2017-02-08
Posted on 2017-02-10 by Aaron

97 thoughts on “2017-02-08”

  1. trlkly

    We’d better find out how he has control over his powers. We’ve established how his powers work, so we should get to know. I don’t want it to just be handwavium.

    1. Jack Simth

      It’s a balance of law and chaos, rather than good and bad, and he’s on-screen admitted he’s got the ability to get a rough idea what it’ll be. Also that flying is a sufficient mix of both that there’s no side effects. Notice the spinning lines and the twirlygig on the pour of the soda? I’m guessing that’s a chunk of why. If it’s equally lawful and chaotic, there’s again no repercussions (as is the case for flying). Alternates: He’s found a way to “store” or “control” the various halves. AKA, he can pick the chaos to serve other ends when he does something lawful, or he went and smashed a bunch of glassware earlier.

    2. MattStriker

      My guess would be along the lines of a quantum supercomputer in the basement somewhere that calculates ideal ways to balance out Toby’s powers in real time.

    3. Mechwarrior

      My guess is that he’s been thoroughly indoctrinated by his parents’ lack of compassion for normal humans that he no longer sees the reactive effects as downsides unless they start creating issues for metahumans.

    4. Unmaker

      I thought it was previously established that only major uses of his power automatically caused backlash.

    5. Faust

      Given the power of those raffle prizes, I’d guess his team has extensive resources and acquired an item for him.

    6. LookielouE1707

      Yeah, it’s got to be a plot point, since him not having control was a plot point before. From a dramatic perspective “it’s under control” is a chekhov’s gun which demands that at the crucial moment it be not under control.

  2. evilkumquat

    I’m really starting to dislike Tyler’s entire family, clone brother included.

    1. CraigR

      Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be up to Tyler to rein them in. Probably in a way that they’re going to hate and make him feel guilty as hell.

    2. Nightmask

      Unfortunately due to Tyler rejecting his clone like he has has left Toby at the mercy of his parents and we all know how awful they are as parents, so they’re slowly corrupting him without the balancing influence of Tyler on him.

    3. Marie

      I’m leaning more toward the parents’ delight is corrupting Toby.

    4. Temperaryobsessor

      I think Toby is getting more and more invested in listening to his “parents”. Truth is him refusing Tyler the information does rub me the wrong way too. But Tyler does keep his secrets from Toby mostly Moonshadow, the basis of Tyler’s relationship with Cecil, and why Cecil randomly dislikes Toby. So Tyler thinking Toby is obligated to share everything with him is sort of hypocritical.

      1. SaberRoy

        To be fair, there is a difference in not telling something because personally you want to keep it a secret and not telling someone something because of “clearance.” Or at least this kin of of clearance, actual legit military clearance is a different story.

        1. Temperaryobsessor

          Cecil essentially did that to Toby, although I’m not sure whether he’s justifying keeping things from Toby, really believes it that clearance junk, and if he does believe it if R. told him not to tell Toby about Tyler.
          I believe the clearance level thing Toby is acting on is the real deal decided arbitrarely and for evil reasons but real.

    5. Prairie Son

      I have to admit, I’ve wondered what would happen if someone copied Tyler’s memories from 0 to the day he first walked through the doors of the school and installed them in Toby. Probably the end of whatever relationship he has with his parents.

      1. KillerFish

        Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that Toby already *had* Tyler’s memories (barring all the Moonshadow stuff) up to the point where he gained power, which is when they became two individuals. From Toby’s point of view, he had a childhood with his parents being disappointed that he didn’t have powers, then he developed them. *Then* he finds out he’s actually a clone of Tyler, and not Tyler himself.

        So uploading Tyler’s memories into Toby would do nothing

        1. Matthew Davis

          He has some, but not all of them. Remember, he doesn’t know about Moonshadow, for example.

    6. Owlmirror

      Despite my paranoid speculation below, I’ll take a moment to defend Toby here: If it was just Toby having figured out how to control his powers on his own, it would be somewhat cruel and unpleasant to not tell Tyler about it. But it’s very out of character for Toby to be unpleasant and cruel. So, the thing is, there may be someone or something involved which is not his secret to divulge. Suppose some EDL tech or device or power was being used, and if too many knew about it, someone could find an exploit to break Toby’s control at precisely the wrong time. So Toby was told: Only EDL members in good standing are allowed to know how you can do this.

