diff --git a/desktop-client/main.py b/desktop-client/main.py
index 66d091a..509a540 100644
--- a/desktop-client/main.py
+++ b/desktop-client/main.py
@@ -436,7 +436,6 @@ class VlcSyncApp(QMainWindow):
             #chatMessages {
                 background-color: transparent;
                 border: none;
-                color: #f1f1f1;
             }
             
             #chatMessages QScrollBar:vertical {
@@ -446,12 +445,12 @@ class VlcSyncApp(QMainWindow):
                 margin: 0px;
             }
             #chatMessages QScrollBar::handle:vertical {
-                background: #555;
+                background: #333;
                 min-height: 20px;
                 border-radius: 4px;
             }
             #chatMessages QScrollBar::handle:vertical:hover {
-                background: #666;
+                background: #444;
             }
             #chatMessages QScrollBar::add-line:vertical, #chatMessages QScrollBar::sub-line:vertical {
                 height: 0px;
@@ -459,6 +458,10 @@ class VlcSyncApp(QMainWindow):
             #chatMessages QScrollBar::add-page:vertical, #chatMessages QScrollBar::sub-page:vertical {
                 background: none;
             }
+            
+            #bubble {
+                border: none;
+            }
         """)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/desktop-client/room_widget.py b/desktop-client/room_widget.py
index 4fcafc1..04e8209 100644
--- a/desktop-client/room_widget.py
+++ b/desktop-client/room_widget.py
@@ -5,15 +5,78 @@ import re
 from PyQt6.QtWidgets import (
     QWidget, QVBoxLayout, QHBoxLayout, QLabel, QLineEdit, 
     QPushButton, QFrame, QSlider, QTextEdit, QTextBrowser, QApplication, QToolTip, QSplitter,
-    QMainWindow
+    QMainWindow, QScrollArea
 )
 from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt, pyqtSignal, QTimer, QEvent
 from PyQt6.QtGui import QIcon, QCursor
 
 import uuid
+import urllib.parse
 
 from vlc_player import VLCSyncPlayer
 
+class ChatBubble(QWidget):
+    def __init__(self, author, text, time_str, is_self, on_link_clicked):
+        super().__init__()
+        layout = QHBoxLayout(self)
+        layout.setContentsMargins(5, 2, 5, 2)
+        
+        # Container for the actual bubble
+        self.bubble = QFrame()
+        self.bubble.setObjectName("bubble")
+        
+        bg_color = "#0084FF" if is_self else "#2a2a2e"
+        text_color = "#FFFFFF"
+        author_color = "#E1E1E1" if is_self else "#3ea6ff"
+        
+        self.bubble.setStyleSheet(f"""
+            #bubble {{
+                background-color: {bg_color};
+                border-radius: 12px;
+            }}
+        """)
+        
+        bubble_layout = QVBoxLayout(self.bubble)
+        bubble_layout.setContentsMargins(10, 8, 10, 6)
+        bubble_layout.setSpacing(2)
+        
+        # Author
+        author_lbl = QLabel("You" if is_self else author)
+        author_lbl.setStyleSheet(f"color: {author_color}; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; background: transparent;")
+        bubble_layout.addWidget(author_lbl)
+        
+        # Text
+        self.text_lbl = QLabel(text)
+        self.text_lbl.setWordWrap(True)
+        self.text_lbl.setStyleSheet(f"color: {text_color}; font-size: 13px; border: none; background: transparent;")
+        self.text_lbl.setOpenExternalLinks(False)
+        self.text_lbl.linkActivated.connect(on_link_clicked)
+        bubble_layout.addWidget(self.text_lbl)
+        
+        # Time
+        time_lbl = QLabel(time_str)
+        time_lbl.setAlignment(Qt.AlignmentFlag.AlignRight)
+        time_lbl.setStyleSheet(f"color: {text_color}; font-size: 9px; opacity: 0.6; border: none; background: transparent;")
+        bubble_layout.addWidget(time_lbl)
+        
+        if is_self:
+            layout.addStretch()
+            layout.addWidget(self.bubble)
+        else:
+            layout.addWidget(self.bubble)
+            layout.addStretch()
+
+class SystemMessageWidget(QWidget):
+    def __init__(self, text):
+        super().__init__()
+        layout = QHBoxLayout(self)
+        layout.setContentsMargins(0, 5, 0, 5)
+        lbl = QLabel(text)
+        lbl.setAlignment(Qt.AlignmentFlag.AlignCenter)
+        lbl.setWordWrap(True)
+        lbl.setStyleSheet("color: #888; font-style: italic; font-size: 11px; background: transparent;")
+        layout.addWidget(lbl)
+
 class ChatPopoutWindow(QMainWindow):
     closed = pyqtSignal()
 
