{s n} {                             
        set debug [list];
        set c [csplit $s]
        if {$n > [expr [llength [lindex $c 0]]-1]} {set n [expr [llength [lindex $c 0]]-1]}
        set b 0
        set u 0                            
        set cf -1
        set cb -1                               
        set r ""
        foreach f [lindex $c 1] {
                lappend debug "working on $f";
                append r [lindex [lindex $c 0] [lindex $f 0]];
                lappend debug "actually appended the character [lindex $f 0] of [lindex $c 0] to be formatted: $r";
                if {[lindex $f 0] > $n} {
                        lappend debug "reached end of string"
                        if {$b eq 1} {append r "\002"; lappend debug "ending bold";}
                        if {$u eq 1} {append r "\037"; lappend debug "ending underline"}
                        if {$cf > -1} {append r [format "%s" $cf]; lappend debug "adding foreground colour at end of string"}
                        if {$cb > -1} {append r [format ",%s" $cb]; lappend debug "adding background colour at end of string"}
                        lappend debug "final result: $r";
                        return [join $debug "\n"]               
                }
                if {[lindex $f 1] eq "\002"} {set b [expr $b ^ 1]; lappend debug "found bold character"}
                if {[lindex $f 1] eq "\037"} {set u [expr $u ^ 1]; lappend debug "found underline"}
                if {[lindex $f 1] eq "\003"} {set cf -1;set cb -1; lappend debug "found color, setting cf to -1, cb to -1"}
                if {[lindex $f 1] eq "\017"} {set cf -1;set cb -1;set b 0;set u 0; lappend debug "found format reset, setting cb and cf to -1 for some reason"}
                if {[lindex $f 1] eq "\026"} {set t $cb;set cb $cf;set cf $t; lappend debug "found reverse kulerz character, reversing them weirdly"}
                if {[set m [regexp -inline {([\d]+)$} [lindex $f 1]]] ne ""} {set cf [lindex $m 1]; lappend debug "found a really interesting number, setting cf to $cf"}
                if {[set m [regexp -inline {([\d]+),([\d]+)} [lindex $f 1]]] ne ""} {set cf [lindex $m 1];set cb [lindex $m 2]; lappend debug "found even more numbers, setting cf to $cf and cb to $cb"}
        }
        if {$b eq 1} {append r "\002"; lappend debug "starting bold"}          
        if {$u eq 1} {append r "\037"; lappend debug "starting underline"}
        if {$cf > -1} {append r [format "%s" $cf]; lappend debug "starting color"}
        if {$cb > -1} {append r [format ",%s" $cb]; lappend debug "adding background color"}
        lappend debug "final result: $r"
        return [join $debug "\n"]
}