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1[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6e195c4501df9c6f38903ea672ac690f.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:255: Samwell Men's Hockey Team, Season 1 [[note]]from left to right: [[BrokenAce Jack]], [[BigBrotherMentor Shitty]], [[SupremeChef Bitty]], [[ThoseTwoGuys Ransom-and-Holster]][[/note]] ]]
3
4->''"Hey y'all! Didja miss me? (Well I sure as heck missed ''you''!)"''
5-->-- '''Bitty''', introducing himself to his viewers
6
7''[[http://checkpleasecomic.com/ Check, Please!]]'' is a webcomic by Ngozi Ukazu that ran from 2013 to its completion in 2020.
8
9''Eric Bittle—former Georgia junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and amateur pâtissier—is starting his freshman year at the prestigious Samwell University in Samwell, MA. And it’s basically nothing like co-ed club hockey back in the South. For one?''
10
11''There’s checking.''
12
13''It’s a story about hockey and friendship and bros and trying to find yourself during the best 4 years of your life.''
14
15To read the entire blog chronologically on tumblr, start [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/tagged/omgcheckplease/chrono here]]. You can also read it [[http://omgeverythingplease.tumblr.com/ here]] or [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/tweets here]] with accompanying tweets.
16
17On September 18, 2018, Creator/FirstSecondBooks published the first two years of the comic in book form as ''Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey''. The second volume, ''Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks and Scones'', was released on April 7, 2020.
18
19----
20!!''Check, Please!'' provides examples of the following tropes:
21
22* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: Bitty almost tells Jack how he feels at graduation, but [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-17-01 chickens out]].
23* AcademicAthlete: Most notably with Shitty, Ransom, and Dex. Shitty majors in Gender Studies and Political Science and is going to law school after graduating, Ransom's study anxiety is because of his struggles to maintain a 4.0 average, and Dex's natural habitat is shown to be in a Samwell computer lab.
24* TheAce:
25** Jack. Elected team captain ''three years in a row'', the third time unanimously, a Samwell record. He's also the son of hockey star Bob Zimmermann and a constant subject of media spotlight.
26** Kent Parson is shaping out to be this. He's Jack's [[ChildhoodFriends former friend]] and apparent [[TheRival rival]] for the #1 draft in the 2009 NHL Draft. After being drafted 1st overall by the Las Vegas Aces in 2009 after Jack's overdose, Kent goes on to win the Stanley Cup for the Aces and the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is which is awarded to the player deemed most sufficient in their first year of competition in the NHL. To quote the comic “he’s probably tied for first when it comes to the best living hockey player right now - PROBABLY tied.”
27* AddictionPowered: Part of Jack's [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-06-01 back-story]]. Increasing amounts of anti-anxiety medication and binge drinking [[FunctionalAddict helped him]] become a Junior League hockey champion, but eventually he [[AddledAddict overdosed]], wound up in rehab, and was taken out of the NHL draft.
28* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Kent Parson to Jack, possibly. It certainly turned out that way.
29* AnythingButThat: Bitty screams and struggles when [[spoiler:his teammates cut off access to the ovens all around campus. Why? Because he hasn't worked on his thesis. They tell him he gets access back when he finishes]].
30* ArtEvolution: The art style and character designs got a lot cleaner and more stylized over time. Most notably, Bitty's eyes have gotten about 300% bigger than they were originally.
31* ArcWords: Year 3, particularly has "Let's talk about it" and "communication" being commonly used, this reflects [[spoiler:Bitty and Jack's relationship, which is heavily based on talking with each other about their doubts and desires]].
32* ArtisticLicenseSports:
33** As awesome as [[spoiler:Bitty's check]] was, his feet ''did'' leave the ice when he did so and if it could be proven he intentionally did so to give himself more force, he made an illegal play. Players have gotten game misconducts, fines, and suspensions in the NHL over that.
34** Ngozi [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/91579821847 didn't realize]] that it's illegal for people to play in the NCAA after QMJHL, which Jack does. She discussed it in her notes:
35--> You know how everyone has coffee shop [=AUs=] for things? Check, Please! is a ''people-can-play-in-the-NCAA-after-doing-junior-hockey'' AU. And Bitty’s a barista.
36** Ice Skaters and Hockey Skaters ''do not'' skate the same way nor do they use the same skates, and Bitty's highlight reel being half figure skating probably would've got him sent to Samwell's Figure skating coach instead.
37** Kent being from New York means he should've played in the OHL, not the QMJHL.
