midway through chapter 5 + thinking about the ralsei vs flowery beef. i find it very very interesting as a reflection of how the adventures thus far have influenced ralsei in particular. not only does his anger towards flowery demonstrate him developing more of a backbone (and thus internalising some of susie's insistence that he has individual worth) but also how he sees darkners in comparison to lightners. ralsei sees flowery as, like himself, someone rightfully bound by the "rules" of the dark world and the established system in place. but flowery is an example of someone who discards that entire system in the name of fulfilling the purpose it dictates: that darkners exist to make lightners happy. his entire shtick is focused on creating an ideal world for asgore- but in doing so, he makes himself an equal to or even above lightners.
flowery is the one who runs the world, he flaunts his abilities and power in comparison to the lightners, he severs the connection between kris and their dad, he forces the heroes of the prophecy into irrelevance. flowery elects to usurp the prophecy and the way things "should be done" for the sake of his own desire to help asgore, which is in direct conflict with everything ralsei believes about fate and existence. to ralsei, flowery seems to represent a careless, selfish sort of devotion: he takes charge, banishes kris and susie, behaves like he and asgore are long-established best friends instead of inherently inequal. ralsei constantly emphasises his inferiority to susie and kris, but flowery never even raises his as a possibility.
in chapter 3, ralsei reproaches tenna not for imprisoning them all or being unhealthily attached, but for refusing to accept that he had become "obsolete" in the eyes of the people he wanted to impress. ralsei does not fw people who view their relationship with lightners as more important than the lightners' own wishes, hence his repeated insistence that despite his deep affection for susie, if she ever lost interest in him then he wants her to move on and find a better friend instead.
ralsei expects to be an enactor of a lightner's will without any input of his own- something susie challenges but he is ultimately still confined to within the narrative of the game. kris is the one who makes the decisions, ralsei is the one who defers, that's how he believes it should be. but flowery acts independently of asgore (like how tenna acted independently of kris and susie) because he believes he knows best and is giving asgore a better reality.
i find it fascinating how flowery himself seems to try to force ralsei back into that demure, agreeable chapter 1 version of himself all throughout chapter 5. he puts the hat back on almost right away, obscuring ralsei's authenticity and individuality to "hide him from asgore". twice, he offers a way to literally remove ralsei from what's going on (the squashed hat and the ralsei button in our config menu), making him too effectively "obsolete". when ralsei's left alone in the dark world without kris and susie, he again becomes a butler- but this time audibly angrily and unwillingly. in chapter 2, ralsei sees that job as a way of being helpful, which he actively seeks to be towards everyone. in chapter 5, however, that same role becomes instead an enforced reduction of him to someone serving another darkner, which (especially when considering his own status as a prince) does not sit right with him at all. even back in chapter 1, ralsei was firm about the prophecy and firm about the rules of darkners' purpose and existence.
he does not perceive flowery as possessing any authority ralsei himself must respect, and when flowery himself is so actively flippant towards ralsei's anxious, effortful attempts to keep susie out of game mechanics and seal the dark fountain, any of ralsei's regard for him is ofc bound to only drop further. i also think it's very interesting that much like flowery belittles ralsei- e.g. "he looks better like this" with the hat on, dressing him up, calling him "little guy"- ralsei is very condescending towards orange later on in the game, which susie herself seems to pick up on as unusual.
ralsei rushes through tasks and spills more than usual because flowery manages to get under his skin. he's more visibly and focally frustrated here than any other point in the game, and i think that's largely because flowery creates the perfect conditions for all of ralsei's core beliefs to be challenged
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