25-11-14 I can tell

[Fluffy]

Why should he be gay/bi just cause he didn't had "lots of kisses" or no gf over the couple last years? Maybe he had a girlfriend for many years and they broke up recently which is why Ray now wanted to do something else to get her out of his mind aka becoming an actor. Or maybe he is a good-looking Gary, a guy who just manages to not get laid for whatever reasons.

This! Thank you! (though more in regards to the first half than the latter).

Assuming the guy is gay because he isn't bragging about how many lovers he had over the years is just grasping at straws. Maybe Ray feels that guys should have oodles of girlfriend by the time they reach his age and because he didn't have as many/very few in that course of time, is embarrassed to admit to a buddy (of whom he assumes is a ladies man) that he hasn;t been playing the field as much as he thinks he should have been.

The only things that are clear in this strip is a) Dillon is flirting heavily with Ray/is setting up to seduce his high school crush and b) Ruby thinks they're former lovers.

It also feels like it's being set up that Ruby is going to give herself away somehow (or Minew will draw some attention towards her) and Ray is going to show obvious signs of relief that there's a woman there to practice kissing on - alarming Ruby and upsetting Dillon.

[Spidrift]

I'll generally agree with all that, though how a good-looking, reasonably confident jock type could avoid having a few girlfriends by Ray's age is a bit of a puzzle. It could well be that he's enough of a gentleman not to take all his opportunities, and enough of a jock to feel embarrassed by what he thinks are low numbers. Certainly, though, there's a gap in what we know about him that will hopefully be filled in over the next few strips.

And yes, we can bet that Ruby is going to stumble into this scene, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ray asks her to act as his partner (or even if she offers, very nervously). She's bound to find that worrying, but whether she's now got to the stage of wanting to learn something about kissing - under the supervision of a self-proclaimed expert like Dillon, even - might be an interesting question. I kind of hope so, on account of enjoying seeing Dillon frustrated far too much.

[Optimus Kate]

That last panel cracked me up because I'm pretty sure I was making Ruby's exact expression at "I've missed you, man." AAAHHH <3

['J']

there's certainly nothing in the comic indicating that ray has to be gay., but from a storytelling perspective, having dillon pining over his straight friend seems like it'd be retreading a lot of ground that was already covered with dillon/gary.

[FlashD81]

That might be why I'm getting that feeling. That is all I have, a feeling.

From what evidence we have been shown so far he looks to be straight. The way he is talking he sounds like a nice guy who has somehow had a dry run. He could be bi or even gay but in the closet, however that part is pure speculation.

[Spidrift]

there's certainly nothing in the comic indicating that ray has to be gay., but from a storytelling perspective, having dillon pining over his straight friend seems like it'd be retreading a lot of ground that was already covered with dillon/gary.

But Gary is in another comic to Dillon now. And the focus was on Gary back then, with Dillon's crush being primarily an inconvenience which Gary had to deal with. Now, we have a Dillon-centered comic, with his tendency to crush on straight guys (and to crush too hard on anybody) being an internal conflict which the lead character has to resolve.

Plus, Dillon's tendency to repeat his mistakes is a lot of the point here. Ruby pointed out that he suffered from poor romantic judgement, and he resolved to deal with that - but here he is, making the same old mistakes yet again. Because he's Dillon.

[Bambikles]

If Dillon keeps beer around for hospitality, I'd have expected it to be a Canadian lager.

Huh ? Why would "blonde" mean something else than "standard lager" in a work not focused on beer ?
And blonde isn't even a style, to boot. If Ray recognize anything, he recognizes it wrong.

[Fluffy]

I'll generally agree with all that, though how a good-looking, reasonably confident jock type could avoid having a few girlfriends by Ray's age is a bit of a puzzle.

Not all good looking/jock like guys are players, though. Some actually look for meaningful relationships and when those end, they take a break to recover. The fact that Ray isn't dating now means nothing outside of he isn't dating.

I see Ray's lack of girlfriend the same way I saw Gary being a virgin at 29; nothing to make a big deal out of, as not everyone follows societies standards when it comes to such things and they shouldn't be judged because they don't follow what is perceived as 'the norm' for their age group.

[Spidrift]

Huh ? Why would "blonde" mean something else than "standard lager" in a work not focused on beer ?
And blonde isn't even a style, to boot. If Ray recognize anything, he recognizes it wrong.

I'd assume that "blonde" means something like the bottles I've got in the kitchen with "blonde" on the label. Mostly Belgium or Belgian-style, as it seems. Okay, I get the impression that in the UK, the term was popularised by Leffe, and all the other brewers are running to try and get a bite of Leffe's market.

But these are not lagers. They're pale ales. Top-fermented rather than bottom-fermented.

Not all good looking/jock like guys are players, though. Some actually look for meaningful relationships and when those end, they take a break to recover. The fact that Ray isn't dating now means nothing outside of he isn't dating.

Sure, but the way he's talking in this strip, I get the impression that he's never dated much, not that he's taking a break. He implies that he's never had much practice kissing.

