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Pay attention. Tuesday, December 11, 2007 • read strip Viewing 268 comments:

wow, ray really does get things done

And we can all breathe easy that Philippe isn't getting diddled by a cyber-perv.

Not to mention buggered.

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Hey, I though this could have gone in some direction involving Lyle. Probably not as funny though as having Ray jump out of nowhere and slam the door on it, though potentially having Lyle end up shooting Nolan and going to jail would have been quite gratifying.

You don't even know this is the end of the arc yet. And where did Jerry come from? Have you been watching Sphere?

did you mean chris?

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Ah, Poing. A Towl in new clothing. It's good to have your kind around, dude.

i guess i just don't understand what's going on here

Rampant absurdity.

But... but why does he have 40 chubbies and the previous comment 40 lames? Do people have something against the name Jerry but are completely ok with Billy? Am I missing something? Am I going to get lamed because I don't know what's going on? I'm scared

it's ok to be scared. it's hard to tell what the fuck is even going on

No, I feel this was the best possible ending ever.

Pfft. You're obviously not familiar with the literary device called Smuckles ex machina .

[ psst , I beat you to it (but it's cool, and at least you used the last name)]

Well fuck. Great minds, I guess.

Yes, fuck great minds. Chewning's rendition was more extraordinary, anyway.

True, true.

i turned my number of allowed lames too 100 just so i could say you are the next manflesh and chubby you ;)

and then i turned it to 0 so i wouldn't have to see this comment get lamed for spelling 'to' wrong.

I knew Manflesh. Poing, sir, is no Manflesh.

Of course, when I say I knew Manflesh, I do not mean biblically. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

there is so much wrong with that.

do you think it is rad to hate on gay people earendil

i feel that this ending is a pleasant surprise.

that last speech bubble in that last panel...God, I love Achewood.

Well hel-LO, gorgeous.

It's like looking in a mirror...

I have pleasured myself to his tiny, boy-otter outline on more than one occasion.

I like the way Snrub thi... wait, what?

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dogg what does that even mean what has led you to this conclusion

It seems like wasted money when they could have got Chris Onstad to do it with much the same result.

Ray Smuckles: The Man Pays Attention.

Who'd have ever thought? Ray seems like the poster child for rich-boy-ADHD syndrome, and yet his attention paying skillz are now undeniable. World, why must you bring such paradox into our lives?

He can also be pretty organised , something classically non-ADHD.

Just as well really, as Cornelius really screwed this one up. I'm 100% sure the "badass games" were made up just for him as part of one of Ray's reparation schemes. All in all, I'm really not fond of the guy... especially since he insists on being a dick to Philippe in ways that aren't even funny.

I'm surprised Ray has such a sensitive finger on the pervert pulse, so to speak.

Why?

I can't see Ray rolling with dudes who watch stillborn baby tigers ooze out of their momma's backside into a pile of afterbirth. If sucking ain't his scene, that sure shouldn't be either.

Ray brings sack to the world of paying attention.

wicked sack.

You better believe he has wicked sack, cpnglxynchos.

absolute!!

Good god it's like you sneezed and the sneeze caught an STD then crawled back up your nose.

Gesundheit.

he gets things done and then later on he will have an orgasm which is completely trashy in nature

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Chubby for making a correction, yet not laming. Impressive!

I blame the drugs. Either way I tried this pose last night and a) my girlie said I looked foolish b) I fell over (due possibly to my orgasm not being trashy as well as my intoxication)

Congratulations, molesticide
you are this week's
"attention payer"
of the week

The first time I read your comment I thought you said, "attention player ," which, after thinking about it, is totally awesome and means I have a new nickname for the high-rollers.

what is he doing? I think he's pointing to the locus of his recent trashy orgasm.

you would know if you'd pay attention.

Seconded, I think he's directing their attention to the historical site of Ray Smuckles' Trashy Orgasm '07.

It appears to be a half-Heisman crossed with a crotch-point.

This seems the most likely description. Is Ray a big College Football fan? If so, does he like the Gators?

Its his 'post-orgasm' stance...

I thought he was sort of hopping in and making a swimming motion with his arms

Ray is just a hero in all kinds of ways. I wonder if he called in a favour from the Cap over at the station, or if he set up Nolan with a tv show.

...Ray doesn't do that kind of show.

Yeah I suppose a cat who does a show on keeping a coked up squirrel cranked as much as possible, probably wouldn't do a show about an animal being excited by a dildo-swirled cappuccino.

You know a comic will be good when it opens with Ray discussing his last orgasm and how trashy it happened to be.

