diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 3a8199dd7..371bd9fa3 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ gem 'json', '1.4.6'
 gem 'http_accept_language', :git => 'git://github.com/iain/http_accept_language.git', :ref => '0b78aa7849fc90cf9e12'
 
 gem 'thin', '1.2.11', :require => false
+gem 'redcarpet', :git => 'git://github.com/tanoku/redcarpet'
 
 #Websocket
 gem 'em-websocket', :git => 'git://github.com/igrigorik/em-websocket', :ref => 'e278f5a1c4db60be7485'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 15d2b5f03..119db8033 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ GIT
       addressable (>= 2.1.1)
       eventmachine (>= 0.12.9)
 
+GIT
+  remote: git://github.com/tanoku/redcarpet
+  revision: 6b43f042305eb63620e3771a977f45e24ea7b576
+  specs:
+    redcarpet (2.0.0b3)
+
 GIT
   remote: git://github.com/zhitomirskiyi/ruby-jwt.git
   revision: fa7f46b5ac3653e30cf60abc78de9ffb3319dc0c
@@ -500,6 +506,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rails (= 3.0.9)
   rails-i18n
   rcov
+  redcarpet!
   resque (= 1.10.0)
   resque-ensure-connected
   rest-client (= 1.6.1)
diff --git a/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb b/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb
index edf3c7f74..ef38d352d 100644
--- a/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb
@@ -2,134 +2,27 @@
 #   licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
 #   the COPYRIGHT file.
 
+require 'lib/diaspora/markdownify'
+
 module MarkdownifyHelper
-  def markdownify(message, options={})
-    message = h(message).to_str
+  def markdownify(message, render_options={})
+    markdown_options = {
+      :autolink => true,
+    }
 
-    options[:newlines] = true if !options.has_key?(:newlines)
-    options[:specialchars] = true if !options.has_key?(:specialchars)
+    render_options[:filter_html] = true
 
-    message = process_links(message)
-    message = process_autolinks(message)
-    message = process_emphasis(message)
-    message = process_youtube(message, options[:youtube_maps])
-    message = process_vimeo(message, options[:vimeo_maps])
-    message = process_specialchars(message) if options[:specialchars]
-    message = process_newlines(message) if options[:newlines]
-
-    message.html_safe
+    renderer = Diaspora::Markdownify::HTML.new(render_options)
+    markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(renderer, markdown_options)
+    message = markdown.render(message)
+    return message.html_safe
   end
 
