quoting Rhetorica:

Fixed buggy emoticon handling.

As for freedom to set post backgrounds... everyone opposed signatures, so I really don't see bling of any sort gaining traction in the near future. That being said, you're welcome to obsessively copy and paste fancy box tags with every post, although it may make you look like a

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║███████║║█║─║█║║█║─║█║║██████║
║█╔╗█╔╗█║║█║─║█║║█║─║█║║█╔══╗█║
╚═╝║█║╚═╝║█╚═╝█║║█║─║█║║█║──╚═╝
───║█║───║█████║║█║─║█║║█║─────
───║█║───║█╔═╗█║║█║─║█║║█║╔═══╗
───║█║───║█║─║█║║█╚═╝█║║█╚╝█▀█║
───║█║───║█║─║█║║█████║║█▄▄▄▄█║
───╚═╝───╚═╝─╚═╝╚═════╝╚══════╝

, by which I mean "totally unemployable and wildly uncool."