diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs b/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
index 08507d5a..df83291d 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use bevy::image::Image;
 use bevy::mesh::MeshVertexBufferLayoutRef;
 use bevy::pbr::{
     ExtendedMaterial, MaterialExtension, MaterialExtensionKey, MaterialExtensionPipeline,
+    MeshPipelineKey,
 };
 use bevy::prelude::*;
 use bevy::render::render_resource::{
@@ -423,6 +424,20 @@ impl MaterialExtension for WowModelExt {
                 ds.depth_write_enabled = true;
             }
         }
+        // The straddle split's waterline clip (decision 2188 — `benilla_world::straddle`): only a
+        // transparent-pass batch is ever classified against the water plane, so only its
+        // pipelines carry the clip. Keyed on the blend pass Bevy already specializes on, so it
+        // mints no pipeline of its own; the fragment clips nothing unless the instance's slot
+        // says it straddles.
+        if key
+            .mesh_key
+            .intersection(MeshPipelineKey::BLEND_RESERVED_BITS)
+            == MeshPipelineKey::BLEND_ALPHA
+        {
+            if let Some(fragment) = descriptor.fragment.as_mut() {
+                fragment.shader_defs.push("WOW_WATER_CLIP".into());
+            }
+        }
         let key = &key.bind_group_data;
         if key.modulate || key.modulate2x {
             // The MULTIPLY blends (decision 0528, byte-verified wow-re `m2-depth-blend-state`):
diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl b/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
index 183dce09..6f78406a 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
@@ -187,6 +187,11 @@ struct WowLight {
     // Zero region = every batch at its built seed — the studio buffers and deterministic
     // captures ride that exactly like the tint table's zero-identity.
     matanim: array<vec4<f32>, 2048>,
+    // The straddle split's waterline (decision 2188; benilla-world straddle.rs mirrors the size),
+    // on the SAME slot index again: `x` = the plane's world height (Bevy Y), `y` = the side the
+    // instance's NEAR copy keeps (+1 above, −1 below). `y == 0` is "not straddling" — slot 0,
+    // every slot nothing wrote, every zeroed studio buffer — so a dry world pays one compare.
+    water_clip: array<vec2<f32>, 2048>,
     palettes: array<vec4<f32>>,
 };
 @group(#{MATERIAL_BIND_GROUP}) @binding(90) var<storage, read> wow_light: WowLight;
@@ -635,6 +640,21 @@ fn fragment(in: WowVsOut, @builtin(front_facing) is_front: bool) -> WowFragOut {
             discard;
         }
     }
+#ifdef WOW_WATER_CLIP
+    // THE STRADDLE SPLIT (decision 2188, straddle.rs; wow-re water-frame-straddle.md §2): a
+    // translucent model crossing its water plane draws on BOTH sides of the water pass — this
+    // batch on the eye's (near) list, its far twin (FAR_SIDE_MARKER, `clutter_fade.z` bit 11)
+    // before the water — and each copy keeps only its own half: the reference's `M2UseClipPlanes`
+    // hardware clip plane at the waterline. `straddle::keeps` is this block's Rust twin.
+    let water_clip = wow_light.water_clip[(mesh_functions::get_tag(in.instance_index) >> 19u) & 0x7ffu];
+    if (water_clip.y != 0.0) {
+        let far_copy = (u32(m.clutter_fade.z) & 2048u) != 0u;
+        let keep_side = select(water_clip.y, -water_clip.y, far_copy);
+        if (keep_side * (in.world_position.y - water_clip.x) < 0.0) {
+            discard;
+        }
+    }
+#endif
     // Rebuild bevy's `VertexOutput` from our extended interstage struct (WowVsOut carries one extra
     // interpolant — the per-vertex point term — which the pbr entry point doesn't know about).
     // M2 UV animation folds in here (decision 0130 phase 3, wow-re m2-texanim-uv; the full law
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
index 42cdc53e..065408a1 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ pub mod sky_order;
 pub mod skybox;
 pub mod static_gx;
 pub mod static_merge;
+pub mod straddle;
 pub mod sun;
 pub mod surface;
 pub mod terrain_stream;
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/lighting/global_light.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/lighting/global_light.rs
index 788ed5ce..2f1f0fa6 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/lighting/global_light.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/lighting/global_light.rs
@@ -264,8 +264,8 @@ pub fn new_shared_light_buffer(device: &RenderDevice) -> SharedLightBuffer {
 
 /// The full byte size of the shared light BUFFER: the per-frame blob ([`LightStd430`] — 19 header
 /// rows + the point-light table) PLUS the interior-prop probe region PLUS the skin-palette
-/// regions (rig slot table + tint table + rig-origin table + palette rows — decisions
-/// 0720/0812/0974) at the tail. **Every buffer bound as
+/// regions (rig slot table + tint table + rig-origin table + mat-anim table + straddle clip
+/// table + palette rows — decisions 0720/0812/0974/1381/2188) at the tail. **Every buffer bound as
 /// `wow_light` must be at least this big** — `wow_model.wgsl` declares the whole layout,
 /// and wgpu validates bound size against the shader's struct at draw time. The portrait booth's
 /// frozen studio-light buffer sizes itself with this (its table regions stay zeroed ⇒ no scene
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/mat_anim_table.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/mat_anim_table.rs
index 2ed9c73c..087f93b7 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/mat_anim_table.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/mat_anim_table.rs
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 //! deterministic captures (the tick is skipped ⇒ zero deltas ⇒ bit-identical to the old seed
 //! frames), and slot exhaustion (no slot ⇒ frozen at seed, never garbage).
 //!
-//! Region layout: between the rig-origin table and the palette rows (the palette array is
-//! runtime-sized, so it must stay last) — `wow_model.wgsl`'s struct mirrors this order.
+//! Region layout: between the rig-origin table and the straddle clip table ([`crate::straddle`]);
+//! the palette rows stay last (the palette array is runtime-sized) — `wow_model.wgsl`'s struct
+//! mirrors this order.
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ use bevy::render::{Render, RenderApp, RenderSystems};
 pub(crate) const MAX_MAT_ANIM_SLOTS: usize = 2048;
 
 /// Byte offset of the mat-anim region inside a `wow_light`-layout buffer: after the rig-origin
-/// table, before the palette rows — mirroring `wow_model.wgsl`'s struct order.
+/// table, before the straddle clip table — mirroring `wow_model.wgsl`'s struct order.
 pub(crate) fn region_offset() -> u64 {
     crate::rig_palette::rig_origin_region_offset() + crate::rig_palette::rig_origin_region_bytes()
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/mesh_tag.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/mesh_tag.rs
index 680404f8..df4c2bb9 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/mesh_tag.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/mesh_tag.rs
@@ -30,10 +30,13 @@
 //!       ([`crate::instance_tint`], 0812) — for every part, skinned or not.
 //!
 //!   That asymmetry is why the field is written from the **unit** and not from the part: a unit's
-//!   boneless geosets, its helm and shoulders, its held items and its billboard cards all carry
-//!   their wearer's slot, so a tinted unit tints *whole* — the reference's own rule (an
-//!   attached/chained model inherits the parent CM2's computed colours, `0x714000`). Before 0820 the
-//!   field was skinning-only, and a dwarf's Stoneform tint stopped at his pauldrons.
