About two hours later I was permanently banned from r/MadeMeSmile for “self-promotion.”

I accepted that different communities have different rules.But then something even stranger happened.Soon afterward, a moderator from r/pics started going through my account. Not just the new post—many of my older painting posts disappeared as well. One after another. Then I was permanently banned there too.

Maybe it was the same moderator. Maybe it wasn’t. I honestly don’t know.

What surprised me wasn’t even the ban itself. It was realizing how much power individual moderators have over what millions of people are allowed to see. One decision can erase years of posts from a community and instantly cut off your ability to participate, even if those posts had been happily sitting there for months or years.I’m not saying moderators shouldn’t have rules. Communities need moderation.But it does make you wonder where the line is between protecting a community and allowing a single interpretation of the rules to completely reshape what people can share.

The funny part?

I wasn’t advertising anything in those posts. I wasn’t posting prices or asking anyone to buy anything. I was simply sharing my original paintings because I enjoy discussing art with strangers from around the world.

Anyway…

Here’s the painting that apparently caused all the trouble. 🎨

Books of 2026: WRITE THROUGH IT by Kate McKean.

This one has actually been on my radar since its Goodreads Giveaway Days a couple years ago. When I did not win it there, I figured I would wait for it to come out in paperback, because I prefer craft-adjacent books (like many other books) in paperback.

Two years later, however, it looks like it's not getting a paperback release, so!: Pulled the trigger when Mary Robinette Kowal held it up during her Patreon class as a delight (also, Kate McKean is based out of Howard Morhaim's literary agency, which is where dream agent resides. I feel like it's just a cool agency all around).

Can now confirm: McKean is in fact a delight! Hilarious and relatable and super knowledgeable and extremely reassuring (about what's "normal" and the Feelings Side of the Process). I charged through most of a thing of flaggies marking practical references as well as parts about the Emotional Turmoil(tm) that made me go "uuuugh, fiiiiiine."

when i have time again (it is looking to be maybe early next year?) I'll do a basic tutorial on the very old and very not user friendly software called Omegt.

There are "better" online cloud based stuff sure, but this bit of open source software has been around since the beginning of the internet, it will run offline. I will run on my old potato. It will open up a single text document with a million characters in it and not complain at all or lag because it works in segments. It doesn't need a subscription. It comes with server side capability so you can set up a server and do collaborative translation. It has glossary, autocomplete, fuzzy matches (matching current segment to previous translated segments) and it is just the best.

“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is available online, and it’s only four typewritten pages. Confession: I hadn’t read this until today. You may think, as I did, because you know the story through osmosis (as probably many people who are familiar with sci-fi do) you don’t need to read it. You would be wrong.

This website has collated stories that are available online. They all appear to be from free sources like Baen, Lightspeed, and Clarkesworld.

On Le Guin’s personal website there is a great deal of stuff: poetry (original and in translation), book excerpts, interviews, and writing advice. 

She blogged pretty extensively for many years, and there’s some lovely stuff in there. Her penultimate entry was about her cat Pard and the Time Machine. (just Ctrl + F for “pard” on the archive index. Trust me.)

This piece will be displayed at Boji Gallery in Shibuya, Japan starting July 18 in their summer themed exhibition! I’m so excited to have my work displayed in an area that shaped the fashion that inspires so much of my art!

This watercolor piece was inspired by my childhood summer vacations and the colorful souvenirs I would collect! 🐠🩷

Are we liking the color palette? Idk i feel like the other one was better? What do you all think? Im thinking of changing it🤔 (maggots for brain is still playing in the bg)