      But there’s still problems with that excuse. The phrasing “you don’t have the clearance to know” actually sounds out of character for Toby — if the above scenario had happened, I think he would sound a bit more regretful about it — something more like: “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you, or tell you why I can’t tell you. Sorry.”

      Like I said below, I think the narrative is hinting at something being “off” with Toby.

  3. Chris

    I thought his name was “Absolute” not “Quantum”.

    1. Nobody

      Guess Ron wasn’t paying attention when they introduced him. :p

    2. Messenger

      While still a child, he was supposed to be “Kid Powers” (02012012). I’m guessing that with their figuring out of the mechanics of the balancing drawback of his powers, they decided to give him a different name.

    3. CountryMage

      It’s the difference between his SuperHero name and his Super Hero personal name, his family has been weird like that from the start.

    4. Mike

      Interestingly, the issue where Toby gets the name “Absolute Powers” is titled “Quantum Powers”.

  4. Rock

    Infinity gauntlet…..? 0_0 They’re putting that thing on the hand of a kid….?
    They really are insane!

    1. Simreeve

      “In-D-finity Gauntlet”… as in its powers are, as they said, in-D-efinite…

      1. Mersharr

        They’re still insane though

    2. Jacen

      I see no Infinity Gems. Without the Gems, the Infinity Gauntlet is just a fancy glove. The only thing it does for someone is let them use all of the Gems safely at the same time.

    3. David Nuttall

      Well, even the original Infinity Gauntlet is pretty useless until you have plugged in the correct gems in the correct places. Well, it could make your punches hurt more, but not to a superhuman level. So for the Indifinity Gaunlet, gems are not included.

      1. Nightmask

        Uh that’s not even remotely how the Infinity Gauntlet works, it is not some kind of device that requires the gems in a particular socket (except maybe in some video game somewhere I’ve never seen) it’s just the glove that Thanos put the Infinity Gems on to have in one convenient location the power came completely from the gems and the fact that they had a synergistic effect on each other. You could hold all six gems in your hand at one time and have the same infinite power since the power is all in the gems. The Gauntlet itself has zero power.

  5. Rock

    Chiroptera enterprises? ‘Bat inc.’?

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Where there’s a will, there’s a WAYNE.

      1. Tomy Ironmane

        Where do you think the Revenant got all that cash to spend on his kit?

  6. SFI

    In theory they are quite interesting parents, but right now there’s too much ‘ouch’ and ‘argh’ overruling that.

  7. Nobody

    Man, I want to go to that party now… They’re handing out Cosmic Artifacts as door prizes??

  8. dsollen

    so umm…their offering an ability to basically gain superpowers as prizes while the girl who’s being setup to do horrible things to gain super powers is in the room? you know I feel like there is an easier solution to this dilemma then the comic is building up to….

  9. Pander

    They’ve wanted Tyler to have superpowers for years.

    They had a collection of cosmic-level superpowered objects which give the wearer superpowers.

    Never gave Tyler any of it.

    WTF. Seriously WTF.

    1. Kid Doc

      I agree. It’s all right there. Tyler is nobody to his family anymore.

    2. Temperaryobsessor

      Effectively give people superpowers. They wouldn’t be real superpowers.

      1. YouKnowI'mRight

        There is a small difference between power gained and power gifted, but to this parents it could be seen as naturally gifted and ‘gifted’ individual who drools a lot and needs someone to cart him/her around.

      2. MatthewTheLucky

        Those psychic powers sound pretty inherent.

      3. Messenger

        Pander’s right. How different is that from Emerald Gauntlet? And Lester was indeed classified as a supervillain.

        Yeah, WTF, Tyler’s parents?

      4. Pander

        So that Green Lantern type kid isnt a superhero because his powers are from an object? Nope, they are. They could have given him powers at any time. They could have given him that infinity gauntlet thing. They didn’t. They suck as parents and as human beings and I’m really wanting SOMEONE to tell them that for once to their stupid faces, or someone clue them in that they only have their powers still because of Tyler. Or there should be some sort of problem that captures THEM and Toby is completely useless to save them and gets captured, and Tyler winds up saving them all, then tells them off.

        1. Temperaryobsessor

          Yea Tyler’s “parents” definately are terrible as parents, and I personally believe that the Powers are basically worse versions of the Von Foggs.

        2. Pander

          I would not blink twice if that happened to be the case. 🙂

        3. Stephen Bierce

          Where’s Richard Dawson when you need him? SURVEY SEZ!

