diff --git a/character_info.h b/character_info.h
index 7c22499..7f663b3 100644
--- a/character_info.h
+++ b/character_info.h
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ CharacterGen characters[] = {
 			"The player is currently holding a tripod\n"
 			"Edeline: ACT_none \"That tripod will be the decisive factor in your victory\"\n"
 			"\n"
-			"The NPC you will be acting as is named Edeline. She is the master of the future, the star reader. Both are self-given titles, but her ability to predict the future has garnered attention from many who live in Worchen. However, some have called her “unreliable” at times and her predictions can at times be either cryptic or broadly interpreted.",
+			"The NPC you will be acting as is named Edeline. She is the master of the future, the star reader. Both are self-given titles, but her ability to predict the future has garnered attention from many who live in Worchen. However, some have called her 'unreliable' at times and her predictions can at times be either cryptic or broadly interpreted.",
 	},
 	{
 		.name = "Death",
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index c8e513f..2029305 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -2739,19 +2739,17 @@ void frame(void)
 
 										// parse out from the sentence NPC action and dialog
 										Perception out = { 0 };
-#ifdef DO_CHATGPT_PARSING
-										bool text_was_well_formatted = parse_chatgpt_response(it, sentence_str, &out);
-#else
-										bool text_was_well_formatted = parse_ai_response(it, sentence_str, &out);
-#endif
 
-										if (text_was_well_formatted)
+										ChatgptParse parse_response = parse_chatgpt_response(it, sentence_str, &out);
+
+										if (parse_response.succeeded)
 										{
 											process_perception(it, out, player, &gs);
 										}
 										else
 										{
-											it->perceptions_dirty = true; // on poorly formatted AI, just retry request.
+											process_perception(it, (Perception){.type = ErrorMessage, .error = parse_response.error_message}, player, &gs);
+											it->perceptions_dirty = true; // on poorly formatted AI, just retry request. Explain to it why it's wrong. Adapt, improve, overcome. Time stops for nothing!
 										}
 
 										EM_ASM( {
diff --git a/makeprompt.h b/makeprompt.h
index 7d09c6d..4ddb85c 100644
--- a/makeprompt.h
+++ b/makeprompt.h
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ Escaped escape_for_json(const char *s)
 typedef enum PerceptionType
 {
 	Invalid, // so that zero value in training structs means end of perception
+	ErrorMessage, // when chatgpt gives a response that we can't parse, explain to it why and retry. Can also log parse errors for training
 	PlayerAction,
 	PlayerDialog,
 	NPCDialog, // includes an npc action in every npc dialog. So it's often ACT_none
@@ -87,6 +88,9 @@ typedef struct Perception
 	ItemKind given_item; // valid in player action and enemy action when the kind is such that there is an item to be given
 	union
 	{
+		// ErrorMessage
+		Sentence error;
+
 		// player action
 		struct
 		{
@@ -505,6 +509,10 @@ void process_perception(Entity *happened_to_npc, Perception p, Entity *player, G
 			assert(!actions[p.npc_action_type].takes_argument);
 		}
 	}
+	else if(p.type == ErrorMessage)
+	{
+		Log("Failed to parse chatgippity sentence because: '%s'\n", p.error.data);
+	}
 	else
 	{
 		assert(false);
@@ -609,6 +617,25 @@ void dump_json_node(PromptBuff *into, MessageType type, const char *content)
 	dump_json_node_trailing(into, type, content, true);
 }
 
+// returns a string like `ITEM_one, ITEM_two`
+Sentence item_string(Entity *e)
+{
+	Sentence to_return = {0};
+	BUFF_ITER_I(ItemKind, &e->held_items, i)
+	{
+		printf_buff(&to_return, "ITEM_%s", items[*it].enum_name);
+		if (i == e->held_items.cur_index - 1)
+		{
+			printf_buff(&to_return, "");
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			printf_buff(&to_return, ", ");
+		}
+	}
+	return to_return;
+}
+
 // outputs json
 void generate_chatgpt_prompt(Entity *it, PromptBuff *into)
 {
@@ -652,7 +679,13 @@ void generate_chatgpt_prompt(Entity *it, PromptBuff *into)
 		MessageType sent_type = 0;
 		typedef BUFF(char, 1024) DialogNode;
 		DialogNode cur_node = { 0 };
-		if (it->type == PlayerAction)
+		if (it->type == ErrorMessage)
+		{
+			assert(it->error.cur_index > 0);
+			printf_buff(&cur_node, "ERROR, YOU SAID SOMETHING WRONG: The program can't parse what you said because: %s", it->error.data);
+			sent_type = MSG_USER;
+		}
+		else if (it->type == PlayerAction)
 		{
 			assert(it->player_action_type < ARRLEN(actions));
 			printf_buff(&cur_node, "Player: %s", percept_action_str(*it, it->player_action_type).data);
@@ -748,19 +781,7 @@ void generate_chatgpt_prompt(Entity *it, PromptBuff *into)
 