38* BackToFront: 3.26 showcases everyone's reactions to [[spoiler: Jack and Bitty kissing on national television after the Falconers win the Stanley Cup]] in reverse order, starting at noon the following day and ending immediately after [[spoiler: the kiss]].
39* BenchedHero: Bitty after [[spoiler:he gets a concussion during the playoffs.]]
40* BerserkButton:
41** Bitty is usually averse to physicality and avoids fighting. Unless [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/216 you don't appreciate Beyonce.]]
42** His mother believes that using Aunt Judith's jam recipe is a crime. [[spoiler:When Bitty confesses to using it to feed the team, she's more upset about that than him feeling he had to hide and calls her sister in a rage. Her husband wisely tells Jack they should skedaddle when they come home to the scene]].
43* TheBigDamnKiss:
44** In 2.18-19, [[spoiler: Jack and Bitty finally kiss.]]
45** In 3.25, [[spoiler: Jack and Bitty kiss on camera after Providence wins the Stanley Cup, thus coming out to the entire world, including Bitty's parents.]]
46* BigBrotherMentor: Jack counts as this, primarily through how he used to coach peewee hockey to 11 and 12 year olds during his recovery period who used to call him Coach Z. It's pretty adorable.
47** He somewhat becomes this to Chowder, but he and Bitty and more like his mom and dad than anything else. Bitty even calls him "my dear son" at one point on his Twitter.
48* BilingualBonus: Jack is from Montreal and speaks fluent French at home. If you [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/68740533380 translate]] the [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-10-01 phone call]] he has with his dad it reveals a lot about their relationship and a partial source of Jack's anxiety.
49** On the fluffy side, Jack tells Bitty in French that he won't get out of revising his French flashcards even if he made French cuisine.
50** In 3.8, Tater calls Parse a "fucking asshole" in Russian.
51* BookEnds: Jack's first and last appearance during Bitty's freshman year both end with the line "Eat more protein."
52** Sophomore year is bookended with Bitty singing "Halo", before Jack interupts him calling Eric "Bitty".
53** Junior Year is bookended with [[spoiler: Bitty kissing Jack in his Falconers uniform. It starts with Bitty kissing the figurine of Jack as a Falconer and ends with Bitty and Jack kissing on the ice after the Falconers win the Stanley Cup.]]
54** Senior year opens up with a quick peek of the moment Bitty quit football, which also lead to his fear of checking. This flashback shown in full clarity during Bitty's final hockey game, [[spoiler: where he finally gets over his fear and checks someone.]]
55** And for the entire comic in general, the story opens and ends with Bitty making a vlog greeting his viewers with "Hello, internet land!"
56* BorrowedCatchphrase: Chowder saying the SMH's signature catchphrase "S'wawesome!" before he even enrolls at Samwell.
57* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The argument that Bitty hears between Kent and Jack has some shades of this, until Kent crosses the line. [[spoiler:Kent wants to know where Jack is going after graduation, and offers that with his connections, he can put Jack on a dream team. He rightly says that Jack is talented and deserves the comeback that should have happened several years ago. Jack politely says that he needs more time to make an informed decision, and he doesn't just want to jump onto a team that looks good on-paper. Plus, he doesn't want people to assume that he got his position because of nepotism]].  
58* BreakingTheFourthWall: Johnson the Metaphysical Goalie does this constantly, and the other characters get in on it occasionally too, though very rarely since they usually aren't aware of the fourth wall.
59** A perfect example is [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-20-01 here]] when Bitty breaks the fourth wall to explain checking and how it relates to what is happening to him at that moment.
60* BrokenAce: Jack. His anxiety and reliance on medication led to an overdose and him missing the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He then went back to school at a small college in Massachusetts (read: Samwell) where he sought to redeem himself and win back his father's love, which he (wrongly) believes he lost when he got cut. It doesn't help how it's implied that he gets frequently criticized on his mistakes and choices by [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-18-01 the media]], even after (''especially'' after) he makes an amazing play. Made even all the worse when you [[{{Backstory}} read his backstory comic]] and learn all about the shit he fought through trying to fix himself, and which also implies that Bitty might help him figure all of that out.
61* CanadianEqualsHockeyFan: Jack is from Montreal and Ransom's from Toronto. They both have a, erm, strong pride for their home country, as shown in the [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/tagged/so-canadian-it-hurts-eh%3F extras]].
62** Jean-Claude and Nicolas.