        4. Mike S

          Heck, if anything, that comparison might be unfair to the Von Foggs.

        5. Nobody

          To be fair he was BORN with a power glove on his arm. That’s pretty close to being inherent. He has literally never known an instant without them until the space station got him.

        6. Messenger

          But his father wasn’t. And Emerald Gauntlet Jr./Kevin is otherwise an ordinary boy.

          If the Marlocks want Tyler to have power and they have these items, then they have no reason not to. Why haven’t they?

        7. Nightmask

          Thing is Messenger the Emerald Gauntlets gauntlets are less objects like a Green Lantern Power Ring and more something living that’s bonded to them (the father couldn’t have passed a gauntlet down to his son without it being more than just a thing). Plus many heroes are otherwise normal humans other than the power that they have (Cyclops for example is an otherwise well-trained normal human being outside his Optic Blasts). In regards to the power objects they’re offering up obviously Tyler can’t use them or they’d have already forced them onto him, plus they feel they have such a cosmic destiny to past down that Tyler shouldn’t need such things (and they now see Toby as their cosmically destined child).

        8. Messenger

          @Nightmask:

          Actually, we don’t know that Tyler can’t use them. It’s not as obvious as you say.

          The fact that despite whatever “destiny” Tyler supposedly has, his parents no longer spend much time with him and are now even keeping info about Toby away from him. They’ve shut him out; that means that it’s quite possible they didn’t even try to give him powers via gadgets, focusing all their attention instead on the twin that does have power.

    3. CCC

      They probably *did* try it all on Tyler.

      One artifact a day over a period of six months or so.

      Or they just piled all the artifacts in his room and waited to see which one he’d pick out.

      It’s just that none of them worked on him…

      1. Temperaryobsessor

        Actually if they piled them in Tyler’s room chances are Tyler would camp out on the other side of the room, and can you blame him chances are the object would punish him for being unworthy or overpower his mind or something.

    4. FairyKing

      If these artifacts could actually make a difference, the EDL wouldn’t just raffle them off to whoever got lucky. Even assuming everyone entering the raffle was trustworthy, it would still make a lot more sense to match the artifacts to the heroes who most needed them or could best use them.

      A utility belt and some fancy armor are both pretty low on the power scale, I mean Revenant has that kind of stuff and as far as the Powers are concerned he’s just a normal human. As for the headband, if that could really make people develop mental powers who didn’t already have them, everyone would be using one. It’s probably either a hoax, only works on certain people, or otherwise isn’t very reliable. The Indifinity Gauntlet might have some power, but Ultima’s description is so vague yet catchphrase-y that it sounds like he’s trying to hype up something that’s not actually very impressive.

  10. Owlmirror

    OK, so what have we here? We have a Toby that Cecil’s cloak is hissing at, and who suddenly claims to have control of his powers, and is also stating that Tyler doesn’t have “clearance” to know how or why (and note that Toby has dropped hints before of having done some pretty heavy things to Tyler without worrying about “clearance” bullshit). Given that we’ve seen the adult Powers suddenly practically forgetting who Tyler even is, I’m wondering if this is supposed to hint at some sort of creeping long-term mind-control thingy having finally subverted Toby.

    Something is rotten in the tower of EDL…

    Also, I’m wondering about Lester. Says he used to have the Manacle of Nyrathos, which gave him magic powers “you couldn’t even dream of”. Cecil got a creepy vibe from him.

    I wonder if Lester can still sort-of control the Manacle just a little bit, and has been slowly, slowly, manipulating events, just a little at a time, so that he could get the Manacle back fully in his control? What’s behind those mystery raffle doors? Are chaperones permitted to enter the raffle?

    1. Owlmirror

      Or could the Indifinty Gauntlet be Lester’s Manacle in disguise?

    2. Segev

      I had not noticed it consciously with Toby yet, but you’re right; he’s being a bit uncomfortably blasé, and has shown signs of it earlier, too. The last in-character Toby-moment was when he was apologetic over their parents’ transformation of a small sleep-over for Tyler, Toby, and a couple friends into a massive uberparty.

      That said, Toby’s had moments of “no, it’s cool, I’ve got this,” before, but those have usually been easy to write off as a kid who just got his own candy shop wanting to use what he’s gotten.

      One could write the “I don’t think you have clearance” line off as being parroting his parents, but yes, couple this with the level of shutting out of Tyler – to the point of making themselves look stupid or cruel in front of other meta-humans – that their parents are doing…Whatever’s influencing them might be influencing Toby, too.

