Wrote this a while back, reminded to post it by a post linked on metafandom. Time to get this out of the way so I don't feel the desperate urge to rant about it every time I see the subject come up in the future. Instead I can just link here! Note: this refers primarily to anime fandom's practices. I can't speak for other parts of fandom, as the post I just linked is clearly talking about.

MY THOUGHTS ON FANART ICONS.

( And now for some tl;dr. )

Obligatory disclaimer about how I am a hypocrite and repost Japanese fanart all the time goes here. But I will point out that I usually only do it under friendslock.