+//!   boneless geosets and its billboard cards carry their wearer's slot, so a tinted unit tints
+//!   *whole* — the reference's own rule (an attached/chained model inherits the parent CM2's
+//!   computed colours, `0x714000`). Before 0820 the field was skinning-only, and a dwarf's
+//!   Stoneform tint stopped at his pauldrons. **Worn gear is the exception:** since 1609 every
+//!   ordinary item owns a rider slot (0841's welded items a joint rig), so its per-slot state —
+//!   the tint (`aura_visual`'s chain walk) and the straddle waterline (`crate::straddle`, 2190) —
+//!   reaches it through the item's `ParentModel` chain, never through a shared slot.
 //!
 //!   Written ONCE at part spawn ([`rig_bits`]); every runtime writer below preserves it by
 //!   construction (the `with_*` accessors carry bits the writer doesn't own). 11 bits ⇔
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/model_render.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/model_render.rs
index 62b086ae..bfef3fee 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/model_render.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/model_render.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 use benilla_formats::{ModelBlend, WmoBatchClass};
 use bevy::asset::AssetId;
+use bevy::mesh::MeshTag;
 use bevy::pbr::ExtendedMaterial;
 use bevy::prelude::*;
 use bevy::render::render_resource::{Buffer, Face};
@@ -786,11 +787,12 @@ pub struct FarSideOfWater;
 /// The grain is the reference's: every batch entity of one model instance carries the instance's
 /// own transform (the mesh offsets live in vertex space), so classifying each at its
 /// `GlobalTransform` IS the per-model split — one liquid hit at the model's placement, all its
-/// batches on one list. Straddlers keep the near-side default per batch (the reference splits
-/// those with hardware clip planes, `M2UseClipPlanes` — a deviation this system inherits from
-/// 0911 and names, not fixes). WMO translucents never classify (the reference's lists are
-/// CM2Scene's; the WMO leg draws its own), and opaque/cutout batches settle by depth like any
-/// world geometry.
+/// batches on one list. A slot-bearing instance inside the reference's `±r` band is a
+/// **straddler** and takes BOTH lists: its batches stay near and gain a far twin, each clipped at
+/// the waterline (the reference's `M2UseClipPlanes`; decision 2188, [`crate::straddle`]).
+/// Slot-0 content keeps the one-list sign test. WMO translucents never classify (the reference's
+/// lists are CM2Scene's; the WMO leg draws its own), and opaque/cutout batches settle by depth
+/// like any world geometry.
 ///
 /// **Two lanes, one classification.** Entities whose handle the Visibility authority owns — the
 /// `DoodadFade` holders `debug_panel::apply_model_visibility` pins to cutout/blend every frame —
@@ -841,14 +843,20 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
                 Changed<MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>>,
             ),
         >,
-        Query<(
-            Entity,
-            &GlobalTransform,
-            Option<&bevy::camera::visibility::RenderLayers>,
-            &mut MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>,
-            Has<crate::model_fade::DoodadFade>,
-            Has<FarSideOfWater>,
-        )>,
+        Query<
+            (
+                Entity,
+                &GlobalTransform,
+                Option<&bevy::camera::visibility::RenderLayers>,
+                &mut MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>,
+                Has<crate::model_fade::DoodadFade>,
+                Has<FarSideOfWater>,
+                Option<&MeshTag>,
+                Has<crate::straddle::StraddlesWater>,
+            ),
+            // A straddle twin is the classification's OUTPUT, never its input.
+            Without<crate::straddle::StraddleTwinOf>,
+        >,
     )>,
     moved: Query<
         Entity,
@@ -861,6 +869,10 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
         ),
     >,
     reclaimed: Query<Entity, Changed<crate::wmo_portal::UnitWmoRoom>>,
+    // The straddle verdict's edge (decision 2188): an instance entering or leaving its water band
+    // re-classifies its whole subtree — the same fan-down as the room claim.
+    rebanded: Query<Entity, Changed<crate::straddle::ModelWaterBand>>,
+    clips: Res<crate::straddle::WaterClips>,
     children: Query<&Children>,
     mut removed: RemovedComponents<MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>>,
     time: Res<bevy::time::Time>,
@@ -913,6 +925,7 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
         for item in set.p1().iter_mut() {
             classify_part(
                 &interleave,
+                &clips,
                 &mut twins,
                 &mut materials,
                 &mut commands,
@@ -947,6 +960,7 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
             if let Ok(item) = parts.get_mut(e) {
                 classify_part(
                     &interleave,
+                    &clips,
                     &mut twins,
                     &mut materials,
                     &mut commands,
@@ -955,10 +969,10 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
                 );
             }
         }
-        // A changed claim re-classifies the holder's whole subtree — the claim lives on the unit
-        // root, the batches are its descendants (a nested holder shadows for its own subtree;
-        // re-classifying it from here anyway is idempotent).
-        let mut stack: Vec<Entity> = reclaimed.iter().collect();
+        // A changed claim — or a changed straddle band (2188) — re-classifies the holder's whole
+        // subtree: both live on the unit root, the batches are its descendants (a nested holder
+        // shadows for its own subtree; re-classifying it from here anyway is idempotent).
+        let mut stack: Vec<Entity> = reclaimed.iter().chain(rebanded.iter()).collect();
         while let Some(e) = stack.pop() {
             if let Ok(ch) = children.get(e) {
                 stack.extend(ch.iter());
@@ -966,6 +980,7 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
             if let Ok(item) = parts.get_mut(e) {
                 classify_part(
                     &interleave,
+                    &clips,
                     &mut twins,
                     &mut materials,
                     &mut commands,
@@ -977,23 +992,32 @@ pub(crate) fn classify_water_side(
     }
 }
 
+/// One transparent-candidate batch as [`classify_part`] sees it: the entity, its transform, its
+/// layers, its handle (the channel this lane may swap), whether the Visibility authority owns
+/// that handle, whether it is marked far, its tag (the instance slot the straddle verdict is
+/// keyed on), and whether it is marked straddling.
+type PartItem<'a> = (
+    Entity,
+    &'a GlobalTransform,
+    Option<&'a bevy::camera::visibility::RenderLayers>,
+    Mut<'a, MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>>,
+    bool,
+    bool,
+    Option<&'a MeshTag>,
+    bool,
+);
+
 /// One batch entity's classification — the shared body of [`classify_water_side`]'s full and
 /// reactive paths. `used` collects the near identities live batches carry (the twin GC's mark);
 /// the reactive path passes `None` and leaves the sweep to the next full frame.
 fn classify_part(
     interleave: &crate::particles::WaterInterleave,
+    clips: &crate::straddle::WaterClips,
     twins: &mut FarSideTwins,
     materials: &mut Assets<WowModelMaterial>,
     commands: &mut Commands,
     used: Option<&mut std::collections::HashSet<AssetId<WowModelMaterial>>>,
-    (entity, gt, layers, mut mat, authority_owned, marked): (
-        Entity,
-        &GlobalTransform,
-        Option<&bevy::camera::visibility::RenderLayers>,
-        Mut<MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>>,
-        bool,
-        bool,
-    ),
+    (entity, gt, layers, mut mat, authority_owned, marked, tag, straddling): PartItem<'_>,
 ) {
     use bevy::camera::visibility::RenderLayers;
     // A booth-layered batch belongs to its own camera and scene — no world water applies
@@ -1023,48 +1047,59 @@ fn classify_part(
     if !qualifies {
         // A marked part that settled back onto its opaque cutout (fade over, aura released)
         // stops being a transparent draw at all — its side is nobody's business until it
-        // feathers again.