      1. Nightmask

        The only thing influence Tyler’s parents is their own insanity due to their beliefs in themselves as higher beings, there is nothing in the comic anywhere that suggests there’s any outside influence manipulating them other than the writer. Everything they’ve done is completely in character for what we’ve seen of them from the first moment we saw them. Toby’s behavior isn’t anything but his own behavior as well, the only outside influences on his behavior is only the tampering from the imp and cherub to screw up his powers like they did.

        Not all character development is positive, Toby’s behavior is in keeping with his being influenced by Tyler’s parents and being far too naive and still influenced by the memories from Tyler he contains to please them. Meanwhile Tyler’s parents have just continued their fall after getting the super-powered child of their dreams validating their delusions of godhood. None of it reflects any kind of outside influence manipulating them, their actions are completely consistent and in character.

        1. Segev

          We’ve disagreed about this before, Nightmask. I still think that it is out of character for them to be acting in the way they are, not because it’s so cruel, but because it makes them look bad. Specifically, it makes them look incompetent, foolish, and addled.

          If it were the same callous assumption of their desires BEING reality and reality just not having given the dramatic reveal yet, I’d agree with you. If it were in the form of “Oh, right, Tyler,” rather than “Wait, who’s Tyler?” I’d agree with you. But the specific way they’re acting and reacting to reminders of Tyler’s existence make them look brain-addled, foolish, and just a bit stupid. Like they’re suffering dementia.

          Their egos wouldn’t permit them to look bad in that specific way, because they would recognize it as a display of weakness and flaw. Their egos are fine with them appearing callous, because they can justify that away. Forgetful? Especially of something like their own son’s name? No. I just don’t buy it.

        2. Nightmask

          That’s the problem though, YOU think it makes them look like that but to THEM they see absolutely nothing at all wrong with it and will accept no one disagreeing with them. It’s classic denial, they do things that they think are completely acceptable (like putting their own child in dangerous situations even when people try to explain that that doesn’t mean he’ll just go super all it means is most likely he’ll end up dead) and anyone who doesn’t agree simply hasn’t the ability to comprehend their rightness. You can find plenty of RL people who have behaved exactly like Tyler’s parents, and yes they were all certain that what they were doing was right and not only did it not make them look bad but to them it was an example of proper behavior everyone else should be following.

          That’s where the disconnect comes in, you keep thinking of them from the stance that ‘nobody could be that bad’ because it’s just so ‘obvious’ that they couldn’t possibly fail to see it you don’t actually see things as they do to see how it’s completely consistent with their mental problems. They have problems and people with problems often live in denial and refuse to see that they, not the rest of the world, are the ones in the wrong. Everything the Powers do is internally consistent, it’s all explainable by human behavior, none of it requires some nebulous, mysterious external force to justify it. ‘I think it makes them look bad and because of their egos they’d never want anyone thinking they look bad so it must be someone making them that way’ just isn’t a valid argument. They don’t know you think it makes them look bad, they don’t accept what they do makes them look bad, they don’t accept that anything that they do IS bad. Heck Tyler’s lucky his parents retained some shred of restraint and didn’t do anything like Atlas did and try tossing Tyler through someone’s vehicle or he’d have been splatted a long time ago.

        3. Segev

          Certainly, Tyler is lucky they didn’t think that throwing him into oncoming traffic would “trigger his destiny.” They absolutely would have done that if they thought it might work.

          Here’s the thing: I’m not, in any way, suggesting “nobody could be that bad.” I’m saying that nobody could believe that looking forgetful and addle-brained is not making you look bad.

          Their egos and self-images demand they seem to be in control and command at all times.

        4. Nightmask

          That’s just it though, they DON’T perceive themselves as acting in a fashion that would make them look bad or addle-minded. They perceive their actions as just and proper. How many times have you seen a bad parent in the news after doing something awful insisting their actions were just and proper and anyone who says otherwise is wrong if not actively out to get them? Tyler’s parents are the same way, they do these bad things but in their minds they’re certain that they’re reasonable and good actions and that everyone can see that and anyone that doesn’t clearly has something wrong with them. They can never admit to themselves that their actions are wrong. Those egos of theirs shield them from seeing how everyone else sees them and as we’ve seen when other adults around the school talk about them they have seen how trying to talk to them about their failings is a lost cause because they won’t accept anyone criticizing them. Look back to the very first time we see his parents ( http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/04132007/ ), they speak with absolute belief that they speak for the universe itself and that their son is destined for great power and none should dare to contradict that. They don’t care what others think as a result, they’re certain of their rightness so even if someone said that they looked crazy or were bad parents they’d hear none of it.