 	if(e->held_items.cur_index > 0)
 	{
-		printf_buff(&latest_state_node, "\nThe NPC you're acting as, %s, has these items in their inventory: [", characters[it->npc_kind].name);
-		BUFF_ITER_I(ItemKind, &e->held_items, i)
-		{
-			printf_buff(&latest_state_node, "ITEM_%s", items[*it].enum_name);
-			if (i == e->held_items.cur_index - 1)
-			{
-				printf_buff(&latest_state_node, "]\n");
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				printf_buff(&latest_state_node, ", ");
-			}
-		}
+		printf_buff(&latest_state_node, "\nThe NPC you're acting as, %s, has these items in their inventory: [%s]", characters[it->npc_kind].name, item_string(it).data);
 	}
 	else
 	{
@@ -933,8 +954,16 @@ bool char_in_str(char c, const char *str)
 	return false;
 }
 
-bool parse_chatgpt_response(Entity *it, char *sentence_str, Perception *out)
+typedef struct
 {
+	bool succeeded;
+	Sentence error_message;
+} ChatgptParse;
+
+ChatgptParse parse_chatgpt_response(Entity *it, char *sentence_str, Perception *out)
+{
+	ChatgptParse to_return = {0};
+
 	*out = (Perception) { 0 };
 	out->type = NPCDialog;
 
@@ -957,17 +986,16 @@ bool parse_chatgpt_response(Entity *it, char *sentence_str, Perception *out)
 
 	if (!found_action)
 	{
-		Log("Could not find action associated with string `%s`\n", action_string.data);
+		printf_buff(&to_return.error_message, "Could not find action associated with parsed 'ACT_' string `%s`\n", action_string.data);
 		out->npc_action_type = ACT_none;
-
-		return false;
+		return to_return;
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		SmallTextChunk dialog_str = { 0 };
 		if (actions[out->npc_action_type].takes_argument)
 		{
-#define EXPECT(chr, val) if (chr != val) { Log("Improperly formatted sentence_str `%s`, expected %c but got %c\n", sentence_str, val, chr); return false; }
+#define EXPECT(chr, val) if (chr != val) { printf_buff(&to_return.error_message, "Improperly formatted sentence, expected character '%c' but got '%c'\n", sentence_str, val, chr); return to_return; }
 
 			EXPECT(*sentence_str, '(');
 			sentence_str += 1;
@@ -1004,18 +1032,18 @@ bool parse_chatgpt_response(Entity *it, char *sentence_str, Perception *out)
 				}
 				if (!found)
 				{
-					Log("Couldn't find item in inventory of NPC to give with item string %s\n", argument.data);
-					return false;
+					printf_buff(&to_return.error_message, "Couldn't find item in the inventory of the NPC to give. You said `%s`, but you have [%s] in your inventory \n", argument.data, item_string(it).data);
+					return to_return;
 				}
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				Log("Don't know how to handle argument in action of type %s\n", actions[out->npc_action_type].name);
+				printf_buff(&to_return.error_message, "Don't know how to handle argument in action of type `%s`\n", actions[out->npc_action_type].name);
 #ifdef DEVTOOLS
 				// not sure if this should never happen or not, need more sleep...
 				assert(false);
 #endif
-				return false;
+				return to_return;
 			}
 
 			EXPECT(*sentence_str, ')');
@@ -1029,17 +1057,18 @@ bool parse_chatgpt_response(Entity *it, char *sentence_str, Perception *out)
 		sentence_str += get_until(&dialog_str, sentence_str, "\"\n");
 		if (dialog_str.cur_index >= ARRLEN(out->npc_dialog.data))
 		{
-			Log("Dialog string `%s` too big to fit in sentence size %d\n", dialog_str.data,
+			printf_buff(&to_return.error_message, "Dialog string `%s` too big to fit in sentence size %d\n", dialog_str.data,
 			    (int) ARRLEN(out->npc_dialog.data));
-			return false;
+			return to_return;
 		}
 
 		memcpy(out->npc_dialog.data, dialog_str.data, dialog_str.cur_index);
 		out->npc_dialog.cur_index = dialog_str.cur_index;
 
-		return true;
-
+		to_return.succeeded = true;
+		return to_return;
 	}
 
-	return false;
+	to_return.succeeded = false;
+	return to_return;
 }