diff --git a/src/commands.js b/src/commands.js
index 11d91c7c2..3d3d05ddf 100755
--- a/src/commands.js
+++ b/src/commands.js
@@ -175,11 +175,11 @@ LatexCmds.nthroot = NthRoot;
 
 // Round/Square/Curly/Angle Brackets (aka Parens/Brackets/Braces)
 function Bracket(open, close, cmd, end, replacedFragment) {
-  MathCommand.call(this, '\\left'+cmd,
+  MathCommand.call(this, cmd,
     ['<span><span class="paren">'+open+'</span><span></span><span class="paren">'+close+'</span></span>'],
     [open, close],
     replacedFragment);
-  this.end = '\\right'+end;
+  this.end = end;
 }
 _ = Bracket.prototype = new MathCommand;
 _.initBlocks = function(replacedFragment) {
@@ -202,7 +202,10 @@ LatexCmds.lbrace = CharCmds['{'] = proto(Bracket, function(replacedFragment) {
   Bracket.call(this, '{', '}', '\\{', '\\}', replacedFragment);
 });
 LatexCmds.langle = LatexCmds.lang = proto(Bracket, function(replacedFragment) {
-  Bracket.call(this,'&lang;','&rang;','\\langle ','\\rangle ',replacedFragment);
+  Bracket.call(this,'&lang;','&rang;','\\langle ','\\rangle ', replacedFragment);
+});
+LatexCmds.lbrack = LatexCmds.lbracket = CharCmds['['] = proto(Bracket, function(replacedFragment) {
+  Bracket.call(this, '[', ']', '\\[', '\\]', replacedFragment);
 });
 
 // Closing bracket matching opening bracket above
@@ -223,7 +226,10 @@ LatexCmds.rbrace = CharCmds['}'] = proto(CloseBracket, function(replacedFragment
   CloseBracket.call(this, '{','}','\\{','\\}',replacedFragment);
 });
 LatexCmds.rangle = LatexCmds.rang = proto(CloseBracket, function(replacedFragment) {
-  CloseBracket.call(this,'&lang;','&rang;','\\langle ','\\rangle ',replacedFragment);
+  CloseBracket.call(this,'&lang;','&rang;','\\langle ','\\rangle ', replacedFragment);
+});
+LatexCmds.rbrack = LatexCmds.rbracket = CharCmds[']'] = proto(CloseBracket, function(replacedFragment) {
+  CloseBracket.call(this, '[', ']', '\\[', '\\]', replacedFragment);
 });
 
 function Paren(open, close, replacedFragment) {
@@ -234,9 +240,6 @@ Paren.prototype = Bracket.prototype;
 LatexCmds.lparen = CharCmds['('] = proto(Paren, function(replacedFragment) {
   Paren.call(this, '(', ')', replacedFragment);
 });
-LatexCmds.lbrack = LatexCmds.lbracket = CharCmds['['] = proto(Paren, function(replacedFragment) {
-  Paren.call(this, '[', ']', replacedFragment);
-});
 
 function CloseParen(open, close, replacedFragment) {
   CloseBracket.call(this, open, close, open, close, replacedFragment);
@@ -246,9 +249,6 @@ CloseParen.prototype = CloseBracket.prototype;
 LatexCmds.rparen = CharCmds[')'] = proto(CloseParen, function(replacedFragment) {
   CloseParen.call(this, '(', ')', replacedFragment);
 });
-LatexCmds.rbrack = LatexCmds.rbracket = CharCmds[']'] = proto(CloseParen, function(replacedFragment) {
-  CloseParen.call(this, '[', ']', replacedFragment);
-});
 
 function Pipes(replacedFragment) {
   Paren.call(this, '|', '|', replacedFragment);
diff --git a/src/cursor.js b/src/cursor.js
index 23bb50faa..90a38f40b 100644
--- a/src/cursor.js
+++ b/src/cursor.js
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ _.seek = function(target, pageX, pageY) {
 };
 _.writeLatex = function(latex) {
   this.deleteSelection();
-  latex = ( latex && latex.match(/\\text\{([^{]|\\\{)*\}|\\[a-z]*|[^\s]/ig) ) || 0;
+  latex = ( latex && latex.match(/\\text\{([^{}]|\\\[{}])*\}|\\[\{\}\[\]]|[\(\)]|\\[a-z]*|[^\s]/ig) ) || 0;
   (function writeLatexBlock(cursor) {
     while (latex.length) {
       var token = latex.shift(); //pop first item
@@ -202,10 +202,24 @@ _.writeLatex = function(latex) {
         cursor.insertNew(cmd).insertAfter(cmd);
         continue; //skip recursing through children
       }
-      else if (token === '\\left' || token === '\\right') { //REMOVEME HACK for parens
-        token = latex.shift();
-        if (token === '\\')
-          token = latex.shift();
+      else if (token === '|') { //treat pipe as VanillaSymbol, unless it's a right pipe, i.e it has
+                                //a previous pipe sibling w/ at least one other intermediate element
+        var prevPipe = cursor.prev && cursor.prev.prev;
+        while (prevPipe && (prevPipe.cmd != '|' || !prevPipe.isEmpty()))
+          prevPipe = prevPipe.prev;
+        if (prevPipe) {
+          prevPipe.remove();
+          cursor.selectFrom(prevPipe.next);
+          cursor.show().insertCh(token).insertAfter(cursor.parent.parent);
+          continue;
+        }
+        else {
+          cmd = new VanillaSymbol(token);
+          cursor.insertNew(cmd);
+        }
+      }
+      else if ($.inArray(token, ['\\lbrace', '\\{', '\\rbrace', '\\}', '\\langle', '\\lang', '\\rangle', '\\rang', '\\lparen', '(', '\\rparen', ')', '\\lbrack', '\\lbracket', '\\[', '\\rbrack', '\\rbracket', '\\]', '\\lpipe', '\\rpipe']) >= 0) {
+        token = token.replace(/^\\/, '');
 
         cursor.insertCh(token);
         cmd = cursor.prev || cursor.parent.parent;