diff --git a/external/CMakeLists.txt b/external/CMakeLists.txt
index 5af7f22..a528b8d 100644
--- a/external/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ add_subdirectory(./solanaceae_toxcore)
 add_subdirectory(./solanaceae_tox)
 
 add_subdirectory(./sdl)
+add_subdirectory(./freetype)
+add_subdirectory(./plutosvg)
 add_subdirectory(./imgui)
 add_subdirectory(./implot)
 
diff --git a/external/freetype/CMakeLists.txt b/external/freetype/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..101da7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/freetype/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.24 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+include(FetchContent)
+
+if (NOT TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+	find_package(Freetype 2.12 CONFIG GLOBAL QUIET)
+
+	if (NOT TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+		find_package(Freetype 2.12 GLOBAL QUIET)
+	endif()
+
+	#if (NOT TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+	#    find_package(PkgConfig)
+	#    if (PKG_CONFIG_FOUND)
+	#        pkg_check_modules(freetype_PKG IMPORTED_TARGET freetype)
+
+	#        if (TARGET PkgConfig::freetype_PKG)
+	#            add_library(Freetype::Freetype ALIAS PkgConfig::freetype_PKG)
+	#        endif()
+	#    endif()
+	#endif()
+
+	if (TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+		message(STATUS "found freetype")
+	else()
+		message(STATUS "freetype not found")
+	endif()
+endif()
+
diff --git a/external/imgui/CMakeLists.txt b/external/imgui/CMakeLists.txt
index e6a6b41..e77f07d 100644
--- a/external/imgui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/imgui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,22 @@ add_library(imgui
 target_compile_definitions(imgui PUBLIC IMGUI_USE_WCHAR32)
 target_compile_features(imgui PUBLIC cxx_std_11)
 
+if (TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+	message(STATUS "Freetype detected, enabling support in imgui")
+	target_sources(imgui PUBLIC
+		imgui/misc/freetype/imgui_freetype.h
+		imgui/misc/freetype/imgui_freetype.cpp
+	)
+	target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC Freetype::Freetype) # public in case of static
+	target_compile_definitions(imgui PUBLIC IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE)
+
+	if (TARGET plutosvg::plutosvg)
+		message(STATUS "plutosvg detected, enabling support in imgui")
+		target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC plutosvg::plutosvg) # public in case of static
+		target_compile_definitions(imgui PUBLIC IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE_PLUTOSVG)
+	endif()
+endif()
+
 target_include_directories(imgui PUBLIC "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
 target_include_directories(imgui PUBLIC "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/imgui") # im sad
 
diff --git a/external/plutosvg/CMakeLists.txt b/external/plutosvg/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35f4c57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/plutosvg/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.24 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+include(FetchContent)
+
+#makes no sense without freetype
+if (NOT TARGET plutosvg::plutosvg AND TARGET Freetype::Freetype)
+	set(PLUTOSVG_ENABLE_FREETYPE ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+	set(PLUTOSVG_BUILD_EXAMPLES OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+	FetchContent_Declare(plutosvg
+		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/sammycage/plutosvg.git
+		GIT_TAG v0.0.6
+		FIND_PACKAGE_ARGS # for the future
+	)
+	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(plutosvg)
+endif()
+
diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
index b32e75d..51ec220 100644
--- a/flake.lock
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -68,12 +68,32 @@
         "type": "github"
       }
     },
+    "plutosvg": {
+      "flake": false,
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1740306654,
+        "narHash": "sha256-radjL0bP+JPDk7FQ/qSOIxlokhwQ78fO52/S5V6rAmk=",
+        "ref": "refs/tags/v0.0.6",
+        "rev": "c5388fa96feca1f1376a3d0485d5e35159452707",
+        "revCount": 111,
+        "submodules": true,
+        "type": "git",
+        "url": "https://github.com/sammycage/plutosvg"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "ref": "refs/tags/v0.0.6",
+        "submodules": true,
+        "type": "git",
+        "url": "https://github.com/sammycage/plutosvg"
+      }
+    },
     "root": {
       "inputs": {
         "flake-utils": "flake-utils",
         "implot": "implot",
         "nixpkgs": "nixpkgs",
         "nlohmann-json": "nlohmann-json",
+        "plutosvg": "plutosvg",
         "sdl3": "sdl3",
         "sdl3_image": "sdl3_image"
       }
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index e93b3d6..f687b79 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -20,13 +20,17 @@
       url = "github:libsdl-org/SDL_image/4ff27afa450eabd2a827e49ed86fab9e3bf826c5";
       flake = false;
     };
+    plutosvg = {
+      url = "git+https://github.com/sammycage/plutosvg?submodules=1&ref=refs/tags/v0.0.6";
+      flake = false;
+    };
     implot = {
       url = "github:epezent/implot/193b9d8f92c4a437e84182b171f1ae266e72321f";
       flake = false;
     };
   };
 
-  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, flake-utils, nlohmann-json, sdl3, sdl3_image, implot }:
+  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, flake-utils, nlohmann-json, sdl3, sdl3_image, plutosvg, implot }:
     flake-utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system:
     let
       pkgs = import nixpkgs { inherit system; };
@@ -85,6 +89,8 @@
           libsodium
           libopus
           libvpx
+
+          freetype
         ] ++ self.packages.${system}.default.dlopenBuildInputs;
 
         cmakeFlags = [
@@ -102,6 +108,7 @@
           "-DFETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_SDL3=${sdl3}"
           "-DFETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_SDL3_IMAGE=${sdl3_image}"
           "-DSDLIMAGE_JXL=ON"
+          "-DFETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_PLUTOSVG=${plutosvg}" # not in pkgs
           "-DFETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_IMPLOT=${implot}" # could use pkgs.implot.src for outdated version
         ];
 
diff --git a/src/start_screen.cpp b/src/start_screen.cpp
index b06829f..849d736 100644
--- a/src/start_screen.cpp
+++ b/src/start_screen.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
 #include <imgui/imgui.h>
+#include <imgui/misc/freetype/imgui_freetype.h>
 #include <imgui/misc/cpp/imgui_stdlib.h>
 
 #include <cctype>
@@ -105,6 +106,10 @@ StartScreen::StartScreen(const std::vector<std::string_view>& args, SDL_Renderer
 		fontcfg.OversampleH = 2;
 		fontcfg.OversampleV = 1;
 		fontcfg.MergeMode = false;
+#if defined(IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE) && defined(IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE_PLUTOSVG)
+		std::cout << "Font: enabling freetype color loading\n";
+		fontcfg.FontBuilderFlags |= ImGuiFreeTypeBuilderFlags_LoadColor;
+#endif
 
 		for (const auto [font_path, should_load] : _conf.entries_bool("ImGuiFonts", "fonts")) {
 			if (!should_load) {