diff --git a/assets/styles/app.css b/assets/styles/app.css
index cf9cc2f..979e5e0 100644
--- a/assets/styles/app.css
+++ b/assets/styles/app.css
@@ -513,6 +513,72 @@ footer a {
     background-color: var(--color-secondary);
 }
 
+/* Author link + small Nostr profile picture (NIP-01 `picture`) */
+.user-badge {
+    display: inline-flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    gap: 0.4em;
+    vertical-align: middle;
+    text-decoration: none;
+}
+
+.user-badge:hover {
+    text-decoration: underline;
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar {
+    display: inline-block;
+    width: 1.75rem;
+    height: 1.75rem;
+    border-radius: 50%;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    flex-shrink: 0;
+    box-shadow: 0 0 0 1px var(--color-border);
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar--wrap {
+    position: relative;
+    vertical-align: middle;
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar-img {
+    position: relative;
+    z-index: 1;
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 100%;
+    max-width: none;
+    object-fit: cover;
+    object-position: center;
+    display: block;
+    border-radius: 50%;
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar-img.is-broken {
+    display: none;
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar-fallback {
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    z-index: 0;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    border-radius: 50%;
+    overflow: hidden;
+}
+
+.user-badge__avatar--generated .pubkey-avatar-svg,
+.user-badge__avatar-fallback .pubkey-avatar-svg {
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 100%;
+    display: block;
+}
+
+.user-badge__name {
+    line-height: 1.2;
+}
+
 .avatar {
     width: 24px;         /* Adjust the size as needed */
     height: 24px;        /* Adjust the size as needed */
diff --git a/assets/styles/article.css b/assets/styles/article.css
index 856ff1d..ce7a8d9 100644
--- a/assets/styles/article.css
+++ b/assets/styles/article.css
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
     margin-top: 30px;
 }
 
+.article-main img {
+    max-width: 100%;
+    height: auto;
+    display: block;
+    margin: 1.25rem auto;
+}
+
 .article-main h2, .article-main h3,
 .article-main h4, .article-main h5, .article-main h6 {
     margin-top: 2em;
@@ -30,13 +37,20 @@
 .byline {
     display: flex;
     justify-content: space-between;
-    align-items: baseline;
+    align-items: center;
     margin: 2rem 0;
     padding-top: 0.5rem;
     border-top: 1px solid var(--color-border);
     font-size: 1rem;
 }
 
+.byline__author {
+    display: inline-flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    flex-wrap: wrap;
+    gap: 0.35em;
+}
+
 blockquote {
     border-left: 6px solid var(--color-bg-light);
     padding-left: 3px;
diff --git a/src/Service/NostrLinkParser.php b/src/Service/NostrLinkParser.php
index dab92ab..4ab8c1d 100644
--- a/src/Service/NostrLinkParser.php
+++ b/src/Service/NostrLinkParser.php
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ readonly class NostrLinkParser
                         ]);
                     }
                 }
+
+                // Inline image URLs are already rendered in the body; skip OG/footer preview for them.
+                if ($nostrId === null && $this->isDirectImageUrl($url)) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 $links[] = [
                     'type' => $nostrType ?? 'url',
                     'identifier' => $nostrId,
@@ -69,6 +75,16 @@ readonly class NostrLinkParser
         return $links;
     }
 
+    private function isDirectImageUrl(string $url): bool
+    {
+        // Ends in image extension, or CDN style `…/name.jpg/…` (thumb, width, etc.)
+        if (1 === preg_match('~\.(?:jpe?g|png|gif|webp|avif)(?:\?[^#]*)?(?:#.*)?$~i', $url)) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        return 1 === preg_match('~\.(?:jpe?g|png|gif|webp|avif)/~i', $url);
+    }
+
     private function parseBareNostrIdentifiers(string $content): array
     {
         $links = [];
diff --git a/src/Twig/Components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.php b/src/Twig/Components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.php
index b0c629a..0497b31 100644
--- a/src/Twig/Components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.php
+++ b/src/Twig/Components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.php
@@ -3,30 +3,41 @@
 namespace App\Twig\Components\Molecules;
 
 use App\Service\CacheService;
+use App\Util\PubkeyAvatarSvg;
 use swentel\nostr\Key\Key;
 use Symfony\UX\TwigComponent\Attribute\AsTwigComponent;
 
