ICQ-style number swap story
Tell the small story of two people swapping user numbers to stay in touch. Edit the sample and export an ICQ-style window for a throwback piece.
Try it: start from this sample
Why numbers make a good plot point
In this era a person was often a number, and losing it meant losing a friend. That is a real stake you can use in a few lines: two people trying not to lose touch. The sample never prints a number. It talks about digits and a mailed card, which keeps the page free of anything that looks like a real identifier.
Keeping numbers safe in a sample
Never type a real number, a phone number or an email address in a ChatsRat sample. If your scene needs digits on screen, make a clearly silly pattern, or better, refer to them indirectly as our sample does. That also keeps your finished image safe to share, since nobody can mistake it for a contact detail.
Shaping the scene
Give the scene a problem: a messy list, a lost card, a new computer. Then give each speaker one action. One writes down, one sends a request. A scene built from actions reads quickly in four lines. The status line can switch to Away for a follow-up frame where the request is still waiting.
Plan and disclaimer
The look is on the Standard plan, with the first four messages of a sample available on Free. ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the original service, which has ended or changed. Label stories as simulated when they might pass as a real exchange.
Tips
- Refer to digits in words instead of printing any number on screen.
- Give the scene a small problem, like a lost card, that a number solves.
- Let each person do one clear action: write down, send a request.
- Use a follow-up frame with the status set to Away for the waiting beat.
- Check the final image for anything that looks like a real contact detail.
Questions
Can I show a number in the chat?
Avoid it. Use words like six digits or seven, or an obviously invented pattern. Real numbers, phone numbers and emails must never appear in a sample.
Does the window have a request dialog?
No. It draws the message session only. Describe the request in the dialogue, as the sample does.
Which plan is needed?
The ICQ-style look is on the Standard plan. Free loads the first four messages of any sample and exports a PNG with a visible watermark.
Is this affiliated with the original service?
No. That service has ended or changed, and ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by it. The look is our own artwork.
Can I add a third person?
Yes on paid plans, which allow up to four people. For this story two is usually enough, since the point is the pair trying to keep in touch.
Use it for simulated, labelled content. ChatsRat makes mock-ups and fictional conversations for creators, designers and teachers. Do not use it to pass off a made-up conversation as a real one, to impersonate a real person, or as proof of anything. See the Acceptable Use policy.
About the watermark. Exports on the Free plan carry a visible ChatsRat watermark, and every export carries an invisible mark that the verify page can read. Plans list what changes on paid plans.
ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any messaging app. App names on this page describe a style only.