   def process_newlines(message)
-    message.gsub!(/\n+/, '<br />')
-    message
-  end
-
-  def process_links(message)
-    message.gsub!(/\[\s*([^\[]+?)\s*\]\(\s*([^ ]+\s*) \&quot;(([^&]|(&[^q])|(&q[^u])|(&qu[^o])|(&quo[^t])|(&quot[^;]))+)\&quot;\s*\)/) do |m|
-      escape = "\\"
-      link = $1
-      url = $2
-      title = $3
-      url.gsub!("_", "\\_")
-      url.gsub!("*", "\\*")
-      protocol = (url =~ /^\w+:\/\//) ? '' :'http://'
-      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{protocol}#{url}\" title=\"#{title}\">#{link}</a>"
-      res
+    # in very clear cases, let newlines become <br /> tags
+    # Grabbed from Github flavored Markdown
+    message.gsub(/^[\w\<][^\n]*\n+/) do |x|
+      x =~ /\n{2}/ ? x : (x.strip!; x << " \n")
     end
-
-    message.gsub!(/\[\s*([^\[]+?)\s*\]\(\s*([^ ]+)\s*\)/) do |m|
-      escape = "\\"
-      link = $1
-      url = $2
-      url.gsub!("_", "\\_")
-      url.gsub!("*", "\\*")
-      protocol = (url =~ /^\w+:\/\//) ? '' :'http://'
-      res    = "<a target=\"#{escape}_blank\" href=\"#{protocol}#{url}\">#{link}</a>"
-      res
-    end
-
-    message
-  end
-
-  def process_youtube(message, youtube_maps)
-    processed_message = message.gsub(YoutubeTitles::YOUTUBE_ID_REGEX) do |matched_string|
-      match_data = matched_string.match(YoutubeTitles::YOUTUBE_ID_REGEX)
-      video_id = match_data[1]
-      anchor = match_data[2]
-      anchor ||= ''
-      if youtube_maps && youtube_maps[video_id]
-        title = h(CGI::unescape(youtube_maps[video_id]))
-      else
-        title = I18n.t 'application.helper.video_title.unknown'
-      end
-      ' <a class="video-link" data-host="youtube.com" data-video-id="' + video_id + '" data-anchor="' + anchor + '" href="'+ match_data[0].strip + '" target="_blank">Youtube: ' + title + '</a>'
-    end
-    processed_message
-  end
-
-  def process_autolinks(message)
-    message.gsub!(/( |^)(www\.[^\s]+\.[^\s])/, '\1http://\2')
-    message.gsub!(/(<a target="\\?_blank" href=")?(https|http|ftp):\/\/([^\s]+)/) do |m|
-      captures = [$1,$2,$3]
-      if !captures[0].nil?
-        m
-      elsif m.match(/(youtu.?be|vimeo)/)
-        m.gsub(/(\*|_)/) { |m| "\\#{$1}" } #remove markers on markdown chars to not markdown inside links
-      else
-        res = %{<a target="_blank" href="#{captures[1]}://#{captures[2]}">#{captures[2]}</a>}
-        res.gsub!(/(\*|_)/) { |m| "\\#{$1}" }
-        res
-      end
-    end
-    message
-  end
-
-  def process_emphasis(message)
-    message.gsub!("\\**", "-^doublestar^-")
-    message.gsub!("\\__", "-^doublescore^-")
-    message.gsub!("\\*", "-^star^-")
-    message.gsub!("\\_", "-^score^-")
-    message.gsub!(/(\*\*\*|___)(.+?)\1/m, '<em><strong>\2</strong></em>')
-    message.gsub!(/(\*\*|__)(.+?)\1/m, '<strong>\2</strong>')
-    message.gsub!(/(\*|_)(.+?)\1/m, '<em>\2</em>')
-    message.gsub!("-^doublestar^-", "**")
-    message.gsub!("-^doublescore^-", "__")
-    message.gsub!("-^star^-", "*")
-    message.gsub!("-^score^-", "_")
-    message
-  end
-
-  def process_vimeo(message, vimeo_maps)
-    regex = /https?:\/\/(?:w{3}\.)?vimeo.com\/(\d{6,})\/?/
-    processed_message = message.gsub(regex) do |matched_string|
-      match_data = message.match(regex)
-      video_id = match_data[1]
-      if vimeo_maps && vimeo_maps[video_id]
-        title = h(CGI::unescape(vimeo_maps[video_id]))
-      else
-        title = I18n.t 'application.helper.video_title.unknown'
-      end
-      ' <a class="video-link" data-host="vimeo.com" data-video-id="' + video_id + '" href="' + match_data[0] + '" target="_blank">Vimeo: ' + title + '</a>'
-    end
-    processed_message
-  end
-
-  def process_specialchars(message)
-    map = [
-      ["&lt;3", "&hearts;"],
-      ["&lt;-&gt;", "&#8596;"],
-      ["-&gt;", "&rarr;"],
-      ["&lt;-", "&larr;"],
-      ["...", "&hellip;"],
-      ["(tm)", "&trade;"],
-      ["(r)", "&reg;"],
-      ["(c)", "&copy;"]
-    ]
-
-    map.each do |mapping|
-      message.gsub!(mapping[0], mapping[1])
-    end
-    message
   end
 end
diff --git a/features/follows_tags.feature b/features/follows_tags.feature
index d6b0afda1..b74fb8fb1 100644
--- a/features/follows_tags.feature
+++ b/features/follows_tags.feature
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Feature: posting
   Scenario: see a tag that I am following
     When I go to the home page
     And I follow "#boss"
-    Then I should see "I am da #boss"
+    Then I should see "I am da #boss" within "body"
 