I see Ray's lack of girlfriend the same way I saw Gary being a virgin at 29; nothing to make a big deal out of, as not everyone follows societies standards when it comes to such things and they shouldn;t be judged because they don't follow what is perceived as 'the norm' for their age group.

But Gary was desperate to lose his virgin status. He made a big deal out of it, whatever anyone else thought - falling on his knees and weeping with gratitude when Zii offered to help. His problem was that he has the social skills of a lump of rock, and less self-confidence, so he couldn't do anything about it for himself.

Now, if Ray simply has a low sex drive, or exceptionally high moral standards, then fair enough; it would explain his situation just fine. But he hasn't acted that way so far; he seems to admire Dillon for appearing to be a lady's man, he was distracted and interested when he saw Amber passing by (and he referred to her by her porn name), and he sounded doubly impressed to hear that Dillon was living with two women. Maybe that's just someone with a low sex drive trying too hard to fit in with social expectations, but, well, that hasn't been made clear yet. So far, he gives the impression of someone with a regular sex drive, and yet, despite having looks, some charm, and confidence, he has little experience with girls.

That may just be a plot device, but it seems odd enough to me that I'm giving the writers credit for likely setting it up deliberately, and having an explanation in hand.

[themacnut]

I have a feeling the explanation will be that, like the other fairly good-looking guys in the Ma3verse with issues attracting women (Gary and Andy), Ray's issue will be lack of social skills with women. I've known quite a few good-looking guys in RL who have issues getting women to date them - either they're too shy to say anything, they're always saying the wrong thing, or they're terminal Nice Guys (TM) who are never sexually/romantically attractive (i.e. always the "good friend" or "like a brother" to women who know them but never a lover). I have a feeling the last issue is going to be Ray's problem - it'll turn out that he has lots of female friends but few if any girlfriends. And he will not be happy with that situation, which would explain his reticence to discuss his romantic history.

That would also explain the ambiguity in his sexuality that many of us are picking up. Nice Guys (TM) are often thought to be gay by many people, especially women, who don't know them well enough (or don't pick up on the not-so-subtle hints that they actually like women - hello Dillon).

Quote removed. The DAMNed

[FlashD81]

That works for me. I just hope Ruby doesn't interrupt too soon so we can get a better read on Ray. Eh, who am I kidding. She is going to draw attention to herself at the worst possible moment.

[wiseguy]

hope the writers let us "read" their thoughts just before they get interrupted by Ruby

we know what Dillon and Ruby will think

"oh no, I will not be able to kiss him as planned"

and

"oh no, they will not kiss as I wanted"

the only question is if Ray will think

"oh no, now I have to kiss a beautiful girl, I will be very nervous"

or

"oh no, now I will not kiss Dillon as I wanted"

or somewhere between

[Spidrift]

I have a feeling the explanation will be that, like the other fairly good-looking guys in the Ma3verse with issues attracting women (Gary and Andy), Ray's issue will be lack of social skills with women.

That is possible, I guess, but - aside from the fact that it makes him a bit of a repeat of Andy - it doesn't quite seem to fit the way that Ray has been depicted so far. He actually comes across as pretty confident and outgoing; for a big example, his stunt in saving Dillon from a girl who was trying to chat him up involved some social sensitivity and a chutzpah. I could hardly imagine Gary or Andy realising that was needed, let alone pulling it off, but Ray worked it just fine.

Also, his previous career was in at least the beginning levels of pro sports, and I gather that ice hockey is pretty big in Canada. Stereotypically, that's the kind of thing that attracts quite a few near-groupie types. Ray might be too nice to take advantage, but still, it'd make it harder to remain really inexperienced.#

That works for me. I just hope Ruby doesn't interrupt too soon so we can get a better read on Ray. Eh, who am I kidding. She is going to draw attention to herself at the worst possible moment.

Hey, at least we may well get to see Dillon being frustrated. We take our pleasures where we find them.

[Bambikles]

I'd assume that "blonde" means something like the bottles I've got in the kitchen with "blonde" on the label. Mostly Belgium or Belgian-style, as it seems. Okay, I get the impression that in the UK, the term was popularised by Leffe, and all the other brewers are running to try and get a bite of Leffe's market.

But these are not lagers. They're pale ales. Top-fermented rather than bottom-fermented.

Okay. This is because "blonde" is a generic word in French. Any golden beer is a "blonde". There are blonde lagers and blonde ales. Saying "it's a blonde" would come accross as being a captain obvious saying "it's yellow". Since "blonde" is painfully non specific to me as a Frenchman, I got confused, as a generic beer is usually a golden lager. The French equivalent dialogue would be "I guess it's a belgian beer".

[Spidrift]

Which just shows how much French people know about Belgian beer. Even Leffe do a range including red and dark ales, there's a whole catalogue of Belgian fruit beers (can't stand 'em myself, but they have their fans), you get outfits like Hoegaarden doing rather good wheat beers, and as for the darker Belgian brews ... Oh God ... Gulden Draak alone is too die for...