diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
index d8c5c899b2..2d23699505 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
@@ -188,7 +188,13 @@
      [(inc ?o) ?new-o]]
     [(dec-after ?p ?at ?ch ?new-o)
      (after ?p ?at ?ch ?o)
-     [(dec ?o) ?new-o]]])
+     [(dec ?o) ?new-o]]
+    [(plus-after ?p ?at ?ch ?new-o ?x)
+     (after ?p ?at ?ch ?o)
+     [(+ ?o ?x) ?new-o]]
+    [(minus-after ?p ?at ?ch ?new-o ?x)
+     (after ?p ?at ?ch ?o)
+     [(- ?o ?x) ?new-o]]])
 
 
 (defn sort-block-children
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/events.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/events.cljs
index b052645235..e3675033f2 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/events.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/events.cljs
@@ -340,6 +340,15 @@
             @db/dsdb rules eid order)))
 
 
+(defn plus-after
+  [eid order x]
+  (->> (d/q '[:find ?ch ?new-o
+              :keys db/id block/order
+              :in $ % ?p ?at ?x
+              :where (plus-after ?p ?at ?ch ?new-o ?x)]
+            @db/dsdb rules eid order x)))
+
+
 (reg-event-fx
   :up
   (fn [_ [_ uid]]
@@ -600,6 +609,33 @@
              (drop-bullet source-uid target-uid kind)))
 
 
+;; TODO: convert to tree instead of flat map (handling indentation), write tests for markdown list parsing
+(reg-event-fx
+  :paste
+  (fn [_ [_ uid text]]
+    (let [lines (clojure.string/split-lines text)
+          block (db/get-block [:block/uid uid])
+          {b-order :block/order} block
+          parent (db/get-parent [:block/uid uid])
+          {p-id :db/id} parent
+          now (now-ts)
+          new-datoms (map-indexed (fn [i x]
+                                    (let [start (subs x 0 2)
+                                          s (if (or (= start "- ")
+                                                    (= start "* "))
+                                              (subs x 2)
+                                              x)]
+                                      {:block/uid    (gen-block-uid)
+                                       :create/time  now
+                                       :edit/time    now
+                                       :block/order  (+ 1 i b-order)
+                                       :block/string s}))
+                                  lines)
+          reindex (plus-after p-id b-order (count lines))
+          children (concat new-datoms reindex)]
+      {:dispatch [:transact [{:db/id p-id :block/children children}]]})))
+
+
 (defn left-sidebar-drop-above
   [s-order t-order]
   (let [source-eid (d/q '[:find ?e .
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/keybindings.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/keybindings.cljs
index c0e2faaaba..836558eae4 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/keybindings.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/keybindings.cljs
@@ -385,9 +385,9 @@
 ;; XXX: what happens here when we have multi-block selection? In this case we pass in `uids` instead of `uid`
 (defn block-key-down
   [e uid state]
-  (let [{:keys [meta ctrl key-code]} (destruct-event e)]
-    (prn "DOWN" (destruct-event e))
-    ;(swap! state)
+  (let [d-event (destruct-event e)
+        {:keys [meta ctrl key-code]} d-event]
+    (swap! state assoc :last-keydown d-event)
     (cond
       (arrow-key-direction e) (handle-arrow-key e uid state)
       (pair-char? e) (handle-pair-char e uid state)
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/listeners.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/listeners.cljs
index 8318e8b957..27fbf95ee0 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/listeners.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/listeners.cljs
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@
   (->> blocks
     (map (fn [x] [:block/uid x]))
     (d/pull-many @dsdb '[:block/string])
-    (map #(str "- " (:block/string %)))
-    (clojure.string/join "\r\n")))
+    (map #(str "- " (:block/string %) "\n"))))
 
 
 (defn copy
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks.cljs
index 97123e0f32..2b7d6fc9d1 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks.cljs
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
     [komponentit.autosize :as autosize]
     [re-frame.core :refer [dispatch subscribe]]
     [reagent.core :as r]
-    [stylefy.core :as stylefy :refer [use-style]])
+    [stylefy.core :as stylefy :refer [use-style]]
+    [clojure.string :as string])
   (:import
     (goog.events
       EventType)))
@@ -450,31 +451,25 @@
                  :on-click #(athens.keybindings/select-slash-cmd i state)}
          [:<> [(r/adapt-react-class icon)] [:span text] (when kbd [:kbd kbd])]])]]))
 
-;; TODO: Count whitespace chars at the front of each line. Each char is one indentation level.
+
 (defn paste
+  "if user does typical copy and paste, meta+v, and "
   [e uid state]
   (let [data (.. e -clipboardData (getData "text"))
-        lines (str/split-lines data)]
-
-    (if (= 1 (count lines))
-      (let [{:keys [head tail]} (destruct-event e)
-            new-str (str head data tail)]
-        (swap! state assoc :atom-string new-str))
-      (let [now (now-ts)
-            datoms (map (fn [x]
-                          [:db/id [:block/uid (gen-block-uid)]
-                           :create/time now
-                           :edit/time now
-                           :block/order 0 ;; must reindex as well
-                           :block/string x])
-                     lines)]
-        (dispatch [:transact [datoms]])))))
+        is-block (re-find #"\r?\n" data)
+        last-keydown (:last-keydown @state)
+        {:keys [shift]} last-keydown]
+    ;; if `not shift`, do normal plain-text paste
+    (when (and is-block (not shift))
+      (.. e preventDefault)
+      (dispatch [:paste uid data]))))
+
 
 (defn block-on-change
   [e uid state]
-  (let [{:keys [value]} (destruct-event e)]
-    (prn "CHANGE" value)
-    (swap! state assoc :atom-string value)))
+  (let []
+    (swap! state assoc :atom-string (.. e -target -value))))
+
 
 ;; Actual string contents - two elements, one for reading and one for writing
 ;; seems hacky, but so far no better way to click into the correct position with one conditional element
@@ -554,7 +549,8 @@
                        :search/index 0
                        :dragging false
                        :drag-target nil
-                       :edit/time (:edit/time block)})]
+                       :edit/time (:edit/time block)
+                       :last-keydown nil})]
     (add-watch state :string-listener
                (fn [_context _atom old new]
                  (let [{:keys [atom-string]} new]