63* CantHoldHisLiquor: Somewhat. Because of Jack's history with alcohol, he seems to distance himself from substances and parties. He was the [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/year-2-comic-4-hazeapalooza lowest ranked drunk]] during 2.4: Hazapalooza (moreso when compared to fellow Haze victims Dex (5 stars) and Chowder (12 stars)), and [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-07-01 purposely doesn't go to parties]] so he won't get drunk.
64** Sweet, sweet Chowder already had a mad flush after one Natty Light at Hazeapalooza.
65* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: And don't even get us started on their [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/hockey-shit-hockey-butt-3 butts.]]
66** Jack has been chosen as Samwell's [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/106639237762 50 Most Beautiful]] for his freshman and junior years, just barely missing in his sophomore year. His ass also has an [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/uploads/026-04.gif apparent fan following]] and [[http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/tagged/jack-zimmermann%27s-ass it's own tag]] on the omgcheckplease tumblr.
67** John Johnson, the metaphysical goalie, got elected for all four years. Probably because of his abs.
68* CharacterBlog: [[http://www.twitter.com/OMGCheckPlease Bitty's Twitter]] kept readers informed between updates, but was kept locked for over a year to avoid spoilers since the comic had fallen so far behind real time.
69* {{Cliffhanger}}: 3.9 shows Bitty [[spoiler:talking in a voice message about how hurt he is with hiding his relationship from everybody on the team]], ending with Jack worriedly calling him and ask what's wrong only for Bitty to say "Can we talk?".
70** 3.26 ends with [[spoiler:Jack and Bitty kissing on national television, outing themselves to everyone, including Bitty's parents.]]
71* ColorMotif: Pale yellow or blue backgrounds are associated with happiness and bonding. Fans have even nicknamed this phenomenon "the yellow background of tender gay moments", though it also occasionally crops up platonically, such as when Jack gives Chowder his dibs.
72* ComingOutStory:
73** [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-13-01 1.13-14]] aka, The Closet Story, for Bitty. It's honestly the first time he's explicitly said, even to himself, that he's gay. Shitty takes this in stride and replies with how five people came out to him in his sophomore year. Guess Bits was right about the Samwell reputation.
74** Shitty says five people came out to him ''in one week'' during sophomore year.
75** The end of year 3 and the beginning of year 4 is one for both [[spoiler:Jack]] and Bitty, as [[spoiler:they kiss on national television. Jack becomes the first openly gay male athlete on an active roster in major North American professional sports, and Bitty's parents find out as well]].
76* CuteGhostGirl: The Haus ghosts [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/040 Jenny and Mandy]], who died during a sorority rush event. They are [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/039 quite fond of Ransom.]]
77* DefrostingTheIceQueen: Bitty towards Jack. By sophomore year, it seems to have worked, so much that they've become close friends, Jack frequently shows affection and worry towards Bitty, and Bitty [[spoiler:develops a raging crush on him, which Jack returns.]]
78* DidTheyOrDidntThey: [[spoiler: Lardo and Shitty]] increasingly become this in junior year, most notably in 3.11.
79* DoYouTrustMe: Jack uses a more downplayed version of this sentiment in 1.19, when he tells Bitty that he "has his back." [[spoiler:Of course, this didn't end well since Bitty ends up with a concussion and the boys lose in the next round of the playoffs, but it was adorable as well as an excellent example of ShipTease.]]
80* EruditeStoner: Shitty and Lardo.
81** Also applies to Johnson in more of a metaphysical, breaking-the-fourth-wall sort of way.
82* EverybodyKnewAlready: [[spoiler: Lardo, Shitty, Holser and Ransom had all found out about Jack and Bitty beforehand but were waiting for the two to tell them in person]]. Downplayed, as they were the only ones who knew and only found out because they [[spoiler: happened to come across evidence of Jack and Bitty's relationship]].
83* TheFaceless: Johnson the metaphysical goalie. As a self-aware minor character who is not allowed to openly communicate with the main characters, you usually see his back, his face hidden by a hat (even at black-tie banquets), or his face so tiny it's impossible to get a distinct image of it.
84* {{Foil}}: Ngozi has stated that Bitty and Parse are meant to be plot foils. Dex and Nursey are also a [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-03-01 good example]]. The two D-men hate each others' guts because they never agree on anything. Dex thinks Nursey is crazy because he's so chill about everything and Nursey thinks Dex is too uptight. They look and act completely different and fight over who gets to hang out with Chowder frequently. It tends to mess with their plays, which worries Chowder.
85* FoodAsBribe: Bitty bribes his way into a senior seminar course on Women, Food, and American culture with pie.
