diff --git a/code/__DEFINES/equipment.dm b/code/__DEFINES/equipment.dm
index 461eae27a2a3..54fb946b13bb 100644
--- a/code/__DEFINES/equipment.dm
+++ b/code/__DEFINES/equipment.dm
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
 #define ATOM_DECORATED (1<<16)
 /// Whether or not the object uses hearing
 #define USES_HEARING (1<<17)
+/// Should we use the initial icon for display? Mostly used by overlay only objects
+#define HTML_USE_INITAL_ICON (1<<18)
 
 //==========================================================================================
 
diff --git a/code/__HELPERS/icons.dm b/code/__HELPERS/icons.dm
index 39d91b2ada26..880536537ff4 100644
--- a/code/__HELPERS/icons.dm
+++ b/code/__HELPERS/icons.dm
@@ -601,12 +601,100 @@ world
 	I.color = color
 	I.flick_overlay(src, time)
 
-/proc/icon2html(thing, target, icon_state, dir = SOUTH, frame = 1, moving = FALSE, sourceonly = FALSE)
+/// generates a filename for a given asset.
+/// like generate_asset_name(), except returns the rsc reference and the rsc file hash as well as the asset name (sans extension)
+/// used so that certain asset files dont have to be hashed twice
+/proc/generate_and_hash_rsc_file(file, dmi_file_path)
+	var/rsc_ref = fcopy_rsc(file)
+	var/hash
+	//if we have a valid dmi file path we can trust md5'ing the rsc file because we know it doesnt have the bug described in http://www.byond.com/forum/post/2611357
+	if(dmi_file_path)
+		hash = md5(rsc_ref)
+	else //otherwise, we need to do the expensive fcopy() workaround
+		hash = md5asfile(rsc_ref)
+
+	return list(rsc_ref, hash, "asset.[hash]")
+
+///given a text string, returns whether it is a valid dmi icons folder path
+/proc/is_valid_dmi_file(icon_path)
+	if(!istext(icon_path) || !length(icon_path))
+		return FALSE
+
+	var/is_in_icon_folder = findtextEx(icon_path, "icons/")
+	var/is_dmi_file = findtextEx(icon_path, ".dmi")
+
+	if(is_in_icon_folder && is_dmi_file)
+		return TRUE
+	return FALSE
+
+/// given an icon object, dmi file path, or atom/image/mutable_appearance, attempts to find and return an associated dmi file path.
+/// a weird quirk about dm is that /icon objects represent both compile-time or dynamic icons in the rsc,
+/// but stringifying rsc references returns a dmi file path
+/// ONLY if that icon represents a completely unchanged dmi file from when the game was compiled.
+/// so if the given object is associated with an icon that was in the rsc when the game was compiled, this returns a path. otherwise it returns ""
+/proc/get_icon_dmi_path(icon/icon)
+	/// the dmi file path we attempt to return if the given object argument is associated with a stringifiable icon
+	/// if successful, this looks like "icons/path/to/dmi_file.dmi"
+	var/icon_path = ""
+
+	if(isatom(icon) || istype(icon, /image) || istype(icon, /mutable_appearance))
+		var/atom/atom_icon = icon
+		icon = atom_icon.icon
+		//atom icons compiled in from 'icons/path/to/dmi_file.dmi' are weird and not really icon objects that you generate with icon().
+		//if theyre unchanged dmi's then they're stringifiable to "icons/path/to/dmi_file.dmi"
+
+	if(isicon(icon) && isfile(icon))
+		//icons compiled in from 'icons/path/to/dmi_file.dmi' at compile time are weird and arent really /icon objects,
+		///but they pass both isicon() and isfile() checks. theyre the easiest case since stringifying them gives us the path we want
+		var/icon_ref = text_ref(icon)
+		var/locate_icon_string = "[locate(icon_ref)]"
+
+		icon_path = locate_icon_string
+
+	else if(isicon(icon) && "[icon]" == "/icon")
+		// icon objects generated from icon() at runtime are icons, but they ARENT files themselves, they represent icon files.
+		// if the files they represent are compile time dmi files in the rsc, then
+		// the rsc reference returned by fcopy_rsc() will be stringifiable to "icons/path/to/dmi_file.dmi"
+		var/rsc_ref = fcopy_rsc(icon)
+
+		var/icon_ref = text_ref(rsc_ref)
+
+		var/icon_path_string = "[locate(icon_ref)]"
+
+		icon_path = icon_path_string
+
+	else if(istext(icon))
+		var/rsc_ref = fcopy_rsc(icon)
+		//if its the text path of an existing dmi file, the rsc reference returned by fcopy_rsc() will be stringifiable to a dmi path
+
+		var/rsc_ref_ref = text_ref(rsc_ref)
+		var/rsc_ref_string = "[locate(rsc_ref_ref)]"
+
+		icon_path = rsc_ref_string
+
+	if(is_valid_dmi_file(icon_path))
+		return icon_path
+
+	return FALSE
+
+/**
+ * generate an asset for the given icon or the icon of the given appearance for [thing], and send it to any clients in target.
+ * Arguments:
+ * * thing - either a /icon object, or an object that has an appearance (atom, image, mutable_appearance).
+ * * target - either a reference to or a list of references to /client's or mobs with clients
+ * * icon_state - string to force a particular icon_state for the icon to be used
+ * * dir - dir number to force a particular direction for the icon to be used
+ * * frame - what frame of the icon_state's animation for the icon being used
+ * * moving - whether or not to use a moving state for the given icon
+ * * sourceonly - if TRUE, only generate the asset and send back the asset url, instead of tags that display the icon to players
+ * * extra_clases - string of extra css classes to use when returning the icon string
+ */
+/proc/icon2html(atom/thing, client/target, icon_state, dir = SOUTH, frame = 1, moving = FALSE, sourceonly = FALSE, extra_classes = null)
 	if (!thing)
 		return
 
