mirror. echo. void.

Within the world of plants and animals, there are certain ones which are bred by humans for specific traits. Sometimes this is to humans' benefit, like breeding crops with a higher yield or animals with meat that is finely marbled with fat. However, there are also plants and animals which are bred purely for aesthetic purposes. The most infamous example of this would be the pug, which boasts a stout body and a flat face, traits which lead to their suffering. Pugs struggle to breathe with their flat faces and have chronic pain from their deformed spines. Do humans care? No, they keep producing and buying pugs because that's just "in fashion"--at the cost of these poor creatures' health and wellbeing.

Now allow me to introduce you to the horrific world of ✨ goldfish breeding ✨

This is something that's been around for over a thousand years, and it's very popular in east Asia, including Japan (Twst's country of origin). I believe this practice originated in China, as the color red is seen as a symbol of good fortune there; goldfish breeding started because people wanted to produce and keep extremely red variants. This later spun off to creating all kinds of other traits which are aesthetically prized by humans, but unfortunately bring immense suffering to the goldfish themselves.

Here are some of the monstrosities that have come out of goldfish breeding:

The bubble eye goldfish has fluid-filled eye sacs which can easily rupture or become infected. Furthermore, the sacs impair the fish's vision. Its lack of a dorsal fin makes it difficult to swim, and the fish has to expend much more energy just to stay upright.

The celestial eye goldfish has eyes the permanently face up. It is difficult for them to navigate because they literally cannot see in any other direction.

The telescope goldfish has eyes that bulge so far out of the sides of its head that it is at constant risk of injuring itself.

The lionhead goldfish has tons of fleshy tissue growing on its head. It can get to a point where the fleshy growth obscures the gills and nostrils, making it difficult for the fish to breathe.

The ranchu goldfish is so plump that its spine and swim bladder are compressed and bringing it great pain.

Okay, so why did I spend all that time giving you examples of goldfish that were bred to be pleasing to humans at the cost of goldfish health? What does this have to do with Floyd's nickname for Riddle? Because if you squint your eyes, this could be interpreted as a metaphor for how Riddle was raised.

In this metaphor:

Riddle = the goldfish

Mrs. Rosehearts = the goldfish breeder

academic success = aesthetics

loneliness and unhappiness = the goldfish's lack of health and wellbeing

NOW THINK ABOUT IT.

What does Mrs. Rosehearts, the "goldfish breeder", want of her son (the "goldfish"? Academic success ("aesthetics"). And she will do whatever it takes to get him there, even if it makes him lonely and unhappy. This narrative is even stronger when you remember that the trait initially selected for the goldfish was vibrancy of its red color. And what color is Riddle associated with. That's right, it's red.

Another detail that enhances this reading is what Georgina tells Riddle in 2-5 of Eternity Float: "The goldfish people keep in their homes are small, but when they're left to grow in the wild, I hear some can grow into giants."

Let's assume, in this case, that smallness is the trait that is being selected in breeding. We want the smallest fish possible. So we breed small goldfish, and then release them into the wild. At that point, Mother Nature takes over and more diversity is introduced into the goldfish gene pool. Over time, these goldfish, once bred to be small, enlarge to a normal size.

If we think of Riddle as a fish made small due to the lack of stimulation he gets while kept indoors and forced to study, his mom, our hypothetical goldfish breeder, is keeping her fish that size. But what happens when Riddle attends NRC, away from his mother's direct influence? He may not grow in height, but his worldview has expanded. He learns many things that, while considered normal to everyone else, are brand-new experiences and sensations to him. Prior to this, he couldn't tolerate people disobeying him or the rules, and had never touched a video game or social media before.

Looking back at the examples of bred goldfish I listed, you could extrapolate them to be parallels to Riddle. He's frailer than his peers, his eyes are sometimes described as "bulging" when he's mad, and he is narrowmindedly focused on a single goal (his eyes forever locked on them). His head may not be bulbous, but you could argue the growths equate to how much information he was forced to absorb as a child. We also don't know if Riddle has a fucked up spine, but I'd imagine that sitting at a desk and poring over dozens of books would eventually wear at it.

If you believe in the theory that Mrs. Rosehearts is perpetuating generational trauma and that she experienced a similar upbringing as what she is currently putting Riddle through, well... That just makes this all the worse, doesn't it? It's generations and generations of goldfish breeders putting goldfish through pain because, at the end of the day, what is most important to the breeders is that they made the prettiest (smartest, in this case) goldfish (child).

What is this extended metaphor getting at? Riddle is the goldfish, and if he continues to exist under his mother's care, then he'll suffocate and suffer. He has to break free and return to the "wild" (normal world, beyond his mother's control).