diff --git a/decode.rkt b/decode.rkt
index 8186e73..4e18656 100644
--- a/decode.rkt
+++ b/decode.rkt
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@
                 '(p "\n" "foo" "\n\n" "bar" (em "\n\n\n"))))
 
 
+;; todo: add native support for list-xexpr
+;; decode triple newlines to list items
+
 ;; is the named-xexpr a block element (as opposed to inline)
 (define/contract (block-xexpr? x)
   (any/c . -> . boolean?)
@@ -168,8 +171,6 @@
   (when (not (named-xexpr? nx))
     (error (format "decode: ~v not a full named-xexpr" nx)))
   
-  (define metas (list))
-  
   (define (&decode x)
     (cond
       [(named-xexpr? x) (let-values([(name attr content) (break-named-xexpr x)]) 
@@ -188,41 +189,4 @@
   
   
   (let-values ([(nx metas) (extract-tag-from-xexpr 'meta nx)])
-    (append (&decode nx) (map meta-proc metas))))
-
-#|
-;; default content decoder for pollen
-(define/contract (decode x)
-  (named-xexpr? . -> . named-xexpr?)
-  
-  (define (&decode x)
-    (cond
-      [(named-xexpr? x)
-       (let-values([(name attr content) (break-named-xexpr x)]) 
-         (define decoded-x (make-named-xexpr name attr (&decode content)))
-         (if (block-xexpr? decoded-x)
-             ; add nonbreaking-last-space to the next line when ready
-             (wrap-hanging-quotes (nonbreaking-last-space decoded-x)) ; do special processing for block xexprs
-             decoded-x))]
-      [(xexpr-content? x) ; a list of xexprs
-       (let ([x (prep-paragraph-flow x)]) 
-         (map &decode (if (ormap paragraph-break? x) ; need this condition to prevent infinite recursion
-                          (map wrap-paragraph (splitf-at* x paragraph-break?)) ; split into ¶¶
-                          x)))]     
-      [(string? x) (typogrify x)]
-      [else x]))
-  
-  (define (stringify x) ; convert numbers to strings
-    (cond
-      [(list? x) (map stringify x)]
-      [(number? x) (~a x)]
-      [else x]))
-  
-  (let* ([x (stringify x)]
-         [x (trim-whitespace x)])
-    (if (named-xexpr? x)
-        (&decode x)
-        ;todo: improve this error message, more specific location
-        ; now, it just spits out the whole defective content
-        (error (format "decode: ~v not a full named-xexpr" x)))))
-|#
\ No newline at end of file
+    (append (&decode nx) (map meta-proc metas))))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/pollen-lang-test.p b/tests/pollen-lang-test.p
index c1fbdec..c3a35a0 100644
--- a/tests/pollen-lang-test.p
+++ b/tests/pollen-lang-test.p
@@ -2,14 +2,18 @@
 
 ◊meta["metakey" "metavalue"]
 
-Hello world
+◊;todo: make this recognized as a block.
+◊bloq{In a block}
+
+"Hello" world, aren't you --- yes, you — about 1--2 inches tall?
    
 ◊em{Love}
 
+◊foo
+
 Goodnight
-moon
+moon light
 
-◊foo
 
 
 
diff --git a/tests/requires/include-me.rkt b/tests/requires/include-me.rkt
index ff36178..53362ec 100644
--- a/tests/requires/include-me.rkt
+++ b/tests/requires/include-me.rkt
@@ -64,6 +64,130 @@
         (map wrap-paragraph (splitf-at* content paragraph-break?)) ; split into ¶¶
         content)))
 
+
+;; insert nbsp between last two words
+(define/contract (nonbreaking-last-space x #:nbsp-char [nbsp #\ ])
+  ((named-xexpr?) (#:nbsp-char char?) . ->* . named-xexpr?)
+  (define minimum-word-length (add1 5)) ; add1 to account for final punctuation
+  ; todo: parameterize this, as it will be different for each project
+  (define tags-to-pay-attention-to '(p aside)) ; only apply to paragraphs
+  
+  (define (replace-last-space str)
+    (if (#\space . in . str)
+        (let ([reversed-str-list (reverse (string->list str))])
+          (define-values (last-word-chars other-chars) 
+            (splitf-at reversed-str-list (λ(i) (not (eq? i #\space)))))
+          (list->string (reverse (append last-word-chars 
+                                         ; OK for long words to be on their own line.
+                                         (if (< (len last-word-chars) minimum-word-length)
+                                             ; first char of other-chars will be the space, so use cdr
+                                             (cons nbsp (cdr other-chars))
+                                             other-chars)))))
+        str))
+  
+  (define (find-last-word-space x) ; recursively traverse xexpr
+    (cond
+      [(string? x) (replace-last-space x)] 
+      [(named-xexpr? x) 
+       (let-values([(name attr content) (break-named-xexpr x)])
+         (if (> (length content) 0) ; content is list of xexprs
+             (let-values ([(all-but-last last) (split-at content (sub1 (length content)))]) 
+               (make-named-xexpr name attr `(,@all-but-last ,(find-last-word-space (car last)))))
+             x))]
+      [else x]))
+  
+  (if ((car x) . in . tags-to-pay-attention-to)
+      (find-last-word-space x)
+      x))
+
+;; todo: make some tougher tests, it gets flaky with edge cases
+(module+ test
+  (check-equal? (nonbreaking-last-space '(p "Hi there")) '(p "Hi there")) ; nbsp in between last two words
+  (check-equal? (nonbreaking-last-space '(p "Hi there") #:nbsp-char #\Ø) '(p "HiØthere")) ; but let's make it visible
+  (check-equal? (nonbreaking-last-space '(p "Hi here" (em "ho there")) #:nbsp-char #\Ø) '(p "Hi here" (em "hoØthere")))) 
+
+
+; wrap initial quotes for hanging punctuation
+; todo: improve this
+; does not handle <p>“<em>thing</em> properly
+(define/contract (wrap-hanging-quotes nx)
+  (named-xexpr? . -> . named-xexpr?)
+  (define-values (name attr content) (break-named-xexpr nx))
+  (cond 
+    [(and (not (empty? content)) 
+          (string? (car content)) 
+          (> (string-length (car content)) 1))
+     (let ([new-car 
+            (letrec ([x (car content)] 
+                     [first (get x 0)] 
+                     [rest (get x 1 'end)])
+              (cond
+                [(first . in . '("\"" "“"))
+                 ; this has to be span so that it's explicitly 
+                 ; an inline element. If not,
+                 ; things like linebreak detection won't work.
+                 `(span ((class "dquo")) ,(->string #\“) ,rest)]
+                [(first . in . '("\'" "‘")) 
+                 `(span ((class "squo")) ,(->string #\‘) ,rest)]
+                [else x]))])
+       (make-named-xexpr name attr (cons new-car (cdr content))))]
+    [(and content (not (empty? content)) (named-xexpr? (car content)))
+     (make-named-xexpr name attr (cons (wrap-hanging-quotes (car content)) (cdr content)))]
+    [else nx]))
+
+
+(module+ test
+  (check-equal? (wrap-hanging-quotes '(p "\"Hi\" there")) '(p (span ((class "dquo")) "“" "Hi\" there")))
+  (check-equal? (wrap-hanging-quotes '(p "'Hi' there")) '(p (span ((class "squo")) "‘" "Hi' there"))))
+
+
+(define (block-xexpr-proc bx)
+  (named-xexpr? . -> . named-xexpr?)
+  (wrap-hanging-quotes (nonbreaking-last-space bx)))
+
+
+;; insert typographic niceties
+;; ligatures are handled in css
+(define (typogrify str)
+  (string? . -> . string?)
+  ;; make set of functions for replacers
+  (define (make-replacer query replacement)
+    (λ(str) (regexp-replace* query str replacement)))
+  
+  ;; just store the query strings + replacement strings
+  (define dashes 
+    ;; fix em dashes first, else they'll be mistaken for en dashes
+    ;; [\\s ] is whitespace + nonbreaking space
+    '((#px"[\\s ]*(---|—)[\\s ]*" "—") ; em dash
+      (#px"[\\s ]*(--|–)[\\s ]*" "–"))) ; en dash
+  
+  (define smart-quotes
+    '((#px"(?<=\\w)'(?=\\w)" "’") ; apostrophe
+      (#px"(?<!\\w)'(?=\\w)" "‘") ; single_at_beginning
+      (#px"(?<=\\S)'(?!\\w)" "’") ; single_at_end
+      (#px"(?<!\\w)\"(?=\\w)" "“") ; double_at_beginning
+      (#px"(?<=\\S)\"(?!\\w)" "”"))) ; double_at_end
+  
+  
+  ;; put replacers in desired order here
+  (let* ([typogrifiers (append dashes smart-quotes)]
+         [queries (map first typogrifiers)]
+         [replacements (map second typogrifiers)])
+    (define replacers (map make-replacer queries replacements)) 
+    ;; compose goes from last to first, so reverse order
+    ((apply compose1 (reverse replacers)) str)))
+
+
+(module+ test
+  (check-equal? (typogrify "I had --- maybe 13 -- 20 --- hob-nobs.") "I had—maybe 13–20—hob-nobs.")
+  (check-equal? (typogrify "\"Why,\" she could've asked, \"are we in O‘ahu watching 'Mame'?\"") 
+                "“Why,” she could’ve asked, “are we in O‘ahu watching ‘Mame’?”"))
+
+
+(define (string-proc str)
+  (string? . -> . string?)
+  (typogrify str))
+
 (define (root . items)
   (named-xexpr? . -> . named-xexpr?)
   (decode (cons 'root items)
@@ -71,9 +195,9 @@
           ;          #:xexpr-name-proc [xexpr-name-proc (λ(x)x)]
           ;          #:xexpr-attr-proc [xexpr-attr-proc (λ(x)x)]
           #:xexpr-content-proc xexpr-content-proc
-          ;          #:block-xexpr-proc [block-xexpr-proc (λ(x)x)]
+          #:block-xexpr-proc block-xexpr-proc
           ;          #:inline-xexpr-proc [inline-xexpr-proc (λ(x)x)]
-          ;         #:string-proc string-proc
+          #:string-proc string-proc
           #:meta-proc meta-proc
           ))