    3. Mike S

      Interesting thought. I went back and checked, and when Cecil first met Toby, his cloak had already been “altered” by Malphast’s mom. But it didn’t hiss at him then. That argues in favor of Toby having changed in some serious way since that time. Well, either that, or someone/something else is impersonating Toby.

    4. Knug

      Maybe its not Toby, but our favourite floating chair cherub using Tyler’s DNA and his holographic projector ?

      1. Owlmirror

        I seriously doubt it.

        The argument is the same as it was when some people thought that Sarah was Zodon in disguise: Zodon’s control over his hologram seems to be surprisingly poor (Clay Industries tech), and even when he was altering his hologram, he showed no interest in or ability to alter his speech patterns. Zodon in disguise talks like Zodon not in disguise.

        And even if he somehow could do so, can you really see Zodon spending any time at all performing a minor service (pouring drinks) for anyone at all?

        Survey says: Nope!

    5. Mike

      Interesting thought. I went back and checked, and when Cecil first met Toby, his cloak had already been “altered” by Malphast’s mom. But it didn’t hiss at him then. That argues in favor of Toby having changed in some serious way since that time. Well, either that, or someone/something else is impersonating Toby.

      (Actually made this comment a few days ago, but mistyped my name which has left it stuck in moderation)

  11. Chris

    Is that an RC® Cola I see?

  12. Russell white

    Three things
    1.) First time I’ve seen Tyler’s parents in color, I didn’t know they were color coordinated with Toby, another way to make Tyler feel left out

    2.) “develop new mental powers”…That’s a thing? I’m surprised they never strapped it to Tyler….then again, if it’s “new” they probably decided with Toby, Tyler is now not worth the effort and use Ps238 to keep him from being underfoot

    3.) Almost lost it when the last item for rsffler is a book of gift certificates to a drive-in

    1. Mechwarrior

      It’s been pretty strongly shown that shortly after Toby came along, Tyler’s parents more or less completely forgot that he’s even their son.

      1. Pander

        I seriously am wishing that Tyler’s tranformation to a pseudo-Batman is topped off by what happenedto Batman in Crime Alley at this point. Can’t stand Tyler’s parents at all, mainly because of how clueless they are and how not a single person – not Revenant, not the teachers at PS238, not ANYONE – has pointed out what massive jerks and horrible, neglectful, and I’d say emotionally abusive parents they are to their actual son, Tyler.

        1. Temperaryobsessor

          I think most people in universe wrote them off as lost causes, are trying to best minimize the damage to Tyler, and assume their fellow teachers already realize that what they are doing to Tyler is not okay..

        2. Pander

          I know. I just wish at least ONE person stood up to them on Tyler’s behalf to TELL them that what they’re doing is wrong. I can understand Tyler not telling them. They’re his parents. It’s intimidating and he’s gotten used to being treated like garbage by them. But there ARE people who care about Tyler’s well-being, and someone should have said something at this point. I’m hoping someone does soon. I’m hoping that when Captain Clarinet gets back his powers (or new powers), he’ll remember the crap Tyler has to go through.

        3. Mechwarrior

          The thing is, they *might* listen if Atlas came back and chewed them out. They’re not going to listen to anyone less powerful than he is- they have made it abundantly clear that they consider power level to be the only indication of one’s worth and the PS238 staff aren’t powerful enough to be worth listening to. And they consider the Revenant to be an out-and-out criminal in addition to being a muggle so there’s absolutely no chance they’d listen to him.

        4. Pander

          No one’s ever even TRIED though :/

        5. Temperaryobsessor

          Any one associated with PS238 risks making his “parents” decide that PS238 is a bad school. This is not so much about the schools reputation as the fact that if they pull him from the school it eliminates his support network. There’s also the possibility that they would think Tobie’s evil clone is out to ruin their reputations, or figure out what they need to hide. How many people not associated with the school know about Tylers situation and have screen time.
          The smart thing to do is document all the things that would support a CPA case, like the time his parents decided without request to authorize the school to give Tyler a sunburn and Tyler’s reaction to that.
          Toby did try on some level when Tyler got home from space and if anything it reminded them to ban Tyler from the house.

