the shoutbox is a legendary subeta institutionāitās been part of the site since practically day one. we shut it down a few years ago bc the legacy codebase was, frankly, a trash fire, and running live chat on it was⦠letās just say āa challenge.ā but guess what? ITāS BACK. better than ever, powered by our shiny new live thread functionality.
letās take a little stroll down memory lane. did you know one of the first customizations on subeta was shoutbox backgrounds? back in the day, if you wanted one, you didnāt buy it or unlock it. no, you had to be friends with me to get one. š
(look at all these OG shoutbox backgroundsāpure chaos. mine are BAD) you can click this link and change the sb_keith.gif to any of these to see them. they're.... very of their time
the shoutbox was more than just a chat; it was a cultural moment. drama started there, ended there, and sometimes just looped infinitely. this was back when everyone was online all the time, so no tiny slight went unexamined. if someone so much as typoed, the shoutbox would light up. iconic.
sadly, i donāt have exact records of when the shoutbox first launched. our archives only go back to 2010 bc of a massive code meltdown that basically wiped everything before that.

(this is the āfirstā commit for subetaāanything earlier is lost to time and bad coding practices. rip.)
but even in 2014, the shoutbox was still evolving:

(fun fact: frozen users were once able to use the shoutbox. not on purpose š)
now, hereās the plan: iām testing live threads as the new shoutbox format. why? bc itās so much betterāactual forum posts with history, easy moderation, and you can view it outside the tiny sidebar. plus, in a few days hopefully, iāll add a widget for a more familiar vibe. welcome to shoutbox 2.0. š
š ⨠š¤
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yesterday yeah.
I'm not actually torn up about it, it's just weird to think about sometimes. So you turned...37 the other day?
not much younger than me Druid
Oh hey, I'll be 36 soon too šš
I love BHH finds
You purchased:
Gouged Mahar Eyes
Gouged Mahar Eyes
ooh, grats!
You purchased:
Xentrilis. damn finding bhh out the ass
gnight!
Thank you, I'm gonna do my utmost. I'm hoping we'll both be asleep soon. Goodnight!
i'll be 36 this autumn & yet i still remember what that felt like. hope you can get them settled & comfy soon!
I sense a midnight snack and some Ooblets playtime might be required in the next few minutes. The bubs is going through a major growth spurt and has been so uncomfortable
oh gosh, good luck!
Oop, I hear the pitter patter of the small feet of my toddler. It is midnight and that's not a great sign...
i do hope we can revive some of the old sb culture now it's back
It's very possible! I still have over 120 of the plushies in my vault. I just checked
ohhhh i think you gifted me at least once! that sounds super familiar!
I had no particular favored time when I would do my gifting back in the day. But it was always Cuddlefish plushies. I was the Cuddlefish Kid.
Morostide is a good time to do that sort of things
morostide was my fave time for sb games & anon gifting. š„°
I do miss the random themed gift anons. I was one of them for a bit.
oh now i miss playing trivia & guessing games in the sb & gifting winners š„ŗ
It's a great icebreaker. Can't say I use it much
im gonna have to learn that now, ty
Naturally I also remember how to sign 'Jesus loves banana pancakes' because that comes up so, so frequently
meanwhile, i've completely jinxed myself mentioning crohns symptoms, rip mr
i feel like a few of the signs i know are pretty niche, lol. i do know "thank you", "i'm sorry", "i don't know", "i love you", "bathroom/toilet", but i also know "popcorn" & "death", for example
I can still sign for 'payroll' 'baby shower' and 'I'm hungry' and my ASL shorthand nickname
I have held onto some very obscure signs and some very basic niceties/greetings
ooh, that does sound fun!!
hungry, but eating literally anything means more crohns hellā¦
I- many, many years ago, had some basic training and then in HS I was cast as an ASL using character in the school play and had to learn my lines in ASL as well. It was a really fun experience. Some of my homeowrk was watching Princess Mononoke and responding to questions about it from my tutor in ASL only
i wish i knew ASL, but sadly i have not started properly learning yet. i know a couple of basic signs & can clumsily finger spell some words, but i forget a lot of letters.
Haha, quite the coincidence- I'm trying to schedule nail appointment so my hands look better for the work sponsored ASL classes I have coming up
Maybe it is due to all of the different types of currency. sP does not hold the same weight as it used to, it would seem.
i wonder if i should make a zasaba based on my lobster 'sonaā¦hmmm.
I also miss the richest user stuff. It was kinda humbling to look at, as I was never able to reach that much sP
morning! that was also a cute UN, but congrats on getting your own name!
good morning everyone :) My original username was "Thi", as soon as it was available I changed it to my real name - which is Vanessa
aaaaand i've got We Don't Talk About Bruno stuck in my head bc of the ASL reanimation project.