diff --git a/docs/changelog/v0.2.3.md b/docs/changelog/v0.2.3.md
index 0b78e8b..9170622 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/v0.2.3.md
+++ b/docs/changelog/v0.2.3.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 - `ModerationController` with full REST API for role assignment, kicks, bans, mutes, message deletion, and channel nuking
 - Mutes support optional duration (auto-expire) and blocked users cannot log in
 - Role claim included in JWT tokens; role badges shown in the online users panel
+- Kicked and banned users are forcibly disconnected in real time — server cleans up presence, broadcasts departures, and signals client disconnect
+- Works for both SignalR and IRC connections; client shows an error dialog with the reason
 
 ### Private Channels
 - Channels can be created as public or private via a checkbox in the Create Channel dialog
@@ -18,13 +20,13 @@
 
 ### OpenGraph Link Embeds
 - Messages containing URLs now show a rich preview below the message text
-- Server-side fetching: detects the first URL in a message, fetches the page, and parses OpenGraph meta tags (`og:title`, `og:description`, `og:image`, `og:site_name`)
-- OG images are converted to a small 24x12 colored ASCII thumbnail using the existing half-block renderer
-- Embeds are persisted in the database and included in channel history
-- TUI client renders embeds with a `▏` left border bar — site name and border in blue, title in white, description in gray, followed by the ASCII thumbnail
-- IRC gateway receives a text-only embed preview (site name, title, description) — no ASCII thumbnail to keep IRC output clean
+- Multiple URLs per message supported (up to 3) — each gets its own embed
+- Server-side fetching: detects URLs in a message, fetches each page, and parses OpenGraph meta tags (`og:title`, `og:description`, `og:site_name`)
+- Embeds are persisted in the database as a JSON array and included in channel history
+- TUI client renders embeds with a `▏` left border bar — site name and border in blue, title in white, description in gray; text word-wraps at actual viewport width
+- IRC gateway receives a text-only embed preview (site name, title, description)
 - Falls back to `<title>` tag when no OG tags are present; gracefully skips if no useful metadata is found
-- 3-second fetch timeout ensures message delivery is never significantly delayed
+- 5-second fetch timeout ensures message delivery is never significantly delayed
 - SSRF protection rejects private/loopback IP addresses before fetching
 
 ### Notification Sounds
@@ -67,13 +69,16 @@
 - Emoji-to-text shortcode conversion for consistent cross-platform rendering
 - Fixed `/send` and `/avatar` commands not handling file paths with spaces correctly, even when quoted
 - Server-side newline spam protection — consecutive blank/whitespace-only lines collapsed to 1 and total lines capped at 30
+- Fixed OG tag regex truncating descriptions containing apostrophes (e.g. `"HueByte's portfolio"` was cut to `"HueByte"`) — switched to backreference-based quote pairing
 
 ## Infrastructure
 
-- New `LinkEmbedService` on the server — URL detection, HTML fetching (first 64KB), OG tag parsing via regex, image thumbnail generation
-- `EmbedDto` record added to shared Core DTOs; `MessageDto` extended with optional `Embed` field (backward-compatible)
-- `EmbedJson` nullable column on the `Message` table stores serialized embed data (max 8KB)
+- New `LinkEmbedService` on the server — URL detection, HTML fetching (first 64KB), OG tag parsing via compiled regex
+- `EmbedDto` record added to shared Core DTOs; `MessageDto.Embeds` list for multiple embeds per message
+- `EmbedJson` nullable column on the `Message` table stores serialized embed data as JSON array (max 8KB); `DataMigrationService` auto-migrates old single-object format
 - Dedicated `"OgFetch"` named HttpClient with bot User-Agent header and 5-second timeout
+- `PresenceTracker.ForceRemoveUser()` for atomic user cleanup on kick/ban
+- `IChatBroadcaster.ForceDisconnectUserAsync()` and `IEchoHubClient.ForceDisconnect` for force-disconnect signaling
 - `NotificationSoundService` for cross-platform audio playback of embedded notification sounds
 - Startup `DataMigrationService` automatically converts old ANSI-format messages to the new color tag format on server boot, logging the count of migrated records
 - `EmojiHelper` utility for emoji-to-shortcode conversion
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Client/AppOrchestrator.cs b/src/EchoHub.Client/AppOrchestrator.cs
index 64b226f..1c9f65f 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Client/AppOrchestrator.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Client/AppOrchestrator.cs
@@ -347,6 +347,11 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
             await _apiClient!.NukeChannelAsync(channel);
         };
 
