#serial murderer

The first character you meet in Undertale introduces himself as “Flowey the flower”. It’s exactly the sort of cutesy name the mascots in these types of games often have.

And that’s who we expected him to be, the first time we saw him.

I think a lot of Undertale players forget, either because it’s been so long since our first playthrough or because we were spoiled, but the first time you meet Flowey, you’re taken in by his honeyed words and false smiles.

Toby Fox puts an absolutely insane amount of thought into naming his characters. While it’s less obvious for some, each and every one of Undertale’s names mean something, and a lot of them mean more than one thing.

Today I’m going to be talking about one of the most information dense sets of names in the game.

Asriel Dreemurr, AKA Flowey.

We’ll start with the name he chose for himself, since, to my awareness, it’s the less complicated of the two.

When given the opportunity to choose whatever name he wanted, he chose “Flowey”. While this is likely in part a callback to his father’s notorious lack of skill with names, it’s more complicated than just him naming himself the first descriptive word that came to mind. To start, “Flowey” is very specifically a descriptive term for his new form, and an automatic acknowledgment of the fact that he’s no longer quite who he used to be. In the same vein, I suspect that it’s also him attempting to distance himself from his former identity, due to seeing himself as weak, among other things. It’s also, as I mentioned previously, a very “cute” name. This likely has to do with the way Flowey likes to present himself as the gentle flower he appears to be at first glance. 

I could probably go into more depth, but that’s all I could think of for now.

Now, you know how I said Flowey was the less complex name? I meant it.

I suppose the first thing of note about “Asriel” is that it’s a portmanteau of Toriel and Asgore, another tick in the “Asgore can’t name for shit” column. His full name, Asriel Dreemurr, is an anagram of “serial murderer” which is certainly accurate. This also serves as an acknowledgement that however much he wishes it weren’t the case, Flowey is Asriel and Asriel is Flowey. 

Asriel is one way to spell the name of the angel of death in Christian mythology, which itself has multiple meanings. On the one hand, it’s more attention given to his disregard for the lives of others, and on another, Asriel is heavily implied, in game, to be the “angel” of the Delta Rune prophecy, both through his visual design and his actions. On yet another hand, (for those of us who happen to be aliens) an alternate interpretation of the Delta Rune prophecy is that the angel would come to “free” the monsters of their mortality, as it were, which Flowey is implied to have either done or attempted to do multiple times.

As for his last name, Dreemurr, a dreamer is usually considered to be a person who has difficulty facing reality. Asriel is shown many times throughout the game refusing to accept various truths, such as the death of his friend, Chara, and the faults in his “kill or be killed” philosophy.

Also also, Asriel, Chara, and Frisk’s names all have five letters and two syllables.

A little bit of creepiness for you this morning.

Above is the hearse that belonged to notorious South Carolina serial killer Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins. He drove this hearse around like his personal car and, before his atrocities were known, people would ask him what he was carrying in the hearse. He would reply he was carrying bodies, but people would laugh it off. He would mainly travel the back roads picking up hitchhikers in Florence County and the Low Country of South Carolina and murder them. He claims to have murdered about 110 people, even cannibalizing some of his victims, but the real total count is unknown. He was convicted of killing 9 people and burying their remains in the swamps of Florence County (where I live).

REVIEW

Savage Strike by Chris Mares

A Griff Savage Adventure #2

Griff finds himself once again in a situation. What kind of situation? One that has him protecting a friend or two, making a few new friends and using skills he no doubt picked up in the French Legion to extricate himself from dangerous situations that Tim and others find themselves in. This story takes place in the heat and humidity of Thailand – a place that is filled with jungles, tourists and dangerous creatures of many kinds.  

I find Griff still conflicted about what direction he wants his life to take. He has been a soldier and the flip side of being a soldier by taking up being Buddhist monk for several years. His training in both helps him in this story. He seems to be going with the flow and unsure where his life will take him as he seems to follow the path of least resistance. Often he finds himself in the midst of trouble, saving someone or giving in to the physical pleasures he tried to give up during his days of being a monk.  

This book has surprises, some twists and turns, more insight into Savage and quite a bit of fighting that show Griff has some signature moves he uses when dealing with those who want to harm or kill him or others.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Do I want to read more in this series? Yes

I believe there will be more books in this series and it seems Griff will be in Maine next time we catch up with him. I do wonder what he will be doing because at the end of book two he is on his way to Sweden ;)

Thank you to Wayzgoose for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42615669-savage-strike

BLURB

Drifter-with-a-past Griff Savage travels to Thailand to convince his childhood friend Tim to give up a noble but deadly pursuit—convincing local farmers to switch their crops from opium poppies to orchids. But nothing is simple in this endeavor, as Savage and Tim confront drug lords, contract killers, and police. As if that weren’t enough, Savage’s restlessness leads him to entanglements with a trail of women – which in turn put him in the path of a serial killer. Savage’s impulse is to protect all his friends and acquaintances. But who will protect him?

Author Bio: Chris Mares