount's byte (the nearest root),
+    /// pinned here because the old whole-tree map answered this by insert order.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_nested_root_wins_by_nearness() {
+        let mut world = World::new();
+        let rider = world.spawn_empty().id();
+        let mount = world.spawn(ChildOf(rider)).id();
+        let mount_joint = world.spawn(ChildOf(mount)).id();
+        let mut map = EntityHashMap::default();
+        map.insert(rider, 3);
+        map.insert(mount, 9);
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve(&mut world, &map, Some(mount_joint)),
+            Some(9),
+            "the MOUNT's byte"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(resolve(&mut world, &map, Some(mount)), Some(9));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/ffx_glow.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/ffx_glow.rs
index 966a6c3d..24648161 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/ffx_glow.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/ffx_glow.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use bevy::render::render_graph::{
 };
 use bevy::render::render_resource::binding_types::{sampler, texture_2d, uniform_buffer_sized};
 use bevy::render::render_resource::*;
-use bevy::render::renderer::{RenderContext, RenderDevice};
+use bevy::render::renderer::{RenderContext, RenderDevice, RenderQueue};
 use bevy::render::texture::{CachedTexture, TextureCache};
 use bevy::render::view::ViewTarget;
 use bevy::render::{Render, RenderApp, RenderStartup, RenderSystems};
@@ -271,20 +271,32 @@ fn init_pipelines(
 }
 
 /// The two ¼-res ping-pong targets (the reference downsamples full→¼ in ONE Box4 pass —
-/// wow-re blur-geometry.md; a ½ intermediate would be one downsample too many).
+/// wow-re blur-geometry.md; a ½ intermediate would be one downsample too many), plus the
+/// GPU objects derived from them, so the node does not recreate them per frame.
 #[derive(Component)]
 struct FfxGlowTextures {
     quarter_a: CachedTexture,
     quarter_b: CachedTexture,
+    /// The combine's 16-byte `(gain, death, haze, pad)` uniform — persistent, rewritten each
+    /// frame with a queue write (queue writes land before the graph's submit executes).
+    gain_buf: Buffer,
+    /// The two Gauss bind groups bind only the ¼-res ping-pong views + sampler — all stable
+    /// while the textures hold. The downsample and combine bind groups bind the view target's
+    /// post-process source, which `ViewTarget::post_process_write` flips per call, so those two
+    /// CANNOT be cached (they would sample last frame's texture) and stay per-frame in `run`.
+    gauss_h_bind: BindGroup,
+    gauss_v_bind: BindGroup,
 }
 
 fn prepare_textures(
     mut commands: Commands,
     mut texture_cache: ResMut<TextureCache>,
     render_device: Res<RenderDevice>,
-    views: Query<(Entity, &ExtractedCamera), With<FfxGlow>>,
+    pipeline_cache: Res<PipelineCache>,
+    pipelines: Res<FfxGlowPipelines>,
+    views: Query<(Entity, &ExtractedCamera, Option<&FfxGlowTextures>), With<FfxGlow>>,
 ) {
-    for (entity, camera) in &views {
+    for (entity, camera, existing) in &views {
         let Some(vp) = camera.physical_viewport_size else {
             continue;
         };
@@ -310,9 +322,38 @@ fn prepare_textures(
         };
         let quarter_a = tex("ffx_glow_quarter_a", vp.x / 4, vp.y / 4);
         let quarter_b = tex("ffx_glow_quarter_b", vp.x / 4, vp.y / 4);
+        // `TextureCache::get` hands the same textures back while the viewport holds, and the
+        // derived objects only depend on them — rebuilding the component anyway would be right
+        // back to per-frame bind-group creation.
+        if existing.is_some_and(|t| {
+            t.quarter_a.texture.id() == quarter_a.texture.id()
+                && t.quarter_b.texture.id() == quarter_b.texture.id()
+        }) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        let layout_filter = pipeline_cache.get_bind_group_layout(&pipelines.layout_filter);
+        let gauss_h_bind = render_device.create_bind_group(
+            "ffx_glow_gauss_h",
+            &layout_filter,
+            &BindGroupEntries::sequential((&quarter_a.default_view, &pipelines.sampler)),
+        );
+        let gauss_v_bind = render_device.create_bind_group(
+            "ffx_glow_gauss_v",
+            &layout_filter,
+            &BindGroupEntries::sequential((&quarter_b.default_view, &pipelines.sampler)),
+        );
+        let gain_buf = render_device.create_buffer(&BufferDescriptor {
+            label: Some("ffx_glow_gain"),
+            size: 16,
+            usage: BufferUsages::UNIFORM | BufferUsages::COPY_DST,
+            mapped_at_creation: false,
+        });
         commands.entity(entity).insert(FfxGlowTextures {
             quarter_a,
             quarter_b,
+            gain_buf,
+            gauss_h_bind,
+            gauss_v_bind,
         });
     }
 }
@@ -352,42 +393,46 @@ impl ViewNode for FfxGlowNode {
             return Ok(()); // pipelines still compiling — draw the frame un-glowed
         };
         let render_device = render_context.render_device().clone();
-        let gain_buf = render_device.create_buffer_with_data(&BufferInitDescriptor {
-            label: Some("ffx_glow_gain"),
-            contents: bytemuck::cast_slice(&[gain, death, haze, 0.0]),
-            usage: BufferUsages::UNIFORM,
-        });
+        world.resource::<RenderQueue>().write_buffer(
+            &textures.gain_buf,
+            0,
+            bytemuck::cast_slice(&[gain, death, haze, 0.0]),
+        );
         let post = view_target.post_process_write();
         let layout_filter = pipeline_cache.get_bind_group_layout(&pipelines.layout_filter);
         let layout_combine = pipeline_cache.get_bind_group_layout(&pipelines.layout_combine);
 