   Scenario: can stop following a particular tag
     When I hover over the ".button.tag_following"
diff --git a/lib/diaspora/markdownify.rb b/lib/diaspora/markdownify.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..734e34f01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/diaspora/markdownify.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+require 'uri'
+
+module Diaspora
+  module Markdownify
+    class HTML < Redcarpet::Render::HTML
+      attr_accessor :newlines, :specialchars, :youtube_maps, :vimeo_maps
+
+      def initialize(options={})
+        super
+
+        @expand_tags  = options.fetch(:expand_tabs, true)
+        @newlines     = options.fetch(:newlines, true)
+        @specialchars = options.fetch(:specialchars, true)
+        @youtube_maps = options.fetch(:youtube_maps, {})
+        @vimeo_maps   = options.fetch(:vimeo_maps, {})
+      end
+
+      def autolink(link, type)
+        autolink_youtube(link) || autolink_vimeo(link) || autolink_simple(link)
+      end
+
+      def autolink_simple(link)
+
+        # If there isn't *some* protocol, assume http
+        if link !~ %r{^\w+://}
+          link = "http://#{link}"
+        end
+
+        content = link.gsub(%r{^\w+://}, '')
+
+        %Q{<a target="_blank" href="#{link}">#{content}</a>}
+      end
+
+      def autolink_vimeo(link)
+        regex = %r{https?://(?:w{3}\.)?vimeo.com/(\d{6,})/?}
+        if link =~ regex
+          video_id = $1
+          if @vimeo_maps[video_id]
+            title = h(CGI::unescape(@vimeo_maps[video_id]))
+          else
+            title = I18n.t 'application.helper.video_title.unknown'
+          end
+          return ' <a class="video-link" data-host="vimeo.com" data-video-id="' + 
+            video_id + '" href="' + link + '" target="_blank">Vimeo: ' + title + '</a>'
+        end
+      end
+
+      def autolink_youtube(link)
+        if link =~ YoutubeTitles::YOUTUBE_ID_REGEX
+          video_id = $1
+          anchor = $2 || ''
+
+          if @youtube_maps[video_id]
+            title = h(CGI::unescape(@youtube_maps[video_id]))
+          else
+            title = I18n.t 'application.helper.video_title.unknown'
+          end
+          return ' <a class="video-link" data-host="youtube.com" data-video-id="' + 
+            video_id + '" data-anchor="' + anchor + 
+            '" href="'+ link + '" target="_blank">Youtube: ' + title + '</a>'
+        end
+      end
+
+      def double_emphasis(text)
+        "<strong>#{text}</strong>"
+      end
+
+      def linebreak()
+        "<br />"
+      end
+
+      def link(link, title, content)
+        return autolink(link, 'url') if link == content 
+        
+        if link =~ Regexp.new(Regexp.escape(content))
+          return autolink(link, 'url')
+        end
+
+        if link !~ %r{^\w+://}
+          link = "http://#{link}"
+        end
+
+        tag = if title and content
+                %Q{<a target="_blank" href="#{link}" title="#{title}">#{content}</a>}
+              elsif content
+                %Q{<a target="_blank" href="#{link}">#{content}</a>}
+              else
+                autolink(link, 'url')
+              end
+        return tag
+      end
+
+      def paragraph(text)
+        if @expand_tags
+          text =  Diaspora::Taggable.format_tags(text, :no_escape => true)
+        end
+
+        return "<p>#{text}</p>"
+      end
+
+
+      def preprocess(full_document)
+        if @specialchars
+          full_document = specialchars(full_document)
+        end
+
+        our_unsafe_chars = '()'
+        full_document = full_document.gsub(%r{
+          \[ \s*? ( [^ \] ]+ ) \s*? \]
+          (?: 
+            \( \s*? (\S+) \s*? (?: "([^"]+)" )? \) \s*? 
+          )
+        }xm) do |m|
+          content = $1
+          link = URI.escape($2, our_unsafe_chars)
+          title = $3
+
+          title_chunk = if title 
+                          %W{" #{title}"} 
+                        else 
+                          '' 
+                        end
+          %Q{[#{content}](#{link}#{title_chunk})}
+        end
+
+        if @newlines
+          # in very clear cases, let newlines become <br /> tags
+          # Grabbed from Github flavored Markdown
+          full_document = full_document.gsub(/^[\w\<][^\n]*\n+/) do |x|
+            x =~ /\n{2}/ ? x : (x.strip!; x << "  \n")
+          end
+        end
+
+        return full_document
+      end
+
+      def single_emphasis(text)
+        "<em>#{text}</em>"
+      end
+
+      def specialchars(text)
+        if @specialchars
+          map = [
+            ["<3", "&hearts;"],
+            ["<->", "&#8596;"],
+            ["->", "&rarr;"],
+            ["<-", "&larr;"],
+            ["\.\.\.", "&hellip;"],
+            ["(tm)", "&trade;"],
+            ["(r)", "&reg;"],
+            ["(c)", "&copy;"]
+          ]
+        end
+
+        map.each do |mapping|
+          text = text.gsub(mapping[0], mapping[1])
+        end
+
+        return text
+      end
+
+
+      def triple_emphasis(text)
+        single_emphasis(double_emphasis(text))
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/public/stylesheets/sass/application.sass b/public/stylesheets/sass/application.sass
index f006caffe..e2038514b 100644
--- a/public/stylesheets/sass/application.sass
+++ b/public/stylesheets/sass/application.sass
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ h1
 ul > li
   :list-style none
 
