134

Free action
Posted on October 4, 2024 by David M Willis

134 thoughts on “Free action”

  1. Sirksome

    Free actions?! So this world does run in D&D rules!

    1. Reltzik

      Except talking isn’t a free action. Depending on what you say, it can be very, very costly.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Talking is a “Free Action” in GURPS 4th Edition.

        “GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns” (aka Volume 2) Page 363.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Surely the Grand Unified Role Playing System covers the fact that delivering a university lecture is not a free action.

          —-

          Also, “by our powers combined, we are… a bunch of nerds looking for two other missing nerds.” I think I know why Sal isn’t there. ?

      2. Lysbeth

        Reasonable talk is a free action. DM fiat for the specifics :p

  2. Cattleprod

    I bet Dina knows a way to track Sal, better start by finding her.

    1. Jonah (firelight_waltz)

      this gave me a *very* good chuckle

  3. Doctor_Who

    Carla: “Wait, shit, I’ve lost my phone.”

    Dorothy: “Where’d you see it last?”

    Carla: “Charlie had it.”

    Dorothy: “DOH!”

  4. Jo_cubstar

    I still think Joyce’s vest looks vaguely lesbian flag-ish lol …I know it’s not, it’s just what comes to mind

    1. Amós Batista

      vaguely

    2. Kim

      I think becky’s wearing the missing colors for it. So combined…

      1. Morleuca

        they become Captain Lesbian?

    3. anon

      tbh with how many flags there are now anything that has vaguely 2-3 stripes could be anything lol

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    Dina and Charlie are a dangerous pair; who knows where they could be by now?

    In police custody for breaking into a bank vault perhaps?

    1. Doctor_Who

      I want to keep cutting to them every few strips and they’re in increasingly wacky places.

      Paris, the Vatican, a mummy’s tomb, Mars, just keep going nuttier and nuttier with it.

      Story ends with them getting kicked out of a police box outside the dorm.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        Hmm. I wonder if Dumbiverse Mars is anything like Walkyverse Mars…

      2. Ray Radlein

        It’s 2024. I am in Vietnam.

        It’s 2024. I am in a nuclear reactor.

        It’ 2024. I am on Mars.

        1. Ed Callahan

          Good Watchman reference.

        2. Opus the Poet

          Which was a Slaughterhouse Five reference.

      3. Michael Steamweed

        A mummy’s tomb? Oh, c’mon, that’s just silly.

      4. Acher4

        Picturing this… and I just love this to Mars and back! 😀

      5. Lysbeth

        Or that one compilation of every place Tom Scott is in ^^

      6. PedanticJerkass

        It could be kind of like one of those video game trailer videos where the main character is just walking in a straight line, but the surroundings change around them every second or two.

    2. Mark

      But they put them in the same holding cell, and moments later Charlie and Dina are strolling through the St. Louis Zoo.

  6. NGPZ

    the plan’s much less broke than the Patriot Act,
    themz much more woke, an’ hope they ain’t lackin’

    Sarah’s been smilin’ like a fuckin’ clown
    but Carla and Becky ain’t got no need to frown
    as their girlz be bouncin aroun’ up an’ down town

    Dina an’ Charlie sharin’ special interests and all
    them dinosaurs are surely havin’ a ball!
    makin’ the callz, down the halls,
    into a bank vault just for LOLz

    real fast like Indianapolis 500
    here’s a hint to find them dinoz doin fun shit:
    to hunt the hunters ya gotta hunt what the hunters be huntin! 😉

    1. Mturtle7

      The rapping is absolutely fire but your avatar is what makes it TRULY immaculate.

  7. Suet

    Even surveillance has its own love… triangle…

    Screw the Dumbiverse version of NSA, hi-jinks rule!

    1. Needfuldoer

      They rule, and they ensue.

  8. Sirksome

    I feel like the combination of vigilantes and group phone tracking sets up a good opportunity for a The Dark Knight joke, but I can’t think of one.

