diff --git a/cogs/chat.py b/cogs/chat.py
index cdef9d9..3379180 100644
--- a/cogs/chat.py
+++ b/cogs/chat.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class ChatCog(commands.Cog):
         if self.bot.user in message.mentions:
             should_reply = True
 
-        # Check if replying to one of the bot's messages
+        # Check if replying to a message
         if message.reference and message.reference.message_id:
             try:
                 ref_msg = message.reference.cached_message
@@ -64,9 +64,14 @@ class ChatCog(commands.Cog):
                         message.reference.message_id
                     )
                 if ref_msg.author.id == self.bot.user.id:
+                    # Replying to the bot's own message — continue conversation
                     should_reply = True
                     if ref_msg.content:
                         reply_context = f"[Replying to bot's message: {ref_msg.content[:300]}]\n"
+                elif should_reply:
+                    # @mentioned the bot while replying to someone else — include that message
+                    ref_text = ref_msg.content[:500] if ref_msg.content else "(no text)"
+                    reply_context = f"[{ref_msg.author.display_name} said: {ref_text}]\n"
             except discord.HTTPException:
                 pass
 
@@ -99,13 +104,25 @@ class ChatCog(commands.Cog):
         # Clean the mention out of the message content
         content = message.content.replace(f"<@{self.bot.user.id}>", "").strip()
 
-        # Check for image attachments
+        # Check for image attachments (on this message or the referenced message)
         image_attachment = None
         for att in message.attachments:
             ext = att.filename.rsplit(".", 1)[-1].lower() if "." in att.filename else ""
             if ext in _IMAGE_TYPES:
                 image_attachment = att
                 break
+        if not image_attachment and message.reference:
+            try:
+                ref = message.reference.cached_message or await message.channel.fetch_message(
+                    message.reference.message_id
+                )
+                for att in ref.attachments:
+                    ext = att.filename.rsplit(".", 1)[-1].lower() if "." in att.filename else ""
+                    if ext in _IMAGE_TYPES:
+                        image_attachment = att
+                        break
+            except discord.HTTPException:
+                pass
 
         typing_ctx = None
 
@@ -165,6 +182,7 @@ class ChatCog(commands.Cog):
         if response:
             response = re.sub(r"\[Server context:[^\]]*\]\n?", "", response)
             response = re.sub(r"\[Replying to bot's message:[^\]]*\]\n?", "", response)
+            response = re.sub(r"\[\w[\w ]* said:[^\]]*\]\n?", "", response)
             # Catch reformatted metadata (LLM drops prefix but keeps content)
             response = re.sub(r"\[[^\]]*#[a-z-]+[^\]]*(?:drama score|offense)[^\]]*\]\n?", "", response, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
             response = response.strip()