 #[AsTwigComponent]
 final class UserFromNpub
 {
-    public string $pubkey;
+    public string $pubkey = '';
+
     public string $npub;
+
     public $user = null;
 
+    public string $fallbackSvg = '';
+
     public function __construct(private readonly CacheService $cacheService)
     {
     }
 
     public function mount(string $ident): void
     {
-        // if npub doesn't start with 'npub' then assume it's a hex pubkey
+        $keys = new Key();
         if (!str_starts_with($ident, 'npub')) {
-            $keys = new Key();
             $this->pubkey = $ident;
             $this->npub = $keys->convertPublicKeyToBech32($ident);
         } else {
             $this->npub = $ident;
+            $this->pubkey = $keys->convertToHex($ident);
         }
+
         $this->user = $this->cacheService->getMetadata($this->npub);
+
+        $seed = (\strlen($this->pubkey) === 64 && ctype_xdigit($this->pubkey))
+            ? $this->pubkey
+            : hash('sha256', $this->npub, false);
+        $this->fallbackSvg = PubkeyAvatarSvg::generate($seed);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Util/CommonMark/Converter.php b/src/Util/CommonMark/Converter.php
index 3c1284e..924e915 100644
--- a/src/Util/CommonMark/Converter.php
+++ b/src/Util/CommonMark/Converter.php
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ readonly class Converter
                 'symbol' => '§',
             ],
             'autolink' => [
-                'allowed_protocols' => ['https'], // defaults to ['https', 'http', 'ftp']
-                'default_protocol' => 'https', // defaults to 'http'
+                'allowed_protocols' => ['https', 'http'],
+                'default_protocol' => 'https',
             ],
             'embed' => [
                 'adapter' => new OscaroteroEmbedAdapter(), // See the "Adapter" documentation below
@@ -81,7 +81,32 @@ readonly class Converter
         $converter = new MarkdownConverter($environment);
         $content = html_entity_decode($markdown);
 
-        return $converter->convert($content);
+        $html = (string) $converter->convert($content);
+
+        return $this->rewriteAutolinkedImageLinks($html);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * UrlAutolinkParser turns bare URLs into <a href="U">U</a>. If U is an image URL, show an img.
+     * Covers cached HTML from before RawImageLinkParser priority fix and edge cases where autolink still wins.
+     */
+    private function rewriteAutolinkedImageLinks(string $html): string
+    {
+        return (string) preg_replace_callback(
+            '#<a\b[^>]*\bhref="([^"]+)"[^>]*>\s*\1\s*</a>#i',
+            static function (array $m): string {
+                $url = $m[1];
+                if (preg_match('~\.(?:jpe?g|png|gif|webp|avif)(?:\?[^#]*)?(?:#.*)?$~i', $url) !== 1) {
+                    return $m[0];
+                }
+
+                $safe = htmlspecialchars($url, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE, 'UTF-8');
+
+                return '<img src="' . $safe . '" alt="" loading="lazy" decoding="async" />';
+            },
+            $html
+        );
     }
 
 }
+
diff --git a/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkExtension.php b/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkExtension.php
index 049b247..218f819 100644
--- a/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkExtension.php
+++ b/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkExtension.php
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class RawImageLinkExtension implements ExtensionInterface
 {
     public function register(EnvironmentBuilderInterface $environment): void
     {
-        $environment->addInlineParser(new RawImageLinkParser());
+        // UrlAutolinkParser uses default priority 0; run first so GIF/JPEG URLs become <img>, not <a>.
+        $environment->addInlineParser(new RawImageLinkParser(), 1000);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkParser.php b/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkParser.php
index ad89224..4439082 100644
--- a/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkParser.php
+++ b/src/Util/CommonMark/ImagesExtension/RawImageLinkParser.php
@@ -1,34 +1,47 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace App\Util\CommonMark\ImagesExtension;
 
-use League\CommonMark\Node\Block\Paragraph;
-use League\CommonMark\Parser\Inline\InlineParserInterface;
 use League\CommonMark\Extension\CommonMark\Node\Inline\Image;
-use League\CommonMark\Extension\CommonMark\Node\Inline\SoftBreak;
+use League\CommonMark\Parser\Inline\InlineParserInterface;
 use League\CommonMark\Parser\Inline\InlineParserMatch;
 use League\CommonMark\Parser\InlineParserContext;
 