    1. Clif

      Don’t ask me. I thought Sal deleted her amazi-girl tracker.
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/yerself/
      Unless I’m forgetting something subsequent.

      1. Cimorene

        During the kidnapping Carla put it back on so Sal could show up and help with a motorcycle chase. I don’t think it got deleted again on panel at all.

        My 23 yr old niece just finished reading DoA for the first time so I started a reread and am almost done again.

        1. Jamie

          I went and dug up the strip because I wanted confirmation: https://www.dumbingofage.com/throughhell/

  9. DailyBrad

    This is ridiculous in a very fun way.

  10. bubba0077

    With the popularity of Life360, this isn’t quite as ridiculous as it once was.

  11. ESM

    Do kids these days know what the Patriot Act was?

    1. bubba0077

      Dorothy would.

    2. NGPZ

      Bush and his cronies didn’t wanna play fair
      as they took advantage of the people scared,
      conflatin policing with military warfare
      eroding are freedoms without a care D:<

      1. True Survivor

        That sounds like a line from children’s book kids read in the Terminator franchise to learn about the slow rise of SkyNet.

    3. Michael Steamweed

      Amber would, too, if only because of the associated rise in digital surveillance.

  12. IntangibleMatter

    Patriot Act Polycule

    1. Cimorene

      “Title of your sex tape”?

  13. Nono

    My favourite part of this is Sarah offering non-apathetic reassurance.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Is she feeding off of Becky’s current misery?

      1. Daibhid C

        She’s been like this all day. It’s not clear why as yet, but if it’s Becky’s misery, it was retroactive.

        1. thejeff

          Wasn’t it made pretty clear that it was a deliberate reaction to losing Jacob to Lucy?
          And that it’s forced and taking her “considerable” mental effort to sustain.

  14. RassilonTDavros

    Since nobody else is mentioning it, I will note that I am very curious as to what Becky is seeing on her phone in the last panel.

    1. Dday

      Most likely something involving Dina.

    2. Yumi

      I think she’s just seeing that Dina’s not responding to her texts.

    3. Taffy

      She’s looking at hentai. It’s unrelated, she was already doing that.

      1. Doopyboop

        She looks sad because the hentai she’s looking at isn’t up to her standards. “Man, this hentai is ass…”

        1. Taffy

          She accidentally clicked on yaoi.

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          I would love to see Becky’s reaction to various porn; hell I’d love to see the reactions of several people from DoA to various porn.

        3. Michael Steamweed

          As long as it was sex-positive, I think Roz would approve of most or all of it. I think the rest would be somewhere in the spectrum between full-approval and close-to-zero.

        4. thejeff

          Being a professional herself, Roz would critique the technical aspects.

        5. Michael Steamweed

          Now I need a pornographique that is full Arabian Nights montage style, in which the frame story is Amber and Roz collaborating on smut, and we see various 1,001 single-panel scenes.

          Mr. Willis, get on this! 😀

        6. Taffy

          Turns out, if Danny isn’t with a partner, he can only get off to videos with women dressed as some kind of comedic entertainer. Clowns, harlequins, jesters, whatever variation he’s feeling in the moment. They can be doing whatever act/position, but they have to be in costume and in character.

      2. Dday

        Stanley Hudson voice:
        “It’s called hentai…
        and it’s art!”

    4. Tan

      In panel 4, that’s Becky noting from off-panel that Dina is not answering texts. She is looking at the lack of response to texts on her phone. She is upset that her girlfriend has maybe run off with another woman.

  15. Dday

    You know, Sarah’s usually the rbf queen, but this doe-eyed look is actually pretty cute, kinda refreshing.

  16. Dara

    Y’know what

    I’m doubling down.

    Space station.

    Not doubling down on the running-into-Ryoga-there part, but

    space station.

  17. Jonah (firelight_waltz)

    aw poor becky her little face is so sad 🙁

    1. Reltzik

      More like worried.