86* FourthWallMailSlot: Handled very neatly with the way the characters respond to questions on Tumblr: asks and replies sent to omgcheckplease are, in-universe, sent to the official Samwell Men's Hockey blog, although Johnson the metaphysical goalie is aware of their true nature.
87* FullNameUltimatum: Played for laughs with Bitty and Jack; when Jack refers to the song "Halo" as a Justin Bieber song because of his PopCulturalOsmosisFailure, Bitty apparently splashes him with water and yells "Jack Laurent Zimmerman, do not blaspheme!"
88** Again, Bitty uses this against Nursey. ("Derek. Malik. Nurse! I did not just see you spit on this locker room floor!")
89** Used jokingly by Mama Bittle in one of the Extras when she asks Bitty "who's got [his] phone making that racket."
90* GayGuySeeksPopularJock: Bitty's eventual crush on Jack. Jack isn't a social butterfly, but being the son of Bad Bob Zimmerman and a former junior hockey champion means everyone knows who he is.
91* {{Gayngst}}: [[spoiler:Bitty develops a crush for Jack, fully convinced Jack is straight.]]
92* GoodParents: When Bitty's parents [[spoiler:find out he is gay and from television no less, they're not upset with him for being out of the closet. No, they're hurt that he didn't trust them with this secret. Bitty is forced to admit that being raised Southern, he wasn't sure how they would respond. Both his mom and dad reassure him they love him and think that Jack is a keeper so please don't break up with him. His mother takes more issue with his choice of jam recipe]].
93* GoshDarnItToHeck: Bitty's swear vocabulary consists of "Goodness," "Bless your heart," and "See if I ever bake y'all's favorite cookies again." There are some exceptions, such as Bitty's impersonations of other players, but compared to the rest of the team, Bitty is pretty Disney in his speech. To be fair, though, have ''you'' ever tried to swear in front of a Southern mom?
94* GrayRainOfDepression: 3.9 goes on while Jack is in the middle of the rain. Although it's only show through Bitty's window, it's also raining in Samwell, and the entirety of the episode is a huge TearJerker.
95* GraduateFromTheStory: There's a graduation ceremony at the end of every book, but the series, being structured around Bitty's time at Samwell, ends with his graduation.
96* TheGrovel: Kent pulls one of these on Jack during Epikegster 2014 [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-09-01 saying he misses him.]]
97* HappilyMarried: Though they're only dating, Year 3 shows [[spoiler: Jack and Bitty's]] relationship to be rock-solid. [[spoiler: The only time we see them fight in canon is when they're each worried that the other is sacrificing ''too much'' for their relationship, and even that's quickly resolved]]. [[spoiler: Jack proposes and Bitty accepts in 4.25, the second-to-last chapter.]]
98* HardTruthAesop: [[spoiler:Kent and Jack's relationship]] has the sobering message that even if two people on-paper seem perfect for each other and want the best for their partner, they sometimes aren't good together. Both sides, when Bitty presses them to talk, each admit they made mistakes: [[spoiler:Kent reveals he was seriously in love with Jack]] and did want him to succeed, but didn't understand that [[spoiler:Jack was burnt out from his drug addiction and overdose, believing it was a matter of willpower and not poor mental health]]. [[spoiler:Jack says the reason why he broke up with Kent was that when he got clean, he had to cut out the bits of his life that were driving him to drugs. Kent was one of them as an overachiever that seemed BornLucky with his hockey career, making Jack feel unnecessary pressure]].
99* HeadsTailsEdge: When [[SitcomArchnemesis Dex and Nursey]] are arguing about which one of them should get dibs on Lardo's room, Bitty proposes that they resolve it with a coin flip. The coin winds up getting stuck upright in a crack on the floor and Lardo and Bitty take it as a sign that ''both'' of them should share the room, much to Dex's horror.
100* HeterosexualLifePartners: Holster and Ransom. Ever since they got their [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/029 nicknames]]. (YMMV on just how heterosexual it is.)
101** [[http://40.media.tumblr.com/df151e0f9ecafe56eb452cf6ae2b094e/tumblr_nfkts4mDJ61szaospo6_1280.jpg WHO WANTS TO SHARE A BEST FRIEND SUNDAE??]]
102* {{Hunk}}: Ngozi explicitly describes Jack as one.
103* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Jack is hard on the team as a DrillSergeantNasty, and insists on training Bitty to help him with checking blocks. He wants them to meet his standards. Then Kent Parsons during their argument makes the mistake of calling the team shitty and amateurish. Jack as the team captain bristle and tells Kent to GetOut.
