diff --git a/.beads/interactions.jsonl b/.beads/interactions.jsonl
index 81c8ea3..cc5a56a 100644
--- a/.beads/interactions.jsonl
+++ b/.beads/interactions.jsonl
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 {"id":"int-621ea914","kind":"field_change","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:50:54.012588Z","actor":"Yogthos","issue_id":"jolt-x8s","extra":{"field":"status","new_value":"closed","old_value":"open"}}
+{"id":"int-978620fa","kind":"field_change","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:59:35.53184Z","actor":"Yogthos","issue_id":"jolt-lp5","extra":{"field":"status","new_value":"closed","old_value":"open"}}
diff --git a/.beads/issues.jsonl b/.beads/issues.jsonl
index 58b749b..c8fa589 100644
--- a/.beads/issues.jsonl
+++ b/.beads/issues.jsonl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{"_type":"issue","id":"jolt-lp5","title":"CRITICAL: vec/into over lazy-seq leaks PV struct; into {} builds int keys","status":"open","priority":1,"issue_type":"bug","owner":"yogthos@gmail.com","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:15Z","created_by":"Yogthos","updated_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:15Z","dependency_count":0,"dependent_count":0,"comment_count":0}
+{"_type":"issue","id":"jolt-lp5","title":"CRITICAL: vec/into over lazy-seq leaks PV struct; into {} builds int keys","status":"closed","priority":1,"issue_type":"bug","owner":"yogthos@gmail.com","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:15Z","created_by":"Yogthos","updated_at":"2026-06-04T17:59:35Z","closed_at":"2026-06-04T17:59:35Z","dependency_count":0,"dependent_count":0,"comment_count":0}
 {"_type":"issue","id":"jolt-nte","title":"Build phased Clojure conformance harness (extracted assertions)","status":"open","priority":1,"issue_type":"task","owner":"yogthos@gmail.com","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:15Z","created_by":"Yogthos","updated_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:15Z","dependency_count":0,"dependent_count":0,"comment_count":0}
 {"_type":"issue","id":"jolt-tws","title":"CRITICAL: iterate arity bug","status":"open","priority":1,"issue_type":"bug","owner":"yogthos@gmail.com","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:14Z","created_by":"Yogthos","updated_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:14Z","dependency_count":0,"dependent_count":0,"comment_count":0}
 {"_type":"issue","id":"jolt-x8s","title":"CRITICAL: collections not callable as IFn (vector/map/set)","status":"closed","priority":1,"issue_type":"bug","owner":"yogthos@gmail.com","created_at":"2026-06-04T17:46:14Z","created_by":"Yogthos","updated_at":"2026-06-04T17:50:54Z","closed_at":"2026-06-04T17:50:54Z","dependency_count":0,"dependent_count":0,"comment_count":0}
diff --git a/src/jolt/api.janet b/src/jolt/api.janet
index b0b067f..3c6f5f9 100644
--- a/src/jolt/api.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/api.janet
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 (defn- load-persistent-structures
   "Load immutable persistent data structures and swap clojure.core bindings."
   [ctx]
+  (def saved-ns (ctx-current-ns ctx))
   (def source (slurp "src/jolt/clojure/lang/persistent_vector.clj"))
   (var cur source)
   (while (> (length (string/trim cur)) 0)
@@ -18,11 +19,17 @@
     (set cur rest)
     (when (not (nil? form))
       (eval-form ctx @{} form)))
-  (let [core-ns (ctx-find-ns ctx "clojure.core")
-        pv-ns (ctx-find-ns ctx "jolt.lang.persistent-vector")]
-    (ns-intern core-ns "vec" (var-get (ns-find pv-ns "vector")))
-    (ns-intern core-ns "vector" (var-get (ns-find pv-ns "vector")))
-    (ns-intern core-ns "vector?" (var-get (ns-find pv-ns "vector?")))))
+  # Vectors are represented as Janet tuples throughout core; bind vec/vector/
+  # vector? to the tuple-based implementations so literals (`[...]`) and the
+  # constructors share one representation. The PersistentVector namespace stays
+  # loaded for code that wants it explicitly via jolt.lang.persistent-vector.
+  (let [core-ns (ctx-find-ns ctx "clojure.core")]
+    (ns-intern core-ns "vec" core-vec)
+    (ns-intern core-ns "vector" core-vector)
+    (ns-intern core-ns "vector?" core-vector?))
+  # Restore the namespace: loading the PV file above left current-ns set to
+  # jolt.lang.persistent-vector, which would shadow clojure.core bindings.
+  (ctx-set-current-ns ctx saved-ns))
 
 (defn init
   "Create a new Jolt evaluation context.
diff --git a/src/jolt/core.janet b/src/jolt/core.janet
index e06e0a8..b38ea63 100644
--- a/src/jolt/core.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/core.janet
@@ -86,13 +86,19 @@
 # Comparison
 # ============================================================
 
+(defn- norm-for-= [x]
+  "Realize a lazy-seq to a tuple so it compares as a Clojure sequence."
+  (if (lazy-seq? x)
+    (let [s (ls-seq x)] (if (nil? s) [] (tuple/slice (tuple ;s))))
+    x))
+
 (defn core-= [& args]
   (if (< (length args) 2) true
     (do
       (var ok true)
       (var i 0)
       (while (and ok (< i (dec (length args))))
-        (let [a (args i) b (args (+ i 1))]
+        (let [a (norm-for-= (args i)) b (norm-for-= (args (+ i 1)))]
           (set ok
             (if (and (tuple? a) (array? b))
               (deep= a (tuple/slice (tuple ;b)))
@@ -232,24 +238,54 @@
               (if (struct? coll) (tuple ;(keys coll))
                 coll))))))))
 