+        // feathers again, and a doubled one stops being doubled.
         if marked {
             commands.entity(entity).remove::<FarSideOfWater>();
         }
+        if straddling {
+            commands
+                .entity(entity)
+                .remove::<crate::straddle::StraddlesWater>();
+        }
         return;
     }
     if let Some(used) = used {
         used.insert(near.id());
     }
-    let far = crate::particles::far_side_of_water(interleave, Some(entity), gt.translation());
+    // **The straddle split** (decision 2188, [`crate::straddle`]): an instance inside its water
+    // band draws on BOTH lists. This batch keeps its NEAR identity — the fragment clips it to the
+    // eye's half — and `sync_straddle_twins` hangs its far twin beside it, clipped to the other.
+    // The verdict is the per-slot word the clip itself reads, so a batch is doubled exactly when
+    // its fragments are halved.
+    let straddles = tag.is_some_and(|t| clips.straddles(crate::mesh_tag::rig_of(t.0)));
+    if straddles != straddling {
+        trace_side(
+            if straddles { "straddle" } else { "unstraddle" },
+            entity,
+            gt,
+        );
+        if straddles {
+            commands
+                .entity(entity)
+                .insert(crate::straddle::StraddlesWater);
+        } else {
+            commands
+                .entity(entity)
+                .remove::<crate::straddle::StraddlesWater>();
+        }
+    }
+    if straddles {
+        // Built here, where the store is writable — the twin sync only reads the map.
+        far_twin(twins, materials, &near);
+    }
+    let far = !straddles
+        && crate::particles::far_side_of_water(interleave, Some(entity), gt.translation());
     if far == far_now {
         return;
     }
     // The swap's own trace (`WOW_MOVE_TRACE_TAGS=fx`): which batches crossed the plane this
     // frame and which way — the numeric read for a sort question no pixel can answer, and
     // naturally sparse (transitions only, never per-frame spam).
-    if benilla_assets::trace::enabled() {
-        let p = gt.translation();
-        benilla_assets::trace::line(
-            "fx",
-            &format!(
-                "{} mesh e={entity} at=[{:.1},{:.1},{:.1}]",
-                if far { "far-side" } else { "near-side" },
-                p.x,
-                p.y,
-                p.z
-            ),
-        );
-    }
+    trace_side(if far { "far-side" } else { "near-side" }, entity, gt);
     if far {
         // Build (or fetch) the twin either way — every composing owner needs it live in the
         // map before its own pick can resolve it.
-        let far_h = if let Some(h) = twins.to_far.get(&near.id()) {
-            h.clone()
-        } else {
-            // `qualifies` above already proved the near asset exists.
-            let twin = far_twin_of(materials.get(near.id()).unwrap());
-            let h = materials.add(twin);
-            twins.to_far.insert(near.id(), h.clone());
-            twins.to_near.insert(h.id(), near.clone());
-            h
-        };
+        let far_h = far_twin(twins, materials, &near);
         commands.entity(entity).insert(FarSideOfWater);
         if !authority_owned {
             mat.0 = far_h;
@@ -1077,6 +1112,39 @@ fn classify_part(
     }
 }
 
+/// The far twin of `near`, built on first ask. `near` must be a live asset — every caller has
+/// just proved it through the classifier's `qualifies`.
+fn far_twin(
+    twins: &mut FarSideTwins,
+    materials: &mut Assets<WowModelMaterial>,
+    near: &Handle<WowModelMaterial>,
+) -> Handle<WowModelMaterial> {
+    if let Some(h) = twins.to_far.get(&near.id()) {
+        return h.clone();
+    }
+    let twin = far_twin_of(materials.get(near.id()).unwrap());
+    let h = materials.add(twin);
+    twins.to_far.insert(near.id(), h.clone());
+    twins.to_near.insert(h.id(), near.clone());
+    h
+}
+
+/// `WOW_MOVE_TRACE_TAGS=fx`: one line per side transition of one batch — `far-side`/`near-side`
+/// for the one-list law, `straddle`/`unstraddle` for the two-list band.
+fn trace_side(what: &str, entity: Entity, gt: &GlobalTransform) {
+    if !benilla_assets::trace::enabled() {
+        return;
+    }
+    let p = gt.translation();
+    benilla_assets::trace::line(
+        "fx",
+        &format!(
+            "{what} mesh e={entity} at=[{:.1},{:.1},{:.1}]",
+            p.x, p.y, p.z
+        ),
+    );
+}
+
 /// Replace the fog-policy bits (4-6) inside a packed `clutter_fade.z` marker word, preserving
 /// every other pipeline marker — bits 0-3 AND the Mod/Mod2x multiply markers in bits 7-8
 /// (decision 0528). The mask lives here, beside the packer above: the portrait booth's rig twin
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/particles.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/particles.rs
index c8b39d8c..01dbe8e5 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/particles.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/particles.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ use emit::{emit_local, next_u32, rand01, rand_s11};
 use sim::simulate_particles;
 // The water-plane interleave classification — shared with the ribbon sim (a trail is one of the
 // model's emitters and classifies the same way; `sky_order::FAR_SIDE_BIAS`).
-pub(crate) use sim::{far_side_of_water, model_far_side, WaterInterleave};
+pub(crate) use sim::{far_side_of_water, model_far_side, water_height, WaterInterleave};
 
 /// This camera is **rate-throttled**: it renders on some frames and skips others *by our own
 /// pacing*, while the scene behind it keeps running at full rate. A frame it does not draw is a
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/particles/sim.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/particles/sim.rs
index 22884d89..4dbd10be 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/particles/sim.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/particles/sim.rs
@@ -354,40 +354,52 @@ pub(crate) fn far_side_of_water_at(
     point_world: Vec3,
     r: f32,
 ) -> bool {
+    let above = water_height(w, claim_seed, point_world).is_none_or(|d| is_above(d, r));
+    if w.underwater.0.any() {
+        above
+    } else {
+        !above
+    }
+}
+
+/// How high `point_world` sits over its local water plane — `d = point − surface` (WoW Z, yd;
+/// Bevy Y is the same axis) against the nearest **admitted** surface over the point's XY, the
+/// claim taken from the nearest ancestor of `claim_seed` with a room verdict (`Unknown` admits
+/// both sources, still floor-bounded per pool). `None` = no admitted surface — the reference's
+/// `+0x19c == 0`, which every lane reads as the above list.
+///
+/// The one plane query behind both laws: [`far_side_of_water_at`]'s one-list membership, and
+/// the straddle split's two-list band (`crate::straddle`, decision 2188), which also needs the
+/// plane's height itself for the clip.