+.content ul li
+  :list-style disc
+
 form
   :position relative
   input,
diff --git a/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb
index 1e036aa8d..e547ff4df 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb
@@ -8,31 +8,35 @@ describe MarkdownifyHelper do
   describe "#markdownify" do
     describe "autolinks" do
       it "should not allow basic XSS/HTML" do
-        markdownify("<script>alert('XSS is evil')</script>").should == "&lt;script&gt;alert('XSS is evil')&lt;/script&gt;"
+        markdownify("<script>alert('XSS is evil')</script>").should == "<p>alert('XSS is evil')</p>"
       end
 
       it "should recognize basic http links (1/3)" do
         proto="http"
         url="bugs.joindiaspora.com/issues/332"
-        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        full_url = "#{proto}://#{url}"
+        markdownify(full_url).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="#{full_url}">#{url}</a></p>}
       end
 
       it "should recognize basic http links (2/3)" do
         proto="http"
         url="webmail.example.com?~()!*/"
-        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        full_url = "#{proto}://#{url}"
+        markdownify(full_url).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="#{full_url}">#{url}</a></p>}
       end
 
       it "should recognize basic http links (3/3)" do
         proto="http"
         url="127.0.0.1:3000/users/sign_in"
-        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        full_url = "#{proto}://#{url}"
+        markdownify(full_url).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="#{full_url}">#{url}</a></p>}
       end
 
       it "should recognize secure https links" do
         proto="https"
         url="127.0.0.1:3000/users/sign_in"
-        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        full_url = "#{proto}://#{url}"
+        markdownify(full_url).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="#{full_url}">#{url}</a></p>}
       end
 
       it "doesn't double parse video links" do
@@ -40,8 +44,8 @@ describe MarkdownifyHelper do
                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x__dDWdf23&a=GxdCwVVULXdvEBKmx_f5ywvZ0zZHHHDU&list=ML&playnext=1
                    http://youtu.be/x_CzD0GBD-4"
         res = markdownify(message)
-        res.should =~ /href.+href.+href/
-        res.should_not =~ /href.+href.+href.+href/
+        res.should =~ /href.+href.+href/m
+        res.should_not =~ /href.+href.+href.+href/m
       end
 
