diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/README.md b/keyvalues-parser/README.md
index ff6ba87..a6ae44b 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/README.md
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/README.md
@@ -41,10 +41,8 @@ const LOGIN_USERS_VDF: &str = r#"
 }
 "#;
 
-use keyvalues_parser::Vdf;
-
-fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
-    let vdf = Vdf::parse(LOGIN_USERS_VDF)?;
+fn main() -> keyvalues_parser::error::Result<()> {
+    let vdf = keyvalues_parser::parse(LOGIN_USERS_VDF)?;
     assert_eq!(
         "12345678901234567",
         vdf.value.unwrap_obj().keys().next().unwrap(),
diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/examples/parse_mutate_render.rs b/keyvalues-parser/examples/parse_mutate_render.rs
index e215dd3..872e300 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/examples/parse_mutate_render.rs
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/examples/parse_mutate_render.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use keyvalues_parser::Vdf;
+use keyvalues_parser::{parse, Vdf};
 
 use std::{fs, path::Path};
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ fn update_version(controller_mappings: &mut Vdf, new_version: String) -> Option<
 
 fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let vdf_text = read_asset_file("parse_mutate_render.vdf")?;
-    let mut controller_mappings = Vdf::parse(&vdf_text)?;
+    let mut controller_mappings = Vdf::from(parse(&vdf_text)?);
 
     // Reading information from VDF:
     // This involves a lot of `Option`s so it's moved inside a function
diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/src/lib.rs b/keyvalues-parser/src/lib.rs
index dd41375..36f1188 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/src/lib.rs
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,68 @@ pub mod text;
 /// `pest` re-exported for your convenience :)
 pub use pest;
 
+/// Parse a KeyValues document to a loosely typed representation
+///
+/// This is shorthand for parsing a document with default settings aka `Parser::new().parse(text)`
+pub fn parse<'text>(text: &'text str) -> error::Result<PartialVdf<'text>> {
+    Parser::new().parse(text)
+}
+
+/// A configurable KeyValues parser allowing for adjusting settings before parsing
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Default)]
+pub struct Parser {
+    literal_special_chars: bool,
+}
+
+impl Parser {
+    /// Constructs a default parser
+    ///
+    /// Currently this consists of:
+    ///
+    /// | Toggle | Description |
+    /// | :---: | :--- |
+    /// | [`Parser::literal_special_chars()`] | Whether to interpret `\` in strings as the start of an escaped special character, or a literal `\` |
+    pub const fn new() -> Self {
+        // same as Default, but const 😏
+        Self {
+            literal_special_chars: false,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Toggle how to interpret `\` in strings
+    ///
+    /// By default (`false`) the parser will interpret backslashes (`\`) in strings as the start of
+    /// an escaped special character (e.g. `\\` -> `\`, `\"` -> `"`). When `true` the parser will
+    /// instead interpret backslashes (`\`) as a literal backslash. Commonly seen with
+    /// windows-paths, for instance
+    pub const fn literal_special_chars(mut self, yes: bool) -> Self {
+        self.literal_special_chars = yes;
+        self
+    }
+
+    /// Parse a KeyValues document to a loosely typed representation
+    ///
+    /// # Example
+    ///
+    /// ```
+    /// use keyvalues_parser::Parser;
+    /// let vdf = Parser::new()
+    ///     .literal_special_chars(true)
+    ///     .parse(r"InstallDir C:\You\Later")
+    ///     .unwrap();
+    /// assert_eq!(vdf.value.unwrap_str(), r"C:\You\Later");
+    /// ```
+    pub fn parse<'text>(&self, vdf: &'text str) -> error::Result<PartialVdf<'text>> {
+        if self.literal_special_chars {
+            #[expect(deprecated)] // deprecated for thee, but not for me!
+            text::parse::raw_parse(vdf)
+        } else {
+            #[expect(deprecated)] // deprecated for thee, but not for me!
+            text::parse::escaped_parse(vdf)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// A Key is simply an alias for `Cow<str>`
 pub type Key<'text> = Cow<'text, str>;
 
@@ -28,8 +90,8 @@ pub type Key<'text> = Cow<'text, str>;
 ///
 /// ## Parse
 ///
-/// `Vdf`s will generally be created through the use of [`Vdf::parse()`] which takes a string
-/// representing VDF text and attempts to parse it to a `Vdf` representation.
+/// `Vdf`s will generally be created through the use of [`parse()`] or [`Parser::parse()`] which
+/// takes a string representing VDF text and attempts to parse it to a `Vdf` representation.
 ///
 /// ## Mutate
 ///
@@ -43,8 +105,6 @@ pub type Key<'text> = Cow<'text, str>;
 /// ## Example
 ///
 /// ```
-/// use keyvalues_parser::Vdf;
-///
 /// // Parse
 /// let vdf_text = r#"
 /// "Outer Key"
@@ -55,7 +115,7 @@ pub type Key<'text> = Cow<'text, str>;
 ///     }
 /// }
 /// "#;
-/// let mut parsed = Vdf::parse(vdf_text)?;
+/// let mut parsed = keyvalues_parser::parse(vdf_text)?;
 ///
 /// // Mutate: i.e. remove the last "Inner Key" pair
 /// parsed
@@ -80,24 +140,6 @@ pub struct Vdf<'text> {
     pub value: Value<'text>,
 }
 
