diff --git a/docs/TODO.txt b/docs/TODO.txt
index ab42494..38a5656 100644
--- a/docs/TODO.txt
+++ b/docs/TODO.txt
@@ -12,11 +12,21 @@ DONE: break and continue statements
 DONE: truthiness rethink
 DONE: string concat with the + operator
 DONE: increment & decrement operators
+DONE: store compound types in variables
 
+
+TODO: functions take a number of parameters
+TODO: functions can return any number of values
+TODO: function arguments can have specified types
+TODO: function returns can have specified types
+TODO: functions are invoked by calling thier names
+TODO: functions are first-class citizens
+TODO: functions last argument can be a rest parameter
+
+TODO: && and || operators
 TODO: A way to check the type of a variable (typeOf keyword)
 TODO: a = b = c = 1; ?
 TODO: are compounds shallow or deep copies?
-TODO: functions, and all of their features
 TODO: Assertion-based test scripts
 TODO: standard library
 TODO: external runner library
diff --git a/source/compiler.c b/source/compiler.c
index 9133480..d9f94fe 100644
--- a/source/compiler.c
+++ b/source/compiler.c
@@ -157,8 +157,15 @@ static int writeLiteralTypeToCache(LiteralArray* literalCache, Literal literal)
 static int writeLiteralToCompiler(Compiler* compiler, Literal literal) {
 	//get the index
 	int index = findLiteralIndex(&compiler->literalCache, literal);
+
 	if (index < 0) {
-		index = pushLiteralArray(&compiler->literalCache, literal);
+		if (IS_TYPE(literal)) {
+			//check for the type literal as value
+			index = writeLiteralTypeToCache(&compiler->literalCache, literal);
+		}
+		else {
+			index = pushLiteralArray(&compiler->literalCache, literal);
+		}
 	}
 
 	//push the literal to the bytecode
diff --git a/source/parser.c b/source/parser.c
index 5642ad5..f45511b 100644
--- a/source/parser.c
+++ b/source/parser.c
@@ -1231,7 +1231,14 @@ static void varDecl(Parser* parser, Node** nodeHandle) {
 	//variable definition is an expression
 	Node* expressionNode = NULL;
 	if (match(parser, TOKEN_ASSIGN)) {
-		expression(parser, &expressionNode);
+		//BUGFIX: if reading into a "type" variable, expect a type value
+		if (AS_TYPE(typeLiteral).typeOf == LITERAL_TYPE) { //This may cause issues when reading function returns
+			Literal val = readTypeToLiteral(parser);
+
+			emitNodeLiteral(&expressionNode, val);
+		} else {
+			expression(parser, &expressionNode);
+		}
 	}
 	else {
 		//values are null by default
diff --git a/test/type-type.toy b/test/type-type.toy
deleted file mode 100644
index 2350382..0000000
--- a/test/type-type.toy
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-var t: type = int;
-var u: t = 42;
-
-assert t == int, "types are not first class";
-assert u == 42, "first-class types are screwing with values";
-
-print "All good";
diff --git a/test/types.toy b/test/types.toy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..767aad9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/types.toy
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+//basic types
+var t: type = int;
+var u: t = 42;
+
+assert t == int, "types are not first class";
+assert u == 42, "first-class types are screwing with values";
+
+
+//differentiate by the "type" value
+var v: type = [int]; //TODO: still can't check for this
+var w = [int];
+
+assert w == [int], "defining an array of types failed";
+
+
+//complex type
+var complex: type = [string, [int]];
+var dict: complex = [
+	"first array": [1, 2, 3],
+	"second array": [4, 5, 6],
+	"third array": [7, 8, 9]
+];
+
+print "All good";