diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ead6413..4a959c7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ nix build .#raw
 - [ ] links
 - [X] codeblocks
 - [ ] subscript
-- [ ] highlight
-- [ ] italics
-- [ ] bold
+- [X] highlight
+- [X] italics
+- [X] bold
+
diff --git a/nixite/md.nix b/nixite/md.nix
index 8278cc2..818021f 100644
--- a/nixite/md.nix
+++ b/nixite/md.nix
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@ let
   H = n:
     let
       v = if n < 1 then
-        builtins.trace "attempted to make heading size ${toString n} (min is 1)" 1
+        builtins.trace "attempted to make heading size ${toString n} (min is 1)"
+        1
       else if n > 6 then
-        builtins.trace "attempted to make heading size ${toString n} (max is 6)" 6
+        builtins.trace "attempted to make heading size ${toString n} (max is 6)"
+        6
       else
         n;
     in html.tag "h${toString v}" { };
@@ -49,29 +51,81 @@ in rec {
       h = heading block;
       c = code block;
       ul = list block;
-    in (if h.matched then h.block else 
-    if c.matched then c.block else
-    if ul.matched then ul.block else
-    elems.p block));
+    in (if h.matched then
+      h.block
+    else if c.matched then
+      c.block
+    else if ul.matched then
+      ul.block
+    else
+      elems.p (processStr block)));
 
-  heading = block: matchThen "(#+) (.*)" block (m:
-  let
-    l = builtins.stringLength (builtins.elemAt m 0);
-    in H l (builtins.elemAt m 1));
+  heading = block:
+    matchThen "(#+) (.*)" block (m:
+      let l = builtins.stringLength (builtins.elemAt m 0);
+      in H l (builtins.elemAt m 1));
 
-  code = block: matchThen "(```)(.*)(```)" block (m:
-    elems.code (builtins.elemAt m 1));
+  code = block:
+    matchThen "(```)(.*)(```)" block (m: elems.code (builtins.elemAt m 1));
 
-  list = block: matchThen (let item = "- .+"; in "(${item}\n)*(${item}\n?)") block (m:
-    elems.List (builtins.filter ( s: builtins.isString s && s!="" ) (builtins.split "[:blank:]*- " block)));
+  list = block:
+    matchThen (let item = "- .+";
+    in ''
+      (${item}
+      )*(${item}
+      ?)'') block (m:
+        elems.List (builtins.filter (s: builtins.isString s && s != "")
+          (builtins.split "[:blank:]*- " block)));
+
+  replace = matcher: apply: block:
+    (let
+      m = builtins.match matcher block;
+      before = let v = builtins.elemAt m 0; in if v == null then "" else v;
+      inner = builtins.elemAt m 1;
+      after = builtins.elemAt m 2;
+    in if m == null then
+      block
+    else
+      (replace matcher apply before) + (apply inner) + after);
+
+  rule = matcher: apply: blocks:
+    map (b: if builtins.isString b then replace matcher apply b else b) blocks;
+
+  applyRules = i: rules: input:
+    let
+      group = if builtins.isString input then [ input ] else input;
+      len = builtins.length rules;
+      rule = builtins.elemAt rules i;
+      next = i + 1;
+    in assert i < len;
+    if next < len then rule (applyRules next rules group) else rule group;
+
+  processStr = applyRules 0 [
+    (rule (wrap "\\^") elems.sup)
+    (rule (wrap "~") elems.sub)
+    (rule (wrap "\\*") elems.em)
+    (rule (wrap "`") elems.code)
+    (rule (wrap "==") elems.mark)
+    (rule (wrap "~~") elems.del)
+    (rule (wrap "\\*\\*") elems.strong)
+    (rule (contains "<([-[:alnum:].%?&#=:/]+)>") (m: elems.a m m))
+  ];
+
+  contains = matcher: "(.* )?${matcher}(.*)";
+  wrap = matcher: contains "${matcher}(.+)${matcher}";
 
   matchThen = matcher: block: func:
-    let
-    m = builtins.match matcher block;
-    in
-    if m == null then dontMatch block 
-    else { matched = true; block = func m; };
-  
-  dontMatch = block: { matched = false; inherit block; };
+    let m = builtins.match matcher block;
+    in if m == null then
+      dontMatch block
+    else {
+      matched = true;
+      block = func m;
+    };
+
+  dontMatch = block: {
+    matched = false;
+    inherit block;
+  };
 