+pub(crate) fn water_height(
+    w: &WaterInterleave,
+    claim_seed: Option<Entity>,
+    point_world: Vec3,
+) -> Option<f32> {
     let wow = benilla_assets::coords::bevy_to_wow(point_world);
     // The spatial pre-filter first — these lanes ask per DRAW, and the full `surfaces_at` walk
     // at that grain was the 2026-08-03 12-fps regression (`liquid::spatial`). No candidate
     // surface over this XY (the dominant dry-land case) is "no admitted surface" under every
     // claim, so the room walk below is skipped with the scan.
     let candidates = w.index.over(wow[0], wow[1]);
-    let above = if candidates.is_empty() {
-        true
-    } else {
-        let mut seed = claim_seed;
-        let mut room = None;
-        for _ in 0..8 {
-            let Some(e) = seed else { break };
-            if let Ok(rm) = w.rooms.get(e) {
-                room = Some(rm);
-                break;
-            }
-            seed = w.parents.get(e).ok().map(ChildOf::parent);
-        }
-        let claim = crate::liquid::unit_claim(room, &w.placements);
-        let surfaces = candidates.iter().filter_map(|&e| w.water.get(e).ok());
-        match crate::liquid::surfaces_at(surfaces, wow, claim)
-            .map(|z| wow[2] - z)
-            .min_by(|a, b| a.abs().total_cmp(&b.abs()))
-        {
-            Some(d) => is_above(d, r),
-            None => true,
-        }
-    };
-    if w.underwater.0.any() {
-        above
-    } else {
-        !above
+    if candidates.is_empty() {
+        return None;
     }
+    let mut seed = claim_seed;
+    let mut room = None;
+    for _ in 0..8 {
+        let Some(e) = seed else { break };
+        if let Ok(rm) = w.rooms.get(e) {
+            room = Some(rm);
+            break;
+        }
+        seed = w.parents.get(e).ok().map(ChildOf::parent);
+    }
+    let claim = crate::liquid::unit_claim(room, &w.placements);
+    let surfaces = candidates.iter().filter_map(|&e| w.water.get(e).ok());
+    crate::liquid::surfaces_at(surfaces, wow, claim)
+        .map(|z| wow[2] - z)
+        .min_by(|a, b| a.abs().total_cmp(&b.abs()))
 }
 
 /// The mesh lane's wrapper: the sign test at the batch's own transform (r = 0) — the
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/rig_palette.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/rig_palette.rs
index c8179bd3..5a723b45 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/rig_palette.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/rig_palette.rs
@@ -88,20 +88,22 @@ pub(crate) fn rig_origin_region_bytes() -> u64 {
 
 /// Byte offset of the palette rows themselves — after the slot table, the per-instance tint table
 /// that shares this slot index ([`crate::instance_tint`], decision 0812), the origin table, and
-/// the mat-anim delta table ([`crate::mat_anim_table`], decision 1381). The rows stay last
-/// because `wow_model.wgsl` declares them as the struct's one runtime-sized array.
+/// the mat-anim delta table ([`crate::mat_anim_table`], decision 1381), and the straddle clip
+/// table ([`crate::straddle`], decision 2188). The rows stay last because `wow_model.wgsl`
+/// declares them as the struct's one runtime-sized array.
 pub(crate) fn palette_region_offset() -> u64 {
-    crate::mat_anim_table::region_offset() + crate::mat_anim_table::region_bytes()
+    crate::straddle::region_offset() + crate::straddle::region_bytes()
 }
 
 /// Total bytes the slot-indexed regions add to every `wow_light`-layout buffer
 /// (`lighting::light_blob_bytes`): the rig slot table, the instance-tint table, the origin table,
-/// the palette rows.
+/// the mat-anim table, the straddle clip table, the palette rows.
 pub(crate) fn palette_regions_bytes() -> u64 {
     (MAX_RIG_SLOTS * 4) as u64
         + crate::instance_tint::region_bytes()
         + rig_origin_region_bytes()
         + crate::mat_anim_table::region_bytes()
+        + crate::straddle::region_bytes()
         + MAX_PALETTE_BONES as u64 * BONE_BYTES
 }
 
@@ -746,6 +748,11 @@ fn free_rig_skin(mut world: DeferredWorld, ctx: HookContext) {
     if let Some(mut tints) = world.get_resource_mut::<crate::instance_tint::InstanceTints>() {
         tints.clear(slot);
     }
+    // …and the straddle split's waterline (decision 2188), on the same index for the same reason:
+    // a recycled slot must not clip the next unit at the last one's water.
+    if let Some(mut clips) = world.get_resource_mut::<crate::straddle::WaterClips>() {
+        clips.clear(slot);
+    }
 }
 
 /// On every joint entity (planted by [`spawn_joints`]): the rig root whose palette this
@@ -1435,9 +1442,14 @@ mod tests {
             "the mat-anim table follows the origin table (decision 1381)"
         );
         assert_eq!(
-            palette_region_offset() - crate::mat_anim_table::region_offset(),
+            crate::straddle::region_offset() - crate::mat_anim_table::region_offset(),
             crate::mat_anim_table::region_bytes(),
-            "the palette rows follow the mat-anim table"
+            "the straddle clip table follows the mat-anim table (decision 2188)"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            palette_region_offset() - crate::straddle::region_offset(),
+            crate::straddle::region_bytes(),
+            "the palette rows follow the straddle clip table"
         );
         assert_eq!(
             palette_regions_bytes(),
@@ -1445,6 +1457,7 @@ mod tests {
                 + crate::instance_tint::region_bytes()
                 + rig_origin_region_bytes()
                 + crate::mat_anim_table::region_bytes()
+                + crate::straddle::region_bytes()
                 + (MAX_PALETTE_BONES as u64) * BONE_BYTES
         );
         // One `vec4` per addressable slot — the shader declares `array<vec4<f32>, 2048>`.
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/straddle.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/straddle.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..82c28da7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/straddle.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,686 @@
+//! **The straddle split** — a translucent model that crosses its water plane draws on BOTH sides
+//! of the water pass, each copy cut at the waterline (decision 2188; wow-re
+//! `terrain/scratch/water-frame-straddle.md` §2, byte-VERIFIED).
+//!
+//! **The reference.** The collector (`0x707680`) dots each model's bound-box centre (instance
+//! matrix × `(min+max)/2`) against the plane `{0,0,1,−surfaceZ}` from the model's own liquid hit,
+//! once per instance. With `M2UseClipPlanes` granted — the cvar's default `"1"`, caps-gated at
+//! `0x7066a6` — it keeps TWO side booleans, `A = d ≥ −r` (the above list) and `B = d ≤ r` (the
+//! below list), `r` the world-scaled bound radius. A model inside the `±r` band lands on BOTH
+//! lists, its z-fill depth primes ride the same booleans (`0x707ffe`/`0x708048`), and the mesh
+//! draw arm brackets each list's copy with a hardware clip plane at the waterline (`0x70baf0`
+//! @`0x70c094`–`0x70c103`). The frame interleave draws the eye's far list before the water and the
+//! near list after it (0911) — so the half under the surface is painted over by the water, and the
+//! half above it paints over the water.
+//!
+//! **What benilla had.** The mesh lane (0919) shipped the no-clip-planes fallback only — one list
+//! per model, a bare sign test at the placement origin — and named the band as a gap. Its worst
+//! case was a unit fading in while standing in water (the director's report, 2026-09-11): the
+//! appear ramp puts every part on its blend twin, which is exactly when the lane classifies it;
+//! feet under the surface sent the WHOLE body to the far list; and because the fade twin and the
+//! depth prime both write depth, the part above the water primed its depth before the water drew.
+//! A body-shaped hole in the surface, with the head blended over the unwatered lake bed behind it
+//! — strongest at the ramp's start, where the body is least opaque.
+//!
+//! **The shape here — three pieces, one verdict:**
+//! - [`band_instances`] — per model instance (a root carrying a [`RigSkin`] slot and a
+//!   [`WorldUnit`] bound), the reference's two booleans at the transformed bound centre. A
+//!   straddler's plane goes into the per-slot [`WaterClips`] table — a region of the shared light
+//!   buffer on the same slot index as the body tint (0812) — and [`ModelWaterBand`] on the root is
+//!   the edge the classifier fans down from.
