diff --git a/bridges/TapasBridge.php b/bridges/TapasBridge.php
index 19995a23..ea6a7ff6 100644
--- a/bridges/TapasBridge.php
+++ b/bridges/TapasBridge.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class TapasBridge extends FeedExpander
             $this->id = $html->find('meta[property$=":url"]', 0)->content;
             $this->id = str_ireplace(['tapastic://series/', '/info'], '', $this->id);
         }
-        $this->collectExpandableDatas($this->getURI());
+        $this->collectExpandableDatas($this->getURI(), 10);
     }
 
     protected function parseItem(array $item)
@@ -55,9 +55,8 @@ class TapasBridge extends FeedExpander
 
         if ($this->getInput('extend_content')) {
             $html = getSimpleHTMLDOM($item['uri']);
-            if (!$item['content']) {
-                $item['content'] = '';
-            }
+            $item['content'] = $item['content'] ?? '';
+
             if ($html->find('article.main__body', 0)) {
                 foreach ($html->find('article', 0)->find('img') as $line) {
                     $item['content'] .= '<img src="' . $line->{'data-src'} . '">';
diff --git a/lib/FeedExpander.php b/lib/FeedExpander.php
index f9cff900..361df4d9 100644
--- a/lib/FeedExpander.php
+++ b/lib/FeedExpander.php
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ abstract class FeedExpander extends BridgeAbstract
         if ($xmlString === '') {
             throw new \Exception(sprintf('Unable to parse xml from `%s` because we got the empty string', $url), 10);
         }
+        // prepare/massage the xml to make it more acceptable
+        $badStrings = [
+            '&raquo;',
+        ];
+        $xmlString = str_replace($badStrings, '', $xmlString);
         $feedParser = new FeedParser();
         $this->feed = $feedParser->parseFeed($xmlString);
         $items = array_slice($this->feed['items'], 0, $maxItems);
diff --git a/lib/FeedParser.php b/lib/FeedParser.php
index 0a5b4679..7c8a5232 100644
--- a/lib/FeedParser.php
+++ b/lib/FeedParser.php
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ final class FeedParser
         $xmlErrors = libxml_get_errors();
         libxml_use_internal_errors(false);
         if ($xml === false) {
-            throw new \Exception('Unable to parse xml');
+            if ($xmlErrors) {
+                $firstXmlErrorMessage = $xmlErrors[0]->message;
+            }
+            throw new \Exception(sprintf('Unable to parse xml: %s', $firstXmlErrorMessage ?? ''));
         }
         $feed = [
             'title'     => null,
@@ -123,7 +126,6 @@ final class FeedParser
     {
         // Primary data is compatible to 0.91 with some additional data
         $item = $this->parseRss091Item($feedItem);
-
         $namespaces = $feedItem->getNamespaces(true);
         if (isset($namespaces['dc'])) {
             $dc = $feedItem->children($namespaces['dc']);
@@ -192,7 +194,14 @@ final class FeedParser
 
     public function parseRss091Item(\SimpleXMLElement $feedItem): array
     {
-        $item = [];
+        $item = [
+            'uri'           => null,
+            'title'         => null,
+            'content'       => null,
+            'timestamp'     => null,
+            'author'        => null,
+            'enclosures'    => [],
+        ];
         if (isset($feedItem->link)) {
             // todo: trim uri
             $item['uri'] = (string)$feedItem->link;