diff --git a/HellionChat/AutoTellTabsService.cs b/HellionChat/AutoTellTabsService.cs
index 13d8d13..6ea5682 100644
--- a/HellionChat/AutoTellTabsService.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/AutoTellTabsService.cs
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ internal sealed class AutoTellTabsService : IDisposable
 
     private bool _initialized;
 
+    // Set when Initialize ran before a character was available; cleared once the
+    // history has actually been loaded.
+    private bool _rehydratePending;
+
     internal AutoTellTabsService(
         Plugin plugin,
         MessageManager messageManager,
@@ -76,12 +80,30 @@ internal sealed class AutoTellTabsService : IDisposable
         RehydratePinnedTabs();
 
         _messageManager.MessageProcessed += HandleTell;
+        Plugin.ClientState.Login += OnLogin;
         Plugin.ClientState.Logout += OnLogout;
         _initialized = true;
     }
 
+    // Deferred when the plugin starts before a character is logged in, which is
+    // the normal case: the game loads plugins at boot. CurrentContentId is 0
+    // until then, so the history query would look up tells for character zero,
+    // find none, and leave every pinned tab blank for the whole session.
+    //
+    // Only visible to someone who actually pins a tell tab AND starts the game
+    // with the plugin already installed. Reloading the plugin in a running
+    // session -- what a developer does all day -- hides it completely.
     private void RehydratePinnedTabs()
     {
+        if (_messageManager.CurrentContentId == 0)
+        {
+            _logger.LogDebug("[Pin] Rehydrate deferred: no character yet, waiting for login");
+            _rehydratePending = true;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        _rehydratePending = false;
+
         var pinned = Plugin.Config.Tabs.Count(TabLifecycleHelpers.IsInPinnedPool);
         _logger.LogDebug($"[Pin] Rehydrate scan: {pinned} pinned tab(s) found");
 
@@ -122,6 +144,7 @@ internal sealed class AutoTellTabsService : IDisposable
             return;
         }
 
+        Plugin.ClientState.Login -= OnLogin;
         Plugin.ClientState.Logout -= OnLogout;
         _messageManager.MessageProcessed -= HandleTell;
         _initialized = false;
@@ -490,6 +513,17 @@ internal sealed class AutoTellTabsService : IDisposable
         }
     }
 
+    // Fires on the login that follows a boot-time start, and on every character
+    // switch after one. Guarded by the pending flag so a switch does not append
+    // a second copy of the history to tabs that already have it.
+    private void OnLogin()
+    {
+        if (!_rehydratePending)
+            return;
+
+        RehydratePinnedTabs();
+    }
+
     private void OnLogout(int type, int code)
     {
         lock (TabsListLock)
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Settings/Tabs/ChatTab.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Settings/Tabs/ChatTab.cs
index 31ec8aa..36f1fd6 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Settings/Tabs/ChatTab.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/Components/Settings/Tabs/ChatTab.cs
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ namespace HellionChat.Ui.Components.Settings.Tabs;
 
 internal sealed class ChatTab
 {
+    private readonly Plugin _plugin;
     private readonly SettingsWidgets _w;
 
     public ChatTab(Plugin plugin, TokenResolver resolver)
     {
+        _plugin = plugin;
         _w = new SettingsWidgets(plugin, new SettingsPalette(resolver));
     }
 
@@ -53,6 +55,33 @@ internal sealed class ChatTab
             );
         }
 
+        if (_w.Section(ImGui.GetID("chat.history"u8), "History"))
+        {
+            // The one setting that decides whether the chat log shows anything
+            // from before this game session. It had no control at all: only the
+            // first-run wizard ever wrote it, and only if the user actually
+            // reached step 3 -- skip the wizard and it stays on its default of
+            // false, leaving the log empty on every launch with no way to fix it.
+            //
+            // Named for what it does. The stored name describes filtering, and
+            // the wizard's own "Load previous session on startup" checkbox
+            // writes a field nothing reads.
+            _w.ToggleRow(
+                ImGui.GetID("chat.history.previoussessions"u8),
+                "Show history from previous sessions",
+                "Off means the log starts empty each time the game launches and "
+                    + "only fills with messages received since.",
+                () => Plugin.Config.FilterIncludePreviousSessions,
+                v =>
+                {
+                    Plugin.Config.FilterIncludePreviousSessions = v;
+                    // Takes effect at once rather than on the next launch: the
+                    // window is open and the user just asked for the history.
+                    _plugin.MessageManager.FilterAllTabs();
+                }
+            );
+        }
+
         if (_w.Section(ImGui.GetID("chat.commandhelp"u8), "Command help", open: false))
         {
             _w.EnumComboRow(
diff --git a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
index ab4c223..f4d246a 100644
--- a/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/Ui/StyleEngine/SurfaceBackdrop.cs
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ internal sealed class SurfaceBackdrop
         // the full height is exactly the case that bands, because its handful of
         // alpha steps each cover twenty-odd pixels.
         var fade = MathF.Min(190f * Metrics.Scale, (max.Y - min.Y) * 0.45f);
-        dl.DrawEdgeTint(min, max, 0x00FFFFFFu | ((uint)(0x22 * strength * opacity) << 24), fade);
-        dl.DrawEdgeTint(min, max, (uint)(0x30 * strength * opacity) << 24, fade, fromBottom: true);
+        dl.DrawEdgeTint(min, max, 0x00FFFFFFu | ((uint)(0x10 * strength * opacity) << 24), fade);
+        dl.DrawEdgeTint(min, max, (uint)(0x38 * strength * opacity) << 24, fade, fromBottom: true);
 
         if (darken > 0f)
             dl.AddRectFilled(min, max, (uint)(0xFF * darken * opacity) << 24);
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ internal sealed class SurfaceBackdrop
             dl.AddRectFilledMultiColor(
                 min,
                 new Vector2(max.X, min.Y + (max.Y - min.Y) * accentWashHeight),
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.07f * opacity),
-                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.035f * opacity),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.045f * opacity),
+                ColourUtil.ApplyAlpha(accent, 0.02f * opacity),
                 accent & 0x00FFFFFFu,
                 accent & 0x00FFFFFFu
             );