@@ -287,12 +350,24 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         tags_layout.addWidget(self.tags_header_btn)
         tags_layout.addWidget(self.tags_list)
         
-        self.chat_messages = QTextBrowser()
+        self.chat_messages = QScrollArea()
+        self.chat_messages.setWidgetResizable(True)
         self.chat_messages.setObjectName("chatMessages")
-        self.chat_messages.setOpenExternalLinks(False)
-        self.chat_messages.setOpenLinks(False)
-        self.chat_messages.anchorClicked.connect(self.on_chat_link_clicked)
-        self.chat_messages.setHtml("Welcome to the room! 👋")
+        self.chat_messages.setStyleSheet("background-color: transparent; border: none;")
+        
+        self.chat_content = QWidget()
+        self.chat_content.setObjectName("chatContent")
+        self.chat_content.setStyleSheet("background: transparent;")
+        self.chat_content_layout = QVBoxLayout(self.chat_content)
+        self.chat_content_layout.setAlignment(Qt.AlignmentFlag.AlignTop)
+        self.chat_content_layout.setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0)
+        self.chat_content_layout.setSpacing(0)
+        
+        self.chat_messages.setWidget(self.chat_content)
+        self.chat_messages.toPlainText = self.toPlainText # For test compatibility
+        
+        # Initial welcome message
+        self.add_system_message("Welcome to the room! 👋")
         
         chat_input_layout = QHBoxLayout()
         self.chat_input = QLineEdit()
@@ -326,7 +401,7 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
                   self.chat_toggle_btn, self.popout_btn]:
             w.setFocusPolicy(Qt.FocusPolicy.NoFocus)
             
-        # specifically for chat_messages, we allow clicking links, but avoid focus stealing
+        # scroll area handles focus properly
         self.chat_messages.setFocusPolicy(Qt.FocusPolicy.ClickFocus)
         self.setFocusPolicy(Qt.FocusPolicy.StrongFocus)
         
@@ -363,7 +438,12 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         self.username = username
         self.set_room_code_display(room_code)
         self.room_file_badge.setText(f"📄 {file_name}")
-        self.chat_messages.setHtml("Welcome to the room! 👋")
+        
+        # Clear chat
+        for i in reversed(range(self.chat_content_layout.count())):
+            self.chat_content_layout.itemAt(i).widget().setParent(None)
+        
+        self.add_system_message("Welcome to the room! 👋")
         self.current_users = []
         self._is_first_user_update = True
         
@@ -744,9 +824,21 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
 
     def on_chat_link_clicked(self, url):
         link = url.toString()
+        print(f"DEBUG: Link clicked: {link}")
         if link.startswith("seek:"):
-            time_str = link[5:]
-            self._handle_seek_command(time_str)
+            # Format: 'seek:MM:SS?tag=TagName'
+            data = link[5:]
+            if "?" in data and "tag=" in data:
+                time_str, query = data.split("?", 1)
+                tag_name = ""
+                for pair in query.split("&"):
+                    if pair.startswith("tag="):
+                        tag_name = urllib.parse.unquote(pair[4:])
+                        break
+                self.add_system_message(f"Seeking to <b>{tag_name}</b> ({time_str})")
+                self._handle_seek_command(time_str)
+            else:
+                self._handle_seek_command(data)
 
     def add_chat_message(self, author: str, text: str, timestamp: int):
         try:
@@ -762,27 +854,57 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         pattern = r'\b(\d{1,2}:\d{2}(?::\d{2})?)\b'
         linked_text = re.sub(pattern, r'<a href="seek:\1" style="color: #66b3ff; text-decoration: none;">\1</a>', safe_text)
         