-impl<'text> From<PartialVdf<'text>> for Vdf<'text> {
-    fn from(partial: PartialVdf<'text>) -> Self {
-        Self {
-            key: partial.key,
-            value: partial.value,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-// TODO: Just store a `Vdf` internally?
-// TODO: don't expose these publicly?
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, PartialOrd, Ord)]
-pub struct PartialVdf<'text> {
-    pub key: Key<'text>,
-    pub value: Value<'text>,
-    pub bases: Vec<Cow<'text, str>>,
-}
-
 impl<'text> Vdf<'text> {
     /// Creates a [`Vdf`] using a provided key and value
     ///
@@ -115,6 +157,23 @@ impl<'text> Vdf<'text> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'text> From<PartialVdf<'text>> for Vdf<'text> {
+    fn from(partial: PartialVdf<'text>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            key: partial.key,
+            value: partial.value,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// TODO: Just store a `Vdf` internally?
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+pub struct PartialVdf<'text> {
+    pub key: Key<'text>,
+    pub value: Value<'text>,
+    pub bases: Vec<Cow<'text, str>>,
+}
+
 // TODO: why is this type alias a thing if it's not private but the usage of it inside `Obj` is?
 type ObjInner<'text> = BTreeMap<Key<'text>, Vec<Value<'text>>>;
 type ObjInnerPair<'text> = (Key<'text>, Vec<Value<'text>>);
diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/escaped.rs b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/escaped.rs
index 4f86c35..75662be 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/escaped.rs
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/escaped.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ type ParseResult<'a> = pest::ParseResult<BoxedState<'a>>;
 
 common_parsing!(pest_parse, Rule, true);
 
+/// Attempts to parse VDF text to a [`Vdf`]
+#[deprecated(since = "0.2.3", note = "Moved to `keyvalues_parser::parse()`")]
+pub fn parse(s: &str) -> Result<PartialVdf<'_>> {
+    parse_(s)
+}
+
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types, clippy::upper_case_acronyms)]
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Eq, Hash, Ord, PartialEq, PartialOrd)]
 pub enum Rule {
diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/mod.rs b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/mod.rs
index fb12015..f8759ad 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/mod.rs
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/mod.rs
@@ -9,17 +9,11 @@ use pest::{iterators::Pair as PestPair, Atomicity, RuleType};
 mod escaped;
 mod raw;
 
+#[expect(deprecated)]
 pub use escaped::parse as escaped_parse;
-#[deprecated(
-    since = "0.2.3",
-    note = "Moved to `keyvalues_parser::error::EscapedPestError`"
-)]
 pub use escaped::PestError as EscapedPestError;
+#[expect(deprecated)]
 pub use raw::parse as raw_parse;
-#[deprecated(
-    since = "0.2.3",
-    note = "Moved to `keyvalues_parser::error::RawPestError`"
-)]
 pub use raw::PestError as RawPestError;
 
 type BoxedState<'a, R> = Box<pest::ParserState<'a, R>>;
@@ -74,8 +68,7 @@ fn skip<R: RuleType>(s: BoxedState<'_, R>) -> ParseResult<'_, R> {
 // separate grammars :/
 macro_rules! common_parsing {
     ($parse_fn:ident, $rule:ty, $parse_escaped:expr) => {
-        /// Attempts to parse VDF text to a [`Vdf`]
-        pub fn parse(s: &str) -> Result<PartialVdf<'_>> {
+        fn parse_(s: &str) -> Result<PartialVdf<'_>> {
             let mut full_grammar = $parse_fn(s)?;
 
             // There can be multiple base macros before the initial pair
@@ -218,10 +211,12 @@ impl<'a> Vdf<'a> {
 impl<'a> PartialVdf<'a> {
     /// Attempts to parse VDF text to a [`Vdf`]
     pub fn parse(s: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
+        #[expect(deprecated)]
         escaped_parse(s)
     }
 
     pub fn parse_raw(s: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
+        #[expect(deprecated)]
         raw_parse(s)
     }
 }
diff --git a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/raw.rs b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/raw.rs
index 2e873e6..cb43495 100644
--- a/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/raw.rs
+++ b/keyvalues-parser/src/text/parse/raw.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ type ParseResult<'a> = pest::ParseResult<BoxedState<'a>>;
 
 common_parsing!(pest_parse, Rule, false);
 
+/// Attempts to parse VDF text to a [`Vdf`]
+#[deprecated(
+    since = "0.2.3",
+    note = "Please use `Parser::new().literal_special_chars(true).parse()` instead"
+)]
+pub fn parse(s: &str) -> Result<PartialVdf<'_>> {
+    parse_(s)
+}
+
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types, clippy::upper_case_acronyms)]
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Eq, Hash, Ord, PartialEq, PartialOrd)]
 pub enum Rule {