#( riddlethat: hc. )

[riddlethat]

You asked me how Roman would be, so now I'm asking how Edward would handle being a father if you're okay answering that? Would he be very involved in his child's life or would he take on a more distant, disinterested position for whatever reason?

in my canon, edward is already a father, but he's absolutely uninvolved in his daughter's life, who in my world is named emma. he doesn't see her and, for all intents and purposes, she doesn't exist. 

it's a multi-pronged issue. the most obvious reason is that he's not in any fit state to be a father. he's a career criminal, he's dangerous to himself—he's liable to sinking into his obsessions far enough to turn to skin and bones like in arkham knight—and he's clearly dangerous to other people. unfortunately, edward is not self-aware enough or accepting enough of his own mental health to even make it a reason why he isn't a dad. instead, edward cares more about his ambitions of proving his own intelligence, in beating batman, and in proving everyone intellectually inferior. it's the only thing he cares about, and having to take care of a child needing him and, in his eyes, being useless or dumb or annoying, is just a hindrance.

the second issue, though to a much lesser degree that grows over time, is similar to how you feel roman would be as a father, too! edward grew up severely abused and was relentlessly mocked for his "stupidity". he was beaten for it. unfortunately, edward isn't much different from his father. in his crusade of trying to best batman throughout his criminal career, we see edward continuously and relentlessly doing the same thing to everyone else: he calls them stupid. he hurts them for it. edward's already his dad. he doesn't see it that way, and he always makes excuses for himself, but if faced with a situation where he were to be a present dad, i think edward would find it very hard not to lash out or get frustrated, and he would explosively demean his own child the way his own father did him; how he does everyone else. he might be able to catch himself or bitterly realize it in hindsight, even actually hate what he did to her, but i don't think this is something he can overcome without help. edward can only be a dad after reform. he'd hate to be his dad.

that said, edward is a father in some comics (i think she's just called the riddler’s daughter or enigma iirc) but i really, really hate it. i hate how they portray him and i hate how he treats her and i hate what he does to her, so i'm ignoring it. he's a present, loving father in catwoman: lonely city, though, and it makes me melt 💛 in my world, he does want to see her when healthier, but he doesn't know how to. he's apprehensive and afraid of rejection.

[riddlethat]

hc: relationship with batman. eddie's feelings for batman are complicated. it's extremely obsessive and dependent insofar as his entire life is centered around bruce. he needs to beat him. he needs to conquer him. his self-worth is practically contingent upon this one thing, and while eddie needs him and is undeniably dependent on him, he simultaneously hates him. 

but here, eddie’s animosity is multi-layered. he despises batman not just because batman beats him figuratively and literally, but because he sees his own father, who is the root of everything, in the dark knight. he thinks of bruce as a tormenter and a brute. his father always beat him. he hated his father. his father thought him a moron and he tirelessly tried proving himself to him. likewise, bruce hurts him. he resents bruce. he continuously tries proving himself against bruce. these are nearly direct one-to-one comparisons. naturally, batman is also an intellectual rival, and his time-after-time losses against the world's greatest detective threatens him—he's so desperate to be superior and special. the bitterness is just fuel to the fire.

yet, oddly enough, he feels, also, that bruce is the only one who "gets" him. bruce, by nature of being his intellectual rival, is the only one who consistently solves his puzzles and riddles, ergo he understands how eddie's mind works. eddie has a jarring, conflicting need to best people with his puzzles yet experiences frustration when they are "too stupid" to solve them. in a strange sense, batman is the only one who sees and recognizes him. batman validates him. but also reduces him. 

tl;dr, his relationship with bruce is messy, dependent, and complicated. it's one of hatred, competition, very personal, unresolved feelings, and—perhaps?—understanding. can't live with him. can't live without him. 

the thing is, even if edward were to conquer and vanquish the dark knight, i don't think he'd be happy. he'd be ecstatic for a time—that's not up for contention—but his troubles run far deeper than one-upping someone. he has deep-seated issues and will always compulsively prove himself and his worth and intelligence if he doesn't recognize his flaws then heal and recover. his self-worth is the issue. not batman.

(in year of the villain, i love how luthor boils eddie down to his essence. luthor sees what eddie needs.)

[riddlethat]

hc: romance, love, and rejection. eddie’s entire life has always been based on validation and acknowledgment of his intelligence. and that’s how edward falls in love, too; with consistent, positive attention and a ceaseless affirmation of his own worth.

in this sense, edward is very maladjusted in romances, and it can come off as a very "take” relationship. it’s never enough. edward needs constant attention. he needs proof of your feelings for him. he needs confirmation from you that he is as special as he believes he is. he will actively seek these things out, and if his partner consistently gives them to him, he will hold on to them, even unconsciously, in large part because they are his source of recognition. in his neediness, he confuses validation with love. and while, yes, he can “give” and it’s wildly fun, these are only things you want. the things you actually need—genuine understanding, support,  communication, compromise, sacrifice—are all lost on edward. 

in a relationship, everything is about him, and he cannot seriously consider the needs of another person.

but the issue is two-fold. it is not only that edward is too self-centered in what should be a partnership, but that he does not give himself fully to it, either. edward craves validation. he’s obsessed with it. and in that same vein, he’s entirely adverse to rejection, and so will refrain from making himself too vulnerable. his relationships feel shallow. he doesn’t explicitly or deeply say i love yous. if you were to seriously evaluate your relationship under a lens, everything would almost feel superficial or shallow, as if it were a performance. you can’t lie in bed together and spill your hearts out. edward does not do vulnerability, because that puts him in a position where, if rejected, it threatens his sense of self-worth. he’s not as special as he desperately wants to be.

i really like these two quotes because they fit, generally, with what i’m saying:

“to love someone is firstly to confess: i am prepared to be devastated by you.” —billy-ray belcourt, a history of my brief body (2021) 

and

“you can fuck anyone—but with whom can you sit in water?“ —ilya kaminsky, after bombardment, sonya (1977)

and this isn’t to say that eddie cannot love. he can, but only when he gets healthier.

for now, he is too self-centered and too insecure and too needy. he cannot be vulnerable or sincerely tell you he loves you because that puts him in a place where he can be wholly rejected and devalued, and thus humiliated, and his ego cannot take the damage of knowing he’s not worth all that much.

[riddlethat]

hc: love, sex, and relationships. simply put: eddie has always been weird about sex. he didn't come to know it through the usual means, that being a relationship, but through more extreme ends like s&m and fetish clubs. for his first personal exposure, this may have been a lot. but it's within these dark dens, hidden in not-so-plain sight, that edward nygma learned, or perhaps confirmed or gave into, his more unusual and undeniable proclivities. for better or for worse, they very much shaped a young edward's views on sex. which is just as well.

the uncommitted one-night stands worked perfectly in eddie's favor—he's an ambitious, notorious criminal, putting his "work" first and foremost, and was generally uninterested in relationships. the immediate gratification and fun were, really, all he needed.

however, eddie's tendencies are also intrinsically linked to his lack of relationship experience. he was a late bloomer of sorts. he never dated in school. he was never the popular one. and though intelligent, he was as insufferable as he was an egghead, terrible at navigating social waters the way any well-adjusted man would. even burrowing deeper, eddie's not accustomed to affection. growing up, touch was synonymous with abuse, and he is thus less receptive of receiving—being acted upon—and much more comfortable giving, or being in a position of control. letting yourself be touched or seeking a relationship in any way is to make yourself vulnerable.

that said, eddie has had relationships. unfortunately, they are few and far between, and generally marred with several issues: criminal lifestyles, unresolved "baggage," his tendency to supplant love with attention. once the novelty and the fun wore off, having to commit, devote, and sacrifice in order to maintain a relationship were too much, and eddie could either become uninterested or "more than what you bargained for." in eddie's absolute mental low points, he even becomes "more than what you bargained for" with casual sex, becoming absolutely needy for attention, validation, and being wanted. by akham knight, this is further made complicated by his simultaneous rejection and repulsion of sex and love, considering them the domain of the primitive and dull-minded... in his obsessive quest to prove and validate his own intelligence, making it paramount in his life, he denies that he himself experiences any desire.

as time passes, edward does improve, however, and his want for something more stable and reliable starts to come to the fore.