       describe "video links" do
@@ -69,6 +73,12 @@ describe MarkdownifyHelper do
           res.should =~ /Youtube:/
           res.should =~ /data-host="youtube.com"/
           res.should =~ /data-video-id="#{video_id}"/
+
+          url = "www.youtube.com/watch?foo=bar&v=BARFOO-----&whatever=related"
+          res = markdownify(url)
+          res.should =~ /Youtube:/
+          res.should =~ /data-host="youtube.com"/
+          res.should =~ /data-video-id="BARFOO-----"/
         end
 
         it "recognizes youtu.be links" do
@@ -141,113 +151,135 @@ describe MarkdownifyHelper do
         proto="ftp"
         url="ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4"
         # I did not watch that one, but the title sounds nice :P
-        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a></p>"
       end
 
       it "should recognize www links" do
         url="www.joindiaspora.com"
-        markdownify(url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
+        markdownify(url).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="http://#{url}">#{url}</a></p>}
       end
     end
 
     describe "specialchars" do
       it "replaces &lt;3 with &hearts;" do
         message = "i <3 you"
-        markdownify(message).should == "i &hearts; you"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p>i &hearts; you</p>"
       end
 
       it "replaces various things with (their) HTML entities" do
         message = "... <-> -> <- (tm) (r) (c)"
-        markdownify(message).should == "&hellip; &#8596; &rarr; &larr; &trade; &reg; &copy;"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p>&hellip; &#8596; &rarr; &larr; &trade; &reg; &copy;</p>"
       end
 
       it "skips doing it if you say so" do
         message = "... -> <-"
-        markdownify(message, :specialchars => false).should == "... -&gt; &lt;-"
+        markdownify(message, :specialchars => false).should == "<p>... -&gt; &lt;-</p>"
       end
     end
 
     describe "weak emphasis" do
       it "should be recognized (1/2)" do
         message = "*some text* some text *some text* some text"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<em>some text</em> some text <em>some text</em> some text"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><em>some text</em> some text <em>some text</em> some text</p>"
       end
 
       it "should be recognized (2/2)" do
         message = "_some text_ some text _some text_ some text"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<em>some text</em> some text <em>some text</em> some text"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><em>some text</em> some text <em>some text</em> some text</p>"
       end
     end
 
     describe "strong emphasis" do
       it "should be recognized (1/2)" do
         message = "**some text** some text **some text** some text"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<strong>some text</strong> some text <strong>some text</strong> some text"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><strong>some text</strong> some text <strong>some text</strong> some text</p>"
       end
 
       it "should be recognized (2/2)" do
         message = "__some text__ some text __some text__ some text"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<strong>some text</strong> some text <strong>some text</strong> some text"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><strong>some text</strong> some text <strong>some text</strong> some text</p>"
       end
     end
 
     describe "nested weak and strong emphasis" do
       it "should be rendered correctly" do
         message = "__this is _some_ text__"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<strong>this is <em>some</em> text</strong>"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><strong>this is <em>some</em> text</strong></p>"
         message = "*this is **some** text*"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<em>this is <strong>some</strong> text</em>"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><em>this is <strong>some</strong> text</em></p>"
         message = "___some text___"
-        markdownify(message).should == "<em><strong>some text</strong></em>"
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p><em><strong>some text</strong></em></p>"
       end
     end
 
     describe "links" do
       it "should be recognized without title attribute" do
         message = "[link text](http://someurl.com) [link text](http://someurl.com)"
-        markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com">link text</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com">link text</a>'
+        markdownify(message).should == '<p><a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com">link text</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com">link text</a></p>'
       end
 
       it "should be recognized with title attribute" do
         message = '[link text](http://someurl.com "some title") [link text](http://someurl.com "some title")'
-        markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a>'
+        markdownify(message).should == '<p><a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title">link text</a></p>'
       end
 
