Gwen's is the first spirit flower Stella gets, which is an asphodel. The asphodel symbolizes peace after death and the afterlife.
Lily tells Stella "You never shied away from death. You basically made it your whole world." Talk about Gameplay and Story Integration.
All of the locations that Stella travels to are memories of the trips she took, explaining the thematic locations, such as Furogawa, which stands in for Japan and its Expy of Mount Fuji.
Stella's hat in death is from one of her favorite vacations, visiting Shirakawa-go in Japan.
All of the locations all have names that Stella mentally dubbed them, like "Sandwich Walk" (a bunch of billboards) or "Bottom Line Corp." The "Greymist Peaks"? It's where she found out she was terminally ill.
Lily allows Stella to travel at night because by the time she arrives (she was late, Mom has dozed off), in the real world, it is nighttime.
Fridge Heartwarming: despite her busy life and job, Lily makes the time to come back to Stella's bedside every night, no matter how long it takes for the player to finish the game/Stella to die.
Stella can only hug Lily, because Lily's not in Limbo. She doesn't have any post-mortal needs, just comfort.
Bruce met Stella when she was taking care of his comatose brother Mickey in the hospice.
Why does Bruce take on the role of a yappy little bird who has to carry his brother Mickey, a massive, mute bison, around? It's not just the idea that Mickey was in a hospice. In life, Bruce always felt like he had the burden of taking care of his brother, even though his brother was a quietbrute. He had to speak for him, he had to give him the orders, and he probably felt like his brother was a burden in life, and the one time he escaped Bruce's notice, he got in a serious accident and died.
Not only that, but based on his monologue at the Everdoor, Bruce knows his brother moved on long ago- but he doesn't know how to exist without him. Despite being a hardened criminal, he's so scared of being alone that he keeps pretending his brother is with him. The small hummingbird carrying a massive bison everywhere is a clever representation of the toll it can take when someone gets too lost in their grief.
In game Mickey never speaks once Bruce always talks for him, because in life when Stella knew them Mickey was in a coma so she never actually spoke to him, just his brother.
The first thing Stella does is carry the current Spiritfarer to the Afterlife via the Everdoor. Her last act is just the same.
Unlike all of the other passengers, Buck is a fictional creature (a basilisk), hinting he's not one of Stella's memories.
Speaking of Buck, the animation playing when he receives food has him eat a pizza with cheese (which is a hint at his favorite food), when he is lactose intolerant. That being said, there are cheeses that contain low amounts of lactose, those being safe to eat for those with lactose intolerances.
Stanley is the only Spirit whose mood raises when he's entering the Everdoor — he's doing something right, in his eyes.
Astrid always expresses surprise when Stella hugs her; the animation is justified when entering the Everdoor, because she can no longer see or hear anyone, but reacts when she can feel Stella hugging her.
Stanley is a mushroom boy, and his spirit "flower" takes the same shape. There's some subtle storytelling there, as mushrooms are extremely parasitic and rob nutrients from plants. This describes how Stanley saw himself, and Stella's interpretation of that view.
Alex's spirit flower is a water lily. In Buddhist culture, it's associated with rising up from the mundane world and passing into a spiritual world. Alex did state that he gave up his job as an accountant (a rather mundane job) and became a "bus driver" in the Spirit World, so it's rather befitting for a spirit like him.
When triggering a meteorite shower event after the first time, Giovanni will express delight; when you tell him you're ready to catch some, he simply replies "it's your funeral". He's not warning you about the hazard involved (which would be out-of-character), but rather suggesting that "it's your funeral and you should get to enjoy yourself".
