LiveJournal Icons

This is an abbreviated collection of LiveJournal icons sourced from 2005 to 2010. Icon selection was a crucial tool of user-to-user communication; a user could have up to 15 different 100x100 icons (I seem to recall it was up to 30 back in the day). While you would pick a default icon to be displayed on your profile and in friend lists, different icons could be selected for new comments and entries, making the icon a shorthand for communicating your emotional or mental state at the time of posting. You might also choose a relevant icon for your posts in a fandom community to signal your allegiance to a character or ship.

Each icon lists a brief description of the image, the year I saved it to my hard drive, and any notes that might be helpful for understanding it in a historical context.

Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.
Saved June 4, 2007
(black text on red background) Neville has had it with these MOTHAFUCKIN snakes in this MOTHAFUCKIN school!!!
Saved August 15, 2007
Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson, released August 18, 2006; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in which Neville beheads a magical snake, released July 14, 2007
A good Latin student never declines SEX (VI)
Saved July 29, 2007
a list of abominations unto the lord comparable to homosexuality
Saved August 18, 2006
Leonidas from the movie 300 with chibi eyes and mouth
Saved May 27, 2007
300, a movie about the Battle of Thermopylae based on the Frank Miller comic and popular among male nerds and wannabe alphas alike, released March 9, 2007
77% of anti-abortion leaders are men. 100% of them will never be pregnant.
Saved October 23, 2007
cartoon drum - bang me hard
Saved November 15, 2007
ocean sunset captioned: where your only home is wherever your heart leads
Saved December 29, 2005
file name beepzurnose.jpg. one husky puppy biting another puppy's muzzle captioned: ;3;
Saved May 10, 2007
Cinderella: I think I left the toilets unscrubbed again. Goddamnit! Snow White: Grumpy squeezed my ass yesterday... and I think I liked it. Jasmine: I look so hot! Belle: I'm smarter than all you bitches! And I got a Best Picture nomination! Ariel: Jasmine looks so hot! Aurora: Why the fuck am I always ignored?!
Saved February 7, 2007
Kwame from Captain Planet: Kiss the ring, bitch. BLACK POWER!
Saved March 27, 2007
a grey bobcat wearing glasses and smirking. has a slight fursona vibe
Saved June 2, 2007
Maureen and Joanne from Rent embracing
Saved January 19, 2007
bullshit meter activating
Saved July 30, 2007
cartoon orange stripping off its peel captioned: I'm burlesque
Saved April 7, 2007
Jack O'Neill from Stargate SG-1: Cake or death? Daniel Jackson: Cake, please. Jack: Well, we're OUTTA cake! Daniel: So my choice is 'or death'?
Saved March 3, 2007
Stargate: SG-1 aired on Showtime and Scifi from 1997-2007; "cake or death" is an Eddie Izzard bit from 1998.
an escher-like gif in which tiled black cats leap into the shape of white doves, which fly away
Saved February 22, 2007
a furry snake with the head of a cat that meows and slithers infinitely toward the viewer
Saved April 21, 2007
caution: jazz hands
Saved September 21, 2006
a photo of a taped-up sign reading: DO NOT USE THE REFLECTION OFF THIS GLASS TO CHECK YOURSELF OUT
Saved August 16, 2006
a white pawn chesspiece captioned: pwned.
Saved July 5, 2006