+(defn realize-for-iteration [c]
+  "If c is a lazy-seq, traverse and return all its elements as an array.
+  Otherwise return c as-is. Warning: will loop on infinite lazy-seqs.
+  Correctly handles nil elements (terminates on the empty cell, not on nil)."
+  (if (lazy-seq? c)
+    (do
+      (var items @[])
+      (var cur c)
+      (var go true)
+      (while go
+        (let [cell (realize-ls cur)]
+          (if (or (nil? cell) (= :jolt/pending cell) (= 0 (length cell)))
+            (set go false)
+            (do
+              (array/push items (in cell 0))
+              (let [rt (in cell 1)]
+                (if (nil? rt) (set go false) (set cur (make-lazy-seq rt))))))))
+      items)
+    c))
+
 (defn core-vec [coll]
-  (if (tuple? coll) coll
-    (if (array? coll) (tuple ;coll)
-      (if (struct? coll) (tuple ;(map |(in (kvs coll) (+ (* $ 2) 1)) (range (/ (length (kvs coll)) 2))))
-        (tuple)))))
+  (let [coll (realize-for-iteration coll)]
+    (if (tuple? coll) coll
+      (if (array? coll) (tuple ;coll)
+        (if (struct? coll) (tuple ;(map |(in (kvs coll) (+ (* $ 2) 1)) (range (/ (length (kvs coll)) 2))))
+          (if (string? coll) (tuple ;(map |(string/from-bytes $) (string/bytes coll)))
+            (tuple)))))))
 
 (defn core-into [to from]
-  (if (tuple? to)
-    (tuple/slice (tuple ;(array/concat (array/slice to) (if (tuple? from) from (array/slice from)))))
-    (if (array? to)
-      (array/concat to from)
-      (if (struct? to)
+  (let [items (realize-for-iteration from)]
+    (cond
+      # map target: each item is a [k v] pair (or map entry) to assoc
+      (or (phm? to) (struct? to) (and (table? to) (get to :jolt/deftype)))
         (do
           (var result to)
-          (each [k v] (pairs from)
-            (set result (merge result {k v})))
+          (each item items
+            (set result (core-assoc result (in item 0) (in item 1))))
           result)
-        to))))
+      # list target (jolt lists are arrays): conj prepends -> reversed order
+      (array? to)
+        (do
+          (var result (array/slice to))
+          (each x items (array/insert result 0 x))
+          result)
+      # vector target (jolt vectors are tuples): conj appends
+      (tuple? to)
+        (tuple/slice (tuple ;(array/concat (array/slice to) (array/slice items))))
+      to)))
 
 (defn core-merge [& maps]
   (if (phm? (first maps))
@@ -289,18 +325,6 @@
 # Sequence operations
 # ============================================================
 
-(defn- realize-for-iteration [c]
-  "If c is a lazy-seq, traverse and return all elements as an array.
-  Otherwise return c as-is. Warning: will loop on infinite lazy-seqs."
-  (if (lazy-seq? c)
-    (do
-      (var items @[])
-      (var cur c)
-      (while (not (nil? (ls-first cur)))
-        (array/push items (ls-first cur))
-        (set cur (ls-rest cur)))
-      items)
-    c))
 
 (defn core-map [f & colls]
   (if (= 1 (length colls))
diff --git a/src/jolt/evaluator.janet b/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
index 8db631c..2947f65 100644
--- a/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
   and deftype/record values implementing IFn. `args` is an array."
   [ctx f args]
   (cond
-    (function? f) (apply f args)
+    (or (function? f) (cfunction? f)) (apply f args)
     (keyword? f) (coll-lookup (get args 0) f (get args 1))
     (and (struct? f) (= :symbol (f :jolt/type)))
       (coll-lookup (get args 0) f (get args 1))
@@ -66,11 +66,11 @@
     (and (table? f) (get f :jolt/deftype))
       (let [ifn-fn (find-protocol-method ctx (get f :jolt/deftype) "IFn" "-invoke")]
         (if ifn-fn (apply ifn-fn f args)
-          (if (get f :jolt/protocol-methods)
-            (let [invoke-fn (get (f :jolt/protocol-methods) :-invoke)]
-              (if invoke-fn (apply invoke-fn f args)
-                (error (string "Cannot call " (type f) " as a function"))))
-            (error (string "Cannot call " (type f) " as a function")))))
+          (if (and (get f :jolt/protocol-methods) (get (f :jolt/protocol-methods) :-invoke))
+            (apply (get (f :jolt/protocol-methods) :-invoke) f args)
+            # No IFn impl: fall back to map-like field access, e.g. (point :x)
+            (let [v (get f (get args 0) :jolt/not-found)]
+              (if (= v :jolt/not-found) (get args 1) v)))))
     (and (table? f) (get f :jolt/protocol-methods))
       (let [invoke-fn (get (f :jolt/protocol-methods) :-invoke)]
         (if invoke-fn (apply invoke-fn f args)