So, the first working version of my "structural plain-text" parser is just working and I'm already dissatisfied with it. Well, the reasons are simple:

1. It doesn't work correctly in all cases.

2. The code is a mess, even though it was already the third or so iteration internally ("plan to throw...", you know).

So here we go for the next iteration. I hope I'll be able to make the parser code substantially cleaner and more modular and implement a few cool-to-have additional features along the way. But first I decided to carefully write out a description of the intended grammar. I just finished the first draft which is still missing details on the planned new features. It's probably still full of inaccuracies because I've changed some details from last time (in hopes of simplifying both the parser and the syntax explanation) and I haven't implemented the actual parser, yet. Still, if you're interested, have a look[1].

PS. Oh yeah, after all, I've included "strong emphasis" in this version, because there are uses for it, specifically in technical documentation (which I intend to write). It carries a Fat Warning (TM) in the docs, so I'm happy and people can do whatever they want. ;-)