-        new_msg = f"<b>{safe_author}</b>: {linked_text} <span style='color: gray; font-size: 10px;'>{time_str}</span>"
-        self.chat_messages.append(new_msg)
+        is_self = author == self.username
         
         # Auto-extract tags added by users directly via /tag command
-        # This will catch messages that look like purely a tag command
-        # (Since we just append the output of /tag to chat)
-        match = re.match(r'^<a href="seek:(\d{1,2}:\d{2}(?::\d{2})?)[^>]+>([^<]+)</a>\s+(.+)$', linked_text)
-        if match:
-            # It's a tag! Add it to the highlights panel
-            self.add_highlight(match.group(1), match.group(3), safe_author)
+        # We look for the pattern generated by /tag: "MM:SS tag text"
+        # Since we just emit the text for /tag, it won't be linked yet in the raw text
+        tag_match = re.match(r'^(\d{1,2}:\d{2}(?::\d{2})?)\s+(.+)$', text)
+        if tag_match:
+            self.add_highlight(tag_match.group(1), tag_match.group(2), author)
+            return # Don't show this as a chat message bubble
+        
+        bubble = ChatBubble(author, linked_text, time_str, is_self, self._handle_link_from_bubble)
+        self.chat_content_layout.addWidget(bubble)
+        self._scroll_to_bottom()
+        
+    def _handle_link_from_bubble(self, url_str):
+        if url_str.startswith("seek:"):
+            time_str = url_str[5:]
+            self._handle_seek_command(time_str)
+
+    def _scroll_to_bottom(self):
+        # Allow layout to finish before scrolling
+        QTimer.singleShot(10, lambda: self.chat_messages.verticalScrollBar().setValue(
+            self.chat_messages.verticalScrollBar().maximum()
+        ))
+        
+    def toPlainText(self):
+        # For compatibility with existing tests
+        text = ""
+        for i in range(self.chat_content_layout.count()):
+            item = self.chat_content_layout.itemAt(i)
+            if not item: continue
+            w = item.widget()
+            if isinstance(w, ChatBubble):
+                text += w.text_lbl.text() + "\n"
+            elif isinstance(w, SystemMessageWidget):
+                lbl = w.findChild(QLabel)
+                if lbl: text += lbl.text() + "\n"
+        return text
             
     def add_highlight(self, time_str: str, tag_text: str, author: str):
         if self.tags_container.isHidden():
             self.tags_container.show()
             
-        highlight_html = f"• <a href='seek:{time_str}' style='color: #66b3ff; text-decoration: none;'>[{time_str}]</a> {tag_text} <span style='color: #666; font-size: 10px;'>- {author}</span>"
+        safe_tag = urllib.parse.quote(tag_text)
+        highlight_html = f"• <a href='seek:{time_str}?tag={safe_tag}' style='color: #66b3ff; text-decoration: none;'>[{time_str}]</a> {html.escape(tag_text)} <span style='color: #666; font-size: 10px;'>- {author}</span>"
         self.tags_list.append(highlight_html)
 
     def add_system_message(self, text: str):
-        new_msg = f"<i style='color: #888;'>{text}</i>"
-        self.chat_messages.append(new_msg)
+        msg = SystemMessageWidget(text)
+        self.chat_content_layout.addWidget(msg)
+        self._scroll_to_bottom()
 
     def send_chat(self):
         text = self.chat_input.text().strip()
@@ -855,8 +977,8 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         """Parses a time string (absolute time, offset like +30s, or 'now') and returns the target time in MS. Returns None on error."""
         current_ms = self.vlc_player.current_time_ms
         length_ms = self.vlc_player.get_length()
-        if length_ms <= 0:
-            return None
+        # Don't strictly block on length_ms > 0 here, as we might be seeking before length is known
+        # or length might be reported as 0 for some streams.
             
         if arg == "now":
             return current_ms
@@ -883,7 +1005,9 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
                 elif arg.endswith('h'): target_ms = float(arg[:-1]) * 3600 * 1000
                 else: target_ms = float(arg) * 1000
                 
-            return max(0, min(target_ms, length_ms))
+            if length_ms > 0:
+                return max(0, min(target_ms, length_ms))
+            return max(0, target_ms)
         except ValueError:
             return None