+        _commandHandler.OnTestSound += async () =>
+        {
+            await _notificationSound.PlayTestAsync();
+        };
+
         _commandHandler.OnQuit += () =>
         {
             InvokeUI(() => _app.RequestStop());
@@ -788,7 +793,6 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
             InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.AddMessage(message));
 
             if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(_currentUsername)
-                && !message.SenderUsername.Equals(_currentUsername, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
                 && message.Content.Contains($"@{_currentUsername}", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
             {
                 _ = _notificationSound.PlayAsync();
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Client/Commands/CommandHandler.cs b/src/EchoHub.Client/Commands/CommandHandler.cs
index 19df340..b2304dd 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Client/Commands/CommandHandler.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Client/Commands/CommandHandler.cs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ public class CommandHandler
     public event Func<string, Task>? OnUnmuteUser;
     public event Func<string, string, Task>? OnAssignRole;
     public event Func<Task>? OnNukeChannel;
+    public event Func<Task>? OnTestSound;
     public event Func<Task>? OnQuit;
     public event Func<Task>? OnHelp;
 
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ public class CommandHandler
             "unmute" => await HandleUnmute(args),
             "role" => await HandleRole(args),
             "nuke" => await HandleNuke(),
+            "test-sound" => await HandleTestSound(),
             "quit" or "exit" => await HandleQuit(),
             "help" or "?" => await HandleHelp(),
             _ => new CommandResult(true, $"Unknown command: /{command}. Type /help for available commands.", IsError: true),
@@ -319,6 +321,13 @@ public class CommandHandler
         return new CommandResult(true, "Nuking channel history...");
     }
 
+    private async Task<CommandResult> HandleTestSound()
+    {
+        if (OnTestSound is not null)
+            await OnTestSound();
+        return new CommandResult(true, "Playing notification sound...");
+    }
+
     private async Task<CommandResult> HandleHelp()
     {
         if (OnHelp is not null)
@@ -346,6 +355,7 @@ public class CommandHandler
               /unmute <user>                       - Unmute a user (Mod+)
               /role <user> <admin|mod|member>      - Assign role (Admin+)
               /nuke                                - Clear channel history (Mod+)
+              /test-sound                          - Play notification sound
               /quit                                - Exit the app
             """);
     }
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Client/Config/ClientConfig.cs b/src/EchoHub.Client/Config/ClientConfig.cs
index 25cdb45..80052a7 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Client/Config/ClientConfig.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Client/Config/ClientConfig.cs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public class ClientConfig
 
 public class NotificationConfig
 {
-    public bool Enabled { get; set; } = false;
+    public bool Enabled { get; set; } = true;
     public byte Volume { get; set; } = 30;
     public string? SoundFile { get; set; }
 }
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Client/Services/NotificationSoundService.cs b/src/EchoHub.Client/Services/NotificationSoundService.cs
index d9573c0..2118d40 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Client/Services/NotificationSoundService.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Client/Services/NotificationSoundService.cs
@@ -25,13 +25,29 @@ public class NotificationSoundService
         if (!_config.Enabled || _resolvedSoundPath is null)
             return;
 
+        await PlayInternal();
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Plays the notification sound regardless of the Enabled setting (for /test-sound).
+    /// </summary>
+    public async Task PlayTestAsync()
+    {
+        if (_resolvedSoundPath is null)
+            return;
+
+        await PlayInternal();
+    }
+
+    private async Task PlayInternal()
+    {
         try
         {
             if (_player.Playing)
                 await _player.Stop();
 