 	var/key
-	var/icon/I = thing
+	var/icon/icon2collapse = thing
 
 	if (!target)
 		return
@@ -618,46 +706,64 @@ world
 		targets = list(target)
 	else
 		targets = target
-		if (!targets.len)
-			return
-	if (!isicon(I))
+	if(!length(targets))
+		return
+
+	//check if the given object is associated with a dmi file in the icons folder. if it is then we dont need to do a lot of work
+	//for asset generation to get around byond limitations
+	var/icon_path = get_icon_dmi_path(thing)
+
+	if (!isicon(icon2collapse))
 		if (isfile(thing)) //special snowflake
-			var/name = sanitize_filename("[generate_asset_name(thing)].png")
+			var/name = SANITIZE_FILENAME("[generate_asset_name(thing)].png")
 			if (!SSassets.cache[name])
 				SSassets.transport.register_asset(name, thing)
 			for (var/thing2 in targets)
 				SSassets.transport.send_assets(thing2, name)
 			if(sourceonly)
 				return SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(name)
-			return "<img class='icon icon-misc' src='[SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(name)]'>"
-		var/atom/A = thing
+			return "<img class='[extra_classes] icon icon-misc' src='[SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(name)]'>"
+
+		//its either an atom, image, or mutable_appearance, we want its icon var
+		icon2collapse = thing.icon
 
-		I = A.icon
 		if (isnull(icon_state))
-			icon_state = A.icon_state
-			if (!icon_state)
-				icon_state = initial(A.icon_state)
+			icon_state = thing.icon_state
+			//Despite casting to atom, this code path supports mutable appearances, so let's be nice to them
+			if(isnull(icon_state) || (isatom(thing) && thing.flags_atom & HTML_USE_INITAL_ICON))
+				icon_state = initial(thing.icon_state)
 				if (isnull(dir))
-					dir = initial(A.dir)
+					dir = initial(thing.dir)
 
 		if (isnull(dir))
-			dir = A.dir
+			dir = thing.dir
+
+		if (ishuman(thing)) // Shitty workaround for a BYOND issue.
+			var/icon/temp = icon2collapse
+			icon2collapse = icon()
+			icon2collapse.Insert(temp, dir = SOUTH)
+			dir = SOUTH
 	else
 		if (isnull(dir))
 			dir = SOUTH
 		if (isnull(icon_state))
 			icon_state = ""
 
-	I = icon(I, icon_state, dir, frame, moving)
+	icon2collapse = icon(icon2collapse, icon_state, dir, frame, moving)
+
+	var/list/name_and_ref = generate_and_hash_rsc_file(icon2collapse, icon_path)//pretend that tuples exist
+
+	var/rsc_ref = name_and_ref[1] //weird object thats not even readable to the debugger, represents a reference to the icons rsc entry
+	var/file_hash = name_and_ref[2]
+	key = "[name_and_ref[3]].png"
 
-	key = "[generate_asset_name(I)].png"
 	if(!SSassets.cache[key])
-		SSassets.transport.register_asset(key, I)
-	for (var/thing2 in targets)
-		SSassets.transport.send_assets(thing2, key)
+		SSassets.transport.register_asset(key, rsc_ref, file_hash, icon_path)
+	for (var/client_target in targets)
+		SSassets.transport.send_assets(client_target, key)
 	if(sourceonly)
 		return SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(key)
-	return "<img class='icon icon-[icon_state]' src='[SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(key)]'>"
+	return "<img class='[extra_classes] icon icon-[icon_state]' src='[SSassets.transport.get_asset_url(key)]'>"
 
 //Costlier version of icon2html() that uses getFlatIcon() to account for overlays, underlays, etc. Use with extreme moderation, ESPECIALLY on mobs.
 /proc/costly_icon2html(thing, target, sourceonly = FALSE)
diff --git a/code/game/turfs/walls/wall_icon.dm b/code/game/turfs/walls/wall_icon.dm
index 8b8ee00bcf53..9e47612964c4 100644
--- a/code/game/turfs/walls/wall_icon.dm
+++ b/code/game/turfs/walls/wall_icon.dm
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 		icon_state = "blank"
 		var/image/I
 
+		flags_atom |= HTML_USE_INITAL_ICON
+
 		if(!density)
 			I = image(icon, "[walltype]fwall_open")
 			overlays += I