Yahoo Messenger-style friends list story
A quiet nostalgia story about two old friends who spot each other on a contact list years later. Use the sample script and make it yours.
Try it: start from this sample
The idea: a name that comes back online
Contact lists made a small drama out of one fact: someone you had not heard from in ages appears as online. This story is built on that moment. The first message is simply surprise, and everything after is the two characters catching up.
Treat this as a period piece. ChatsRat is not affiliated with Yahoo; the original service has ended or changed, and the window you see is original artwork in the general style of that time.
How to shape the four lines
Line one is a reaction, line two gives the reason for the reunion, line three adds warmth, and line four opens a question that the viewer wants answered. That last question is your hook for part two of a series or a voiceover.
Resist the urge to explain the backstory inside the chat. People do not type their history to each other. Hint at it with a single detail, here a move, and let a voiceover or caption fill the rest.
Variations to try
Swap the reunion for a friend who has been invisible on the list for months and finally appears. Or reverse the roles so the second speaker is hesitant. A cooler tone changes the whole story with no new plot.
Use the script writer, available on paid plans with a signed-in account, to draft an alternate version by describing the scenario and a warm or awkward tone, then trim it to four lines by hand.
Tips
- Open with the other person's reaction, not with a greeting; it jumps straight into feeling.
- Choose names for characters in their thirties or older, since the story looks back from today.
- Use one smiley and one abbreviation at most; the sample already holds both.
- Leave the last line as a question so a caption or a next image can answer it.
- State in the caption that the people are invented, even though the tone is gentle.
Questions
Do I need to know what the original messenger looked like?
No. The look supplies the window and you supply the words. The sample shows the idea, and you can describe your own scenario for the script writer on a paid plan.
Can I use a real old friend's name?
Please do not. Use invented first names. A story built on a real person's name can look like a real exchange, and the Acceptable Use policy asks for fictional people.
How many messages can this story have?
The sample has four messages, which is also what the Free plan loads. Paid plans allow more, so a longer catch-up is possible. The pricing page lists the limits.
Does this page show a real buddy list?
No. The ChatsRat look is a single conversation window, not a list of contacts. The list is part of the story and you describe it through the messages or in a caption.
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.