What originated as a set of Livejournal communities based on the parodying of Shipping wars and other fandom kerfluffles and evolved into a quasi-RP when a few creators...put a bit too much into their sockpuppets. This led to the creation of a third community and then a wiki (which sadly died of spam).
The socks are a group of random fans, based on a wide range of stereotypes and ranging from preteen schoolgirls to thirty-something housewives, all living in a safehouse of epic madness. Whether they're fighting over fandoms, engaging in Ship-to-Ship Combat and character wars or walking in on each other in the showers, there's always some kind of drama to be had. Throughout the comms' run, the socks have formed friendships, romantic relationships, rivalries and reluctant alliances. Oh, and they have a talking cat.The comms aren't all about the sockpuppets and their adventures, though. Before the comms took on a roleplay-esque premise, people would post whatever caught their fancy and start fake wanks for fun. The comms still do this, just not as much as they used to. Some of the funnier shipping wars have involved SnakesxPlane vs SnakexBadger, Mudkips, various food combinations, and Snape's Wives, Mrs. Sephiroth and Link's Queenhaving an orgy.
Provides Examples Of:
Abhorrent Admirer: William to Chastity, Patrick to Gordon, Rod to Sailor Bimbo
Aerith and Bob: Syrius, you have a really strange name compared with most of the other socks.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Josie's list of "filthy, horrible fandom trends" goes as follows - incest, rape, paedophilia, violence and broccoli.
Asshole Victim: Anytime one of the nastier socks gets hurt or humiliated or screwed over in any way, you can't help cheering. (With the exception of the Alexa-Trisha rape, of course)
Attention Whore: A lot of the socks have tendencies but the straightest examples are Esmeralda, Patrick, Trisha and Emily.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Esmeralda. She plays innocent and claims to be a pure, proper lady, but is capable of saying some very nasty and hurtful things to the other socks.
Do not bash characters around Alyssia, or even look at James wrong.
Do not bash female characters around Hannah.
Don't mention Code Geass cosplay in front of Chastity if your names are Morgan and Kristan.
Don't threaten someone Ralph cares for if you're within his earshot range.
Maxie and Maya are VERY protective of their artworks.
Cassie hates it when people compare her to Cori Falls, or even worse, call her "Cori" to make fun of or insult her.
Don't call Trisha fat or by her full name unless you enjoy having beauty products thrown at you.
Want to make stuck-up Bridget lose her cool? Belittle the marriage she so proudly waves around like a status symbol.
Do not upset or threaten Jeb in front of Tori, and especially don't invade his personal space if he's told you to stop (we're looking at you, Patrick and Rod!)
Beware the Nice Ones: Even the calmest, sweetest socks can be horribly upset at times.
Big Brother Instinct: Age-reversed with Ralph, who is rabidly protective of his older sister Janet. Played straight with Joe, who is easily ticked off by anyone who so much as looks at his younger sister Kate the wrong way.
Blondes are Evil: Out of all the blonde socks in the bunch, Chris, Christine, and Stella are the only ones who aren't a pushy asshole or a spineless whiner.
Butt Monkey: A lot of the more irritating socks are this trope due to the equally proportionate number of sane socks who won't put up with their bullshit. Unfortunately, some of the sane socks get this treatment as well now and then.
Cats Are Mean and Cute Kitten: Mittens can be a real asshole when he feels like it, but when he's in deredere mode he can be pretty adorable.
Character Development: Quite a few of the socks, most notably Sue (formerly a pastiche of every annoying Fan Dumb type) and Maxie (who used to only think about sex and porn).
Clingy Jealous Girl: Trisha to Ralph, Lucy to every bishounen she fancies, Patrick to Gordon
Cloud Cuckoolander: Janet, Steve and Dave. Lucy is an obnoxious version.
Cluster F-Bomb: Try counting the number of comments where Gordon doesn't drop this. Missy's pretty bad about it, too. And when in a bad mood, Ralph also slips into this cathegory.
Distressed Damsel: Esmeralda and Angela try to act like these, despite being quite the evil villains themselves at times.
Does Not Like Men: If you're a male in Missy's presence, self-defense is crucial.
Dojikko: Sue and Maxie, though the latter's can mostly be chalked up to her love of stiletto heels...
Do Not Call Me Paul: Fandom Cat used to go into hissy fits whenever anyone called him Mittens. He's cooled down about this a little, but still hates it. Also, don't call Trisha by her full name or she'll throw a bitch fit.
Dramatic Gasp: Kristan, Angela, Josie and Esmeralda are good at this.
Early Installment Weirdness: Sue, Essie and Missy's earlier posts. Sue used to preach about canon before Essie was created, Essie used to preach about feminism before Missy was created, and Missy was slightly more laid back.
Every Girl Is Cuter with Hair Decs: Hannah and her white headband, though she's much more "pretty" than "cute". Karen also uses headbands if she feels girly enough.