Ray learned this from Tina, probably.

She's trashy.

it probably resulted from Tina.

Do you think he's bragging or complaining? I'm really tempted to say complaining, but with Ray it's hard to say.

I'm pretty sure he's neither bragging or complaining - just fascinated by the fact of his trashy orgasm.

Man, trashy means good
Ray never gets mad rutty without it being RAD

Woody Allen once said about orgasms, "My worst one was right on the money."

Any orgasm that didn't involve wearing a crown is probably trashy.

Sucking ain't Ray's scene.

Alt text: common idiom or really bad pun?

I don't get how it's a pun?

I guess "get off" as in orgasm, of which Ray just had one of the trashy sort.

Honestly, I don't think that's meant as a pun. It's too much of a reach.

around?

Euphemism five!

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you made it up, right? it's your own personal alt text? i get that.

but i still don't GET it.

No, it's a comment on the real alt text.

oh

OOOHHH! hah! yeah, well, neither then

That would be the "swoosh" gesture

Like throwing a basketball.

Grats on the TIME lovin, Achewood!

Yeah, number one graphic novel.

Sounds about right.

This is my favorite of the arc, instantly. It took me a few seconds to absorb the genius of the first panel in context of the arc, and by panel two I was in hysterics. The rest was just a smooth glide.

Man Ray is one paying attention motherfucker.

to reply to my own shit. This is how this bad mother won The Great Outdoor Fight.

Not to be pedantic, but I'd argue that it's Beef's habit of paying attention, rather than Ray's, that was key in the GOF. You can see it in last year's tapes once you know what to look for

There are other theories as to Beef's involvement...

This is blasphemy!

That comic makes me sad because whenever I remember it, I forget that it was an xkcd spoof for a second... I can never shake the feeling that the whole thing was just a little... too easy.

i know what you mean, but don't worry too much... randall munroe strikes me as a really smart dude, he probably makes a lot of difficult things look easy...

That strip makes me so happy. SO HAPPY.

He calls it a 'parody' of Achewood but apart from the drawing style I can't actually tell the difference. That strip is to every other Achewood strip what Plato's Ideal horse is to a Grand National winner.

Good satire is never bad, he's got the multi-panel "drawn out silence" concept pretty much pegged

Alt text: "this sets the record for number of awkward-pause panels in one strip (previously held by Achewood)"

Man Ray is one paying attention motherfucking erotic photographer.

I see what you did there and award you a chubby and a knowing geeky wink.

I was checking to see if anyone had beat me to the punch.

I would have gone with surrealist in lieu of erotic, but my hat is off to you.

Please Ray, don't let panels one and two be related.

You never know...

Also, are we quite sure Ray didn't think it was gonna be like this ?

This is the only thing I can think of seeing this strip. And it's a horrible thing.

ray takes care of his people. even if it means engaging in some unhurried buggery.

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Cornelius... Dogg... We got maaaaanes...

Hell of such as meow

i want to know how trashy ray's orgasm was, on a scale from 1-10. 1 = makes you blush, 10 = he was watching 2 girls 1 cup

2 girls 1 finger

if you have an orgasm to 2 girls 1 cup you are basically in the same league as Nolan

Indeed. I had the sad misfortune of following a link in an email I got. I think I need Ray to take out that sumbitch.

Or at least let Cornelius take his cricket bat to him.

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Hey that's clever, where is that from?

the deepest recesses of the recent past.

You need to see it as a challenge eatmorekix

2 girls 1 cup didn't bother me. I couldn't ever masturbate to it, but it was pretty mild - at least after having been made to watch genital holocaust. Do not search for that.

7 = Tina was there.

I find it really cool that someone mentioned in the last strip that Ray and Beef hadn't been seen in a while, and then here comes Ray savin' the Day.

...hey, hey, hey.

I love when Ray means business and you cannot step to him

Ray's trashy orgasm is clearly Kung-Fu related.

And I bet Sound & Motion's orgasms are even trashier.

They would have to be, with his mark-ass all rollin' around in the dirt and shit.

Goddammit this Nolan business is totally deflecting an important discussion of Ray's trashy orgasm.

All the discussion you need is there. Ray gets things done.

oh, and ray's posture kind of sucks, maybe he's just a bit hunched over from such a trashy orgasm

I think that is his angry condescending posture when people don't believe that he pays attention because they don't pay attention

Wait...how did Teodor know Nolan's name? They never met!

The plot sickens.

Nolan pestered Teodor for half an hour after the Animalicious gig. Freak was all titillated by T's perfect third guitar note and tried to get him to come over and "have a confluence" with an autistic bongo player Nolan knows from erotic macrame class.

