diff --git a/hmmlib/hmmlib.h b/hmmlib/hmmlib.h
index 0841fa3..acf637a 100644
--- a/hmmlib/hmmlib.h
+++ b/hmmlib/hmmlib.h
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ typedef enum {
 
 typedef struct {
 	HMML_MarkerType type;
-	char* text;
+	char* marker;
+	char* parameter;
 	int offset;
 } HMML_Marker;
 
diff --git a/hmmlib/hmmlib.l b/hmmlib/hmmlib.l
index 0ab5344..faee716 100644
--- a/hmmlib/hmmlib.l
+++ b/hmmlib/hmmlib.l
@@ -27,17 +27,27 @@
 		return 1;\
 	} while(0)
 
+#define CHECKESCAPE(x) do { if(!strchr("[]:@~\\\"", x)) HMML_ERR("Unknown backslash escape code '%c'", x); } while(0)
+
 #define V_(x) &yyextra->meta.x
 #define R_(x) &yyextra->ref.x
 #define M_(x, state) do { HMML_Marker m = { HMML_ ## x }; sb_push(yyextra->an.markers, m); yyextra->mnext = state; } while(0)
 #define M_ADD(t, n) \
 	do { \
-		char* c = strndup(t, n);\
-		sb_last(yyextra->an.markers).text = c;\
+		char* c = UNQUOTE(strndup(t, n));\
+		sb_last(yyextra->an.markers).marker = c;\
 		sb_last(yyextra->an.markers).offset = sb_count(yyextra->an.text);\
-		memcpy(sb_add(yyextra->an.text, n), c, n);\
+		if(yyextra->mnext == TEXT){\
+			memcpy(sb_add(yyextra->an.text, n), c, n);\
+		}\
 	} while(0)
-	
+
+#define MX_ADD(c) \
+	do { \
+		sb_push(sb_last(yyextra->an.markers).parameter, c);\
+		if(c) sb_push(yyextra->an.text, c);\
+	} while(0)
+
 #define NEWANNO() \
 	do { \
 		if(!yyextra->first) sb_push(yyextra->annos, yyextra->an); \
@@ -46,7 +56,19 @@
 		yyextra->first = false;\
 	} while(0)
 
-#define CHECKESCAPE(x) do { if(!strchr("[]:@~\\", x)) HMML_ERR("Unknown backslash escape code '%c'", x); } while(0)
+#define UNQUOTE(_attr) ({ \
+	typeof(_attr) attr = (_attr); \
+	size_t len = strlen(attr); \
+	for(char* c = attr; *c; ++c){\
+		if(*c == '\\'){ \
+			CHECKESCAPE(c[1]); \
+			memmove(c, c+1, len-(c-attr)); \
+			--len; \
+		} \
+	} \
+	attr; \
+})
+
 %}
 
 %option reentrant
@@ -99,7 +121,7 @@ RB              \]
 
 <V_ATTR>{S}           { BEGIN(VIDEO); }
 <V_ATTR>{ATTR_SIMPLE} { *yyextra->attr = strndup(yytext  , yyleng  ); BEGIN(VIDEO); }
-<V_ATTR>{ATTR_QUOTED} { *yyextra->attr = strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-2); BEGIN(VIDEO); }
+<V_ATTR>{ATTR_QUOTED} { *yyextra->attr = UNQUOTE(strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-2)); BEGIN(VIDEO); }
 <V_ATTR>\]            { yyless(0); BEGIN(VIDEO); }
 
 <ANNOTATION>{TIMECODE}{LB}@ { NEWANNO(); yyextra->an.time = strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-4); BEGIN(AUTHOR); }
@@ -125,16 +147,17 @@ RB              \]
 <TEXT>\]            { BEGIN(AFTERTEXT); }
 <TEXT>{LB}ref       { yyextra->ref.offset = sb_count(yyextra->an.text); BEGIN(REF); }
 <TEXT>{LB}
-<TEXT>[ \r\t]{1,2}  { sb_push(yyextra->an.text, ' '); }
+<TEXT>{S}           { sb_push(yyextra->an.text, ' '); }
 <TEXT>.             { sb_push(yyextra->an.text, *yytext); }
 
