on penny, fitz, and a relationship that never would have lasted. long post below the cut, as well as MAJOR tangle tower spoilers.
this is something I touched on in my last analytical post, but penny's driving desire is being loved, desperately desiring affection and attention she has been denied all her life. I neglected to mention it then, but it's relevant now: another piece of this puzzle is her romance novels. sure, she reads other things, but notably she enjoys romance as a genre. it makes sense, to me, that this is another facet of her seeking out love. romance, particularly as seen in romance novels, is a very played-up affair. a sort of fairytale thing where your lover is all that matters in the world. much like the way she talks about her fiancé, fitz fellow.
fitz is the only eligible person at tangle tower FOR her to be engaged to, really. genuinely there are no other options if she wants to marry someone in the tower. felix says it's also a gesture to unite the two families, which makes sense, seeing as their ties to each other are few at the moment. you could probably argue it as an arranged marriage situation, but professor pointer seems strongly against it, so I wouldn't say that. and besides, the way penny talks about him would imply strongly otherwise.
when penny speaks of fitz, it's in a way that implies much of her world centers around him - at least the parts of it that aren't about her birds. she goes to visit him in the greenhouse, keeps his gift to her prominently in her windowsill despite not even caring much for plants, claims she returned for his sake when she's left in the past. still, it's clear she doesn't truly know him, based on how she talks when you ask her about him. sally even comments as much. she assumed he was growing the crystal plants for money, likely a holdover from her uncle but still worthy of noting down.
the way fitz talks about penny, the way he seems to interact with her, is also interesting... fitz does seem aware that the persona of penny is a facade. but it doesn't seem like he truly engages with her on her terms... he never makes any mention of going to the aviary to see her. in fact, he claims he doesn't go into pointer tower at all. we know this is a lie, but only because he sneaks in there with a trowel to take care of the plant he gave penny. the trowel penny gave him, which he otherwise keeps locked in a box under his bed. he also does not remember the names of her three favorite birds.
... he does, however, remember when poppy first started playing piano.
generally, it does seem like he favors poppy over penny. he makes efforts to visit her that he doesn't make with penny - he spends time with her in the rooftop garden, away from the greenhouse, including actively leaving penny in the greenhouse to go up there. notably without telling her that's what he's doing. you could argue that he's simply tending to the plants up there, but importantly, the garden can only be accessed if both doors are unlocked. he's been growing red roses, traditionally a romantic symbol, there. freya has a sketch of him giving one to poppy, and poppy keeps one in a vase in her room. poppy has ignored other plans to spend time with him up there. fifi seems to dislike fitz, claims that poppy has other priorities lately, and after talking about crying in her room because poppy forgot about their plans she says it's a frequent occurrence. it's ambiguous what the nature of their relationship actually is, to be fair, but it's not really a good look... especially given the roses. if not for those I'd be less inclined to see it as romantic, but that does seem to be the narrative the game is implying.
penny knows about this, and is jealous. she thinks that fitz is slipping away from her, in her words. and it does seem like that's true. they both go through the motions but it seems like if there was anything there, it was gone before we ever get there to see it.
it's unclear if the card on his shelf is from her or not, as well as if the carving on the tree in the front entrance area outside the door is theirs. it's likely? if it's mentioned in the concept art I can't recall or check at the moment, and I'd like to not reference concept art blurbs for these posts if I can help it - not all concepts make the final cut, so I'd like to take the contents of the game as they stand without those. regardless, it's kind of ambiguous from what I recall without the ability to check, but I'll say for the sake of simplicity that the "P.P." in those is penny, seeing as penny is the one referenced in the trowel's engravings. if anyone does know I'd appreciate it greatly.
all of this paints a very interesting picture to me. penny desires love, seeks romantic love from the only one she can in tangle tower. neither of them know each other well at all, and neither make much effort to truly engage (despite, ironically, being engaged). they don't know each other, don't know how to interact with each other. penny is the better of the two at seeming romantic, at least to an outside eye, but the relationship is seemingly fairly hollow. they both appear to be trying, at least somewhat, but penny is the only one outwardly putting effort in. she's frustrated, doesn't feel desired, and especially upset that she's being passed up on for her younger cousin. who is already the favorite in the pointer family. fitz seemingly claims to be trying to keep the relationship alive, to make it work, but he won't do it in a way that penny can actually see, so it would never help anything. she engages with his interests, and he doesn't engage with hers in turn, which just seemingly frustrates both of them. and penny doesn't have anywhere else to turn for what she isn't getting from the relationship, leaving her with little to do but lash out at who she thinks is ruining her chance. they're both kind of terrible at this whole thing, but there is a somewhat visible imbalance when it comes to who is trying to engage on the other's terms.
notably, penelope doesn't speak of fitz fellow much at all.
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