Is there a way to do a quick reply *and* subscribe to the thread at the same time?

Or do I have to always go advanced, then select subscribe to thread and submit?

It'd be nice if I could subscribe from quick reply, since you can do that when you create a new post it seems like you outta.

Maybe that's why they call it quick reply though

 

You can go to Quick Links at the top, choose Edit Options, and then change your 'Default Thread Subscription Mode' settings. That will make it so any you thread you respond to or post will automatically be added to your subscribed threads. Might be what your looking for, or maybe not