104* ImpliedLoveInterest: During the first two years, Shitty and Lardo are extremely close and the comic occasionally implies that they have feelings for each other, but what we actually see of their relationship is fairly ambiguous. Years 3 and 4 more or less confirm that they're dating, but do so through [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent Meaningful Background Events]] and innuendo rather than onscreen development.
105* INeedToGoIronMyDog: Bitty claims that [[https://www.checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-13-01 he has a pie baking in the library]] when trying to [[spoiler: stay in the closet when Ransom and Holster are trying to find him a date for Winter Screw]]. They know he's lying because Bitty would never forget a pie.
106* InitiationCeremony: Of the hazing variety. [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-04-01 Skipping it is not an option]].
107** And even the manager isn't free from the initiation.
108* InSeriesNickname: Nicknames are given with wild abandon and enforced through [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/hockey-shit-nicknames-1 Hockey tradition.]]
109** So far: Bitty (Eric Bittle), Jack (well, Jack Zimmermann, it's unknown how he missed out; still an exception because people are usually known by their last names), Shitty (B. Knight, apparently it's (not) a long story), Holster (Adam Birkholtz), Ransom (Justin Oluransi, another exception), Lardo (Larissa Duan), Chowder (Chris Chow), Dex (William Poindexter), and Nursey (Derek Nurse). Non-Samwell Hockey team members include Jack's dad, Bad Bob (Bob Zimmermann), Falconers Assistant General Manager [[GenderBlenderName George]] (Georgia Martin), and Parse (Kent Parson).
110*** And then there are the nick-nicknames: Bits, Shits, Holtzy, Rans, and Lards.
111*** Before coming to Samwell, Holster was called "Birker" and Ransom was "Ranser". (See HeterosexualLifePartners, above.)
112** "Zimms" for Jack, but only by Parse.
113** And [[spoiler:in return, "Kenny" for Parse, but (presumably) only by Jack]].
114** The introduction of the Falconers in Year 3 comes with a new set of nicknames: Tater (Alexei Mashkov), Marty (Sebastien St. Martin), Thirdy (Randall Robinson III), Snowy (last name Snow), Guy (real name unknown, may be his real first name), and Poots (real name unknown). Additionally, Tater and Marty each have their own nicknames for Jack ("Zimmboni" and "kiddo" respectively).
115* IdenticallyNamedGroup: To Bitty's confusion, everyone on the Samwell University men's lacrosse team appears to be named Chad. If the captain, Chad L., is anything to go by, they also share a slang dialect that's incomprehensible to outsiders.
116* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Bitty. He creates goodie bags, makes team dinners from scratch, re-does the entire Haus, [[SupremeChef bakes]], dresses the boys, chaperones Chowder and Farmer's first date, possesses many stuffed animals, and listens to a variety of female pop singers.
117* JerkassRealization: Jack has one during the playoffs in Year One when he insists that Bitty should participate in a tricky play, and Bitty gets a bad hip check as well as a concussion. He's mad at himself not just because Bitty has to be benched for months and could have been killed, but also that Bitty forgives him and votes him as team captain. Jack asks Bitty why he did that, and Bitty sincerely says that he couldn't ask for a better captain. [[spoiler:This is the moment that Jack fell for Bitty]].
118* LastNameBasis: Most nicknames come from their last names. If not, then they're usually called by their last name. Nobody knows Shitty's first name, and it's a miracle we know anyone else's. The only person who is consistently called by their actual first name is Jack and it's because he doesn't have a nickname until he joins the Falconers, most of whom still call him Jack.
119* LargeHam: Holster, by WordOfGod, is ''LOUD''.
120** Shitty can count as this too.
121* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Johnson, the Metaphysical Goalie. However, in bonus materials, he tends to just outright break it.
122* LoveEpiphany: Bitty in [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-06-01 2.6]]. Oh baby. But, [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/year-2-comic-6-wgss as quoted from the chapter notes]]:
123-->'''Ngozi''': "''What does Bitty like? Well-built young men and baking ingredients. What did Bitty do? Took a well-built young man and covered him in baking ingredients honestly I don’t know what he expected.''"
124** At graduation, [[spoiler:Jack's dad makes him realize how he feels about Bitty. Naturally, it took a [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-17-01 hockey analogy]] for him to get it.]]
