diff --git a/source/src/menus.cpp b/source/src/menus.cpp
index 10a7cba1..9c454339 100644
--- a/source/src/menus.cpp
+++ b/source/src/menus.cpp
@@ -790,6 +790,7 @@ void *addmenu(const char *name, const char *title, bool allowinput, void (__cdec
     menu.keyfunc = keyfunc;
     menu.initaction = NULL;
     menu.usefont = NULL;
+	menu.allowblink = false;
     menu.dirlist = NULL;
     menu.forwardkeys = forwardkeys;
     lastmenu = &menu;
@@ -857,6 +858,13 @@ void setmenufont(char *usefont)
     menufont(lastmenu, usefont);
 }
 
+void setmenublink(int truth)
+{
+	if(!lastmenu) return;
+	gmenu &m = *(gmenu *)lastmenu;
+	m.allowblink = truth != 0;
+}
+
 void menuinit(char *initaction)
 {
     if(!lastmenu) return;
@@ -992,6 +1000,7 @@ COMMAND(chmenumdl, ARG_6STR);
 COMMANDN(showmenu, showmenu_, ARG_1STR);
 COMMAND(closemenu, ARG_1STR);
 COMMANDN(menufont, setmenufont, ARG_1STR);
+COMMANDN(menucanblink, setmenublink, ARG_1INT);
 COMMAND(menuinit, ARG_1STR);
 COMMAND(menuinitselection, ARG_1INT);
 COMMAND(menuselection, ARG_2STR);
@@ -1225,7 +1234,9 @@ void gmenu::init()
 
 void gmenu::render()
 {
+	extern bool ignoreblinkingbit;
     if(usefont) pushfont(usefont);
+	if(!allowblink) ignoreblinkingbit = true; 
     const char *t = title;
     if(!t)
     {
@@ -1327,6 +1338,7 @@ void gmenu::render()
 
     }
     if(usefont) popfont(); // setfont("default");
+	ignoreblinkingbit = false;
 }
 
 void gmenu::renderbg(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2, bool border)
diff --git a/source/src/protos.h b/source/src/protos.h
index 327fcd87..76dbc175 100644
--- a/source/src/protos.h
+++ b/source/src/protos.h
@@ -143,13 +143,13 @@ struct gmenu
     bool (__cdecl *keyfunc)(void *, int, bool, int);
     char *initaction;
     char *usefont;
-
+	bool allowblink;
     const char *mdl;
     int anim, rotspeed, scale;
     int footlen;
     mdirlist *dirlist;
 
-    gmenu() : name(0), title(0), header(0), footer(0), initaction(0), usefont(0), mdl(0), footlen(0), dirlist(0) {}
+    gmenu() : name(0), title(0), header(0), footer(0), initaction(0), usefont(0), allowblink(0), mdl(0), footlen(0), dirlist(0) {}
     virtual ~gmenu()
     {
         DELETEA(name);
@@ -521,6 +521,7 @@ struct font
 #define PIXELTAB (10*curfont->defaultw)
 
 extern int VIRTW; // virtual screen size for text & HUD
+extern bool ignoreblinkingbit;
 extern font *curfont;
 
 extern void initfont();
diff --git a/source/src/rendertext.cpp b/source/src/rendertext.cpp
index 6d32aa73..8ec4398e 100644
--- a/source/src/rendertext.cpp
+++ b/source/src/rendertext.cpp
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 #include "cube.h"
 
 int VIRTW;
-
+bool ignoreblinkingbit = false; // for remote-n-temp override of '\fb'
 static hashtable<const char *, font> fonts;
 static font *fontdef = NULL;
 
 font *curfont = NULL;
 
+VARP(allowblinkingtext, 0, 0, 1); // if you're so inclined
+
 void newfont(char *name, char *tex, char *defaultw, char *defaulth, char *offsetx, char *offsety, char *offsetw, char *offseth)
 {
     font *f = fonts.access(name);
@@ -317,7 +319,7 @@ static void text_color(char c, char *stack, int size, int &sp, bvec color, int a
     else
     {
         if(c=='r') c = stack[(sp > 0) ? --sp : sp]; // restore color
-        else if(c == 'b') stack[sp] *= -1;
+        else if(c == 'b') { if(allowblinkingtext && !ignoreblinkingbit) stack[sp] *= -1; } // blinking text - only if allowed
         else stack[sp] = c;
         switch(abs(stack[sp]))
         {