yknow i wish less discussion of chapter 5 was focused on theories about how flowey and flowery are "TOTALLY THE SAME PERSON #REAL #CONFIRMED" because i think flowerys parallels to asriel are so much more interesting when you aren't doing that.
analysis under the cut
flowery and ralsei DO seem to represent parts of asriel and flowey, but they also aren't him. that's what makes their connections to him so special.
ralsei is everything asriel hates about flowey. they have a hard time expressing empathy and compassion, a tendency to rub salt in peoples wounds, intentionally or not, and cannot help but project their wants and insecurities onto others.
flowery is everything flowey hates about asriel. he has a childish and naive worldview, thinking everything can be solved if everyone just gets along. he's weak, he has no real plans, just the power of friendship, and he's emotional and caring to a fault.
these traits are the things flowey thinks got him and chara killed.
AND IT'S SO INTERESTING THAT RALSEI SEEMS TO FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT FLOWERY!!
flowerys idealistic way of thinking, the idea that he can change the world if he just believes hard enough, it annoys ralsei to no end. they're SURE it cant be done, that no one can defy fate, that there cannot be a happy ending.
flowerys vest even has a flower patch on the opposite side of the one on asriels jacket! hes more of a mirror to asriel than he is flowey, especially with his literal "golden boy" shtick.
AND RALSEI LITERALLY CALLS FLOWERY AN IDIOT AFTER HIS DEATH!!!
i feel like their story is so much better when you stop trying to boil them down to just "asriel" and "flowey" and instead see them as the thematic parallels they're meant to be. their arc is like a metaphorical reconciliation between the two sides of flowey!!! THATS SO FUN!!!!
deltarune really raised the paradoxical question of "what would flowey be like if he wasnt asriel?" and then immediately answered that question with "he simply would not be flowey, he would be some ENTIRELY separate entity with none of the what makes flowey himself."
there IS no flowey without asriel. (theres flowery, sure, but he's not flowey.) because flowey is simply the persona a scared child created in a desperate attempt to keep himself safe, so he could never be hurt ever again.
i cannot believe we are having another "piles of asriels dust" type situation where people genuinely think flowey and flowery are the exact same person WE ARE NEVER ESCAPING THIS HELL
ngl i have nothing against dess and asriel shippers i just think their Situation is way more interesting to me personally if they were in some sort of berdly and noelle style hellish comphet "we have to be dating bc we're a girl and a boy who are close friends" nightmare world