+        // The downsample binds `post.source`, which `post_process_write` flips per call — this
+        // bind group cannot be cached (it would sample last frame's texture); the two Gauss ones
+        // bind only the stable ¼-res ping-pong and ride prepared on [`FfxGlowTextures`].
+        let down_bind = render_device.create_bind_group(
+            "ffx_glow_down_quarter",
+            &layout_filter,
+            &BindGroupEntries::sequential((post.source, &pipelines.sampler)),
+        );
+
         // The filter passes (byte-pinned chain): source→¼ (one Box4), ¼a→¼b (H), ¼b→¼a (V).
-        let filter_passes: [(&str, &RenderPipeline, &TextureView, &TextureView); 3] = [
+        let filter_passes: [(&str, &RenderPipeline, &BindGroup, &TextureView); 3] = [
             (
                 "ffx_glow_down_quarter",
                 downsample,
-                post.source,
+                &down_bind,
                 &textures.quarter_a.default_view,
             ),
             (
                 "ffx_glow_gauss_h",
                 gauss_h,
-                &textures.quarter_a.default_view,
+                &textures.gauss_h_bind,
                 &textures.quarter_b.default_view,
             ),
             (
                 "ffx_glow_gauss_v",
                 gauss_v,
-                &textures.quarter_b.default_view,
+                &textures.gauss_v_bind,
                 &textures.quarter_a.default_view,
             ),
         ];
-        for (label, pipeline, src, dst) in filter_passes {
-            let bind = render_device.create_bind_group(
-                label,
-                &layout_filter,
-                &BindGroupEntries::sequential((src, &pipelines.sampler)),
-            );
+        for (label, pipeline, bind, dst) in filter_passes {
             let mut pass =
                 render_context
                     .command_encoder()
@@ -404,11 +449,12 @@ impl ViewNode for FfxGlowNode {
                         occlusion_query_set: None,
                     });
             pass.set_pipeline(pipeline);
-            pass.set_bind_group(0, &bind, &[]);
+            pass.set_bind_group(0, bind, &[]);
             pass.draw(0..3, 0..1);
         }
 
         // Combine: screen + w·blur² (gamma-space byte math in the shader) → the post destination.
+        // Also binds the flipping `post.source` — per-frame for the downsample's reason.
         let bind = render_device.create_bind_group(
             "ffx_glow_combine",
             &layout_combine,
@@ -416,7 +462,7 @@ impl ViewNode for FfxGlowNode {
                 post.source,
                 &pipelines.sampler,
                 &textures.quarter_a.default_view,
-                gain_buf.as_entire_binding(),
+                textures.gain_buf.as_entire_binding(),
             )),
         );
         let mut pass = render_context
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/interact/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/interact/mod.rs
index 59a4a096..44eedbdc 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/interact/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/interact/mod.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,20 @@ pub struct WorldObject {
     pub detail: String,
 }
 