125* MarriedToTheJob: Jack. A tweet from Bitty's twitter account pretty well sums it up; "If Jack could give a Valentine's Day card to the 24 years he's spent playing hockey, I'm sure he would." Jack wakes Bitty up for extra practice before sunrise, attends training camps when he's not playing hockey at school, and nags the rest of the team about their dietary choices.
126* MellowFellow: Nursey, really. Dubbed hipster and chill bro to all. His main complaint about Dex is that he's "uptight," while Dex just calls him crazy. He just seems calm about everything.
127** On twitter, however, Ngozi described Nursey, Lardo, and Kent Parson as "giant dweebs" despite coming off as very chill.
128* MultipleDemographicAppeal: One of the best things about Check Please! is that just about anyone could enjoy it. Hockey fans, sports anime fans, and comic geeks alike all enjoy the comic.
129* TheNicknamer: Shitty's well-crafted nicknames created the power couple that is Holster and Ransom.
130* NeverGetsDrunk: Lardo is a flip-cup champion and has beaten all of the hockey boys at various drinking games, but never appears drunk and is always cool as can be.
131* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Jack and Bitty are dating as of Junior Year.]]
132* OneOfTheBoys: As student team manager, Lardo attends all of the boys' official hockey functions, but also hangs out with them in the Haus, at the library, team meals, and Haus parties. At 5'1" she is also Haus champion of beer pong and flip cup.
133--> "'Ransom: Like, Lardo just throws one back and just winks at me and Holtzy and just like murders our last cup with some MJ fade-away bullshit- then goes and burps in Holsters face for like 8 seconds.'"
134--> "'Holster: I was disgusted at first, but then I realized it was a show of respect.'"
135* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Shitty. He's been interrupted a few times trying to explain. The closest we have is B. Knight, which have lead to a couple jokes from the authoress about his relations to Olympic medalist Hilary Knight and his obsession with her two gold medals.
136** On the Falconers, Poots, Guy, and Snowy's full names are unknown.
137* ParentheticalSwearing: In true southern fashion, when Bitty says "bless your heart" he means "go fuck yourself".
138* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Shitty is frequently naked. The list of people who have told him to get dressed includes Bitty, Mrs. Bittle, and most notably, Jack. Jack has even had to make a rule in the Haus that Shitty is not allowed to lie on Jack's bed unless he is [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/065 wearing pants]].
139* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Jack is completely oblivious to pop culture because he has been so focused on hockey his whole life. It is a running joke in the extras.
140* PornStache: [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/019 Shitty, again.]]
141* QueerRomance: Once they get together, [[spoiler: Bitty and Jack]] are actually invested in making their relationship work and thus take care to avert PoorCommunicationKills and other such tropes that often bring down fictional relationships. As a result, their relationship is healthy and strong.
142* RaceForYourLove: [[spoiler:Jack does this for Bitty after graduation, with Bad Bob's [[ShipperOnDeck encouragement]].]]
143* RealTime: The comics were originally updated to reflect this, although it's more obvious on the [[https://twitter.com/omgcheckplease Twitter]] account. After the hiatus, the comics fell behind by approximately 8 months, and the gap just got longer. The Twitter was locked for almost 18 months due to this.
144* RedOniBlueOni: Bitty or Shitty as the Red Oni to Jack's Blue Oni.
145** Dex as the Red Oni to Nursey's Blue Oni.
146* RelationshipReveal: An [[https://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/615143512414027776 extra]] published after the end of the comic reveals that [[ThoseTwoGuys Ollie and Wicky]] are actually married, much to the surprise of both the audience and the other characters. This was actually foreshadowed in [[https://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/174794817517 an earlier extra]] that showed only one bed in their shared room.
147* ReReleaseSoundtrack: A lyrics-only variation. The words to "Halo" by {{Music/Beyonce}} appear a couple of times in Year Two, but when the comic was published in graphic novel format by First Second, they had to be changed to a SuspiciouslySimilarSong to get around copyright issues.
148* RunningGag: [[http://asterlark.tumblr.com/post/150702394438/what-the-fuck-color-are-his-eyes The color of Kent's eyes always changes]], and it's probably on purpose.
149** Jack's lack of pop culture knowledge.
150** People commenting that the Haus is nicer than a typical frat house because it has curtains.
151** Year 3 has Fry Guy, a background character who [[FunnyBackgroundEvent tends to suffer]] whenever the main characters get overexcited.
152** The hockey team's rivalry with the lacrosse team.