      … or maybe jealous/hurt.

  18. Taffy

    It’s a little suspicious that I can’t seem to post a certain string of syllables relating to Patriots. Metal Gear Solid 2 was a prophecy.

  19. True Survivor

    Is a patriot act ouroboros just a snake giving itself a colonoscopy?

    1. NGPZ

      there ain’t gonna be too much fight
      won’t be like the Patriot Act in the slight
      but really a snake goin up it’s own ass real tight?
      come on bru, that ain’t right! XD

    2. Dante

      Not the strangest Otasune plot I’ve read

  20. Radiance

    Becky looks so *sad*. It’ll be okay! Dina and Charlie will return as inexplicably as they vanished!

    1. NGPZ

      thatz Booster’s twin and the Empress of Evolution 4 ya!
      powerz combined like FUUUUUSION HAAAAA!!!!

      Dina an’ Charlie talkin’ dinoz extinct
      goin’ hand in hand, they gotz the link
      movin’ faster than you can blink
      Autistic Ultra Instict with their powers in sync!!!! *^^*

      1. Bogeywoman

        Willing to bet Booster can track Charlie’s phone because this happens all the time. Or they can find a computer either D or C are logged into and use “find my phone” cos that’s my go to.

  21. Sirksome

    I’m not super tech savvy. Is it really easy to just track people’s phones? Like can you do that with a google search, ten minutes and a laptop with a decent wifi connection?

    1. Taffy

      Amber and Carla are both supposed to be pretty tech-savvy. I don’t think they’re meant to be representative of how easy something like that is.

    2. Sam

      I mean, several social media apps by default have location tracking on that you have to learn it even has to actually actively know to turn it off. So quite a few people could be tracked in 10 minutes, yes, just because their apps leak their locations.

      Carla tracking Sal’s phone is kinda hit or miss on how easy it would be. Sal isn’t stupid, but, she also isn’t scared of much, so might not be someone who CARES if an app is basically advertising her location. She isn’t chronically online either, so isn’t as likely to learn about it to even know it is a thing.

      I mean, theoretically as well, if Sal uses shady unprotected Wi-Fi, Carla could use a virus to install a tracking app onto Sal’s phone.

      I think the answer is a combined ‘it is harder than clicky clacking a few buttons like on TV’ but also ‘it is easier for people who know what they are doing than you would rationally think, just because generally people aren’t amazing at protecting their devices’.

      1. thejeff

        Only if Sal’s using a Rutten phone. She can just have the techs force an update that gives her access to the location.

  22. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    OK OK so Carla a hacker right? If she can somehow get ahold of one of the twos email or phone number she could get their IP address and track them through there. Usually wouldn’t recommend this unless it was emergency but it looks like it’s shaping up to be just that.

    1. NGPZ

      they layin’ out the plan with efforts combined!
      takin action like Optimus Prime!
      trackin’ dino girlz down when they probably fine
      themz gonna make like Bonze and “pa$$ the time” XD

  23. BBCC

    Yeah, the last time a couple people just randomly disappeared it was a pretty bad day.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      To be fair, this group does have a vested interest in keeping tabs on each other’s whereabouts at most/all times.

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, in the abstract this seems creepy, but there have been multiple kidnappings in this group.

        OTOH, that’s that same kind of justification used for the Patriot Act, just on a difference scale.

  24. Laura

    Next book title: “They have dangerously complementary powers!”

    1. Phil Srobeighn

      I was hoping for “Incestuous Patriot Act”

  25. Mr. Random

    It’s the non-consensual buddy system.
    Everyone keep an eye on your buddy.
    Whether they agree or not.

  26. Jon

    Poor Becky experiencing Baby’s First Jealous Panic Spiral in the background.

    I hate to suggest it, but could this be Becky’s post-sex guilt manifesting? She starts to worry that now Dina’s “seen it all”, Becky’s no longer interesting to her?

    Obviously that’s supes wrong, but try telling that to a panicking jealous teenager.