+//! - `model_render::classify_water_side` reads the SAME table word by the batch's `MeshTag` slot:
+//!   a straddling batch stays on its NEAR identity and is marked [`StraddlesWater`], and
+//!   [`sync_straddle_twins`] hangs a child on it carrying the FAR twin — the second list.
+//! - `wow_model.wgsl`'s `WOW_WATER_CLIP` block (every transparent-pass pipeline) is the clip plane:
+//!   a fragment of a straddling instance survives only on its own copy's side — the near copy
+//!   keeps the eye's half, the far twin (`FAR_SIDE_MARKER`) the other. [`keeps`] is the law's Rust
+//!   twin.
+//!
+//! The CPU twin set and the GPU clip read one word, so they cannot disagree: a batch is doubled
+//! exactly when its fragments are being halved.
+//!
+//! **Scope: slot-bearing instances.** The clip is per INSTANCE, and the one per-instance channel
+//! the fragment stage has is the rig slot — so the split covers every skinned wire body (units,
+//! players, rigged GameObjects), the parts carrying its slot (boneless geosets, billboard cards),
+//! and every model CHAINED to it — worn gear and hung spell kits, which own slots of their own
+//! since 1609 and take the body's word through their `ParentModel` link (decision 2190). Slot-0
+//! content — map doodads, unskinned models — keeps 0919's one-sided fallback; its only
+//! translucent episodes are the distance-fade ring's small props.
+
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use bevy::camera::primitives::Aabb;
+use bevy::camera::visibility::{NoFrustumCulling, RenderLayers};
+use bevy::mesh::MeshTag;
+use bevy::prelude::*;
+use bevy::render::extract_resource::{ExtractResource, ExtractResourcePlugin};
+use bevy::render::renderer::RenderQueue;
+use bevy::render::{Render, RenderApp, RenderSystems};
+
+use benilla_assets::materials::WowModelMaterial;
+
+use crate::mesh_tag::MAX_RIG_SLOTS;
+use crate::model_fade::{ParentModel, MAX_MODEL_CHAIN};
+use crate::model_render::FarSideTwins;
+use crate::particles::WaterInterleave;
+use crate::rig_palette::RigSkin;
+use crate::world_unit::WorldUnit;
+
+/// One slot's clip word: `[plane height, near side]` — the waterline's world height (Bevy Y,
+/// which is WoW Z) and the side the instance's NEAR copy keeps: `+1` above (a dry eye's near list
+/// is the above one), `−1` below (a submerged eye's, `0x4836d6`). A side of `0` is "not
+/// straddling" — every slot-0 instance, every slot nothing wrote, and every zeroed studio buffer.
+pub type ClipWord = [f32; 2];
+
+/// The "no clip" word. Zero is identity, so a zeroed region is inert by construction: the
+/// portrait booths' studio buffers never receive this region's writes and keep it that way.
+pub const NO_CLIP: ClipWord = [0.0, 0.0];
+
+/// Bytes per slot in the clip region: two `f32` — `wow_model.wgsl`'s `array<vec2<f32>, 2048>`.
+const SLOT_BYTES: u64 = 8;
+
+/// Byte offset of the clip region inside a `wow_light`-layout buffer: after the mat-anim table,
+/// before the palette rows (which stay last — the shader's one runtime-sized array).
+pub(crate) fn region_offset() -> u64 {
+    crate::mat_anim_table::region_offset() + crate::mat_anim_table::region_bytes()
+}
+
+/// Bytes this region adds to every `wow_light`-layout buffer (16 KB at 2048 slots).
+pub(crate) fn region_bytes() -> u64 {
+    MAX_RIG_SLOTS as u64 * SLOT_BYTES
+}
+
+/// The live per-slot clip table, indexed by the instance's `MeshTag` rig slot. `Arc`-shared so
+/// the render-world extract is a pointer bump, and generation-stamped so a world where nothing
+/// straddles uploads nothing at all.
+#[derive(Resource, Clone, ExtractResource)]
+pub struct WaterClips {
+    slots: Arc<Vec<ClipWord>>,
+    generation: u64,
+}
+
+impl Default for WaterClips {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            slots: Arc::new(vec![NO_CLIP; MAX_RIG_SLOTS]),
+            generation: 0,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl WaterClips {
+    /// Set slot `slot`'s word. Slot 0 is the world's no-rig sentinel and is never written:
+    /// everything unskinned shares it.
+    pub(crate) fn set(&mut self, slot: u16, word: ClipWord) {
+        let i = slot as usize;
+        if i == 0 || i >= MAX_RIG_SLOTS || self.slots[i] == word {
+            return;
+        }
+        Arc::make_mut(&mut self.slots)[i] = word;
+        self.generation += 1;
+    }
+
+    /// Back to "not straddling" — called from `RigSkin`'s free hook as well, so a recycled slot
+    /// can never hand a dead unit's waterline to the next unit that allocates it.
+    pub(crate) fn clear(&mut self, slot: u16) {
+        self.set(slot, NO_CLIP);
+    }
+
+    /// This slot's word (`NO_CLIP` for an out-of-range slot) — what a chained model inherits
+    /// from its wearer.
+    pub(crate) fn word(&self, slot: u16) -> ClipWord {
+        self.slots.get(slot as usize).copied().unwrap_or(NO_CLIP)
+    }
+
+    /// Whether `slot`'s instance straddles its water plane — the classifier's read of the very
+    /// word the fragment clips by.
+    pub(crate) fn straddles(&self, slot: u16) -> bool {
+        self.slots.get(slot as usize).is_some_and(|w| w[1] != 0.0)
+    }
+}
+
+/// On a model-instance root: whether its model straddles its water plane this frame. Written by
+/// [`band_instances`] (change-gated) and read as a change EDGE — `classify_water_side`
+/// re-classifies the holder's subtree when it flips, the same fan-down the room claim takes.
+/// Absent reads "no": it is inserted the first time an instance straddles.
+#[derive(Component, Clone, Copy, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct ModelWaterBand {
+    pub straddles: bool,
+}
+
+/// On a transparent batch of a straddling instance: the classifier's verdict that this batch
+/// draws on both lists. Sparse; [`sync_straddle_twins`] keeps a far twin alive exactly while it
+/// is present.
+#[derive(Component)]
+pub(crate) struct StraddlesWater;
+
+/// On a straddling batch: its live far-side twin. [`sync_straddle_twins`] is the only writer.
+#[derive(Component)]
+pub(crate) struct StraddleTwin(Entity);
+
+/// On a twin: the batch it doubles for — the mirror's key, and the marker that keeps a twin out
+/// of the classifier's walk (a twin is the classification's output, never its input).
+#[derive(Component)]
+pub(crate) struct StraddleTwinOf(Entity);
+
+/// The reference's two side booleans for a model whose bound centre sits `d` yd over its water
+/// plane, with slack `r`: `(above, below) = (d ≥ −r, d ≤ r)` (`0x7079a2`–`0x707a17`). Both ties
+/// are inclusive — `d == −r` keeps A (the emitter lane's `is_above`), `d == r` keeps B (`jp`
+/// @`0x7079e2`) — and a NaN keeps neither, which reads as "not straddling".