The Faceless: Subverted; Joe's sister Kate, Chastity's boyfriend Anton-Klaus, Mitten's girlfriend Lune and Julia's stalker Howie do make appearances, but they lack journals. Played straight with Beth, Janet and Ralph's other sister.
Fan Dumb: In-universe, the very fuel these comms run on.
Girl with Psycho Weapon: Parodied with Sue, Maxie, Julia and Hannah (fish, dildos, bookshelves and mop, respectively). Ralph is a male version with his basketball. Played somewhat straighter with Tori and her gun.
Het is Ew: Monica believes heterosexuality will kill the gay rights movement, and let's not go into Patrick and Rod's psychotic levels of hatred for it.
Heteronormative Crusader: Maylene, Josie and Angela. Essie might as well be a lite version (she doesn't outwardly condemn homosexuals and transsexuals, but she's a stickler for "traditional values" and loudly decries Maxie's shameless, sexy attitude as "disgusting").
Hidden Depths: Cassie's revealed quite a few of them since her initial appearance.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Ralph is over 6'0 tall, so has these dynamics with any female he gets along with - specially his sisters, his best friend Karen and his girlfriend Molly. Joe and Sue are a platonic version of this.
Hype Aversion: In-universe, Bridget instantly loses respect for anyone who likes anything popular... not that anyone wants her respect in the first place.
Jerk Jock: Stuart has definite shades of this. Subverted with Ralph, who looks the part but is much more Jock than Jerk.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: This fits Ralph quite more. Stuart might have the potential for this, as he's not as terrible as other bad socks. Cassie is starting to become one of these as well; though she can be quite the arrogant bitch where fandom is concerned, she's proven to have some degree of caring and concern for the other socks in times of duress. Mila and Milos might also count for these reasons, too.
Kick the Dog: Oh, so many moments from the nasty socks. Some of the more memorable moments include Gordon and Missy both threatening to rape Syrius and bullying Molly to tears, Patrick faking being raped for attention just after Trisha's very real and traumatic rape by Alexa, Trisha bragging about how she gave Molly and Syrius's info to her friends, and Esmeralda driving Syrius to self-harm twice.
Knight Templar Parent: Josephine isn't above ripping up Rod's porn or burning Chris's Disney videos to protect her children from their existence.
Kuudere: Cassie is this combined with Type A Tsundere. Olivia also has shades of this (she's a no-nonsense elitist type, but she showed her soft side in her intro thread while squeeing over Janet's chinchilla).
Even Esmeralda qualifies, if you think of it; her melodramatic, whiny, shrieking behavior and her Purple Prose-like speech patterns are more than good for the trope.
Don't forget Sue and Mittens! A hyperactive silly girl on a permanent sugar high and a high-and-mighty talking cat.
Lethal Chef: Sue is a variant in that her food is edible, but her in a kitchen equals disaster. Especially if there's fire involved.
Mismatched Eyes: Kevin and his mother Marion. While it doesn't symbolize anything special, it's interesting to know that Kevin's eyes is reversed from his mother. They both have one eye blue and the other a shade of amber.
Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, Esmeralda's recent driving of Syrius to a breakdown is being treated this way. Gordon and Missy live on the other side of this, and Patrick's come to visit them several times.
Multicoloured Hair: Syrius. The black tips are dyed, but the purple is natural.
Naïve Everygirl: Molly. Stephanie and Julia have shades of this, and Christine could become this when she gets older.
Esmeralda crying that she can't handle Downer Ending fics because her hamster jumped out the window when she was seven.
Any of Cassie's "issue" fics are seen this way by the other socks due to her use of rape and homophobia as dramatic devices.
Anytime Patrick tries to get attention for himself by screaming about all the bad things that happen to him...that he either deserves or is lying about.
Emily's constant whining about her mean oppressive parents and love for Riku.
Nausea Fuel: In-universe, several examples: Missy's stench, Lucy's idiocy, fanfics written by Gordon, Esmeralda and Rod, Patrick's entire mindset and behavior.
Never My Fault: Esmeralda. Also Angela after she and Essie managed to drive Syrius into a suicidal episode.
Not Allowed to Grow Up: None of the socks seem to age. Most notably, Lucy was first introduced in June 2006, and yet after over four years, she still hasn't even turned 14.
Not Helping Your Case: This has gotten Trisha and Essie into trouble quite a few times.
Pet the Dog: Cassie has her better moments, when she's not being a snooty elitist: she treats Syrius (and sometimes, Sue) rather well and is the proud owner of several pet bunnies. A more shocking example is Missy praising Josephine's daughter Catherine after noticing the girl's rebellious streak.
Petite Pride: Karen uses her flat chest to her advantage, since she can cosplay guys very easily because of her small boobs.
Platonic Life Partners: Ralph and Karen. When asked if they're a couple, they're grossed out. Molly and Syrius are this as well, in a Kindred Spirits sense.
The Pollyanna: Mary Ellen is a parody/deconstruction.
Proper Lady - Yamato Nadeshiko: Maya mixes this with Granola Girl. Lily plays it straighter. Julia has some shades of this as well despite her young age. This is what Esmeralda wants to be. Problem is, she's way too melodramatic and narrowminded to be one.