    1. Mturtle7

      I don’t have time to go hunting for in-comic examples, but from what I recall, Becky has already been around the block quite a few times when it comes to panic spirals, including jealous panic spirals!

  27. ValdVin

    “Unlimited free actions, but blindfolded” sounds like Olive Oyl sleepwalking.

    Get to the nearest construction site, stat.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      Lots of extra actions per round, but at disadvantage in all navigation- / location-based attempts.

  28. UrsulaDavina

    I understand that the ‘find Dina and Charlie’ plot is meant to cause some shenanigans, but right now, it feels like the group is panicking because Dina and Charlie are neurodivergent. It comes across as if they believe Dina and Charlie can’t take care of themselves or are oblivious to the world around them, which feels a bit ableist. Sarah is right—they will be fine. Normally, I wouldn’t be this sensitive about it, but my own life is kind of spiraling due to my neurodivergency and a vindictive, arrogant gaslighter who has decided to make my life hell because my cadence, facial expressions, and difficulty reading people upset them.

    1. Vukodlak

      Its not like people randomly disappearing has ever gone badly for this circle of friends.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Main point, right here. This group definitely has cause to keep tabs on each other’s locations at most times.

    2. Aubrey

      I don’t disagree with you, but Willis has explicitly characterized Charlie as someone who IS oblivious to the outside world. I’m not sure how I feel about that characterization to be honest, but the cast isn’t responding unreasonably based on what has been established in comic.

      1. UrsulaDavina

        They went for a walk only a couple of hours ago and They are worrying about Dina not answering her texts?who are they my mother? Who if i dont answer her text within five minutes proceeds to call and if god forbid an hour she thinks “i am dead in a ditch” Charlie may tend to wonder but it’s not like Dina hasn’t been shown to be able to navigate the world around her. As Sarah said they are adults. I am very much aware i am projecting there is a stressful situation in the near future that ties into all the bad things happening to me.

        1. Da Boy

          To be fair this is all primarily Carla’s problem due to Charlie who has shown complete inability to figure out her surroundings. No one is really worried about Dina, everyone knows she can take care of herself as shown in Dotty’s idea to summon her with Bad Dinosaur Facts.

    3. Doopyboop

      I’ve been feeling this way regarding Charlie for a while, ever since Jennifer ushered Charlie to class and admonished the other characters by telling them they shouldn’t “let Charlie wander”. At first I thought it was just Jennifer being kinda ableist but now it’s a bit hard for me to gauge whether the point IS that Charlie does need some level of support that she’s not getting, or whether it’s all just for the laughs.

      Also, I hope things in your life improve and I hope that that gaslighter gets out of your life or at least leaves you be.

    4. Bruno

      Where in the DSM does it talk about shifting through walls undetected? Looking to self-diagnose with something new this fine afternoon.

    5. Mark

      TBF just a few strips ago they were surprised to find that they’d wandered into a bank vault.

  29. Peter Huppertz

    Maybe I’m too retired to get this, but:
    Why don’t they just call Dina or Charlie?

    1. KM

      I feel bank vaults do not have very good signal, hence the texts not even reaching dina. Then again…I dunno how non WhatsApp text work nowadays and if Becky can tell the difference between not delivered, not read and read

      1. Daibhid C

        Whether it would work or not, I think the point is they’ve jumped straight from “not answering texts” to “phone tracking apps” without considering that, if the phone is getting a signal, there are other ways you can use it to find someone. (If it’s not, the phone tracking apps probably won’t work either.)

        1. Da Boy

          Considering how these people were victims of Two kidnappings you can imagine why they are being paranoid and extreme.

        2. JepMZ

          Okay. I can’t get first, but I can get 100th

          So Mike is dead and two girls have real powers

        3. JepMZ

          Noooooo, it’s supposed to be it’s own comment!! But anyway, the point wasn’t to track the missing ones, it’s to find amazi girl who has the better detective skills

    2. thejeff

      I don’t understand. They’re not responding to texts. What is this “call” thing and why would it work better?

