The use of the word “freedom” in the context of Astarion’s lines.
Freedom is Astarion’s central theme. Astarion wants freedom. Even in Astarion’s Character Sheets, in his backstory, freedom is his ideal:
“Freedom almost tastes finer than blood, and Astarion will do everything he can to secure it”.
It’s interesting to see how the word “freedom” is used in the game’s script (in Astarion’s lines) in relation to the key plot choice—whether to Ascend or to refuse the ritual.
Before Astarion learns of the possibility of breaking free from all chains—the chains of his state of being a spawn, the chains of the vampire curse—hunger and shadows (“Immortality is your gift, but darkness is your prison and hunger its gaoler”)—his primary goal was the death of Сazador: liberation from the power of the bastard who had enslaved him.
“Free and a true vampire, capable of creating my own coven? Yes. Although I'd settle for just killing the bastard. I wouldn't be a 'true' vampire, but I'd be free of him.” – At this moment, Astarion does not yet know about the possibility of becoming an Ascended Vampire himself, and he does not see any existing options for how he could become a “true vampire” himself, and, of course, the most important thing for him now is to kill the bastard Cazador. We always judge based on the options we have, the ones that are available to us, but
“Free and a true vampire, capable of creating my own coven? Yes.”
Astarion would like that, at least in his imagination, because he doesn't know how such a dream could ever be realized. And the possibility of becoming a true vampire in his imagination goes hand in hand with the concept of freedom.
But the concept of “freedom” is far broader than simply the “absence of slavery.” And as soon as Astarion learns of the possibility of performing the Ascension ritual—in his words, this possibility is inextricably linked to the concept of true freedom.
“Besides, I'll need something to protect me from the sun if things don't work out with our parasite friends. This ritual could set me free.”
“It's the ultimate freedom. Freedom from the hunger, freedom to live a real life in the sun - no tadpole required. And if I were to ascend instead of him: freedom from Cazador, once and for all.”
“And if I can take this power from him, it would set me free. Truly free.”
“This would be true freedom.”
“I could get rid of the worm in my head and still walk in the sun. I'd finally be free of the hunger.”
Astarion Wants To Ascend Because Of This | Baldur's Gate 3
If Astarion learns about the ritual from The Necromancy of Thay, he will also say that this ritual grants freedom to those like him:
“I was hoping for something that would let me escape whatever fate Cazador had planned for me. Instead, I found the Rite of Profane Ascension.
It grants my kind the freedom to walk in the sun, be free of our hunger, and accrue all manner of powers.”
The description of the ritual itself states that the person who performs it will be freed from their chains:
“The Rite of Profane Ascension will release you. Walk in the sun. Suffer not from hunger. Grow your power beyond anything you imagined. A pact has been made with the Lord of Hellfire. Deliver unto him seven thousand souls, each bearing an Infernal mark, and you shall be free of your chains.”
Before the ritual itself, Astarion asks his beloved the most important question:
“But if they die and I ascend, I won't have to rely on the parasite to walk in the sun. I'll be free - truly, completely free. Isn't that what you want?”
“I'll be free - truly, completely free. Isn't that what you want?”
He asks this, and you can hear the pain and doubt in his voice at that moment. Doubt as to whether his beloved truly wants this freedom for him.
Even this insight check makes it clear that Astarion will gain FREEDOM.
“The freedom to do anything – to be anything.”
And the theme of true freedom is further explored in his lines after the Ascension:
“I... I can't feel it. That ache in my stomach, that hunger - it's gone. I'm free. I'm finally free! Oh it feels delicious.”
Astarion’s first words after the ritual ended. And in the bitter finale of Unascended, he will never even know what it’s like to be free from agonizing hunger. (“Believe me when I say it was for the best. The pain from the hunger alone - there's nothing like it.”)
And in the developer notes:
“He is powerful. He is free/ They're enjoying it.”
It's very similar to “The freedom to do anything – to be anything.” Astarion received this.