+pub(crate) fn side_booleans(d: f32, r: f32) -> (bool, bool) {
+    (d >= -r, d <= r)
+}
+
+/// How far past the reference's `±r` band a straddler must travel before it stops straddling.
+///
+/// **Not a fidelity deviation.** A split draw is pixel-identical to the one-list draw for a model
+/// wholly on one side of its plane — one copy's half is simply empty — so where the verdict flips
+/// only decides what the draw COSTS, never what it shows. The reference recomputes its booleans
+/// every frame with no hysteresis because its flip is free (list membership); ours spawns or
+/// despawns a twin and swaps the batch's handle. Without this, a murloc bobbing 0.3 yd at the
+/// band's edge flipped nearly every frame (the 2188 live leg: 17 transitions on one body, three
+/// inside 40 ms).
+const STICKY_YD: f32 = 1.0;
+
+/// The straddle verdict with the sticky exit: an instance enters on the reference's band and
+/// leaves only once its centre is [`STICKY_YD`] past it. `was` = it straddled last time it was
+/// banded.
+pub(crate) fn straddles(d: f32, r: f32, was: bool) -> bool {
+    let slack = if was { r + STICKY_YD } else { r };
+    side_booleans(d, slack) == (true, true)
+}
+
+/// The clip plane's law — the Rust twin of `wow_model.wgsl`'s `WOW_WATER_CLIP` block: does a
+/// fragment at world height `y` survive on this copy of a batch? `far_copy` = the copy's material
+/// carries `FAR_SIDE_MARKER` (it is the twin on the eye's far list). A `0` side keeps everything,
+/// and a fragment exactly on the plane survives on both copies.
+pub fn keeps(word: ClipWord, y: f32, far_copy: bool) -> bool {
+    if word[1] == 0.0 {
+        return true;
+    }
+    let side = if far_copy { -word[1] } else { word[1] };
+    side * (y - word[0]) >= 0.0
+}
+
+/// The waterline a CHAINED model clips at: its nearest body's word, walked up the
+/// [`ParentModel`] chain from `start` (the model's parent). `link(k)` answers, for one link, its
+/// own palette slot, its parent, and whether it is a body; a broken chain, a body with no slot
+/// and a chain past [`MAX_MODEL_CHAIN`] all read "not straddling". Generic over the key so the
+/// walk is testable without an ECS.
+fn wearer_word<K: Copy>(
+    start: K,
+    clips: &WaterClips,
+    link: impl Fn(K) -> Option<(Option<u16>, Option<K>, bool)>,
+) -> ClipWord {
+    let mut at = start;
+    for _ in 0..MAX_MODEL_CHAIN {
+        let Some((slot, up, body)) = link(at) else {
+            break;
+        };
+        if body {
+            return slot.map_or(NO_CLIP, |s| clips.word(s));
+        }
+        match up {
+            Some(p) => at = p,
+            None => break,
+        }
+    }
+    NO_CLIP
+}
+
+/// The roots [`band_instances`] re-bands on an ordinary frame: an instance whose matrix, bound,
+/// slot or room claim moved. The eye crossing the surface and the surface population changing
+/// re-band everything.
+type BandDirty = (
+    With<RigSkin>,
+    With<WorldUnit>,
+    Or<(
+        Changed<GlobalTransform>,
+        Changed<WorldUnit>,
+        Changed<RigSkin>,
+        Changed<crate::wmo_portal::UnitWmoRoom>,
+    )>,
+);
+
+/// A model chained to a body — worn gear and the spell kits hung on it — with its own slot.
+type ChainedRoot<'a> = (
+    Entity,
+    &'a RigSkin,
+    &'a ParentModel,
+    Option<Mut<'a, ModelWaterBand>>,
+);
+
+/// A chained model whose slot or link is new this frame — it has no word yet, whatever its
+/// wearer's did.
+type ChainedFresh = (
+    With<ParentModel>,
+    Without<WorldUnit>,
+    Or<(Changed<RigSkin>, Changed<ParentModel>)>,
+);
+
+/// One model-instance root as [`band_instances`] sees it.
+type BandRoot<'a> = (
+    Entity,
+    &'a GlobalTransform,
+    &'a WorldUnit,
+    &'a RigSkin,
+    Option<Mut<'a, ModelWaterBand>>,
+);
+
+/// **Band every model instance against its water plane** — the reference's two side booleans
+/// per instance, written where both halves of the split read them: the per-slot [`WaterClips`]
+/// word (the fragment's clip plane, the classifier's doubling verdict) and [`ModelWaterBand`]
+/// on the root (the classifier's re-classify edge).
+///
+/// **Every model chained to a body inherits the body's word** (decision 2190). Worn gear does not
+/// share its wearer's slot: since 1609 every ordinary item rides a rider slot of its own (0841's
+/// welded items a joint rig), so a helm, a pair of shoulders or a weapon at the waterline was
+/// never banded and kept the one-list fallback — the hole in the water the director still saw
+/// when the surface crossed a unit's gear. The body's band is the instance's verdict and its
+/// plane is the one water plane under it, and the clip is exact on any copy whatever side it
+/// lands, so the gear takes the word verbatim rather than a band of its own.
+///
+/// Update, after the submersion verdict and before `classify_water_side` — the auto-inserted
+/// sync point between them lands a first-time `ModelWaterBand` before the classifier looks, so
+/// the clip and the twin set flip on the same frame.
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+pub(crate) fn band_instances(
+    interleave: WaterInterleave,
+    mut clips: ResMut<WaterClips>,
+    mut commands: Commands,
+    mut roots: Query<(
+        Entity,
+        &GlobalTransform,
+        &WorldUnit,
+        &RigSkin,
+        Option<&mut ModelWaterBand>,
+    )>,
+    dirty: Query<Entity, BandDirty>,
+    mut chained: Query<
+        (Entity, &RigSkin, &ParentModel, Option<&mut ModelWaterBand>),
+        Without<WorldUnit>,
+    >,
+    fresh: Query<Entity, ChainedFresh>,
+    links: Query<(Option<&RigSkin>, Option<&ParentModel>, Has<WorldUnit>)>,
+    mut eye_was_submerged: Local<Option<bool>>,
+) {
+    let before = clips.generation;
+    let eye = interleave.eye_submerged();
+    let full = *eye_was_submerged != Some(eye) || interleave.surfaces_changed();
+    *eye_was_submerged = Some(eye);
+    // A dry eye's near list is the above one; a submerged eye's, the below one (`0x4836d6`).
+    let near_side = if eye { -1.0 } else { 1.0 };
+    if full {
+        for root in &mut roots {
+            band_one(&interleave, &mut clips, &mut commands, near_side, root);
+        }
+    } else {
+        for e in &dirty {
+            if let Ok(root) = roots.get_mut(e) {
+                band_one(&interleave, &mut clips, &mut commands, near_side, root);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    // The chained pass: every chained model when any body's word moved this frame (the gate is
+    // the table's own generation — a dry world, and a wet one standing still, skip it whole),
+    // otherwise only the chains that are new.
+    let link = |e: Entity| {
+        links
+            .get(e)
+            .ok()
+            .map(|(skin, up, body)| (skin.map(|s| s.slot), up.map(|p| p.0), body))
+    };
+    if clips.generation != before {
+        for item in &mut chained {
+            chain_one(&mut clips, &mut commands, &link, item);
+        }
+    } else {
+        for e in &fresh {
+            if let Ok(item) = chained.get_mut(e) {
+                chain_one(&mut clips, &mut commands, &link, item);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// One chained model's word — its wearer's, onto its own slot — and its band edge.
