diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1d76580..979c0d3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ venv
 __pycache__
 
 *.session
+*.session-journal
 data/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a50a48b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# uniborg
+
+Pluggable [``asyncio``](https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio.html)
+[Telegram](https://telegram.org) userbot based on
+[Telethon](https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon).
+
+## installing
+
+Simply clone the repository and run the main file:
+```sh
+git clone https://github.com/uniborg/uniborg.git
+cd uniborg
+python stdborg.py
+```
+
+## design
+
+The modular design of the project enhances your Telegram experience
+through [plugins](https://github.com/uniborg/uniborg/tree/master/stdplugins)
+which you can enable or disable on demand.
+
+Each plugin gets the `borg`, `logger` and `storage` magical
+[variables](https://github.com/uniborg/uniborg/blob/4805f2f6de7d734c341bb978318f44323ad525f1/uniborg/uniborg.py#L66-L68)
+to ease their use. Thus creating a plugin as easy as adding
+a new file under the plugin directory to do the job:
+
+```python
+# stdplugins/myplugin.py
+from telethon import events
+
+@borg.on(events.NewMessage(pattern='hi'))
+async def handler(event):
+    await event.reply('hey')
+```
+
+## internals
+
+The core features offered by the custom `TelegramClient` live under the
+[`uniborg/`](https://github.com/uniborg/uniborg/tree/master/uniborg)
+directory, with some utilities, enhancements and the core plugin.
+
+## learning
+
+Check out the already-mentioned
+[plugins](https://github.com/uniborg/uniborg/tree/master/stdplugins)
+directory to learn how to write your own, and consider reading
+[Telethon's documentation](http://telethon.readthedocs.io/).
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 15ef170..5b0996c 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-telethon-aio
+telethon
diff --git a/stdplugins/headpat.py b/stdplugins/headpat.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 84d88f7..0000000
--- a/stdplugins/headpat.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-# This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
-# License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
-# file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
-import re
-import random
-import json
-import urllib.request
-import urllib.parse
-
-from telethon import events
-
-pats = []
-oops = "OOPSIE WOOPSIE!! Uwu We madea fucky wucky!! A wittle fucko boingo! " \
-       "The code monkeys at our headquarters are working VEWY HAWD to fix " \
-       "this!"
-
-
-@borg.on(events.NewMessage)
-async def on_pat(event):
-    if event.fwd_from:
-        return
-
-    user = borg.me.username
-
-    if not user or not re.match(fr"(?i)/headpat@{user}", event.raw_text):
-        return
-
-    global pats
-    if not pats:
-        try:
-            pats = json.loads(urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(
-                "http://headp.at/js/pats.json",
-                headers={"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686) "
-                                       "Gecko/20071127 Firefox/2.0.0.11"}
-            )).read().decode("utf-8"))
-        except Exception as e:
-            print(e)
-            await event.reply(oops)
-            return
-
-    choice = urllib.parse.quote(random.choice(pats))
-    await event.reply(f"[Pat!](https://headp.at/pats/{choice})")
diff --git a/stdplugins/markdown.py b/stdplugins/markdown.py
index fa1a5cc..13fec87 100644
--- a/stdplugins/markdown.py
+++ b/stdplugins/markdown.py
@@ -6,9 +6,8 @@ from functools import partial
 
 from telethon import events
 from telethon.tl.functions.messages import EditMessageRequest
-from telethon.extensions.markdown import (
-    DEFAULT_URL_RE, _add_surrogate, _del_surrogate
-)
+from telethon.extensions.markdown import DEFAULT_URL_RE
+from telethon.utils import add_surrogate, del_surrogate
 from telethon.tl.types import (
     MessageEntityBold, MessageEntityItalic, MessageEntityCode,
     MessageEntityPre, MessageEntityTextUrl
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@ def parse_url_match(m):
     entity = MessageEntityTextUrl(
         offset=m.start(),
         length=len(m.group(1)),
-        url=_del_surrogate(m.group(2))
+        url=del_surrogate(m.group(2))
     )
     return m.group(1), entity
 
@@ -90,7 +89,7 @@ def parse(message, old_entities=None):
 
     i = 0
     after = 0
-    message = _add_surrogate(message)
+    message = add_surrogate(message)
     while i < len(message):
         for after, e in enumerate(old_entities[after:], start=after):
             # If the next entity is strictly to our right, we're done here
@@ -131,7 +130,7 @@ def parse(message, old_entities=None):
         # Skip past the match
         i += len(text)
 
-    return _del_surrogate(message), entities + old_entities
+    return del_surrogate(message), entities + old_entities
 
 
 @borg.on(events.MessageEdited(outgoing=True))
diff --git a/uniborg/_core.py b/uniborg/_core.py
index 933a5ee..77d105b 100644
--- a/uniborg/_core.py
+++ b/uniborg/_core.py
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ async def remove(event):
     await event.delete()
     shortname = event.pattern_match["shortname"]
 
-    if shortname in borg._plugins:
+    if shortname == "_core":
+        msg = await event.respond(f"Not removing {shortname}")
+    elif shortname in borg._plugins:
         borg.remove_plugin(shortname)
         msg = await event.respond(f"Removed plugin {shortname}")
     else: