anyways that’s my essay lmk if it doesn’t make sense or if you have any questions! thanks for reading :)

that moment, that one panel, completely changed their relationship, and while they’re slowly getting to know each other again, only time (and nicole maines) will tell if it’s for better or for worse

and we can see how it affects them in comics that take place after the flashback too — thomas hooking up with random guys in pride specials, floyd being described as “quietly being on the verge of a mental breakdown” in suicide squad. +

and it’s different, now. we see that in how they interact, neither one of them act the same as they used to, they’ve both been through too much separately and at each other’s hands to do that. +

it’s the moment that completely changed their relationship entirely +

it’s the moment that killed their relationship. it’s the moment when thomas had to come to terms with the fact that floyd never cared about him. it’s the moment that floyd realized he needs thomas and cares about him more than anyone else in his life. +

(ofc, it’s a moment we see through thomas’ pov, so we don’t really know floyd’s side of the story, but still) +

thomas was hurt, he put himself out there time and time again and got shot down (literally). thomas stopped trying after that, stopped coming after floyd, stopped helping. +

and THATS why thomas has been so guarded and THATS why floyd seems more open than usual in 2025 secret six (at least, they do to me) +

shooting thomas is the moment floyd regrets the most. out of everything that’s every happened in his life, hurting thomas is the thing he regrets the most.

to repeat: HURTING THOMAS IS THE THING FLOYD REGRETS MOST +

floyd has so many moments he could’ve seen instead. his brother that he killed, his son that died bc of him and his family, all of the stuff that his daughter went through, and that’s just to start.

but what does he see?

he sees thomas. +

banshee, at the time, is making everyone hallucinate the moment they most regret, right? jon hallucinates his dead cat, nia hallucinates the suicide squad, lori hallucinates her dad, and floyd hallucinates thomas. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT TOO +

then we get to this panel +

that it didn’t matter how much he cared about floyd, it wouldn’t be enough bc floyd would always pick someone else (amanda waller) over him +

he got shot bc despite how many times thomas tried to help floyd, floyd still picked someone else over him. when floyd shot those bullets, he didn’t just physically hurt thomas. no. to thomas, that was the moment he killed their relationship. that was the moment thomas realized +

the flashback itself literally showed thomas helping floyd by breaking him out of a jail cell, and then the next thing thomas knows, floyd’s gone. he thinks something happened again. he tried to go out and help floyd AGAIN. but what does he get in return? shot. +

this is a flashback from thomas’ pov, right? it takes place after thomas went out of his way to help floyd time and time again, something that he admits wasn’t done out of love for the six, but out of love for floyd +