-class RawImageLinkParser implements InlineParserInterface
+/**
+ * Bare image URLs (https://…/.png etc.) → inline &lt;img&gt;.
+ *
+ * Must register with priority &gt; UrlAutolinkParser (0) so we run first; only
+ * inline nodes may be appended (never wrap in Paragraph — that breaks the AST
+ * and lets Autolink turn the URL into a link instead).
+ */
+final class RawImageLinkParser implements InlineParserInterface
 {
+    /** Same boundary rules as League\CommonMark\Extension\Autolink\UrlAutolinkParser */
+    private const ALLOWED_PREVIOUS = [null, ' ', "\t", "\n", "\x0b", "\x0c", "\r", '*', '_', '~', '('];
+
     public function getMatchDefinition(): InlineParserMatch
     {
-        // Match URLs ending with an image extension
-        return InlineParserMatch::regex('https?:\/\/[^\s]+?\.(?:jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp)(?=\s|$)');
+        // Case-insensitive extension; optional query/hash (CDN, Tenor, etc.)
+        return InlineParserMatch::regex(
+            '(?i)https?:\/\/[^\s<>\[\]()"\']+\.(?:jpe?g|png|gif|webp|avif)(?:\?[^\s<>\[\]()"\']*)?(?:#[^\s<>\[\]()"\']*)?(?=\s|$|[\])},;:!?\'"])'
+        );
     }
 
     public function parse(InlineParserContext $inlineContext): bool
     {
         $cursor = $inlineContext->getCursor();
+        if (! \in_array($cursor->peek(-1), self::ALLOWED_PREVIOUS, true)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
         $match = $inlineContext->getFullMatch();
-        // Create an <img> element instead of a text link
-        $image = new Image($match, '');
-        $paragraph = new Paragraph();
-        $paragraph->appendChild($image);
-        $inlineContext->getContainer()->appendChild($paragraph);
-
-        // Advance the cursor to consume the matched part (important!)
-        $cursor->advanceBy(strlen($match));
+        $path = parse_url($match, PHP_URL_PATH);
+        $label = (\is_string($path) && $path !== '') ? basename($path) : '';
+
+        $inlineContext->getContainer()->appendChild(new Image($match, $label));
+        $cursor->advanceBy(\strlen($match));
 
