Line #11 YMMV/CheckPlease


1	* AbandonShipping: Kent/Jack lost followers as Year 3 went on. Between Jack/Bitty becoming an OfficialCouple, the rise to popularity of Kent/Tater, despite their poor first meeting, and some comments from Jack about Kent, a lot of fans left the ship behind.
2	** However, with some fans being unsatisfied with the development of Jack/Bitty and preferring a relationship with more emotional struggle and conflict, there has been a mild resurgence in Jack/Kent's popularity.
3	* {{Adorkable}}: Periodically, Jack becomes quite awkward in certain situations and it's just sweet.
4	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When you learn that Kent [[spoiler:was seriously in love with Jack, who saw their relationship solely as physical before he had to go to rehab]], their argument that Bitty overhears ends up becoming this. Was Kent lashing out at Jack [[spoiler:about his partner shutting him out and ghosting him?]] Does Kent lack the words to admit [[spoiler:he wants to reconcile with his boyfriend but doesn't know how to communicate, since he hasn't seen Jack for practically a decade?]] Either way, Bitty figures out it's best not to question.
5	* AngstWhatAngst: Bitty's past is implied to be rather harsh, between the bullying he got through, to the point of being locked in a closet overnight, and his fear of coming out to his conservative southern family, most of it doesn't seem to get to him. This is justified, as he is shown to be a StepfordSmiler, and is likely repressing his feelings.
6	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Any time Johnson actually speaks.
7	* BrokenBase: The fandom is split on whether or not Kent Parson was abusive, despite him only being shown in a few comics. It's probably the biggest source of fandom drama. Year 3.7 confirms that [[spoiler:Jack didn't think that Kent was good for him and describes their relationship as mostly physical.]]
8	** A lighter example: the fandom fell into the same divide as the SMH team in the Attic vs Cockroach debate.
9	** There's a faction of the fans that are dissatisfied with how Jack and Bitty's relationship has progressed, and think a breakup would allow them both to grow before getting back together, since the creator has stated they'll be endgame. Many other fans are too happy to finally have an example of a healthy, loving gay relationship with strong communication to want anything to get in the way of that.
10	* CrackShip: Alexei "Tater" Mashkov/Kent "Parse" Parson came out of nowhere after Tater's introduction. They've only met once (on-ice, and Tater referenced Kent later in an extremely derogative way), but fans like them together, to have a [[ShipMates ship mate]] to Eric/Jack.
11	** Bitty/Kent has several devoted shippers.
12	* DieForOurShip:
13	** Bitty sometimes falls afoul of this because of Kent/Jack shippers. Bitty is portrayed as someone who gave up on Jack or that Jack never truly loved, or it's said that Jack never gave up on Kent. Due to [[spoiler:Bitty/Jack being the OfficialCouple as of Junior Year]] unless you want an AU, Bitty got to go.
14	** Sometimes it happens to Kent from Bitty/Jack shippers. Kent is often blamed for Jack's issues and often says or does something that ends up screwing up Jack's relationship with Bitty. At least one fic has Kent as a literal murderer.
15	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
16	** Bad Bob and Alicia Zimmermann. They have little screentime, but they are a lovely couple and Bob is a ShipperOnDeck for Bittle/Jack. They are often portrayed as Jack's supporters and eager to have Bittle as their son-in-law.
17	** Kent Parson. He is a character who has appeared in just seven comics total, two of which were just non-speaking cameos. He has nevertheless acquired a devoted fanbase, has several prominent ships in the form of Jack/Kent, Tater/Kent, and Swoops/Kent, and is sometimes even shipped with Bad Bob Zimmermann or real life NHL players.
18	*** Jeff Troy AKA Swoops is a Las Vegas Aces player who hasn't appeared in canon, just in an extra comic where he's attending a Clippers basketball game with Kent. Despite that, he's been embraced by Kent fans, frequently featured in Kent-centric fic as Kent's best friend, boyfriend, and/or alternate captain.
19	* FanficFuel:
20	** Bitty's bunny costume sparked dozens of M rated fanfics.
21	** Jack and Bitty's trip to Madison during the 4th of July, several people believe that [[spoiler:they had sex for the first time there, in the back of Bitty's father truck]].
22	** Kent and Jack's past together, including the nature of their relationship and Kent's lingering feelings for Jack, are very frequently focused on in fic.
23	** The disastrous first visit Kent made to the Haus to see Jack in Jack and Shitty's freshman year that Shitty alludes to in Parse Part II, where even Shitty admits that he was shaken by Jack's reaction to Kent.