153* SecretRelationship: [[spoiler:Bitty and Jack. As of 3.1, they haven't told anyone they started dating after Jack graduated (except maybe Bad Bob, [[ShipperOnDeck who doesn't need to be told]]). Justified due to [[DeliberateValuesDissonance the heteronormativity of sports]], including hockey, and how much it must add to [[BrokenAce Jack]]'s anxiety, not knowing how the league, media, and fans may react if he ever comes out.]]
154** Deconstructed, particularly on 3.9, as [[spoiler:Bitty shows that hiding this from his friends has taken a toll on him, leaving him tired and miserable over how much he has to lie to everybody, even more considering that since nobody knows about their relationship, Bitty often hears thing that only worsen the situation. This eventually ends as they come out to the Team, Jack's parents and some of Jack's new teammates in the following updates.]]
155** [[spoiler: Kent Parson and Jack Zimmermann]] were this.
156** [[spoiler: No longer true as of the end of Year 3. Jack and Bitty kiss on the ice after the Falconers win the Stanley Cup, so the entire world knows now.]]
157* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Bitty is the sensitive guy to Jack's manly man.
158* SheIsAllGrownUp: Jack was a [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-05-01 weird-looking baby]] and a [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/010 chubby kid]] before [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/026 puberty kicked in]], gave him cheekbones, muscle, and a 6"1' body that made him hot enough to get picked for Samwell's 50 Most Beautiful twice.
159* ShipTease: Jack and Bitty, WHOO, Jack and Bitty. Like. Really. Even before [[spoiler:Bitty's LoveEpiphany in 2.6]] it was pretty clear from page one that Ngozi views them as endgame [[spoiler: and Ngozi says they are "destiny" "10/10 probably" as per Huddle vol 1.]] As the comic is in Bitty's POV, Bitty's Jack quotes on his twitter make is look as if Jack is flirting with him. Their checking clinics go from boot camps to what seem like dates. [[http://40.media.tumblr.com/3894303ca5cf6f9090c0c229b37c3ff6/tumblr_nei4t3WaVE1szaospo6_r4_1280.jpg Jack hugging Bitty emotionally]] in the Celly Hockey Shit. Every quip Ngozi makes about Jack and Bitty touching butts. THE HUDDLE ZINE, which has Bitty wearing ''Jack's jersey.'' Sophomore year is BLEEDING with this. [[spoiler:Resolved at graduation, when Jack ''finally'' realizes he likes Bitty and runs off to kiss him.]]
160* {{Shipping}}: In-universe, there were people who shipped Jack and Kent back when they were juniors and even wrote RealPersonFiction. As Jack joined the Falconers, fans of Potatomann (Jack/Tater) also sprouted.
161* ShipperOnDeck: There's only a minority of characters in the comic who aren't shipping Bitty/Jack at this point. The SMH [[spoiler:all knew about their relationship and are very happy about it, not only because they see how happy they are with each other, but, as Shitty is particularly willing to lampshade, being with Bitty has been good for Jack, who is basically a new person after being with him]]. Bad Bob and Alicia [[spoiler:are very happy with his son relationship, a comic note will show that Alicia is so happy she can't stop talking about it with Bob on how glad she is her son is in a happy committed relationship]], and also [[spoiler:the Falconers are all very supportive of their relationship, particularly Georgia, who states that she will help Jack's coming out as much as she can]].
162* ShoutOut: Jack's backstory is done in the style of Webcomic/DokiDokiCheckMate.
163* SickeninglySweethearts: [[spoiler: When they finally get together, Jack and Bitty are ''very'' affectionate]].
164* SideBet: [[spoiler: Not only did Lardo, Shitty, Ransom, and Holster knew [[EverybodyKnewAlready that Jack and Bitty were together before they confessed]], they also made bets about when they would come clean about their relationship]].
165* SingingInTheShower: Bitty apparently does this so much that Holster knows what day of the week he sings what artist. Jack is [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-01-01 less than thrilled about this habit]].
166* SouthernGentleman: Bitty, though he usually leans more towards [[SouthernBelle its counterpart]].
167* TheStoic: Jack, at first. He's jokingly referred to as a hockey robot.
168* SupremeChef: Bitty's pie-making skills have been acknowledged as legendary around the campus, and he even managed to bribe his way into classes he shouldn't be able to take with them.
169* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Bitty is scared of being checked; during the playoffs, his teammates give him a pep talk. They say that he has been working hard at his phobia and believe in him. Bitty gains a determined look...[[spoiler:and proceeds to get a bad hip check that leaves him with a concussion, and in danger of being kicked off the team next year owing to his phobia surging. Jack has to wake him up for early-morning training to make sure he can stay]].
