diff --git a/src/lib/utils/markup/advancedMarkupParser.ts b/src/lib/utils/markup/advancedMarkupParser.ts
index 8777390..e05d970 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/markup/advancedMarkupParser.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/markup/advancedMarkupParser.ts
@@ -233,24 +233,7 @@ function processFootnotes(content: string): string {
   }
 }
 
-/**
- * Process blockquotes
- */
-function processBlockquotes(content: string): string {
-  // Match blockquotes that might span multiple lines
-  const blockquoteRegex = /^>[ \t]?(.+(?:\n>[ \t]?.+)*)/gm;
-
-  return content.replace(blockquoteRegex, (match) => {
-    // Remove the '>' prefix from each line and preserve line breaks
-    const text = match
-      .split("\n")
-      .map((line) => line.replace(/^>[ \t]?/, ""))
-      .join("\n")
-      .trim();
-
-    return `<blockquote class="pl-4 border-l-4 border-gray-300 dark:border-gray-600 my-4 whitespace-pre-wrap">${text}</blockquote>`;
-  });
-}
+
 
 /**
  * Process code blocks by finding consecutive code lines and preserving their content
@@ -689,6 +672,8 @@ function isLaTeXContent(content: string): boolean {
   return latexPatterns.some((pattern) => pattern.test(trimmed));
 }
 
+
+
 /**
  * Parse markup text with advanced formatting
  */
@@ -706,9 +691,10 @@ export async function parseAdvancedmarkup(text: string): Promise<string> {
     // Step 3: Process LaTeX math expressions ONLY within inline code blocks (legacy support)
     processedText = processMathExpressions(processedText);
 
-    // Step 4: Process block-level elements (tables, blockquotes, headings, horizontal rules)
+    // Step 4: Process block-level elements (tables, headings, horizontal rules)
+    // AI-NOTE: 2025-01-24 - Removed duplicate processBlockquotes call to fix image rendering issues
+    // Blockquotes are now processed only by parseBasicmarkup to avoid double-processing conflicts
     processedText = processTables(processedText);
-    processedText = processBlockquotes(processedText);
     processedText = processHeadings(processedText);
     processedText = processHorizontalRules(processedText);
 
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/markup/basicMarkupParser.ts b/src/lib/utils/markup/basicMarkupParser.ts
index 043680a..dddd31d 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/markup/basicMarkupParser.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/markup/basicMarkupParser.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ import {
 // Links and media
 const MARKUP_LINK = /\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g;
 const MARKUP_IMAGE = /!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g;
-const DIRECT_LINK = /(?<!["'=])(https?:\/\/[^\s<>"]+)(?!["'])/g;
+// AI-NOTE: 2025-01-24 - Added negative lookbehind (?<!\]\() to prevent processing URLs in markdown syntax
+const DIRECT_LINK = /(?<!["'=])(?<!\]\()(https?:\/\/[^\s<>"]+)(?!["'])/g;
 
 
 
@@ -156,8 +157,11 @@ function processBasicFormatting(content: string): string {
     processedText = replaceAlexandriaNostrLinks(processedText);
 
     // Process markup images first
-    processedText = processedText.replace(MARKUP_IMAGE, (_match, alt, url) => {
-      return processImageWithReveal(url, alt);
+    processedText = processedText.replace(MARKUP_IMAGE, (match, alt, url) => {
+      // Clean the URL and alt text
+      const cleanUrl = url.trim();
+      const cleanAlt = alt ? alt.trim() : "";
+      return processImageWithReveal(cleanUrl, cleanAlt);
     });
 
     // Process markup links
@@ -242,9 +246,10 @@ export async function parseBasicmarkup(text: string): Promise<string> {
       .map((para) => para.trim())
       .filter((para) => para.length > 0)
       .map((para) => {
-        // Skip wrapping if para already contains block-level elements or math blocks
+        // AI-NOTE: 2025-01-24 - Added img tag to skip wrapping to prevent image rendering issues
+        // Skip wrapping if para already contains block-level elements, math blocks, or images
         if (
-          /(<div[^>]*class=["'][^"']*math-block[^"']*["'])|<(div|h[1-6]|blockquote|table|pre|ul|ol|hr)/i.test(
+          /(<div[^>]*class=["'][^"']*math-block[^"']*["'])|<(div|h[1-6]|blockquote|table|pre|ul|ol|hr|img)/i.test(
             para,
           )
         ) {
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/markup/embeddedMarkupParser.ts b/src/lib/utils/markup/embeddedMarkupParser.ts
index 548f4ba..ab34ddf 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/markup/embeddedMarkupParser.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/markup/embeddedMarkupParser.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ import {
 // Links and media
 const MARKUP_LINK = /\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g;
 const MARKUP_IMAGE = /!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g;
-const DIRECT_LINK = /(?<!["'=])(https?:\/\/[^\s<>"]+)(?!["'])/g;
+// AI-NOTE: 2025-01-24 - Added negative lookbehind (?<!\]\() to prevent processing URLs in markdown syntax
+const DIRECT_LINK = /(?<!["'=])(?<!\]\()(https?:\/\/[^\s<>"]+)(?!["'])/g;
 
 // Add this helper function near the top:
 function replaceAlexandriaNostrLinks(text: string): string {
@@ -149,8 +150,11 @@ function processBasicFormatting(content: string): string {
     processedText = replaceAlexandriaNostrLinks(processedText);
 
     // Process markup images first
-    processedText = processedText.replace(MARKUP_IMAGE, (_match, alt, url) => {
-      return processImageWithReveal(url, alt);
+    processedText = processedText.replace(MARKUP_IMAGE, (match, alt, url) => {
+      // Clean the URL and alt text
+      const cleanUrl = url.trim();
+      const cleanAlt = alt ? alt.trim() : "";
+      return processImageWithReveal(cleanUrl, cleanAlt);
     });
 
     // Process markup links
@@ -234,9 +238,10 @@ export async function parseEmbeddedMarkup(text: string, nestingLevel: number = 0
       .map((para) => para.trim())
       .filter((para) => para.length > 0)
       .map((para) => {
-        // Skip wrapping if para already contains block-level elements or math blocks
+        // AI-NOTE: 2025-01-24 - Added img tag to skip wrapping to prevent image rendering issues
+        // Skip wrapping if para already contains block-level elements, math blocks, or images
         if (
-          /(<div[^>]*class=["'][^"']*math-block[^"']*["'])|<(div|h[1-6]|blockquote|table|pre|ul|ol|hr)/i.test(
+          /(<div[^>]*class=["'][^"']*math-block[^"']*["'])|<(div|h[1-6]|blockquote|table|pre|ul|ol|hr|img)/i.test(
             para,
           )
         ) {