24	* {{Fanon}}: Frequently, there's confusion about fanon vs canon since Ngozi has been known to delete tweets about characters.
25	** Several repeated themes frequently appear in some variation in fics about Kent:
26	*** Jack overdosed the night before the NHL draft and Kent was the one to find him.
27	*** Kent is often thought to have been raised by a single mother alongside a younger sister, with his father having walked out on the family.
28	*** A common explanation as to why he was playing in the QMJHL instead of the OHL for his junior hockey years is that he was being billeted by Jack's parents or that Bob and Alicia had taken him in as their own son.
29	*** Kent maintained or tried to maintain contact with Bob and Alicia even after Jack overdosed and Kent himself began his rise to stardom.
30	** Eric will end up working in the food industry. Whether he opens his own bakery, works in one, or writes cook books varies though. [[spoiler: At the end of the comic, we learn that he's working on a cookbook.]]
31	** Jack and Bitty spend the 4th of July after Jack's graduation in Madison [[spoiler:and their RelationshipUpgrade at the end of Year 2]], with one night having Bitty take his father's truck and drive himself and Jack to a secluded hill to stargaze together. [[spoiler:It's an extremely common fanfic plot point and headcanon for them to have had TheirFirstTime in the back of the truck during that.]]
32	** Kent/Jack shippers usually explain Jack not being with Bittle because Jack thought he was way out of his league and too good for him.
33	** Lardo is often depicted in fanworks as bisexual. Holster, to a lesser level, also gets portrayed as such.
34	** Chowder ends up playing in the NHL .
35	** Alicia Zimmermann is a hardcore ShipperOnDeck for Jack/Bittle, just like her husband.
36	** Kent ReallyGetsAround, even though there's no evidence of that.
37	** Shitty is known for being very open minded and informed about gender and sexuality issues. Fanfics tend to [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderize]] his role to being a Jack/Bittle ShipperOnDeck and [[TheMatchmaker Matchmaker]] who constantly rambles on about gender, sexuality, privilege and consent. It could be a lot worse, though.
38	** Kent's cat is officially named Purrs. In literally every fanfic, her name is Kit Purrson.
39	* FriendlyFandoms: The fandom grew to love ''Anime/YuriOnIce'', another anime focused on QueerRomance and Ice Sports. The fact that the main character of YOI suffers from anxieties and insecurities similar to Jack and Bitty is a former Ice Skater helped greatly for the fandoms to connect.
40	* HarsherInHindsight: Once you learn that Jack [[spoiler:supposedly never considered his relationship with Kent dating and it was mostly physical]], Ken's character goes straight into JerkassWoobie territory. His actions appear to be the result of sadness and loneliness.
41	** To be fair, Kent's a closeted professional athlete whose best friend[[spoiler:/ex/former hookup?]] overdosed and disappeared from his life when Kent was seventeen; he's clearly still messed up over it half a decade later. Year 3 just confirms more of that.
42	* IKnewIt: A lot of things that ended up happening in the Year 3 comic, were all things the fandom believed it would happen.
43	** [[spoiler: Bittle and Jack kept their relationship hidden even from their friends.]]
44	** Bittle is bad at lying about his [[spoiler: SecretRelationship]]
45	** Bittle and Jack kept skyping a lot. WordOfGod states that they skyped everyday but the time they were in Georgia together.
46	* ItWasHisSled: The two major revelations of Year 2 are commonplace knowledge by now: Bitty and Jack kiss at Jack's graduation and Jack and Kent dated when they were younger.
47	* IronWoobie: Jack, see {{Woobie}} below. Started out as JerkassWoobie before Bitty got to know him.
48	* JerkassWoobie: Kent, specially after 3.7 revealed that [[spoiler:while he is in still love with Jack, Jack claims that their relationship was never anything more than physical and was not good for him. We get a glimpse at what happened on Jack's room during Epikegster: Kent clung to Jack, and Jack told him to leave. Kent even cries in that update.]]
49	* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Bitty has been shipped with the entirety of the Samwell Hockey Team (and Lardo platonically), plus Tater, Kent and even Bad Bob, besides various {{Original Character}}s. Sometimes even more than [[OT3 one at the time]]. There are even ships including [[{{Polyamory}} the entire Samwell Hockey Team/Bitty]].
50	** You can find a lot of material of various characters with Kent and Jack, though Bitty still outdoes them.
51	* MemeticBadass: Lardo. Her skills in beer pong made her one in-universe, even, she is talked up by everybody, and her tendencies as OnlySaneMan makes many think that she is the real leader of the Samwell Hockey Team.