 <MARKER>{ATTR_ALNUM}  { M_ADD(yytext  , yyleng  ); BEGIN(yyextra->mnext); };
 <MARKER>{ATTR_QUOTED} { M_ADD(yytext+1, yyleng-2); BEGIN(yyextra->mnext); };
 <MARKER>.             { HMML_ERR("Cannot parse Marker. Expected quoted or alphanumeric attribute."); }
 
- /* TODO: store the extra text somewhere */
-<MARKER_XTRA>\] { BEGIN(TEXT); }
-<MARKER_XTRA>. 
+<MARKER_XTRA>\\] { MX_ADD(']'); }
+<MARKER_XTRA>\]  { MX_ADD('\0'); BEGIN(TEXT); }
+<MARKER_XTRA>[ ] { if(sb_last(yyextra->an.markers).parameter){ MX_ADD(' '); } }
+<MARKER_XTRA>.   { MX_ADD(*yytext); }
 
 <REF>{S}
 <REF>site{S}=      { yyextra->attr = R_(site);      BEGIN(R_ATTR); }
@@ -151,7 +174,7 @@ RB              \]
 
 <R_ATTR>{S}
 <R_ATTR>{ATTR_SIMPLE} { *yyextra->attr = strndup(yytext  , yyleng  ); BEGIN(REF); }
-<R_ATTR>{ATTR_QUOTED} { *yyextra->attr = strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-2); BEGIN(REF); }
+<R_ATTR>{ATTR_QUOTED} { *yyextra->attr = UNQUOTE(strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-2)); BEGIN(REF); }
 
 <AFTERTEXT,ANNOTATION>\[\/video\] { NEWANNO(); return 0; }
 
@@ -166,8 +189,8 @@ RB              \]
 <AUTHOR>{S}
 
 <CATEGORIES>{S} 
-<CATEGORIES>:{ATTR_SIMPLE} { HMML_Marker m = { HMML_CATEGORY, strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-1), -1 }; sb_push(yyextra->an.markers, m); }
-<CATEGORIES>:{ATTR_QUOTED} { HMML_Marker m = { HMML_CATEGORY, strndup(yytext+2, yyleng-3), -1 }; sb_push(yyextra->an.markers, m); }
+<CATEGORIES>:{ATTR_SIMPLE} { HMML_Marker m = { HMML_CATEGORY, strndup(yytext+1, yyleng-1), NULL, -1 }; sb_push(yyextra->an.markers, m); }
+<CATEGORIES>:{ATTR_QUOTED} { HMML_Marker m = { HMML_CATEGORY, UNQUOTE(strndup(yytext+2, yyleng-3)), NULL, -1 }; sb_push(yyextra->an.markers, m); }
 <CATEGORIES>\]{LB}         { BEGIN(QUOTES); }
 <CATEGORIES>\]             { BEGIN(ANNOTATION); }
 <CATEGORIES>.              { HMML_ERR("Unexpected character in category tag: '%c'\n", *yytext); }
@@ -243,7 +266,8 @@ static void _hmml_free_anno(HMML_Annotation* a){
 	sb_free(a->references);
 
 	for(size_t j = 0; j < sb_count(a->markers); ++j){
-		free(a->markers[j].text);
+		free(a->markers[j].marker);
+		sb_free(a->markers[j].parameter);
 	}
 	sb_free(a->markers);
 
@@ -328,7 +352,7 @@ void hmml_dump(HMML_Output* hmml){
 
 		for(size_t j = 0; j < a->marker_count; ++j){
 			int   type = a->markers[j].type;
-			char* text = a->markers[j].text;
+			char* text = a->markers[j].marker;
 
 			size_t len = strlen(text);
 			if(len > max_text_len){