+fn chain_one(
+    clips: &mut WaterClips,
+    commands: &mut Commands,
+    link: &impl Fn(Entity) -> Option<(Option<u16>, Option<Entity>, bool)>,
+    (entity, rig, parent, band): ChainedRoot<'_>,
+) {
+    let word = wearer_word(parent.0, clips, link);
+    clips.set(rig.slot, word);
+    band_edge(commands, entity, band, word[1] != 0.0);
+}
+
+/// Publish an instance's verdict as its [`ModelWaterBand`] edge: change-gated on a live
+/// component, inserted the first time it straddles.
+fn band_edge(
+    commands: &mut Commands,
+    entity: Entity,
+    band: Option<Mut<ModelWaterBand>>,
+    straddles: bool,
+) {
+    match band {
+        Some(mut b) => {
+            b.set_if_neq(ModelWaterBand { straddles });
+        }
+        None if straddles => {
+            commands.entity(entity).insert(ModelWaterBand { straddles });
+        }
+        None => {}
+    }
+}
+
+/// One instance's band — the shared body of [`band_instances`]' full and reactive paths.
+fn band_one(
+    interleave: &WaterInterleave,
+    clips: &mut WaterClips,
+    commands: &mut Commands,
+    near_side: f32,
+    (entity, gt, unit, rig, band): BandRoot<'_>,
+) {
+    // The reference's point and slack (§2/§6): the bound centre through the instance matrix, the
+    // radius through its row-0 scale. The game hands the armed idle's authored CAaBox rather than
+    // the header sphere, so the slack is that box's circumscribed sphere — never smaller than the
+    // model, and an over-wide band costs only a copy whose half the clip discards whole.
+    let was = band.as_ref().is_some_and(|b| b.straddles);
+    let word = unit.bound.and_then(|b| {
+        let centre = gt.transform_point(Vec3::from(b.center));
+        let r = gt.affine().matrix3.x_axis.length() * Vec3::from(b.half_extents).length();
+        let d = crate::particles::water_height(interleave, Some(entity), centre)?;
+        straddles(d, r, was).then_some([centre.y - d, near_side])
+    });
+    clips.set(rig.slot, word.unwrap_or(NO_CLIP));
+    band_edge(commands, entity, band, word.is_some());
+}
+
+/// One straddle candidate as [`sync_straddle_twins`] sees it: the batch, what its twin copies
+/// (tag, mesh, handle, cull box and marker, layers), its verdict, and the twin it already has.
+type StraddleParts<'w, 's> = Query<
+    'w,
+    's,
+    (
+        Entity,
+        &'static MeshTag,
+        &'static Mesh3d,
+        &'static MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>,
+        Has<StraddlesWater>,
+        Option<&'static StraddleTwin>,
+        Option<&'static Aabb>,
+        Has<NoFrustumCulling>,
+        Option<&'static RenderLayers>,
+    ),
+    (
+        Without<StraddleTwinOf>,
+        Or<(With<StraddlesWater>, With<StraddleTwin>)>,
+    ),
+>;
+
+/// Keep every straddling batch's far twin in sync with its verdict — spawn the twin child when
+/// the classifier marks the batch [`StraddlesWater`], despawn it when the mark goes — and mirror
+/// the batch's tag (the fade alpha moves every ramp frame; the slot rides it), mesh (a gear
+/// redress swaps it in place) and handle (composed down one water rung) onto a live twin.
+///
+/// PostUpdate, after the depth-prime sync: a zfill twin is a batch like any other here, so its
+/// own far twin mirrors the tag the zfill mirror has just written.
+pub(crate) fn sync_straddle_twins(
+    mut commands: Commands,
+    far: Res<FarSideTwins>,
+    parts: StraddleParts,
+    mut twins: Query<(
+        &StraddleTwinOf,
+        &mut MeshTag,
+        &mut Mesh3d,
+        &mut MeshMaterial3d<WowModelMaterial>,
+    )>,
+) {
+    for (part, tag, mesh, mat, straddling, twin, aabb, no_cull, layers) in &parts {
+        match twin {
+            None if straddling => {
+                // The classifier builds the far twin before it marks the batch; a miss means the
+                // batch's handle moved since, and next frame's classification rebuilds it.
+                let Some(far_h) = far.far_of(&mat.0) else {
+                    continue;
+                };
+                let mut t = commands.spawn((
+                    Mesh3d(mesh.0.clone()),
+                    MeshMaterial3d(far_h.clone()),
+                    MeshTag(tag.0),
+                    Transform::IDENTITY,
+                    StraddleTwinOf(part),
+                    ChildOf(part),
+                ));
+                // The twin culls exactly as its batch does: a skinned part's cull belongs to the
+                // body root's election, and its own box is the picker's (`attach::dress`).
+                if let Some(aabb) = aabb {
+                    t.insert(*aabb);
+                }
+                if no_cull {
+                    t.insert(NoFrustumCulling);
+                }
+                if let Some(layers) = layers {
+                    t.insert(layers.clone());
+                }
+                let t = t.id();
+                commands.entity(part).insert(StraddleTwin(t));
+                trace("arm", part);
+            }
+            Some(t) if !straddling => {
+                commands.entity(t.0).try_despawn();
+                commands.entity(part).remove::<StraddleTwin>();
+                trace("release", part);
+            }
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+    for (of, mut tag, mut mesh, mut mat) in &mut twins {
+        let Ok((_, ptag, pmesh, pmat, ..)) = parts.get(of.0) else {
+            continue; // batch going away this frame — the child despawns with it
+        };
+        if tag.0 != ptag.0 {
+            tag.0 = ptag.0;
+        }
+        if mesh.0 != pmesh.0 {
+            mesh.0 = pmesh.0.clone();
+        }
+        if let Some(far_h) = far.far_of(&pmat.0) {
+            if mat.0 != *far_h {
+                mat.0 = far_h.clone();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// The split's instrument (`WOW_MOVE_TRACE=<path>`, tag `fx` — beside the classifier's
+/// `straddle`/`far-side` lines): one line per twin edge.
+fn trace(what: &str, part: Entity) {
+    if !benilla_assets::trace::enabled() {
+        return;
+    }
+    benilla_assets::trace::line("fx", &format!("straddle-twin {what} part={part}"));
+}
+
+/// Render world (`PrepareResources`): write the whole 16 KB region when anything changed — the
+/// shared buffer only. The portrait booths and the glue scene keep their zeroed region: nothing in
+/// a studio stands in world water.
+fn upload_water_clips(
+    queue: Res<RenderQueue>,
+    shared: Option<Res<crate::lighting::SharedLightBuffer>>,
+    clips: Option<Res<WaterClips>>,
+    mut last: Local<Option<u64>>,
+) {
+    let (Some(shared), Some(clips)) = (shared, clips) else {
+        return;
+    };
+    if *last == Some(clips.generation) {
+        return;
+    }
+    *last = Some(clips.generation);
+    queue.write_buffer(
+        &shared.0,
+        region_offset(),
+        bytemuck::cast_slice(clips.slots.as_slice()),
+    );
+}
+
+/// The straddle split's registration (decision 2188).