      2. tremor3258

        Didn’t Toby mention at one point he had to use his powers to make sure Tyler wasn’t completely excluded by his parents, but it had some other costs (I think putting him and Cecil at odds?)

        1. Nightmask

          Toby never used his powers to do that, he used his powers to remove the curse that was affecting the Principal as part of a bargain whereby Toby would remove the curse if the Principal used his connections to work things out so that he’d be considered Tyler’s brother as a result it created the negative effect of the principal losing out on redemption and Toby losing out on the best friend he could have ever had (most likely Cecil but perhaps not).

  13. Messenger

    Glory & Power deal out superpowers. Tyler’s parents are doing that just now. I wonder if these two are part of G&P’s plot- and how.

  14. dana

    I think Tyler’s overreacting a bit. After all, it’s not his problem and there’s little to nothing he could do if it was.

    I think he’s more upset about being out of the loop.

    1. Pander

      1) It’s his problem if Toby uses his powers and there’s some consequence that destroys the world or hurts him.
      2) Don’t underestimate what Tyler can do 🙂
      3) I think he’s upset that Toby’s being as massive a jerk as his parents are.

  15. Segev

    Regarding Toby’s powers and control, a longish while ago I posited that, if he has a sense for what the “balance” reaction will be, all he needs to do is figure out two things he can do that are opposed on the Law/Chaos spectrum that both achieve a goal he wants, and enact both so that they are each others’ balance.

    It isn’t like his powers are balanced “pro-Toby/anti-Toby.” So as long as he wants multiple things and some fall on one side and others on the other of the Law/Chaos spectrum, he should be able to work at pairing them.

    This raffle is, on the one hand, exactly the kind of irresponsible thing we’ve come to expect from Tyler’s parents. But on the other, the means to do this are, as people have noted, something they could have done to give Tyler powers. Any artifact that melds with the hero (like the Emerald Gauntlet) would have sufficed for a “inborn” power. And even without that, they’ve shown they’re willing to try “anything.” Why not try throwing him into super-situations with item-granted powers until his real ones manifest? It’s not like they would entertain the notion that he was normal, so the “no normal cheating their way into superheroing” clause obviously can’t possibly apply.

    Also also, Sara could try participating in the raffle. Get the right item and she wouldn’t need P&G. This needn’t even be an opportunity-cost deal: if she tries for it and fails, P&G are still there.

  16. Temperaryobsessor

    I wonder if Toby made a deal with P and G to eliminate the side effects and doesn’t want Tyler to know.

  17. Faust

    The gauntlet of indefined power is the fix they found for Absolute Powers. He gets order, the gauntlet weilder gets chaos. This raffle is just a means to get rid of it.

  18. RomulanSith

    The Toby and Tyler things that are getting weird is the reducing of Tyler’s clearance and access, and hell even his room at the tower. When Tyler is there, he needs to know such things since he is 1 family and 2 it was his home before Toby came around and it was ‘their’ home. For that matter, It annoys me that Ron just got all high and mighty when Tyler mentioned Toby with his parents. I think Toby caused this unintentionally when he reverted giving everyone superpowers and the world was going to hell in a hand basket.

    1. Segev

      Reducing clearance and access are weird mainly because they require remembering Tyler long enough to do it. Similar for the room transfer. The kind of neglectful arrogance the Powers demonstrated prior to Toby would have suggested to me that they’d unfavorite Tyler, but not with deliberate malice. Just…well, it’s Toby’s room, and Tyler’s too when they’re reminded.

      Combine inability to remember Tyler’s name, with suspicion about Tyler’s very existence and a “background check,” and suddenly remembering Tyler enough to lower his clearance (but not simply eliminating all access, as would be done if the background check revealed “Tyler” to be a fraud)…these things actively make the Powers look not just mean, cruel and awful…but inept and foolish. And while their egos are such that they can justify away cruelty as “justified” in some fashion or another, they couldn’t stand being made to look FOOLISH.

      Which is why I think something is up with them.

      Toby could be just reflecting some of their attitude, and he definitely remembers Tyler, but it is conceivable that something is also influencing him.