I was gonna say Cornelius told him (and Cornelius probably found out by looking through Philippe's e-mail if Philippe didn't tell him outright), but I like your version better.

what would a guy like nolan be doing participating in what sounds like an activity that meets offline?

I meant to give you a chubby but, in my haste, lamed you instead. Could you ever forgive this terrible man, please?

You weren't PAYING ATTENTION. Téodor didn't know Nolan't name. Ray mentioned it first in panel 3, and Téodor picked up on it

YOU HAVE NOT BEEN
PAYING ATTENTION
PAYING ATTENTION
PAYING ATTENTION
YOU HAVE NOT BEEN
PAYING ATTENTION
PAYING ATTENTION
PAYING ATTENTION

This is what came to my mind also.

Sigh. Me too. Now every time I hear the song, I'm going to think of a cat licking his.. what are the kids calling them now? Harbls?

That website is the bitch.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I want to hear more about Ray's trashy orgasm, but on the other, I want to hear more about Ray's trashy orgasm.

extra yes's.

Did Ray get his trashy orgasm while "taking care of" Nolan?

YES.

Ray hasn't done anything, and now after trash talking Teodor he will have to scramble to take care of Nolan without the others realising he in fact had not done anything to Nolan when he claimed he had. He will probably just fund Nolan's relocation to Thailand. Dude knows how to play it, Marlon Brando styles.

Now why do you have to go around and spoil a player's game by loosening up those lips?

The important thing is it gets done, not when he said it was done

[mrclarinet claims Ray is just blowing smoke]---->

[ DISAGREEMENT BOX ]

You see, I find the idea of Ray the loveable, over-moneyed idiot more interesting than Ray the superninja overlord

Is it politically incorrect to suggest that this opinion may make you a Minority?

That's a tricky one...
It's generally not politically correct to point out anything that puts somebody in a minority...
...unless that minority is itself defined by a political incorrectness (such as racism or kiddy-fiddling).

GOD, it's a minefield. I hate this world we have created for ourselves. From this day forward I vow...

I thought this too. I have offended you, mrclarinet.

Awesome.

Generally white heterosexual males aged 18-25 need to resort to something retarded like paganism to convince themselves they're a minority.

In this case, a certain idea about a cartoon will suffice.

That's the worst euphemism for "Judaism" i've ever heard.

Well, they don't have to be heterosexual, but they do have to be about 50 pounds overweight.

and have either those scraggly little beards, or the monkey-mouth beards (van dykes?) that don't look good on ANYONE. Particularly chubby dudes.

Unfortunately the fact is that Ray already knew Nolan's name. Since the only time Nolan gave his name was in the email to Philippe, the evidence is strongly in favour of Ray Getting Things Done.

Please. Ray gets things done. Like: Finding out Nolan's name. Getting. Things. Done.

Ray not only took care of Nolan, he had time to have a trashy orgasm. Did Cornelius have a trashy orgasm since smashing the computer? I seriously doubt it. I guess that makes Ray the "winner" in the game of derailing internet people.

I sure hope the two aren't related.

There is Ray, and there is Nolan. Ray puts Nolan back in his place. And Ray is the winner.

I was feelin' down, but I feel better now. This strip made me laugh after what felt like months of meh. Sniff. 1

'Atta boy, Cornelius. He gets out of the way when he sees Ray was paying attention.

If Ray didn't pay attention, there's no way he'd get to have trashy orgasms.

Ray had an orgasm so trashy it's making him dance from foot to foot

Also he looks seriously pissed about how people thinks he doesn't pay attention

This is probably the best disposal of an unsavory character I've ever read, seen, heard, or talked about.

i don't know. i laughed but i also feel like Onstad just didn't know how to turn this mother out, so he said "fuck it", queued up Braveheart and got mad snuggly on the couch.

I'd rather he did it this way. We don't need to know what happened to terrible little Nolan, he's just not an issue anymore. Isn't that the point? I'm much more interested in Ray's trashy orgasm than Nolan's fate.

Maybe. I DO want to know what Lyle's doing now, though.

Also: is that Boognish in your display picture? Fuck yeah!

Why, yes it is, although the mighty Boognish is shamed by my terrible icon resolution.

For me, it feels a little too much like "a wizard did it". Amusing on the outside, a serious lack of explanation on the inside.

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned this already, but it feels like Onstad had no idea how to end the story arch and sloppily threw this together.

Wow, not even four comments up... My bad.