+pub fn plugin(app: &mut App) {
+    app.init_resource::<WaterClips>()
+        .add_plugins(ExtractResourcePlugin::<WaterClips>::default())
+        .add_systems(
+            Update,
+            band_instances
+                .after(crate::liquid::SubmersionVerdict)
+                .before(crate::model_render::classify_water_side),
+        )
+        .add_systems(
+            PostUpdate,
+            sync_straddle_twins.after(crate::zfill::sync_zfill_twins),
+        );
+    if let Some(render) = app.get_sub_app_mut(RenderApp) {
+        render.add_systems(
+            Render,
+            upload_water_clips.in_set(RenderSystems::PrepareResources),
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// The band is the reference's: a centre within `r` of the plane on EITHER side straddles,
+    /// both ties included; beyond it the model sits wholly on one list.
+    #[test]
+    fn the_band_is_plus_minus_r_inclusive() {
+        // A wading unit: centre 0.4 yd over the surface, 1.5 yd of slack — both lists.
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(0.4, 1.5), (true, true));
+        // Waist-deep the other way: centre under the surface, still inside the band.
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(-1.2, 1.5), (true, true));
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(-1.5, 1.5), (true, true), "d == −r keeps A");
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(1.5, 1.5), (true, true), "d == r keeps B");
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(1.6, 1.5), (true, false), "wholly above");
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(-1.6, 1.5), (false, true), "wholly below");
+        // No slack is the fallback's sign test, and only the plane itself straddles it.
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(0.0, 0.0), (true, true));
+        assert_eq!(side_booleans(-0.1, 0.0), (false, true));
+        assert_eq!(
+            side_booleans(f32::NAN, 1.0),
+            (false, false),
+            "NaN never splits"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Entry is the reference's band; exit is sticky by `STICKY_YD`, so a body bobbing at the
+    /// edge holds its verdict instead of re-spawning its twins every frame.
+    #[test]
+    fn the_exit_is_sticky_and_the_entry_is_not() {
+        let r = 1.2;
+        assert!(!straddles(-1.5, r, false), "outside the band: no entry");
+        assert!(straddles(-1.2, r, false), "the band's own edge enters");
+        assert!(
+            straddles(-1.5, r, true),
+            "a straddler bobbing past the edge holds"
+        );
+        assert!(straddles(1.5, r, true), "…on either side");
+        assert!(
+            straddles(-2.2, r, true),
+            "the sticky edge itself still holds"
+        );
+        assert!(!straddles(-2.3, r, true), "past the sticky edge it leaves");
+        assert!(!straddles(f32::NAN, r, true), "NaN never splits");
+    }
+
+    /// The clip plane: for a dry eye the near copy keeps the part above the water and the far
+    /// twin the part below; a submerged eye swaps them; the plane itself survives on both copies,
+    /// so the two halves meet without a seam.
+    #[test]
+    fn each_copy_keeps_its_own_half() {
+        let dry = [10.0, 1.0];
+        assert!(keeps(dry, 11.0, false), "the head, on the near copy");
+        assert!(!keeps(dry, 11.0, true), "…and not again on the far twin");
+        assert!(keeps(dry, 9.0, true), "the legs, on the far twin");
+        assert!(
+            !keeps(dry, 9.0, false),
+            "…and not over the water on the near copy"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            keeps(dry, 10.0, false) && keeps(dry, 10.0, true),
+            "the waterline itself"
+        );
+        let submerged = [10.0, -1.0];
+        assert!(
+            keeps(submerged, 9.0, false),
+            "under water, the near half is the lower one"
+        );
+        assert!(keeps(submerged, 11.0, true));
+        assert!(!keeps(submerged, 11.0, false));
+        // Not straddling: nothing is clipped on either copy.
+        for y in [-100.0, 0.0, 100.0] {
+            assert!(keeps(NO_CLIP, y, false) && keeps(NO_CLIP, y, true));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Gear and kits take their BODY's word however deep the chain — a glow on a weapon on a unit
+    /// — and a chain that never reaches a body, or a body with no slot, clips nothing.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_chained_model_inherits_its_bodys_waterline() {
+        let mut clips = WaterClips::default();
+        clips.set(5, [57.0, 1.0]);
+        // key → (own slot, parent, is a body)
+        let chain = |k: u32| match k {
+            1 => Some((Some(9), Some(2), false)), // weapon glow → weapon
+            2 => Some((Some(8), Some(3), false)), // weapon (rider slot 8) → unit
+            3 => Some((Some(5), None, true)),     // the unit, straddling on slot 5
+            4 => Some((None, None, true)),        // a body with no rig slot
+            6 => Some((Some(7), Some(6), false)), // a self-loop: bounded, never a body
+            _ => None,
+        };
+        assert_eq!(
+            wearer_word(2, &clips, chain),
+            [57.0, 1.0],
+            "the weapon's parent"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(wearer_word(3, &clips, chain), [57.0, 1.0]);
+        assert_eq!(wearer_word(1, &clips, chain), [57.0, 1.0], "two links up");
+        assert_eq!(wearer_word(4, &clips, chain), NO_CLIP, "a slotless body");
+        assert_eq!(
+            wearer_word(6, &clips, chain),
+            NO_CLIP,
+            "a cycle ends bounded"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(wearer_word(99, &clips, chain), NO_CLIP, "a broken chain");
+    }
+
+    /// Every slot-0 draw in the world shares the word: writing it would clip terrain, WMOs and
+    /// doodads at one unit's waterline, so the setter refuses it — and a dry world never uploads.
+    #[test]
+    fn slot_zero_is_never_written_and_only_real_changes_upload() {
+        let mut c = WaterClips::default();
+        c.set(0, [1.0, 1.0]);
+        assert!(!c.straddles(0));
+        assert_eq!(c.generation, 0);
+        c.set(7, [12.5, 1.0]);
+        assert!(c.straddles(7));
+        assert_eq!(c.generation, 1);
+        c.set(7, [12.5, 1.0]);
+        assert_eq!(c.generation, 1, "same word, no upload");
+        c.clear(7);
+        assert!(!c.straddles(7));
+        assert_eq!(c.generation, 2);
+        c.set(u16::MAX, [1.0, 1.0]);
+        assert_eq!(c.generation, 2, "an out-of-range slot is dropped");
+    }
+
+    /// The shader declares `array<vec2<f32>, 2048>` between two `vec4` arrays: the region must be
+    /// one 8-byte word per addressable slot and end on the 16-byte boundary the palette rows need.
+    #[test]
+    fn the_region_is_one_vec2_per_slot_on_a_vec4_boundary() {
+        assert_eq!(region_bytes(), (MAX_RIG_SLOTS * 8) as u64);
+        assert_eq!(region_offset() % 16, 0);
+        assert_eq!((region_offset() + region_bytes()) % 16, 0);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
index cd456151..4ba16db0 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ impl PluginGroup for WorldPlugins {
             .add(crate::model_fade::plugin)
             .add(crate::model_render::plugin)
             .add(crate::zfill::plugin)
+            // The straddle split (decision 2188): a translucent model crossing its water plane draws
+            // on both sides of the water pass, each half clipped at the waterline — the band
+            // verdict, the per-slot clip region and the far-side twins, beside the two lanes
+            // (water-side twins, depth primes) it composes with.
+            .add(crate::straddle::plugin)
             // Within-map art residency (decision 0793): the dedup caches expire by DISTANCE, so a
             // long flight inside one map stops ratcheting. Before `AssetPlugin` only so the census
             // resource exists for anything that reads it at startup; it needs no ordering.