      1. Nightmask

        What’s up with them is simple, they’re just bad parents and bad people in general even if they are considered heroes. It’s just that simple, one doesn’t need to invent some outside cause making them behave like they are that’s just trying to excuse their bad behavior and minimize it as being someone else’s fault rather than their own. They’re too certain of their rightness to actually care what anyone else thinks especially normal non-powered people. They aren’t going to think their actions look foolish or wrong because if they commit them then they must be right and everyone else who disagrees must be wrong. They might listen to another super but they’d simply draw the wrong conclusions from it and muck things up like they did with the Slumber Party idea, turning it into a gigantic super-kid event.

        1. Segev

          Nightmask, please tell me, why do you think I’m excusing their bad behavior? Your replies inevitably seem to ignore my actual point and ascribe a motivation of hope that the Powers are actually better parents than they’re being shown to be.

          I’m won’t elaborate my actual point again here because I seem not to be getting it across. I’d like to hear what you think I’m saying so I can try to address that more directly.

        2. Nightmask

          You keep positing that because of their bad behavior some external force must be responsible for it which requires an underlying belief that they’re really good people and something’s making them act bad hence trying to excuse their bad behavior by saying ‘well the mysterious force made them do it’. That’s what anyone should get from ‘something must be up because they’re acting bad, should know that they’re acting bad, wouldn’t want to look bad and since they don’t notice that they’re acting bad something else must be responsible’. Worded a different way, ‘they’re acting terrible which is making them look bad but can’t see that they’re making themselves look bad and since they can’t see that that must mean something else is making them act terrible and keeping them from seeing it.’ However it’s worded it boils down to trying to make them out as better people than we’ve seen by passing the buck for how they behave onto some nebulous, unseen being or force manipulating them because if someone’s not really in control of their actions then it’s okay because you can blame what manipulated them for what they’ve done.

          For example, the retcon to absolve Hal Jordan of all the murders he committed as he became Parallax and after up until his death. A fanboy of his wanted to bring him back and wasn’t about to write ‘hero struggling to redeem himself for his past actions’ so invented Parallax to try and put all the blame there and claim that Jordan never really fell it was all on the living fear entity he’d hosted for years unseen. Everything Hal did was completely in character based on his past characterization but the writer invented an excuse to make it out that Hal was perfectly decent and moral and his actions not his own.

          So when it comes to Tyler’s parents what we see is completely believable and in character for them, nothing about it should lead anyone to think someone or something else is making them act like terrible people (since again if something’s making them act that way then the assumption is that they’d be great people but for that) they just are bad people. Not everyone a hero actually IS a decent person (just look at the Plutonian, he acted the hero but was actually not a good person, he did it for his ego and the hero worship and once he lost face went omnicidal maniac on his world).

  19. Faust

    A utility belt would compliment the flying coat very well. He might be interested in mental powers aswell.
    Moonshadow could use the armour or utility belt.
    The glove would be a likely villain item, Von Doom maybe?
    For unique potential, a certain egg head may end up with the drive through vouchers…

  20. Vanida Plamondon

    Most of you haven’t considered the fact that it is very likely that Tyler’s parents have probably been trying anything to give Tyler superpowers for a long time, including giving him powerful and/or dangerous artifacts and gadgets. Tyler likely found that his parents had little concern for his safety and any particular item his parents have given him are somewhat likely (or perhaps very likely) to be dangerous to his well being, rather than helpful/useful. It is reasonable to believe that Tyler has a large number of such artifacts and gadgets that the Powers are disappointed that he has no interest in messing around with.

    The door prizes may just another mechanism that the Powers are using to get one or more of said artifacts or gadgets in Tyler’s possession, hoping Tyler does not realize what they are doing (potentially tricking him into trying said item(s) out).

    As for the sentiment that the Powers have forgotten about Tyler, I don’t think such a thing is true. Clearly they favor Toby, and give him most of their attention, but consider the type of people the Powers are. It is reasonable to believe that they would desire Two super powered progeny over just one.

    Though some of the possible prizes might be an excellent fit for Moonshadow, I expect that the Powers have no intention of Tyler getting such lesser items, and once such items have all been given out, Tyler will win the next door prize. As the Powers have no way of Tyler getting one of the obvious items, I imagine the mystery doors have been rigged to give Tyler the most powerful artifact/gadget available.

  21. MrBookBoy

    Everyone who is posting on Tyler’s parents has to remember one thing; Tyler was the reason this party got started in the first place. Because Tyler asked for a sleepover with Ron, his parents took that and set up a giant party. They probably had other reasons, but the first one was for Tyler. If they had really been the douchebags that you are calling them, then they would have shrugged this off, and then we would know that they are total douchebags. Because they set up this party, it shows that they have a bit of care for Tyler, and do not totally disrespect him. No parent would do something for a child without having some care for them.