+/// Marker on every pickable **GameObject** part — the GO mouseover pick's population
+/// (`target/hover.rs`). Inserted beside the part's `WorldObject { kind: GameObject }` at the
+/// attach spawn sites, so building the pick set is an archetype-filtered query over the handful
+/// of GO parts on screen instead of a kind-compare over every streamed `WorldObject` row (the
+/// doodad/WMO population dwarfs it).
+#[derive(Component, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct GoPickPart;
+
+/// The creature twin of [`GoPickPart`]: every pickable unit/player part — the model-less fallback
+/// cube included — the unit pick's skinless-fallback population. Doodad/WMO parts carry neither
+/// marker.
+#[derive(Component, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct CreaturePickPart;
+
 /// A left *select* gesture in the world. Emitted by [`crate::player::control`] on the button's
 /// **release**, when the press satisfied the reference's click predicate — under 200 ms whatever the
 /// mouse did, or under 800 ms having turned the camera less than 2.25° of yaw / 2.0° of pitch
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
index 92e97231..33c520cf 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
@@ -204,22 +204,36 @@ impl Plugin for WorldFoundation {
             // read, whose defaults ARE the player behaviour. The debug panel is only its editor
             // and may not be installed at all.
             .init_resource::<crate::dev_state::DebugState>();
-        // `WOW_NO_PHYS_PREPROP=1` — skip avian's own copy of Bevy's transform propagation in
-        // FixedPostUpdate. An EXPERIMENT knob (the 1370 bracket): `PhysicsTransformPlugin`
-        // re-registers `mark_dirty_trees`/`propagate_parent_transforms`/`sync_simple_transforms`
-        // to run before each physics step — a second whole-world transform sweep on top of
-        // PostUpdate's own. Our world is static geometry plus kinematic movers that write
-        // `Position` directly, so the pre-step copy is suspected dead work; the gate is a
-        // runtime `run_if` on this resource, so inserting it IS the whole mechanism. Known
-        // semantic edge while on: a collider whose `Transform` moves during Update reaches
-        // physics with last frame's `GlobalTransform` (one-frame lag) — a measurement lever,
-        // never a setting.
-        if std::env::var_os("WOW_NO_PHYS_PREPROP").is_some() {
+        // Avian's pre-step copy of Bevy's transform propagation is OFF by default (the 1370
+        // bracket surfaced the lane; the 3-round SW split then measured the skip at −0.40
+        // cpu_ms, negative in every round): `PhysicsTransformPlugin` re-registers
+        // `mark_dirty_trees`/`propagate_parent_transforms`/`sync_simple_transforms` to run
+        // before each physics step — a second whole-world transform sweep on top of
+        // PostUpdate's own. Our world is static geometry plus kinematic movers
+        // (`transport::tick_transports`) that mirror `Position`/`Rotation` directly — built
+        // that way precisely because the sync's own timing already lagged — so the pre-step
+        // sweep buys nothing. The one Transform-moved collider class left is an opening door
+        // (a GameObject's model-local hull riding its pose): it reaches physics one frame late
+        // via PostUpdate's own propagation — transient, bounded, imperceptible.
+        // `WOW_PHYS_PREPROP=1` restores avian's upstream default (the A/B lever back).
+        if std::env::var_os("WOW_PHYS_PREPROP").is_none() {
             app.insert_resource(avian3d::physics_transform::PhysicsTransformConfig {
                 propagate_before_physics: false,
                 ..Default::default()
             });
         }
+        // `WOW_PHYS_HZ=<hz>` — run the fixed loop at a different rate. An EXPERIMENT lever
+        // (1370 item 10): avian's per-tick stack is the fixed loop's ONLY occupant (nothing
+        // first-party lives in any fixed schedule — zero-hit grep, re-verified at flip time),
+        // so 8 vs the default 64 prices the whole-avian bracket in one leg. A measurement
+        // lever, never a setting: at 8 Hz the spatial trees ingest streamed colliders up to
+        // 125 ms late, which the player's shape-cast controller would feel at a tile seam.
+        if let Some(hz) = std::env::var("WOW_PHYS_HZ")
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|v| v.parse::<f64>().ok())
+        {
+            app.insert_resource(bevy::time::Time::<bevy::time::Fixed>::from_hz(hz));
+        }
         // Direct draws on EVERY camera — the default, not a knob (1374/1376). Bevy's indirect
         // lane is a per-draw indirect encode loop on Metal (no MULTI_DRAW_INDIRECT) plus the GPU
         // preprocessing dispatches, and the 1374 bracket priced it ~4.3 cpu_ms at LBRS on 0.18 —