             await _player.SetVolume(_config.Volume);
-            await _player.Play(_resolvedSoundPath);
+            await _player.Play(_resolvedSoundPath!);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Client/UI/MainWindow.cs b/src/EchoHub.Client/UI/MainWindow.cs
index bf5f22b..804ef21 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Client/UI/MainWindow.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Client/UI/MainWindow.cs
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
         "/status", "/nick", "/color", "/theme", "/send",
         "/avatar", "/profile", "/servers", "/join", "/leave",
         "/topic", "/users", "/kick", "/ban", "/unban",
-        "/mute", "/unmute", "/role", "/nuke", "/quit", "/help"
+        "/mute", "/unmute", "/role", "/nuke", "/test-sound", "/quit", "/help"
     ];
 
     private readonly List<string> _channelNames = [];
@@ -923,8 +923,9 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
                 // Render link embeds if present
                 if (message.Embeds is { Count: > 0 })
                 {
+                    var chatWidth = _lastChatWidth > 0 ? _lastChatWidth : 80;
                     foreach (var embed in message.Embeds)
-                        lines.AddRange(FormatEmbed(embed, indent));
+                        lines.AddRange(FormatEmbed(embed, indent, chatWidth));
                 }
                 break;
         }
@@ -977,115 +978,45 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Format a link embed as indented chat lines with a left border bar,
-    /// optional description wrapping, and a small icon on the right (Discord-style).
-    /// Layout: ▏ {text column}  {icon column}
+    /// text at full width, and optional icon below (preview image).
+    /// Each line is pre-wrapped to fit chatWidth so ChatLine.Wrap won't break layout.
     /// </summary>
-    private static List<ChatLine> FormatEmbed(EmbedDto embed, string indent)
+    private static List<ChatLine> FormatEmbed(EmbedDto embed, string indent, int chatWidth)
     {
         var lines = new List<ChatLine>();
         const string border = "\u258f "; // ▏ + space
-        const int borderCols = 2; // ▏ = 1 col + space = 1 col
-        const int iconGap = 1; // space between text and icon
+        const int borderCols = 2;
+        int indentCols = indent.GetColumns();
+        int textWidth = chatWidth - indentCols - borderCols;
+        if (textWidth < 20) textWidth = 20;
 
-        // Parse icon lines if present
-        var iconLines = new List<string>();
-        int iconWidth = 0;
-        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.ImageAscii))
+        // Helper: create a bordered text line
+        void AddTextLine(string text, Attribute? color)
         {
-            foreach (var artLine in embed.ImageAscii.Split('\n'))
-            {
-                var trimmed = artLine.TrimEnd('\r');
-                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(trimmed))
-                    iconLines.Add(trimmed);
-            }
-            if (iconLines.Count > 0)
-            {
-                // Measure icon width from the first line (strip color tags for measurement)
-                var stripped = ChatLine.StripColorTags(iconLines[0]);
-                iconWidth = stripped.GetColumns();
-            }
+            lines.Add(new ChatLine(
+            [
+                new ChatSegment(indent, null),
+                new ChatSegment(border, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr),
+                new ChatSegment(text, color)
+            ]));
         }
 
-        bool hasIcon = iconLines.Count > 0 && iconWidth > 0;
-        int indentCols = indent.GetColumns();
-
-        // We don't know the terminal width at format time, so use a reasonable default
-        // for text wrapping. The ChatListSource.Render will handle final clipping.
-        const int estimatedWidth = 80;
-        int availableForText = estimatedWidth - indentCols - borderCols;
-        int textColWidth = hasIcon
-            ? availableForText - iconWidth - iconGap
-            : availableForText;
-        if (textColWidth < 20) textColWidth = 20;
-
-        // Collect all text rows (site name, title, wrapped description, URL)
-        var textRows = new List<(string Text, Attribute? Color)>();
-
+        // Site name
         if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.SiteName))
-            textRows.Add((embed.SiteName, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr));
+            AddTextLine(embed.SiteName, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr);
 
+        // Title
         if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.Title))
-            textRows.Add((embed.Title, ChatColors.EmbedTitleAttr));
+        {
+            foreach (var wrapped in WordWrap(embed.Title, textWidth))
+                AddTextLine(wrapped, ChatColors.EmbedTitleAttr);
+        }
 