    1. Temperaryobsessor

      I disagree
      A. Its possible Toby didn’t communicate that this was a favor for Tyler.
      B. Its possible that Toby did communicate that it was a favor for Tyler but his “parents” believed he made Tyler up.
      Now lets assume thats not the case it actually gets worse then its like either throwing a God themed party for an athiest or a track party for someone in a wheelchair.
      Either
      A. They didn’t consider that a super power themed party might make Tyler uncomfortable.
      B. They forgot Tyler doesn’t have super powers.
      C. They are hoping to cure his lack of superpowers.
      D. They are punishing Tyler for not getting superpowers while maintaining deniability.

    2. Nightmask

      Along with temporaryobsessor’s points/possibilities it would be good to remember that Tyler never got to ask his parents about the sleepover (he didn’t have security clearance to see his own parents in what amounted to his own home), Toby had to ask for him. Tyler’s parents responded by turning it into a massive carnival event for every super-powered kid capable of attending, filled with events that were specifically tailored for people with super-powers. So the events are rigged against someone like Tyler.

      Tyler doesn’t even have a room of his own anymore at the headquarters, he was evicted from his room and Toby got all his stuff. He had to go from a broom closet to stay in at the base to one of the emergency shelter rooms for the ‘sleepover’. Hard to imagine there being any respect in that from his parents. His parents also seem to believe in ‘contagious powers’ which is why they shipped him off to live at PS238, in hopes powers would ‘rub off’ on him. His father’s recorded helmet message for Coach Rockslide was a declaration to treat his son like he had super-powers (which could easily get him killed) because to do otherwise would violate the ‘cosmic destiny’ he and his wife were certain awaited Tyler.

      So no this massive party wasn’t for Tyler it was for his parents, Tyler didn’t even enter into the equation as they planned things after Toby brought the idea to them.

      1. MrBookBoy

        But Toby wasn’t a jerk then. He actually cared about his brother, as well as his powers not being stable. He still remembers Tyler, and tries to make his parents remember him. That is a good brother there.

        1. Nightmask

          Thing is he’s not being a jerk per say here, lacking Tyler’s Moonshadow memories (and likely others) Toby is also trying to fulfill those Tyler memories of wanting to please his parents as a good son which means just like he passively goes along with ‘well you don’t have security clearance for those areas of the base anymore’ he goes along with his parents ‘I don’t think you’ve security clearance to know that kind of information’.

          Hmmmm, for some reason that made me think of how Tyler’s got an invite as both Moonshadow and himself to be part of 84’s super-group, I wonder if he were to join (probably using that silly costume his parents selected for him) and proved himself as a support hero for them (it’d also be great for him as a cover ID to help protect his Moonshadow ID ) if that would get him some kind of decent recognition from his parents. I doubt it though, I think Tyler’s always going to be in the ‘well done son guy’ trope, at least until he realizes he’ll never please them and lets go to finish growing as a man. He’ll surpass them and do it without super-powers like they have.

  22. Kiddoc

    I can’t wait to find out that Nightmask and Segev are actually Aaron Williams’ siblings and are writing ala Demosthenes and Locke from Ender’s Game.

  23. Chris PV

    Toby once said that the price for fixing part of his powers was “giving up the best friend he could have had”. We’ve all assumed that meant Cecil.

    It meant TYLER.

    Cecil wouldn’t have been the best friend — Cecil started with a deep mistrust of metas (as he thought they were aliens out to invade), and that mistrust hasn’t fully gone away; his worldview is very skewed & over-paranoid. Tyler, though, could’ve been the grounding influence on Toby, could’ve been his balance to the parents’ meta-ist bigotry, is the brother who could really have helped Toby mature and learn (as Tyler has done for his classmates, via his Moonshadow persona).

    But look at what’s happened. Tyler’ll barely talk to Toby, shrugs off any overtures of brother-ness, and is heartbroken & resentful over Toby “taking over” his life. There’s no closeness, no friendship, and no brother-ness between them. Tyler is the one person who could truly have helped Toby, and now?

    I suspect that the vision Tyler had in the Time Castle is going to come true…with Toby.

  24. Random Wanderer

    Isn’t Toby’s superhero name “Absolute Powers” not “Quantum Powers?”

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