      1. Mark

        Dunno about them, but to me a text is “you can get back to me sometime, today or tomorrow” but a voice call is “I need you now.”

        1. thejeff

          Depending on circumstances, I might just ignore the call and plan to get back to it later, while the text I’ll at least look at and see what it says, letting me know how urgent it is.

          But mostly I was riffing off the stereotypical reluctance of kids these to day to use their phones as phones.

      2. anonymsly

        If they actually are in a bank vault, a call would probably go straight to voicemail on account of no signal. Same reason the texts wouldn’t even be arriving.

        1. anonymsly

          Has anyone confirmed they’re even getting the texts, though? They were in a closed bank vault, that says ‘no signal’ to me.

    3. Tan

      Speaking as someone who’s twice these characters’ age, if I’m not responding to texts, I’m sure as hell not picking up a phonecall.

  30. Da Boy

    Key problem is, if they are still in that Vault they might be out of service range…

  31. Daibhid C

    Dumbing of Age Book 15: What An Incestuous PATRIOT Act We’ve Got Going On.

  32. Disastroid

    Secret crossover week: they’re going to end up at the wedding reception over at QC.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      This is both a _possible_ thing and (now) a _necessary_ thing!

  33. Michael Steamweed

    I track you, you track me, we’re a tracking family!

  34. Mark

    Carla finishes jiggering her phone as suggested, and disappears!

  35. Michael Steamweed

    To be honest, I’m surprised that Carla didn’t install some sort of tracking app on Charlie’s phone. (Maybe Charlie has a tendency to not keep it with her at all times, or to lose it?)

  36. darkoneko

    ’incestuous patriot act’ is not a sentence i expected to read today. Or ever.

    1. Pergola

      ‘Incestuous Patriot Act’ is the band that opens for ‘Dangerously Complementary Powers’.

  37. Acher4

    Everybody watching out for each other.

    As said by Dorothy in last panel, it’s weird but also wholesome. <3

    But another thought.
    Who watches the watchmen?

  38. C.T. Phipps

    Dorothy realizes as President she’d run a police state. 🙂

    1. Da Boy

      Whatever you say fellow “I can talk all the shit I want about my government and leaders and won’t get dragged away for torture by sad men from secret police”

      1. C.T. Phipps

        Dorothy totally would, though.

        FOR THEIR OWN GOOD.

        1. Da Boy

          Yeah I can see her becoming a soft-spoken well-meaning tyrant

  39. wakeangel2001

    “we went out to get hats, somehow we ended up defeating the demon lord and saving the land of Atraxia”

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      That sounds like the title of a new isekai anime.

  40. Yeet

    extremely normal use of technology

    1. Taffy

      For some reason, people think it’s weird when a civilian does this stuff, but they never do a single thing to even mildly impede their government doing it. You have options, folks, you’re just not taking them because looking up a tutorial is too much effort.

      1. Jeremiah

        You don’t call out like this.

        1. Jeremiah

          *gotta call me out like this

      2. Yeet

        I’m a people and I do in fact do those things

  41. Whirlakitty

    When you think you see someone out of the corner of your eye, but turn and there’s no one there, its not actually your brain playing tricks on you. Its Dina and Charlie blinking past.

  42. torrent29

    Carla’s going to make a gui interface in visual basic to see if she can track her IP address

  43. Yakumo

    Nah nah. The fear of the government is creeping out to every person, without knowing them or caring. This is turning more into circle stalkers.

  44. Amelie Wikström

    Really, after the two kidnappings I’d insist to each of my friends that they have a tracker for my phone installed. Maybe get a fake tooth with a GPS installed, money permitting.

  45. Lia

    this is a great group

  46. anon

    Did not expect to read the words’ incestuous patriot act’ today but sure why not.

  47. EmperorGreed

    “incestuous patriot act” would be one hell of an album title

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