-        // Word-wrap description
+        // Description (word-wrapped at full available width)
         if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.Description))
         {
-            foreach (var wrappedLine in WordWrap(embed.Description, textColWidth))
-                textRows.Add((wrappedLine, ChatColors.EmbedDescAttr));
-        }
-
-        // Dim URL at the bottom
-        textRows.Add((embed.Url, ChatColors.EmbedUrlAttr));
-
-        // Merge text rows with icon rows side-by-side
-        int totalLines = Math.Max(textRows.Count, iconLines.Count);
-        for (int i = 0; i < totalLines; i++)
-        {
-            var segments = new List<ChatSegment>();
-            segments.Add(new ChatSegment(indent, null));
-            segments.Add(new ChatSegment(border, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr));
-
-            if (i < textRows.Count)
-            {
-                var (text, color) = textRows[i];
-                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(text, color));
-
-                // Pad to align icon column
-                if (hasIcon && i < iconLines.Count)
-                {
-                    int textCols = text.GetColumns();
-                    int padding = textColWidth - textCols + iconGap;
-                    if (padding > 0)
-                        segments.Add(new ChatSegment(new string(' ', padding), null));
-                }
-            }
-            else if (hasIcon && i < iconLines.Count)
-            {
-                // No text row, pad the full text column + gap
-                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(new string(' ', textColWidth + iconGap), null));
-            }
-
-            // Append icon line
-            if (hasIcon && i < iconLines.Count)
-            {
-                var iconLine = iconLines[i];
-                if (ChatLine.HasColorTags(iconLine))
-                {
-                    // Build a composite: plain segments + colored icon
-                    var plainPart = new ChatLine(segments);
-                    var iconPart = ChatLine.FromColoredText(iconLine);
-                    var merged = new List<ChatSegment>(plainPart.Segments);
-                    merged.AddRange(iconPart.Segments);
-                    lines.Add(new ChatLine(merged));
-                    continue;
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    segments.Add(new ChatSegment(iconLine, null));
-                }
-            }
-
-            lines.Add(new ChatLine(segments));
+            foreach (var wrapped in WordWrap(embed.Description, textWidth))
+                AddTextLine(wrapped, ChatColors.EmbedDescAttr);
         }
 
         return lines;
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Core/Constants/HubConstants.cs b/src/EchoHub.Core/Constants/HubConstants.cs
index 7db4fff..024d956 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Core/Constants/HubConstants.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Core/Constants/HubConstants.cs
@@ -15,10 +15,8 @@ public static class HubConstants
     public const int AsciiArtHeightHalfBlock = 80;
 
     // Link embed constants
-    public const int EmbedIconWidth = 12;
-    public const int EmbedIconHeight = 6;
     public const int EmbedMaxDescriptionLength = 500;
     public const int EmbedMaxHtmlBytes = 64 * 1024; // 64 KB
-    public const int EmbedFetchTimeoutSeconds = 3;
+    public const int EmbedFetchTimeoutSeconds = 5;
     public const int EmbedMaxUrlsPerMessage = 3;
 }
diff --git a/src/EchoHub.Server/Services/LinkEmbedService.cs b/src/EchoHub.Server/Services/LinkEmbedService.cs
index 8d032cc..e424730 100644
--- a/src/EchoHub.Server/Services/LinkEmbedService.cs
+++ b/src/EchoHub.Server/Services/LinkEmbedService.cs
@@ -10,16 +10,13 @@ namespace EchoHub.Server.Services;
 public partial class LinkEmbedService
 {
     private readonly IHttpClientFactory _httpClientFactory;
-    private readonly ImageToAsciiService _asciiService;
     private readonly ILogger<LinkEmbedService> _logger;
 
     public LinkEmbedService(
         IHttpClientFactory httpClientFactory,
-        ImageToAsciiService asciiService,
         ILogger<LinkEmbedService> logger)
     {
         _httpClientFactory = httpClientFactory;
-        _asciiService = asciiService;
         _logger = logger;
     }
 
@@ -111,15 +108,7 @@ public partial class LinkEmbedService
         siteName = siteName is not null ? WebUtility.HtmlDecode(siteName) : null;
         description = description is not null ? WebUtility.HtmlDecode(description) : null;
 
