Kent Parson
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Kent "Parse" Parson |
| Occupation: | Professional Hockey Player |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Check Please |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Kent Parson is a minor character on the webcomic Check Please! He is an NHL star who is captain of the Las Vegas Aces.
Canon
Kent Parson was introduced in January 2015 as a minor character with a role in Jack's past. According to Shitty, the subject of Kent Parson should be avoided when talking to Jack Zimmermann. More about their shared past is revealed when Kent shows up at the Haus's EpiKegster.
It is strongly suggested from when we first see Parse in year 2, that these two were in a relationship while they were playing in the Q. This is later confirmed by Jack in LVA @ PVD - Part I, when he admits to Bitty that they used to have a sexual relationship.
He wears jersey #90.
Fanon
Kent's Cat
While Ngozi has mentioned on several occasions that Kent Parson owns a cat, its canon status and any related details have remained vague. Ngozi offhandedly joked that if Kent had a cat, he would name it after himself. The fandom gave the cat the name "Kit Purrson", though later Ngozi would name the cat "Kent Purrson Jr." She also noted that the cat's breed is a maine coone. Fanworks occasionally reconcile the divergence by either assigning one of the names to the cat, or simply giving Kent two cats. There were also rumors of a picture of Kent with a cat drawn by Ngozi, but any evidence of Kit Purrson's existence seems to have been removed from their original sources.
Fanon Characterization
Many people like to explore how Kent Parson might have issues with mental health. A headcanon that gained particular traction was Kent having Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).[1][2] Others have issues with this interpretation implicating to excuse his seemingly manipulative behavior towards Jack.[3][4][5]
An even larger point of content is whether or not Kent was abusive – various interpretations were formed after his brief appearance at the Epikegster and subsequent confrontation with Jack. Fans had differing views on the tone of this argument and what was and wasn't being said. Some negatively interpret Kent's repeated requests for Jack to join the NHL, and the sour end of the argument, as suggesting that Kent was emotionally abusive in the past, and/or that Kent did not help Jack or enabled him during the period leading to his overdose. Others interpret Kent as still pining after Jack and imagine that he is dealing with the emotional trauma of his boyfriend almost dying and then cutting him off.
While no actual mention of Kent Parson's family has been made in canon, it is widespread fanon that Kent was raised by a single mother.
Fandom
Fan response was strong and divided when Kent Parson, a minor character with a role in Jack's past, was introduced in January 2015. Some fans interpreted the character as threatening or even abusive while others were drawn to him as a locus of fannish activity and storytelling. Jack/Parse is the second most frequently written Check Please! pairing on AO3.
Kent is a problematic fave, significantly among white fans, and is controversial in OMGCP fandom. Kent Parson's words said to Jack at Epikegster can be read as very harsh, and the way he treats Jack can also be seen as very bad, though there are differing interpretations of the scenes in canon among fans. Many people see him as abusive. Others see his behaviour as typical of Borderline Personality Disorder, and want to explore this representation of mental illness, or explore how the events of his and Jack's draft year impacted him. There is also some discussion in fandom about the focus on Kent in fic and art rather than characters of colour who have more screen time.
For the 4th of July, 2016 there was a Kent Parson based fic exchange called the Fourth of July Birthday Bash that added 54 works to AO3.
Pairings
- Kent Parson/Jack Zimmermann aka Pimms
- Kent Parson/Eric Bittle
- Alexei Mashkov/Kent Parson aka Patater
- Kent Parson/Bob Zimmermann
- Kent Parson/Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann aka PB&J
Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfic
Fanart
Meta
- Why Kent Parson is a good character (Feb 2020)
Zines
Rec Lists
Links & Resources
- Kent "Parse" Parson works on AO3
- kent parson tag on Tumblr