Eh, i think its good to be reminded once in awhile that when Ray feels like it he can pretty much do anything; run his own record label, win the GOF, etc. He just feels like spending the day in bed with his calamari and bloody mary half the time.

Yeah, I seriously doubt Onstad didn't know how to end this arc. Dude is mad creative, plus it's not like the arc had no where else to go. He probably just felt like wrapping it up.

theres some new poses in rays repertoire today and im not sure how i feel about them

Me too. We got to take stock.

When I have a trashy orgasm, my first reaction is to go and tell all of my friends about it.

If "Beats Me Why Most Dudes Suck" isn't a shirt by this time next year, I'll just have to do it myself.

Out of every single good Achewood quote, that's probably the best one to live life by.

I'd rank it just below "Become the ruling body!" And slightly above "They can think what they want, but I'll just be sittin' here, bein' straight."

if you don't pay attention, how're you gonna have the trashiest orgasm?

sorry about replying to my own comment. is a trashy orgasm enjoyed alone? if not then with who?

t-tina?

this is one the best single strips in a long time

I feel like Onstad's had these last few puppies saved away in a special "Goldmine" folder, especially for when TIME or somesuch gives him recognition.

your icon is so rad!

Beulah is rad!

Hooray Beulah!

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Ain't you ever had a trashy pizza? This orgasm was like that pizza. Way too greasy, bunk-ass cheese, the sauce is just ketchup with some oregano shaken in. A hungry dog would look askance at that pizza.

I almost barfed on the ground reading that.

A hungry dog would eat that barf.

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Trashy orgasms and trashy pizza inevitably looked far better when you were drunk last night.

Trashy things in general look awesome while drunk.

So what happened to Nolan exactly? He doesn't seem like the type to take a bribe (he has his own money obviously). Has ray gone pro ice?

This does not seem like normal Ray.

Don't worry. Ray is just showing off for TIME Magazine.

I think that this strip ties the early, slightly dark side of Ray's personality in with the later, more fun-loving side.

Tell them, Ray!

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I was hoping no one would come up with ray ex machina before I did.

I haven't read the rest of the strip yet. I just saw the first panel and gave it a five.

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The only thing that I have to worry about is HOW Ray "dealt" with Nolan. Some things will probably never be explained until Thursday.

perhaps a pedophile-phile?

When Radiohead sang "You have not been paying attention," this is what they meant.

Maybe there are things about Ray that we just don't know yet. I don't think he's any sort of sicko, but don't think you've plumbed the depths of Ray just yet!
Eh, I didn't mean it that way.

"Man, I just totally had a COMPLETELY trashy orgasm!"

I need to enter the room like this more often.

Does anyone else feel like we just missed the rest of this story arc? I want to know how Ray took care of Nolan. Perhaps tomorrow. . .perhaps.

On one hand, this seems a bit Deus Ex. On the other hand, Ray DOES pay attention and take care of things.

I submit today's strip as being the most legit Achewood of 2007.

Everybody knows that Ray is in the money. What kind of well-off man doesn't use that money to pay his attention.

Ray is outlining one of the fundamentals of my world view in this strip. Most people act like a spider monkey on PCP. They can somehow look at something and see just one of a thousand myriad details, and then pretend that such a level of cognizance is worthy of praise. The truth is, dogs can notice one detail out of a thousand. Try to be better than a dog.

Congratulations. You have noticed that other people are stupid. It is a main thing of observant ten-year-olds.

A momentary digression about Onstad's chubby from TIME, which is so new the new-blog smell hasn't worn off. I think publishing a strip for the middle of an arc right now pretty much proves he doesn't believe his own press.

Onstad: Getting. Things. Done.

This arc is the story of my life.

Where is Ray's crown he wears after he gets mad rutty

Phillipe borrowed it to go with his king robes.

his trashy orgasm was self-inflicted

congratulations Achewood!

Ray took care of it by distracting Nolan, using Nolan's heretofore unknown fetish for weeping the weepy-weep way

Rayus ex machina.

Does the trshiness of Ray's orgasm justify his effeminate wrist gestures?

Yes.

I never noticed before, but no matter what the zoom is on Ray, be it zoomed out, or zoomed in, his necklace's chain always has the same sized links, making it have more links if it's zoomed in. I'm guessing it has something to do with the software used to draw the characters.

Just one of the many mysteries of King Chochacho.

I would love a t-shirt with the text: "Beats me why most dudes suck. Sure as hell ain't my scene." Ray is always taking care of his people, which is why we love Ray. I wish I were one of Ray's people.

'"Ray Quentin Smuckles! Do you hear me, boy? Stop leaning over to talk to Cassandra and pay attention! "

And, for some reason, I did. And I never stopped."