-        // Attempt to fetch OG image as small icon
-        string? imageAscii = null;
-        var imageUrl = ogTags.GetValueOrDefault("image");
-        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(imageUrl))
-        {
-            imageAscii = await FetchImageThumbnailAsync(imageUrl, uri, cts.Token);
-        }
-
-        return new EmbedDto(siteName, title, description, imageAscii, url);
+        return new EmbedDto(siteName, title, description, null, url);
     }
 
     private static List<string> ExtractUrls(string content)
@@ -169,78 +158,26 @@ public partial class LinkEmbedService
         var tags = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
 
         // Match: <meta property="og:key" content="value" />
+        // Groups: 1=prop quote, 2=key, 3=content quote, 4=value
         foreach (Match match in OgTagRegex().Matches(html))
         {
-            var key = match.Groups[1].Value;
-            var value = match.Groups[2].Value;
+            var key = match.Groups[2].Value;
+            var value = match.Groups[4].Value;
             tags.TryAdd(key, value);
         }
 
         // Match reversed order: <meta content="value" property="og:key" />
+        // Groups: 1=content quote, 2=value, 3=prop quote, 4=key
         foreach (Match match in OgTagReversedRegex().Matches(html))
         {
-            var value = match.Groups[1].Value;
-            var key = match.Groups[2].Value;
+            var value = match.Groups[2].Value;
+            var key = match.Groups[4].Value;
             tags.TryAdd(key, value);
         }
 
         return tags;
     }
 
-    private async Task<string?> FetchImageThumbnailAsync(string imageUrl, Uri pageUri, CancellationToken ct)
-    {
-        try
-        {
-            // Resolve relative image URLs against the page URI
-            if (!Uri.TryCreate(imageUrl, UriKind.Absolute, out var imageUri))
-            {
-                if (!Uri.TryCreate(pageUri, imageUrl, out imageUri))
-                    return null;
-            }
-
-            if (imageUri.Scheme is not ("http" or "https"))
-                return null;
-
-            if (IsPrivateHost(imageUri))
-                return null;
-
-            var client = _httpClientFactory.CreateClient("OgFetch");
-            using var response = await client.GetAsync(imageUri, ct);
-
-            if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
-                return null;
-
-            var contentType = response.Content.Headers.ContentType?.MediaType;
-            if (contentType is null || !contentType.StartsWith("image/", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
-                return null;
-
-            await using var stream = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync(ct);
-
-            // Buffer into a MemoryStream for validation + conversion
-            using var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
-            await stream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream, ct);
-
-            if (memoryStream.Length == 0 || memoryStream.Length > HubConstants.MaxFileSizeBytes)
-                return null;
-
-            memoryStream.Position = 0;
-
-            if (!FileValidationHelper.IsValidImage(memoryStream))
-                return null;
-
-            memoryStream.Position = 0;
-
-            return _asciiService.ConvertToAscii(memoryStream,
-                HubConstants.EmbedIconWidth,
-                HubConstants.EmbedIconHeight);
-        }
-        catch (Exception ex)
-        {
-            _logger.LogDebug(ex, "Failed to fetch OG image thumbnail from {Url}", imageUrl);
-            return null;
-        }
-    }
-
     private static async Task<string> ReadLimitedAsync(HttpResponseMessage response, int maxBytes, CancellationToken ct)
     {
         await using var stream = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync(ct);
@@ -263,17 +200,17 @@ public partial class LinkEmbedService
         return encoding.GetString(buffer, 0, totalRead);
     }
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"https?://[^\s<>""')\]]+", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)]
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"https?://[^\s<>""')\]]+", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex UrlRegex();
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?property\s*=\s*[""']og:(\w+)[""'][^>]*?content\s*=\s*[""']([^""']*)[""'][^>]*/?>",
-        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline)]
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?property\s*=\s*([""'])og:(\w+)\1[^>]*?content\s*=\s*([""'])(.*?)\3[^>]*/?>",
+        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex OgTagRegex();
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?content\s*=\s*[""']([^""']*)[""'][^>]*?property\s*=\s*[""']og:(\w+)[""'][^>]*/?>",
-        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline)]
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?content\s*=\s*([""'])(.*?)\1[^>]*?property\s*=\s*([""'])og:(\w+)\3[^>]*/?>",
+        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex OgTagReversedRegex();
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"<title[^>]*>([^<]+)</title>", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)]
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<title[^>]*>([^<]+)</title>", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex TitleTagRegex();
 }