 }
diff --git a/testing/blog/index.md b/testing/blog/index.md
index 45e6fa5..eae082f 100644
--- a/testing/blog/index.md
+++ b/testing/blog/index.md
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 # yeee
 
-ye
+I need some *emphasis*...
 
-&amp;
+that's **bold**!
 
-<a href="dir">dir</a>
-<a href="/">home</a>
+==mark== the important parts.
+
+but ~~forget the rest~~.
+
+drink lot's of H ~2~O ^if you want^!
+
+<https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/>
 
diff --git a/testing/it.nix b/testing/it.nix
index d33549d..5205845 100644
--- a/testing/it.nix
+++ b/testing/it.nix
@@ -22,10 +22,13 @@ let
       v;
 
   out = (if safeToPrint then
-    builtins.toJSON
-    (undunder (if throws then (builtins.tryEval actual).value else actual))
+    builtins.toJSON (undunder (if throws then
+      (builtins.tryEval actual).value
+    else {
+      inherit actual expected;
+    }))
   else
-    ''{"msg": "refusing to print"}'');
+    ''{"msg": "cannot be stringified ):"}'');
 
   success =
     if throws then (builtins.tryEval actual).success == false else (a == e);
@@ -33,7 +36,9 @@ let
 in if success then ''
   echo 'it ${msg}'
 '' else
-  builtins.trace "FAILED ${msg}" ''
+  builtins.trace "FAILED ${msg}" (let file = builtins.toFile "value" out;
+  in ''
     echo FAILED ${msg} 
-    echo '${out}' | jq '.'
-  ''
+    echo '${file}'
+    cat '${file}' | jq '.'
+  '')
diff --git a/testing/md.test.nix b/testing/md.test.nix
index 6086f03..f16979f 100644
--- a/testing/md.test.nix
+++ b/testing/md.test.nix
@@ -19,55 +19,132 @@ in with md; [
     expected = elems.h6 "super ultra tiny heading";
   })
 