-- Excerpt from Ray Smuckles' best selling biography, Riches to Ray .

Was...was that a Slylock Fox reference?

no, it was a reference to beef's real name being cassandra, (i'd assume). however, chubby for knowing a thing about comics printed in the newspaper!

Ray takes care of people. He can hell of make the hip fairy show up at your mother's door.

Ray just wants some freakin credit!

I can see a few too many details of Ray's body. I'm not really comfortable with that. I don't feel like I have a lot of outs.

Maybe Ray ran into Nolan when he went out to get his coffee dildoed. Might explain the orgasm, too, since any orgasm with Lyle around has got to be hell of trashy.

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Is Ray getting fatter?

you try to live his as large as ray and not gain a few pounds!

Talk about Deus Ex Machina... This story arc ends because Raymond Q. Smuckles pays attention. As good a reason a any. Probably better, in fact.

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You have implied that Achewood is ending today, and will never post a comic which resolves these issues. I think that is bad form.

Ray puts all those wack MC's to shame, he's sucessfull for a reason, dig?

This comic strip is funny. I like it.

chubby for the mighty boognish

Cut that Gordian knot. Cut it!
Awesome, awesome solution.

This is one of my favorite moments for pre-AIBO Beef.

trashy orgasm, tidy conclusion

If you don't know how Ray dealt with the problem, you weren't paying attention.

I think someone made that point, a bit further up. I'm not sure though.

Ahh, the Catch 22 of these recent strips with long comment threads: it's the new one, so everyone is reading, everyone is posting...the number of comments gets really big. Thus, people are less likely to read all the comments, and, feeling the need to post, don't realize that their just echoing something said by someone earlier. Then these redundant posts add to the growing amount of comments, which makes it even more likely that someone else won't read all the posts and just repeat a comment already stated by 2 or more people above. See also Havenless' comment just a little further down from this thread.

Not to be a cock to a stranger or anything, just pointing out an unfortunate trend.

I was blinded by the reams of incomprehensible bitching. Next time, I'll pay attention.

Was this a dig at me? I can't tell. And, if so, please: nobody use the "pay attention" line again if you respond.

Am I the only one not convinced that Ray didn't happen to hear one of them mention the name Nolan and is just rolling with it here? Somehow that makes more sense to me.

Am I the only one who wants to hear about Rays trashy orgasm? Well I mean, aside from Dr manflesh?

From my own personal experience, it's trashy if it happened in an '88 Corolla or in any deserted stairwell.

I agree; orgasms in deserted stairwells are definitely trashy, especially when there is a lot of cussing involved.



Myself I am surprised by the implication that Ray has had orgasms that aren't trashy

goddamn teodor is a useless sack of shit 99% of the time, and this strip is no exception

BUT HOW DID HE KNOW?

After Little Nephew tried to drive that Honda into the lake , Ray hired a company to prevent un-rad experiences for his friends and relatives. They itemize the experiences prevented on his monthly bill.

More recently, they have branched out to provide rad experiences. I am too lazy to look that up for strangers on the Internet today. There is the Achewood version, but there is also at least one real company that does this. I am also forgetful and indifferent today, so someone other than me can google that if they want to know.

www.dogpoop.com - went away in the tech crash

i found Nolan! https://m.assetbar.com/achewood/uuaQFFVNz

Ray doesn't care where the hell he gets off.
Just as long as it's COMPLETELY trashy.

damnit i wanna hear the story about this "trashy" orgasm

Even though Ray probably wouldn't like Radiohead, his song is totally 2 2 = 5.

Oh what, I can't type plusses? Ray's song is 2 plus 2 = 5.

woah i seriously did not expect this

This turn of events could conceivably be described as a deus ex machina

However as this is Latin for "the god from the machine", clearly such a being would be smacked with a cricket bat by Cornelius in short order

I, for one, would like to hear more about Ray's completely trashy orgasm. With whom did it happen? In what manner? Were there any spectators? These questions must be answered!

Did anyone notice that on panel 5, Ray has Theodore's arm?

So if we are to describe why Ray does some of the things he does, one would only have to say "He pays attention"

Creepiest first panel.

I am a teacher. I constantly advise my fifth graders to pay attention. One could only hope they take it to heart and carry it with them throughout life as Ray has done. Indeed, Ray is the student all teachers want to come back to them 15 years later, just to see what happens to those who DO actually pay attention.

Ray Smuckles is a guy that can get things done. I wonder what makes him tick? I wonder if he'd be interested to know what makes me tick.