Psycho Lesbian: Missy's made some rather suggestively deranged comments towards several of the female socks, most notably Essie and Trisha. And then this happened.
Rape Portrayed As Redemption: Subverted with Trisha; after anonymouse Alexa went way too far in fighting her off, Trisha was quite broken for a while...unfortunately, when she bounced back she decided to hate on all lesbians.
Real Men Wear Pink: Mark is gonna squee over fluffy romances, worship cute characters, pick flowers and there's not a damn thing anyone can do to discourage him. Chris is a variant of the Real Men Still Love Disney kind.
Redheads Are Uncool: Red-haired Molly is considered a dweeby loser among her peers and certain sockpuppets. Stephanie is implied to have this problem, too, when she was younger, as did Janet. Finally, this is the reason Trisha bleaches her hair and was beyond traumatized when Maxie and Julia dyed it red as a revenge ploy.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted by Syrius, who quickly turned out to be a gentle boy who's only a danger to himself.
Retcon: Joe was 21 during his first appearances, later his age was changed to 19. Possibly Molly, Julia and Syrius's friendship (they met for the first time on the comms during Molly and Syrius's intro threads, but it was later revealed they went to the same school and were classmates. Though to be fair, it could've been a case of "oh, so you and my classmate are one and the same?! Who knew!")
Selective Enforcement: Sort of. The sane socks don't exactly get away with murder, but people come down a lot harder on socks like Rod, Missy, Josie and Gordon than ones like Margot, Ralph, Joe and Christine no matter what the circumstances are.
Not So Different: Gordon and Lucy may have different personalities and temperaments, but when it comes down to it they're both just as delusional and stubborn about their favorite fictional dudes.
Cassie will go from calm and pleasant to frothing rage if you so much as mention protagonist characters like Aang or Usagi.
Don't try to convince Ralph that manga is better than anime.
Even worse, just look at his sister, his girlfriend and/or Syrius wrong. He may forgive you in regards to anime and manga, but if you threaten anyone he cares for, things will get BAD.
Hannah is somewhat hypocritical when it comes to character defence and bashing; while she's extremely protective of most female characters, she's a hell of a lot harder on male ones, and there's a select few guys that she hates to vicious degrees. She does know her own faults, though.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: People love to try to invoke this with bickering pairs such as Missy and Esmeralda or Trisha, Rod and Lucy, Percival and Sandy, Cassie and Martina, and Gordon and Missy. Rod and Sailor Bimbo are a canon variant; he does the kissing (or tries to) and she does the slapping.
Social Darwinist: Gordon thinks only BIG BAD MANLY MEN are worthy and everyone else deserves abuse and punishment for being "weak", though he subverts the trope by being rather pathetic and weak himself. Missy is a female version whose idea of "helping" the softer socks toughen up is bullying them to tears - if they don't kick her in the face first, that is.
Spoiled Sweet: Maya is hinted to be from a rather rich family, but she's not snobbish or anything.
Squick: In-universe reaction to Patrick asserting that mpreg can/should someday be a reality.
"Stop Having Fun" Guys: In-universe: Stuart is the epitome of this. Bridget is a variation on this substituting fandom and character popularity for game techniques, and so is Lily to a lesser extent. Newcomer Zach is this when it comes to following canon.
Supreme Chef: Surprisingly, Ralph is an excellent cook. Specially in regards to pizza, salads and fruit-based drinks. Julia's pretty good in the kitchen, too.
Teenage Boys Kick Shins: Mark prefers this method of dealing with bullies and other annoying people.
Testosterone Poisoning: Gordon tries to be the very image of MANLINESS!!! but tends to fail miserably.
Take That: Pretty much all the "bad" socks are over the top mockeries of the creators' most hated Fan Dumb cliches.
Team Mom: Janet, Lily, maybe Hannah. Marion is the literal version of this trope.
Teens Are Monsters: Played straight with Trisha, Missy, Rod, Patrick, Monica, Emily and Michelle; subverted with Margot, Karen, Molly, Julia, Syrius, and Mark. Sue, Ralph and Nancy vary depending on several factors, mainly whether or not someone pisses them off.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Maxie remembers when Gordon was a little angel. Kind of hard to imagine considering what he is thesedays.
Valley Girl: Trisha, which is like, totally ironic considering she prides herself on being like, soooo trendy and totally with the program and all.
Villainous Crossdresser: Missy. According to her, the only good thing about men are the clothes they get to wear.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Tori for Jeb, Lune for Mittens, Morgan for Kristan. Julia is potentially this for Syrius, and Margot is quick to defend her boyfriend Kevin.
Vomit Discretion Shot: Syrius, when he ran off to be sick over the reveal of "Fanon Duo"'s true self.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Rod constantly makes like he's puking over the idea of yaoi. Mittens has done this a lot, too, much to the disgust of others.
Wangst: Patrick and Emily, in huge amounts in-universe.
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