That is so weird, because guess what? Beth and I come bearing gifts. And this time we can finally say that we’re dragging you into a fandom that is all puppies and kittens and rainbows and falling in love and growing up and hockey and bros and pie. YES, I SAID PIE.
TN Reader, meet literal life ruiner: OMGCHECKPLEASE
You upon entering the OMGCP Fandom:
Beth and Lindsey Right Now:
What is Check Please!?
Aww you sweet little tadpoles don’t even know the ‘swawesome that awaits you! Check Please! is a webcomic written and drawn by the amazing Ngozi Ukazu, and it follows the life and times of one Eric Richard Bittle (known as Bitty). Bitty is a sweet southern boy who loves to make pie, figure skate, and runs an adorable vlog about baking. He has also just started his freshman year at Samwell University in Massachusetts on a hockey scholarship when we first meet him.
Lindsey: *screaming incoherently in the background* BITTY IS EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD. HE IS THE MOST PURE. THE PUREST. AND YOU WILL LOVE HIM WITH THE STRENGTH OF A THOUSAND– NO! TEN THOUSAND!–SUNS. Examples: pies are his love language, he sleeps with a bunny rabbit, he knows everyone’s middle names and probably also knows the names of everyone’s moms and has a calendar with everyone’s birthdays on it, and he has a poster of Queen Bey on his wall, he sings pop songs everywhere he goes. I rest my case.
The Cast of Characters
Lindsey already introduced you to Bitty, so let me take over (because she’s hyperventilating after SHOUTY CAPPING and run-on sentencing for that long) and introduce you to the rest of the characters (who are all equally as ‘swawsome).
Shitty: When Bitty first gets to campus and meets his hockey teammates, one of the juniors, who’s first name no one seems to know, makes him feel totally welcome. He a long-haired, mustachioed bro who happens to be a double major in polisci and women’s studies. He’s constantly naked. He plans EPIKEGSTERS. He wears what are sure to be vintage aviators. But he’s genuine and smart and warm and a great friend to the guys.
Ransom and Holster: These two best friends are sophomores on the team, and they show Bitty (and the readers) the ropes. Every few updates are so we get a little hockey tutorial from Rans and Holtz so we can keep up with the characters’ lingo. Their love runs deep.
Lardo: I’m not going to tell you too much about Lardo because it might ruin a perfectly good reveal. But Lardo is the team manager we meet about halfway through season one (so at the beginning of Bitty’s freshman spring semester). Lardo quickly becomes invaluable to one of the best ships in the comic.
Jack: Jack is the 6’1″ hockey legacy who should have been the NHL’s #1 draft pick out of high school, but something went wrong and he found himself at Samwell U instead. He’s easily the best player on the team, but never shows that he knows it. He helps Bitty get over a crippling fear of being checked. He’s the only character with pupils. He’s dreamy. He’s also strangely enamored of the little southern pie baking right wing who MAKES HIM A BETTER PLAYER. *swoon*
The rest: You’ll meet as you read and you will love ALL of them. I keep trying to find a character to HATE, and there just are none … even if Bitty doesn’t think so. This story is just FULL OF FLUFF and all things happiness.
The Fanart and the Fanfic
This fandom has a whole lot of passion and talent. In other words, it is the best freaking kind of fandom ever and the only kind you really want to be in because when you are done reading the comic and are waiting on the next update and are feeling like this:
This fandom will save you. Like the wonderful artist PawsPaintsnThings. She is the best. THE BEST. Let me just fangirl for a minute and say I could happily live on her Tumblr for the rest of my days.
Or when you ship Ransom and Holster or how about Lardo and Shitty and need a little something to sate your sweet tooth, tronnies-art-blog has got you covered. Go browse the entire page. All of it is amazing!
And how perfect is this by brannana.
There’s also a lot of great fic already up on AO3. Here is the link to the OMGCP fandom‘s list sorted by Kudos. Most of it’s Zimbits (that’s Jack and Bitty’s OTP mashup name), but if you search by relationship you’ll probably be able to find some other pairings as well. Emma Grant is one of my favorite fic authors from the Sherlock fandom so I would highly recommend anything she has written since she is the whole reason why I (Lindsey) even found out about OMGCP in the first place.
Beth: I would like to thank Emma Grant then for introducing Lindsey to OMGCP and thereby me. MERCI.
So there you have it folks. Go forth and share this joy far and wide.
What is your favorite part about Check Please!? Who is your favorite character? Who’s your OTP? Is the sweet angst of Year 3 giving you a toothache like me? How Ngozi manages to make angst taste like cotton candy I don’t even know.
