Honestly, most of the emotes on here are pretty ugly. Which is why I normally tweak the smilies I make so that they don't parse into those things. There's a few exceptions, though.
My Favorite Emotes
because cuccos. Oh, and Locke used to use them on mod-edits on my shouts way back when, so I'll occasionally use it for that.
<3 because heart containers
:cooky: because those eyes
:bleh: because better tounge emote than
because Arsenic
:? because Chlorine
because portable network graphic
because
nion: because blarhg my fourms kep getting delted
because licking emoticon by yours truly ♥
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My Least Favorite Emotes
because face looks smashed
for the same reason
because Tantalum
because Tantalum
because Ununhexium always uses it when he's making innuendos, so I feel like a pervert using it
:puppy: because hideous
because it looks like a GFCI outlet
:huh: because badmuffins used it along with flaming me
because octagonal
:love: because buck teeth
because badmuffins
:ganondorf: because you can't represent his amazingness with a 19x19 pixel GIF and it looks nothing like the guy