diff --git a/parsekit/matching.go b/parsekit/matching.go
index e1853d5..81b9a8e 100644
--- a/parsekit/matching.go
+++ b/parsekit/matching.go
@@ -109,14 +109,14 @@ func (p *P) AcceptAny() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-type afterFollowup struct {
+type action struct {
 	p      *P
 	runes  []rune
 	widths []int
 	ok     bool
 }
 
-func (a *afterFollowup) Store() bool {
+func (a *action) Accept() bool {
 	if a.ok {
 		for i, r := range a.runes {
 			a.p.buffer.writeRune(r)
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func (a *afterFollowup) Store() bool {
 	return a.ok
 }
 
-func (a *afterFollowup) Ignore() bool {
+func (a *action) Skip() bool {
 	if a.ok {
 		for i, r := range a.runes {
 			a.p.advanceCursor(r, a.widths[i])
@@ -135,13 +135,20 @@ func (a *afterFollowup) Ignore() bool {
 	return a.ok
 }
 
-func (a *afterFollowup) Backup() bool {
+func (a *action) RouteTo(state StateFn) bool {
+	if a.ok {
+		a.p.RouteTo(state)
+	}
 	return a.ok
 }
 
-func (p *P) After(patterns ...interface{}) *afterFollowup {
+func (a *action) Stay() bool {
+	return a.ok
+}
+
+func (p *P) On(patterns ...interface{}) *action {
 	runes, widths, ok := p.Match(patterns...)
-	return &afterFollowup{
+	return &action{
 		p:      p,
 		runes:  runes,
 		widths: widths,
diff --git a/parsekit/parsekit.go b/parsekit/parsekit.go
index b669890..506d7f5 100644
--- a/parsekit/parsekit.go
+++ b/parsekit/parsekit.go
@@ -30,10 +30,13 @@ func (p *P) Next() (Item, *Error, bool) {
 				return i, nil, true
 			}
 		default:
+			// When implementing a parser, it is mandatory to provide
+			// a conscious state routing decision for every cycle.
+			// This helps preventing bugs during implementation.
 			if p.nextState == nil {
 				panic("No next state was scheduled for the parser")
 			}
-			p.state = p.nextState
+			p.state, p.nextState = p.nextState, nil
 			p.state(p)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/parsekit/staterouting.go b/parsekit/staterouting.go
index b6e0831..3182480 100644
--- a/parsekit/staterouting.go
+++ b/parsekit/staterouting.go
@@ -1,50 +1,40 @@
 package parsekit
 
-func (p *P) RouteRepeat() {
+func (p *P) Repeat() {
 	p.nextState = p.state
 	return
 }
 
-type RouteFollowup struct {
+func (p *P) RouteTo(state StateFn) *routeFollowup {
+	p.nextState = state
+	return &routeFollowup{p}
+}
+
+type routeFollowup struct {
 	p *P
 }
 
-func (p *P) RouteTo(state StateFn) *RouteFollowup {
-	p.nextState = state
-	return &RouteFollowup{p}
-}
-
-func (r *RouteFollowup) ThenTo(state StateFn) *RouteFollowup {
-	r.p.PushState(state)
+func (r *routeFollowup) ThenTo(state StateFn) *routeFollowup {
+	r.p.pushState(state)
 	return r
 }
 
-func (r *RouteFollowup) ThenReturnHere() {
-	r.p.PushState(r.p.state)
+func (r *routeFollowup) ThenReturnHere() {
+	r.p.pushState(r.p.state)
 }
 
 func (p *P) RouteReturn() {
-	p.nextState = p.PopState()
-}
-
-func (p *P) ToChildState(state StateFn) StateFn {
-	p.PushState(p.state)
-	return state
-}
-
-func (p *P) ToParentState() StateFn {
-	state := p.PopState()
-	return state
+	p.nextState = p.popState()
 }
 
 // PushState adds the state function to the state stack.
 // This is used for implementing nested parsing.
-func (p *P) PushState(state StateFn) {
+func (p *P) pushState(state StateFn) {
 	p.stack = append(p.stack, state)
 }
 
 // PopState pops the last pushed state from the state stack.
-func (p *P) PopState() StateFn {
+func (p *P) popState() StateFn {
 	last := len(p.stack) - 1
 	head, tail := p.stack[:last], p.stack[last]
 	p.stack = head
diff --git a/parsekit/types.go b/parsekit/types.go
index e07eb5d..a8d3500 100644
--- a/parsekit/types.go
+++ b/parsekit/types.go
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ type P struct {
 	err          *Error       // an error when lexing failed, retrieved by Error()
 }
 
-// StateFn represents the state of the parser as a function
-// that returns the next state.
+// StateFn defines the type of function that can be used to
+// handle a parser state.
 type StateFn func(*P)
 