         return true;
     }
diff --git a/src/Util/PubkeyAvatarSvg.php b/src/Util/PubkeyAvatarSvg.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cee0d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Util/PubkeyAvatarSvg.php
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App\Util;
+
+/**
+ * Deterministic soft avatar from a hex pubkey (or any hex-ish seed).
+ * Inline SVG uses theme CSS variables (brand, primary, surfaces).
+ */
+final class PubkeyAvatarSvg
+{
+    public static function generate(string $hexSeed): string
+    {
+        $hex = strtolower(preg_replace('/[^0-9a-f]/', '', $hexSeed) ?? '');
+        if ($hex === '') {
+            $hex = hash('sha256', 'empty', false);
+        }
+
+        $bin = hex2bin(\strlen($hex) >= 64 ? substr($hex, 0, 64) : hash('sha256', $hex, false));
+        if ($bin === false || $bin === '') {
+            $bin = hash('sha256', $hex, true);
+        }
+
+        /** @var list<int> $b */
+        $b = array_values(unpack('C*', substr($bin, 0, 32)));
+        while (\count($b) < 32) {
+            $b[] = 0;
+        }
+
+        $e = static fn (string $s): string => htmlspecialchars($s, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE, 'UTF-8');
+
+        $id = $e(substr($hex, 0, 16));
+
+        $cx1 = 8 + ($b[0] % 40);
+        $cy1 = 6 + ($b[1] % 36);
+        $r1 = 22 + ($b[2] % 14);
+        $o1 = $e((string) round(0.22 + ($b[3] % 18) / 100, 3));
+
+        $cx2 = 18 + ($b[4] % 38);
+        $cy2 = 20 + ($b[5] % 32);
+        $r2 = 18 + ($b[6] % 12);
+        $o2 = $e((string) round(0.18 + ($b[7] % 20) / 100, 3));
+
+        $cx3 = 28 + ($b[8] % 30);
+        $cy3 = 28 + ($b[9] % 28);
+        $r3 = 14 + ($b[10] % 10);
+        $o3 = $e((string) round(0.28 + ($b[11] % 22) / 100, 3));
+
+        $rot = ($b[12] << 8 | $b[13]) % 140 - 70;
+
+        $ring = '';
+        if (($b[14] & 1) === 1) {
+            $rop = $e((string) round(0.12 + ($b[15] % 10) / 100, 3));
+            $ring = '<circle cx="32" cy="32" r="30" fill="none" stroke="var(--color-border)" stroke-opacity="' . $rop . '" stroke-width="1"/>';
+        }
+
+        return '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="pubkey-avatar-svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false">'
+            . '<defs><linearGradient id="pubkey-av-' . $id . '" x1="0%" y1="0%" x2="100%" y2="100%">'
+            . '<stop offset="0%" stop-color="var(--color-bg)" stop-opacity="0.94"/>'
+            . '<stop offset="100%" stop-color="var(--color-bg-light)" stop-opacity="1"/>'
+            . '</linearGradient></defs>'
+            . '<circle cx="32" cy="32" r="32" fill="url(#pubkey-av-' . $id . ')"/>'
+            . '<g transform="rotate(' . $rot . ' 32 32)">'
+            . '<circle cx="' . $cx1 . '" cy="' . $cy1 . '" r="' . $r1 . '" fill="var(--brand-color)" opacity="' . $o1 . '"/>'
+            . '<circle cx="' . $cx2 . '" cy="' . $cy2 . '" r="' . $r2 . '" fill="var(--color-secondary)" opacity="' . $o2 . '"/>'
+            . '<circle cx="' . $cx3 . '" cy="' . $cy3 . '" r="' . $r3 . '" fill="var(--color-primary)" opacity="' . $o3 . '"/>'
+            . '</g>'
+            . $ring
+            . '</svg>';
+    }
+}
diff --git a/templates/components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.html.twig b/templates/components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.html.twig
index 2f48145..5e35d64 100644
--- a/templates/components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.html.twig
+++ b/templates/components/Molecules/UserFromNpub.html.twig
@@ -1,5 +1,26 @@
+{% set avatar_url = null %}
 {% if user %}
-    <a href="{{ path('author-profile', { npub: npub })}}"><twig:Atoms:NameOrNpub :author="user" :npub="npub"/></a>
-{% else %}
-    <a href="{{ path('author-profile', { npub: npub })}}"><span>{{ npub|shortenNpub }}</span></a>
+    {% if user.picture is defined and user.picture %}
+        {% set avatar_url = user.picture %}
+    {% elseif user.image is defined and user.image %}
+        {% set avatar_url = user.image %}
+    {% endif %}
 {% endif %}
+
+<a href="{{ path('author-profile', { npub: npub }) }}" class="user-badge">
+    {% if avatar_url %}
+        <span class="user-badge__avatar user-badge__avatar--wrap" aria-hidden="true">
+            <img class="user-badge__avatar-img" src="{{ avatar_url }}" alt="" loading="lazy" decoding="async" onerror="this.classList.add('is-broken')" />
+            <span class="user-badge__avatar--generated user-badge__avatar-fallback">{{ fallbackSvg|raw }}</span>
+        </span>
+    {% else %}
+        <span class="user-badge__avatar user-badge__avatar--generated" aria-hidden="true">{{ fallbackSvg|raw }}</span>
+    {% endif %}
+    <span class="user-badge__name">
+        {% if user %}
+            <twig:Atoms:NameOrNpub :author="user" :npub="npub" />
+        {% else %}
+            {{ npub|shortenNpub }}
+        {% endif %}
+    </span>
+</a>
diff --git a/templates/pages/article.html.twig b/templates/pages/article.html.twig
index 7306b68..92c2c91 100644
--- a/templates/pages/article.html.twig
+++ b/templates/pages/article.html.twig
@@ -28,10 +28,9 @@
         </div>
         {% if author %}
             <div class="byline">
-                <span>
-                    {{ 'text.byline'|trans }} <a href="{{ path('author-redirect', {'pubkey': article.pubkey}) }}">
-                        <twig:Atoms:NameOrNpub :author="author" :npub="npub" />
-                    </a>
+                <span class="byline__author">
+                    {{ 'text.byline'|trans }}
+                    <twig:Molecules:UserFromNpub ident="{{ article.pubkey }}" />
                 </span>
                 <span>
                     {% if article.publishedAt is not null %}