diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
index deec052..b4d27b7 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
@@ -1122,6 +1122,8 @@ fun ColumnScope.ChatScreen(
     error: String?,
     /** Needed to name group members; the relay stores ids and no names. */
     buddies: List<io.flamenet.client.MessengerApi.Buddy> = emptyList(),
+    /** Pictures, so a received bubble can carry its author's. */
+    avatars: Map<Long, io.flamenet.e2e.Attachment.Ref> = emptyMap(),
 ) {
     var draft by remember { mutableStateOf("") }
     val listState = rememberLazyListState()
@@ -1200,7 +1202,17 @@ fun ColumnScope.ChatScreen(
         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().weight(1f).testTag("messages"),
         verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(6.dp),
     ) {
-        items(chat.lines) { line -> Bubble(line, model) }
+        items(chat.lines) { line ->
+            Bubble(
+                line = line,
+                model = model,
+                authorName = chat.title,
+                // 🔴 Only for a message you did not send. Your own bubble has
+                // no avatar in the kit — you know who you are, and a picture on
+                // both sides halves the width a thread has to say anything in.
+                picture = chat.peerId?.takeIf { !line.mine }?.let { avatars[it] },
+            )
+        }
     }
 
     error?.let {
@@ -1358,7 +1370,12 @@ private fun ColumnScope.VoiceComposer(
 }
 
 @Composable
-private fun Bubble(line: Session.Line, model: MessengerViewModel) {
+private fun Bubble(
+    line: Session.Line,
+    model: MessengerViewModel,
+    authorName: String = "",
+    picture: io.flamenet.e2e.Attachment.Ref? = null,
+) {
     val time = remember(line.at) {
         SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm", Locale.getDefault()).format(Date(line.at))
     }
@@ -1374,8 +1391,28 @@ private fun Bubble(line: Session.Line, model: MessengerViewModel) {
                 start = if (line.mine) Kit.receivedInset else 0.dp,
                 end = if (line.mine) 0.dp else Kit.receivedInset,
             ),
+        // Top, so the avatar sits level with the first line of its bubble.
+        verticalAlignment = Alignment.Top,
         horizontalArrangement = if (line.mine) Arrangement.End else Arrangement.Start,
     ) {
+      // 🔴 **The avatar the inset was already reserving space for.** The
+      // received side has been padded by 40 — a 32dp avatar plus its gutter —
+      // since the bubbles were measured out of the kit, and nothing was ever
+      // drawn in it. The picture was on the contact row and the contact screen
+      // and missing from the one screen you spend all your time on.
+      //
+      // ⚠️ Top-aligned. Centred, it drifts down the side of a long message and
+      // reads as belonging to whatever comes next.
+      if (!line.mine) {
+          Avatar(
+              name = authorName,
+              online = false,
+              picture = picture,
+              model = model,
+              size = Kit.bubbleAvatar,
+          )
+          Spacer(Modifier.width(Space.sm))
+      }
       Column(horizontalAlignment = if (line.mine) Alignment.End else Alignment.Start) {
         Text(
             time,
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MainActivity.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MainActivity.kt
index c4f9c4d..b45e7dd 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MainActivity.kt
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ private fun Root(model: MessengerViewModel = viewModel()) {
 
                     val chat = current.openChat
                     if (chat != null) {
-                        ChatScreen(model, chat, current.error, current.buddies)
+                        ChatScreen(model, chat, current.error, current.buddies, current.avatars)
                     } else {
                         // 🔴 **The content area is weighted, and the tab bar is
                         // not.** These used to be plain siblings, so the tab bar