170* TheSwearJar: The Haus has a "sin bin" for PDA. [[spoiler:A jar which [[SickeninglySweethearts Jack and Bitty]] have already been fined many times for, even beating Chowder and Farmer's record.]]
171* TakeAThirdOption: Ransom and Holster spend their whole junior year both saying the other one will definitely make captain after Jack leaves. They wind up getting elected as co-captains.
172* TapOnTheHead: Subverted. [[spoiler:When Bitty gets a bad hip-check, he needs to be hospitalized and then stay off the ice for several months due to the ensuing concussion. The doctor said it's a miracle he could still walk, let alone skate]].
173* TeamMom: Bittle is the nurturing, pie-making variety.
174** Well seen during his interactions with Chowder, the tadpoles when he gives his tours, and any time he offers pie, which is a lot.
175* ThankingTheViewer: In the final chapter Bitty makes another vlog thanking the viewers for watching his vlogs for the last four years which in meta sense meant to thank the readers for reading the series for the last four years.
176* ThemeNaming: Year 3 has new tadpoles: Whiskey and Tango, both are words of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. [[spoiler:Then we introduce a new manager in the same year who wears a fox sweater and whose last name begins with F.]] You get one guess as to what her nickname will be.
177* TrainingFromHell: How Bitty used to see Jack's checking clinics. They eventually got a lot better after they became friends and Jack started to warm up toward Bitty, so the practices seemed a lot less like checking bootcamp and more like actual clinics.
178* VlogSeries: Bitty has one in-universe, and it serves as a framing device for updates. It's mostly kept secret from the rest of the [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/036 team]].
179* UnlockingTheTalent: Jack and Bitty work together to overcome Bitty's fear of checking throughout the series.
180* WellDoneSonGuy: Bob Zimmermann is a hockey legend. His son is a perfectionist with severe anxiety.
181** A lot of Jack's earlier scenes, mostly spread out through season 1, involve his struggles to impress his dad.
182** Jack gets extremely upset after Bitty [[spoiler:scores in an important game and overshadows him in front of his father.]] It nearly ruins their relationship altogether. Luckily, he gets over it and they become good friends.
183** It's worth noting that this is ''Jack's'' view of their relationship--Bob is actually shown to be quite supportive of Jack, even though he doesn't always say the right thing.
184* WhamEpisode:
185** 2.17, "Graduation". [[spoiler:Bob knows Jack likes Bitty (and therefore knows Jack isn't straight), and Jack finally realizes this too.]]
186** 2.18, "Goodbye for the Summer". [[spoiler:Jack kisses Bitty.]]
187** The "Cup" series in year 3. [[spoiler:Jack wins his first Stanley Cup after Bitty has a failed attempt at coming out to his parents. In the celebration, Bitty and Jack decide to kiss for the first time in national television, prompting Jack to become the first outed Hockey Player, as well as Bitty being outed when his parents see him kissing on TV]].
188* WhamLine:
189** 2.6, Bitty, during a vlog entry: [[spoiler:"Never fall for a straight boy."]]
190** 2.7, [[spoiler:Kent Parson, appearing in-comic for the first time: "Hey, [[InSeriesNickname Zimms]]. Didja miss me?"]]
191** In 3.9, Bitty: "[[spoiler:Can we talk?]]"
192** 3.25: [[spoiler:"Kiss me."]]
193* WhamShot:
194** 3.26, [[spoiler: Bitty's mom seeing Jack and Bitty kissing on live TV.]]
195** 4.9, [[spoiler:Bitty sees Whiskey kissing a guy at a party.]]
196* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bitty and Jack. Bitty [[spoiler: certainly has a crush on Jack]], but Jack's sexuality is undetermined. [[spoiler:It's not until 2.18-19 that they get together.]]
197* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Jack only ever calls Bitty by his last name, while every one else calls him by his nickname. The only times Jack uses Bitty's nickname is in highly emotional situations. [[spoiler: This seems to be a [[OnceASeason once a year]] thing until they're in a relationship, at which point Jack starts using "Bitty" and "Bits" freely, though he still calls him "Bittle" occasionally.]]
198* YoYoPlotPoint: Bitty spends all of Year 1 working to overcome his fear of checking, only to take a nasty hip check during playoffs that leads to him being concussed and unable to play hockey over the summer. As a result, he starts Year 2 even more terrified of checking than before and once again has to work to face his fear.

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