-  (it "makes a code block" (
-  let code = ''
-    this is my code
-  ''; in {
-    actual = mdBlock ''
-    ```${code}```'';
+  (it "makes a code block" (let
+    code = ''
+      this is my code
+    '';
+  in {
+    actual = mdBlock "```${code}```";
     expected = elems.code code;
   }))
 
-  (it "matches a list of one element" (
-  {
+  (it "matches a list of one element" ({
     actual = list ''
-    - something
+      - something
     '';
-    expected = { matched = true; block = elems.List ["something\n"];};
+    expected = {
+      matched = true;
+      block = elems.List [''
+        something
+      ''];
+    };
   }))
 
-  (it "matches a list of many elements" (
-  {
+  (it "matches a list of many elements" ({
     actual = list ''
-    - something
-    - something else
+      - something
+      - something else
     '';
-    expected = { matched = true; block = elems.List ["something\n" "something else\n"];};
+    expected = {
+      matched = true;
+      block = elems.List [
+        ''
+          something
+        ''
+        ''
+          something else
+        ''
+      ];
+    };
   }))
 
-  (it "matches a list with no whitespace around" (
-  {
-    actual = list 
-    "- something\n- something else";
-    expected = { matched = true; block = elems.List ["something\n" "something else"];};
+  (it "matches a list with no whitespace around" ({
+    actual = list ''
+      - something
+      - something else'';
+    expected = {
+      matched = true;
+      block = elems.List [
+        ''
+          something
+        ''
+        "something else"
+      ];
+    };
   }))
 
-
-  (it "doesnt match not a list" (
-  let
-  str = "blah blah";
-  in
-  {
+  (it "doesnt match not a list" (let str = "blah blah";
+  in {
     actual = list str;
-    expected = { matched = false; block = str;};
+    expected = {
+      matched = false;
+      block = str;
+    };
   }))
 
-  (it "makes a list" (
-  {
+  (it "makes a list" ({
     actual = mdBlock ''
       - something
     '';
-    expected = elems.List ["something\n"];
+    expected = elems.List [''
+      something
+    ''];
+  }))
+
+  (it "finds surrounded parts" ({
+    actual = replace (wrap "\\*\\*") elems.strong ''
+      this text **may** contain **bold** words inside it.
+    '';
+    expected = [
+      "this text"
+      (elems.strong "may")
+      "contain"
+      (elems.strong "bold")
+      ''
+        words inside it.
+      ''
+    ];
+    asString = true;
+  }))
+
+  (it "surrounds in list of elems" ({
+    actual = rule (wrap "\\*") elems.em [
+      "this text"
+      (elems.strong "may")
+      "*or may not* contain"
+      (elems.strong "bold")
+      "words *inside* it."
+    ];
+    expected = [
+      "this text"
+      (elems.strong "may")
+      (elems.em "or may not")
+      "contain"
+      (elems.strong "bold")
+      "words"
+      (elems.em "inside")
+      "it."
+    ];
+    asString = true;
+  }))
+
+  (it "processes whole string with all rules" ({
+    actual = processStr ''
+      this text **may** *or may not* contain **bold** words *inside* it.
+    '';
+    expected = [
+      "this text"
+      (elems.strong "may")
+      (elems.em "or may not")
+      "contain"
+      (elems.strong "bold")
+      "words"
+      (elems.em "inside")
+      ''
+        it.
+      ''
+    ];
+    asString = true;
   }))
 
   (it "processes md block" {
@@ -92,10 +169,8 @@ in with md; [
   })
 
   (it "converts markdown to a page" {
-    actual = mdToPage ./blog/index.md;
-    expected = ''
-      <html lang="en"><head ><title >markdown file</title></head> <body ><h1 >yeee</h1>  <p >ye</p>  <p >&amp;</p>  <p ><a href="dir">dir</a>
-      <a href="/">home</a></p>  <p ></p></body></html>'';
+    actual = toString (mdToPage ./blog/index.md) + "\n";
+    expected = builtins.readFile ./out/index.html;
     asString = true;
   })
 
diff --git a/testing/out/index.html b/testing/out/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f3f4d29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/out/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<html lang="en"><head ><title >markdown file</title></head> <body ><h1 >yeee</h1>  <p >I need some <em >emphasis</em>...</p>  <p >that's <strong >bold</strong>!</p>  <p ><mark >mark</mark> the important parts.</p>  <p >but <del >forget the rest</del>.</p>  <p >drink lot's of H <sub >2</sub>O <sup >if you want</sup>!</p>  <p ><a href="https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/">https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/</a></p>  <p ></p></body></html>
diff --git a/testing/site.test.nix b/testing/site.test.nix
index 50770f8..15a00d4 100644
--- a/testing/site.test.nix
+++ b/testing/site.test.nix
@@ -238,30 +238,22 @@ in with site; [
   }))
 
   (it "throws with a list for a page" ({
-    actual = copyTo "." {
-      page = [];
-    };
+    actual = copyTo "." { page = [ ]; };
     throws = true;
   }))
 
   (it "throws with null for a page" ({
-    actual = copyTo "." {
-      page = null;
-    };
+    actual = copyTo "." { page = null; };
     throws = true;
   }))
 
   (it "throws with a bool for a page" ({
-    actual = copyTo "." {
-      page = true;
-    };
+    actual = copyTo "." { page = true; };
     throws = true;
   }))
 
   (it "throws with a number for a page" ({
-    actual = copyTo "." {
-      page = 5;
-    };
+    actual = copyTo "." { page = 5; };
     throws = true;
   }))