I've managed to figure out what causes the softlock and I've put a comment in place to help avoid it now :]! Really sad I couldn't get that bug ironed out before the deadline tho :'] (did solve it though, but gamejam rules so cant upload patch).
Glad to hear you really enjoyed the visuals and level design x] it means a lot to me!
Ah yes, the tongue mechanic does have it 's janks as ya mentioned correctly, I probably should've made places you couldn't reach more obvious now that you mention it <(＿ ＿)> . Thank you so much for the feedback, it means a lot! x]
And also thank you so much for playing! XD