       it "should have a robust link parsing" do
+        message = "[wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory))"
+        link = markdownify(message)
+        link.should =~ %r{href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_%28literary_theory%29"}
+        
+        message = "[  links]( google.com)"
+        markdownify(message).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="http://google.com">links</a></p>}
+
+        message = "[_http_](http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks )"
+        markdownify(message).should == %Q{<p><a target="_blank" href="http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks"><em>http</em></a></p>}
+        message = %{[___FTP___]( ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4 \"File Transfer Protocol\")}
+        markdownify(message).should == %{<p><a target="_blank" href="ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4" title="File Transfer Protocol"><em><strong>FTP</strong></em></a></p>}
+
+        message = %{[**any protocol**](foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense)}
+        markdownify(message).should == %{<p><a target="_blank" href="foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense"><strong>any protocol</strong></a></p>}
+
         message = "This [ *text* ]( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory) ) with many [ links]( google.com) tests [_http_](http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks ), [___FTP___]( ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4 \"File Transfer Protocol\"), [**any protocol**](foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense)"
-        markdownify(message).should == 'This <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory)"><em>text</em></a> with many <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com">links</a> tests <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks"><em>http</em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4" title="File Transfer Protocol"><em><strong>FTP</strong></em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense"><strong>any protocol</strong></a>'
+        markdownify(message).should == '<p>This <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_%28literary_theory%29"><em>text</em></a> with many <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com">links</a> tests <a target="_blank" href="http://google.com/search?q=with_multiple__underscores*and**asterisks"><em>http</em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/CCC/26C3/mp4/26c3-3540-en-a_hackers_utopia.mp4" title="File Transfer Protocol"><em><strong>FTP</strong></em></a>, <a target="_blank" href="foo://bar.example.org/yes_it*makes*no_sense"><strong>any protocol</strong></a></p>'
+      end
+
+      it "should leave #tag links intact" do
+        message = %{<a href="/tags/tagged" class="tag">#tagged</a>}
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p>#{message}</p>"
+        message = %{alice - 1 - <a href="/tags/tagged" class="tag">#tagged</a>}
+        markdownify(message).should == "<p>#{message}</p>"
       end
     end
 
     describe "nested emphasis and links tags" do
       it "should be rendered correctly" do
         message = '[**some *link* text**](someurl.com "some title")'
-        markdownify(message).should == '<a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title"><strong>some <em>link</em> text</strong></a>'
+        markdownify(message).should == '<p><a target="_blank" href="http://someurl.com" title="some title"><strong>some <em>link</em> text</strong></a></p>'
       end
     end
 
     it "should allow escaping" do
-      message = '*some text* \\*some text* \\**some text* _some text_ \\_some text_ \\__some text_'
-      markdownify(message).should == "<em>some text</em> *some text<em> **some text</em> <em>some text</em> _some text<em> __some text</em>"
+      message = '*some text* \*some text* \**some text* _some text_ \_some text_ \__some text_'
+      markdownify(message).should == "<p><em>some text</em> *some text* *<em>some text</em> <em>some text</em> _some text_ _<em>some text</em></p>"
     end
 
     describe "newlines" do
       it 'skips inserting newlines if you pass the newlines option' do
         message = "These\nare\n\some\nnew\lines"
         res = markdownify(message, :newlines => false)
-        res.should == message
+        res.should == "<p>#{message}</p>"
       end
 
       it 'generates breaklines' do
         message = "These\nare\nsome\nnew\nlines"
         res = markdownify(message)
-        res.should == "These<br /\>are<br /\>some<br /\>new<br /\>lines"
+        res.should == "<p>These<br /\>are<br /\>some<br /\>new<br /\>lines</p>"
       end
 
       it 'should render newlines and basic http links correctly' do
         message = "Some text, then a line break and a link\nhttp://joindiaspora.com\nsome more text"
         res = markdownify(message)
-        res.should == 'Some text, then a line break and a link<br /><a target="_blank" href="http://joindiaspora.com">joindiaspora.com</a><br />some more text'
+        res.should == '<p>Some text, then a line break and a link<br /><a target="_blank" href="http://joindiaspora.com">joindiaspora.com</a><br />some more text</p>'
       end
     end
 
@@ -263,4 +295,4 @@ describe MarkdownifyHelper do
       end
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end