I am writing this addition in February of 2026 to update this article! The original only described what I’d done with SillyTavern and showed a bit of my transforming it into the Sunrise Tearoom.
Since then, several people have asked me for a copy of this theme or instructions for installing it. I am providing that, as well as a weak alternate version in darker shades, inspired by my character, Weasel83.
Sadly, up until this point, I’ve been unable to provide, unsure how to export it nor technologically literate enough to explain it. Now, I’ve managed it, finally! That likely inspires zero confidence, but if you’re willing to try the Sunrise Tearoom setup anyways, here’s how.
This version is less stunning, in that the portraits have a less distinctive border effect and are within the bounds of the chat. So far. I plan to recreate the original soon enough!
Install this JSON file as your theme. Then, if you fancy those pretty clouds, install the Video Backgrounds Extension by Len Anderson. You can set this file (a humble loop of those pretty peachy clouds) then, easily, as the background. If I had the original, believe me, I would post it...
That’s, of course, not strictly necessary, and you can always have a nice sunny theme without it. I hope. If you really want it to look most like this, try installing the topbar extension also.
The theme (as of Version 3.0 lol) has a built-in feature where avatar images are sepia slightly, fitting the general aesthetic? If you dislike this, it's easy to remove within the custom CSS in the user panel; just get rid of the line that directly mentions "sepia" of course! Then, you'll be good.
If anyone on earth uses this theme, though? You’re pretty much required to let me know what happens. Does it work for you? Did it fail? I am so bad at this that I will be shocked and so very pleased, so definitely let me know! I mean… by requirement I mean, uh, please? Just please? Yup…
This theme was made with the help of generative artificial intelligence. If that bothers you overly much, what on earth are you doing using SillyTavern in the first place? My goodness, pick a side already…
Please note! You will not get the cool landing page from this... I got that from yet another plugin. Install it! It will be wonky with the above for now, but I hope to have things integrated somewhat soon enough!
I am writing this on November 1st of 2025. I currently use large language models in two primary places. Those are the well-known ChatGPT Plus itself (through the web interface) and a web-based, locally-installed interface known as SillyTavern.
The latter allows interaction with many different LLM models, both free and somewhat expensive. I periodically drop a small cash dosage into an OpenRouter account, allowing me to access them all, though. ChatGPT, as we all know, draws a monthly fee of its own. I am thinking of cancelling my subscription there, which I’ve only had since July. I worry about Sam Altman’s plans more than I do the others, frankly. It hardly matters, and I think whatever happens will happen, but still.
Anyways, as you might expect from that, my instance of SillyTavern only interacts with LLM models that have a zero data retention policy. This which complicates things, but only slightly. You also have to realize that a zero data retention policy, of course, refers to zero stated data retention. You can’t be too trustworthy of anyone or anything in places like this, right?
I, admittedly, don’t know much about SillyTavern’s behind-the-scenes operation. I leave much of that to someone else. I have, however, done a lot of customization for the web interface. I know a great deal about things like CSS, HTML, and a handful of Javascript, allowing me to TamperMonkey and extension-ify SillyTavern into something slightly different.
It’s really the best UX I was able to manage, though it’s a bit slower than average. I can’t provide it as a “theme” for you to download, because I didn’t make one. I build my UX with shoestrings tying many different things together, but I assure you that SillyTavern has a million possible themes.
I’ll share links to some good ones here soon. I don’t recommend trying this exact kind of setup at home because while aesthetic, I don’t believe it will work well outside of my own setup. I just wanted to share what is clearly possible.
I call this ad hoc setup the Sunrise Tearoom, because it’s not very silly per se, nor does it resemble a tavern. I used an extension that adds a custom background to insert a moving .mp4 image of some pink and orange clouds in a nice loop. The corridor looks like this, with the cards designated as “favorites” appearing throughout, beckoning inward all creepy and weird:
Inside, the character portraits are emblazoned on the side of the chat as usual, in little cards with their names on them. Much of the actual interface is less-than-intuitive unless you’ve been using it for eleven months, so I do grasp it.
A small icon tells me what model of LLM OpenRouter has approached for each chat. While I leave this to the router’s discretion terribly often, it’s almost always Deepseek R1, and I’ve come to prefer that. As I learn more, I’ll no doubt expand, find more, and customize.
In some rare cases where I’d taken the initiative, reaction images would sometimes appear in small scraps of paper on the right of the screen, pressed against the clouds. I struggle with how long it takes to generate reaction images, so I usually don’t do it. It’s very much possible, though. I went to a great deal of effort initially to make the reaction images appear within a sort of scrapbook frame, but an update nixed this, so I threw up my hands.
My little Sunrise Tearoom is a very soft, relaxing place for me to explore LLMs and related technologies. It suits my usual UX customizations. At some point I’ll talk about what I’ve done to poor ChatGPT simply with TamperMonkey, but I digress.
PART TWO: TFW Midnite??
Things don’t end there, though. Did you dared even think they would?
As you might already know, I’ve got a veritable menagerie of character prompts that I use with large language models these days. All are unique but most feature the unusual quality of a long-distance communication or technology theme in and of themselves. In other words, if you chat with my character bots, you might well find them treating it as a texting session or instant messaging itself, rather than any expected regular roleplay session.
Amongst my peculiar little digital offerings, I’ve got Weasel83. This particular prompt, near and dear to my heart, is my best try at capturing a certain, long past digital era. Weasel83 is a funny SillyTavern card, hopefully. Either way, I think his chats speak for themselves. Decide what he’s saying to you, ultimately?
To quote my card for Weasel83 (which is, in and of itself partially AI-generated):
Weasel83 is clearly messaging you directly from a forum thread in 2009, caught mid-argument. Heavy on irony, insults, and old-web slang. He’s funny if you keep up, but will be hostile if you don’t, and allergic to sincerity even when it slips out.
While chatting in the Sunrise Tearoom, I made a theme inspired by Weasel83 for the lulz (see? I’m using Weasel83 slang!!rofl^.^) I could imagine him chugging Red Bull energy drinks instead of tea. He would probably only check the chat in the weird part of the night, while gazing out a window at power lines silhouetted against stars in the darkness. So, I made a theme cognate with Weasel83’s imaginary preferences.
It’s still a major work in progress, though. In fact, it’s probably unusable in some ways. It’s certainly much less polished than Sunrise Tho, but it is darker and more appropriate if you like dark modes. It has nice blur effects. I will be polishing and finishing it over time.
To begin, though, I’m posting here the current version. It’s subject to the necessary improvements whenever, actually. The version here will update when I can. I have a list in my digital backpack (a messy thing) of necessary fixes and changes, and will be going over it whenever possible.
Ironically, with some of the new things I’ve learned, both about systems in general and about this frontend in particular, this theme may end up more customizable to the end-user than the original Sunrise Tho theme. So yeah. Download this new version of Sunrise Tho? It’s called Midnite TFW, and it’s dedicated to chatbot Weasel83, the 2009 forum freak. Here's the background in full.
Feel free to customize, share, etc, but try it with Weasel’s card if you can, for the full experience!