52	* MemeticMutation: Fistbump Of Love[[note]][[spoiler:After meeting in the locker, on 3.4, Jack and Bitty only fistbump, instead of doing more due to being in a public place.]][[/note]]
53	** Bitty Booty.[[note]]On update 3.5, [[spoiler:Jack is shown to be actually really touchy feely in his relationship with Bittle, putting his hands over his ass twice in the update.]][[/note]]
54	*** Related: [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo He touched the butt.]]
55	** Lardo knows.[[note]]In 3.8, Lardo side-eyes Bitty suspiciously due to him fretting over Jack's game and calling him "honey".[[/note]]
56	** Where's Dex? [[note]]During the updates of September 2016, Dex does not appear, even though everybody else including Nursey and Chowder do. A lot of people then started to make jokes about where he is.[[/note]]
57	** "Jack Zimmerman found dead, suspect is cute boyfriend". [[note]]A small update revealed that upon first seeing a photo of Bitty in the famous Bunny Costume, Jack actually went into StunnedSilence state[[/note]]
58	* OT3: Bitty/Jack/Kent has a sizeable fanbase.
59	** Polyfrogs (Chowder/Nursey/Dex) has a lot of fans
60	** Ransom/Bitty/Holster has a surprising fanbase.
61	* ShipMates: Bittle/Jack has Shitty/Lardo most of the time, but Nursey/Dex and Ransom/Holster are also options. Year 3 saw the rise of Kent/Tater.
62	* SignatureScene: [[spoiler:Bitty and Jack]] kissing in "Goodbye to Summer II".
63	* ShockingMoments: 3.25, which includes [[spoiler:Bitty asking Jack to kiss him in the middle of the ice as soon as they are celebrating Jack's victory in the Stanley Cup]].
64	* StoicWoobie: Jack may be a [[JerkassWithAHeartOfGold grouch]] sometimes, but he [[BrokenAce could really use a hug]].
65	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Downplayed, but some people think this happens to Bittle. The 2 first years of the plot heavily focus on Jack's issues, his past and his plans for the future, while Bittle only got focus on his coming out and his crush on [[spoiler: Jack]] during year 2. A lot of things about Bittle end up never really being talked about or explored, such as his relationship with his father and his conservative family, his bullying-filled childhood, the origin of his fear of checking, which seems to expand on most forms of physical contact and his romantic life. However, WordOfGod is that most of these will be addressed during Year 4, so there's still time for an AuthorsSavingThrow.
66	** Kent Parson's implied narrative is super compelling, which is how he's ended up with such a dedicated fanbase, but since he's not the main character and Bitty isn't a fan of him, we don't get to see much of that.
67	* TheWoobie:
68	** Bittle started out the comic as their resident Woobie. Now, he tends to share the role with Chowder, after adopting some Mother Hen characteristics with the Freshman. [[spoiler: Comes back after he gets a concussion in the playoffs and returns sophomore year basically the same as he was freshman year, checking fears and all. The coaches worry about his health and performance and warn him that he might get cut from the team, leading to, well, tears. He also struggles with hiding his sexuality due to bullying when he was younger, but grows more confident at Samwell, but a lot of those insecurities remain during his relationship with Jack. First when having to hide the relationship from everyone and later on with struggling to tell his parents about Jack]]
69	** Jack is the woobie above woobies in this comic.
70	*** He struggled throughout childhood to live up to his (NHL star) father, eventually leading to full-blown anxiety disorder, which he had to take medication for.
71	*** Said anxiety stuck with him until his teenage years; he then became addicted to his medication and began to abuse alcohol, as well, which eventually resulted in him going to rehab, while his best friend[[spoiler:/former hookup/romantic partner]] was drafted first and went on to win both the Stanley Cup and the Calder Memorial Trophy.
72	*** He then returned to study at Samwell, a tiny school in Massachusetts, for which the media frequently criticizes him, though not as much as they do for his history with addiction and alcoholism.
73	*** And of course, he continues to struggle with anxiety; his initially rocky relationship with Bitty smooths out, but is then nearly ruined again when Bitty manages to get a game-winning goal in front of Jack's dad.
74	*** The anxiety, etc., damaged Jack's self-esteem so much that he's been elected team captain ''three times'', the third ''unanimously'', and he didn't understand why or expect it. Despite all of this, he genuinely loves hockey and cares for his teammates. The guy never did anything to deserve all of this, and it's mostly because of his inability to communicate his feelings properly and see himself as something more than the son of Bob Zimmermann. Oh, baby.

Context YMMV / CheckPlease