 // ItemType represents the type of a parser Item.
diff --git a/parser/syn_comments.go b/parser/syn_comments.go
index e15cc89..0f00be1 100644
--- a/parser/syn_comments.go
+++ b/parser/syn_comments.go
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ func commentContents(p *parsekit.P) {
 		p.RouteReturn()
 	default:
 		p.AcceptAny()
-		p.RouteRepeat()
+		p.Repeat()
 	}
 }
diff --git a/parser/syn_key.go b/parser/syn_key.go
index 13a1fd4..4a3c363 100644
--- a/parser/syn_key.go
+++ b/parser/syn_key.go
@@ -5,12 +5,11 @@ import "github.com/mmakaay/toml/parsekit"
 // The primary building block of a TOML document is the key/value pair.
 func startKeyValuePair(p *parsekit.P) {
 	switch {
-	case p.After(whitespace + carriageReturn + newline).Ignore():
-		p.RouteRepeat()
-	case p.After(hash).Backup():
+	case p.On(whitespace + carriageReturn + newline).Skip():
+		p.Repeat()
+	case p.On(hash).Stay():
 		p.RouteTo(startComment).ThenReturnHere()
-	case p.After(startOfKey).Backup():
-		p.RouteTo(startKey)
+	case p.On(startOfKey).RouteTo(startKey):
 	default:
 		p.RouteTo(endOfFile)
 	}
@@ -18,9 +17,9 @@ func startKeyValuePair(p *parsekit.P) {
 
 // A key may be either bare, quoted or dotted.
 func startKey(p *parsekit.P) {
-	if p.After(bareKeyChars).Backup() {
-		p.RouteTo(startBareKey)
-	} else {
+	switch {
+	case p.On(bareKeyChars).RouteTo(startBareKey):
+	default:
 		p.UnexpectedInput("a valid key name")
 	}
 }
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ func endOfKeyOrDot(p *parsekit.P) {
 	// Whitespace around dot-separated parts is ignored, however,
 	// best practice is to not use any extraneous whitespace.
 	p.SkipConsecutive(whitespace)
-	if p.After(dot).Store() {
+	if p.On(dot).Accept() {
 		p.SkipConsecutive(whitespace)
 		p.EmitLiteral(ItemKeyDot)
 		p.RouteTo(startKey)
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@ func endOfKeyOrDot(p *parsekit.P) {
 // be broken over multiple lines).
 func startKeyAssignment(p *parsekit.P) {
 	p.SkipConsecutive(whitespace)
-	if p.After(equal).Store() {
+	if p.On(equal).Accept() {
 		p.EmitLiteral(ItemAssignment)
 		p.SkipConsecutive(whitespace)
 		p.RouteTo(startValue)
diff --git a/parser/syn_strings.go b/parser/syn_strings.go
index 910db83..90775b9 100644
--- a/parser/syn_strings.go
+++ b/parser/syn_strings.go
@@ -8,10 +8,8 @@ import "github.com/mmakaay/toml/parsekit"
 // * Basic strings are surrounded by quotation marks.
 func startString(p *parsekit.P) {
 	switch {
-	case p.After(doubleQuote3).Ignore():
-		p.RouteTo(startMultiLineBasicString)
-	case p.After(doubleQuote).Ignore():
-		p.RouteTo(startBasicString)
+	case p.On(doubleQuote3).RouteTo(startMultiLineBasicString):
+	case p.On(doubleQuote).RouteTo(startBasicString):
 	default:
 		p.UnexpectedInput("a string value")
 	}
@@ -35,22 +33,23 @@ func parseBasicString(p *parsekit.P) {
 	switch {
 	case p.AtEndOfFile():
 		p.UnexpectedEndOfFile("basic string token")
-	case p.After(backslash, validEscapeChars).Store() ||
-		p.After(shortUtf8Match).Store() ||
-		p.After(longUtf8Match).Store():
-		p.RouteRepeat()
-	case p.After(mustBeEscaped).Backup():
+	case p.On(backslash, validEscapeChars).Accept() ||
+		p.On(shortUtf8Match).Accept() ||
+		p.On(longUtf8Match).Accept():
+		p.Repeat()
+	case p.On(mustBeEscaped).Stay():
 		r, _, _ := p.Match(mustBeEscaped)
 		p.EmitError("Invalid character in basic string: %q (must be escaped)", r[0])
-	case p.After(backslash).Backup() || p.After(doubleQuote).Backup():
+	case p.On(backslash).Stay() || p.On(doubleQuote).Stay():
 		p.RouteReturn()
 	default:
 		p.AcceptAny()
-		p.RouteRepeat()
+		p.Repeat()
 	}
 }
 
 func startBasicString(p *parsekit.P) {
+	p.On(doubleQuote).Skip()
 	p.RouteTo(parseBasicString).ThenTo(basicStringSpecifics)
 }
 
@@ -61,13 +60,13 @@ func startBasicString(p *parsekit.P) {
 //    produce an error.""
 func basicStringSpecifics(p *parsekit.P) {
 	switch {
-	case p.After(doubleQuote).Ignore():
+	case p.On(doubleQuote).Skip():
 		if err := p.EmitInterpreted(ItemString); err != nil { // TODO testcase?
 			p.EmitError("Invalid data in string: %s", err)
 		} else {
 			p.RouteTo(startKeyValuePair)
 		}
-	case p.After(backslash).Backup():
+	case p.On(backslash).Stay():
 		p.EmitError("Invalid escape sequence")
 	default:
 		p.RouteTo(startBasicString)
@@ -75,5 +74,6 @@ func basicStringSpecifics(p *parsekit.P) {
 }
 
 func startMultiLineBasicString(p *parsekit.P) {
+	p.On(doubleQuote3).Skip()
 	p.EmitError("Not yet implemented")
 }