Ascended Astarion about freedom in the epilogue:
“It feels so good. Freedom - true freedom. Finally.”
AA without the romance will also say about “finally free”:
“I know, I'm better than he was. Stronger. Finally free of my past.
I'm who I always wanted to be. I have everything I ever wanted.”
And here:
“Of course, so do I. Luxury, sin, all the Baldurian comforts I'm finally free to enjoy.”
Enjoying luxury and comfort is also part of “finally free.”
Unascended Astarion. His lines emphasize that he is free from only one threat—Сazador.
UA in the dialogue after refusing the ritual:
“Of course, now that I’m free from one threat, we’ll have to face the other: the tadpoles that let me walk in the light.”
Without the ritual, Astarion is free ONLY FROM ONE threat. It’s an incomplete freedom. Without the ritual, Astarion will say: “I want to feel alive again.”—Immediately after killing Cazador. He only WANTS to feel alive again. But here’s what he actually feels right now: “I just feel numb.” And in the graveyard scene: “It’s time to try living again.” Just TRY. Ascended: “I feel alive, hahaha!” Without Ascension, Astarion faces the chains of hunger, the chains of darkness and shadows, the chains of existence as an undead (devoid of the colors of life, with dulled senses and the stench of the undead), the chains of others’ desires, others’ “rules”—what others want from him.
“It's strange, knowing I'll never hear Cazador's voice again. Knowing it'll never command me to bow against my will.
I'm free from him. Forever.”
He is free, but free only from Сazador. Ascended Astarion revels in being “finally free,” looking ahead and savoring the fullness of life. UA says he is free from Cazador, but he thinks about him more often, and the past weighs heavier on him. “There’s always going to be a part of him in me.”—this line from UA about Cazador is particularly painful. Physically free, but has Astarion truly freed himself emotionally from his tormentor?
If Tav kills Cazador without Astarion, then:
“Free? I'm not free - I'm trapped!
I'll never be anything but a spawn now. You've sentenced me to an eternity in darkness.”
“I had a chance to live forever in the sun. To be free of the hunger that wracks me day and night.”
Also:
“As for those wretches in the cells—if I don’t get my freedom, neither do they.”
Astarion breaks the staff and dooms the wretches in the cells out of spite, driven by the pain of his anger at being denied true freedom, and so that they, too, may suffer.
Even after being murdered, Astarion replies to the question of what he had planned to do:
“Rule this place... finally be free...”😭
“Ultimate freedom”, “truly, completely free”, “The freedom to do anything – to be anything”, “be free of your chains”, “finally free” (in the dialogue immediately following the ritual, and in either of the epilogues—the romantic one or the friendly one). The Ascension grants Astarion complete, final freedom.
There's something incredibly interesting about reading a story that follows a perspective tied to a villain's instead of a hero's. Especially when you consider the moral differences between the two parties.
Spoilers for Midnight Strangers below the cut
While Grian is not necessarily a villain himself, he finds himself tied to the Bamboozlers. Aiding them is a crime, yet he does it willingly.
During this we see what exactly it is like to understand more of the villains and stop falling for the heroes' propaganda.
It turns the role on its head. If this story was being told in the perspective of someone who was connected to the heroes and not the villains, we would've seen why they were heroes much more than we do. Including the black and white thinking of society. We would see the idolization and selfless acts of these heroes, like Joel, Gem, or any of the G's. Instead we see how they're flawed. How Joel's relationship with Lizzie makes his hero work messier than it had before. How the G's are willing to hurt a civilian badly enough that he's half dead just to gain their independence from the Agency.
Instead, Grian has connections to the Bamboozlers. If this fic was written from the perspective of a hero, we would likely have felt the inclination to dislike these characters. Instead they feel so much more human. They still joke around, they still go to the grocery store, they have pets that they're willing to take to the vet to get checked out. They still have moments of weakness, they can still get badly hurt. And they can still absolutely fall in love. Even despite their past with murder, torture, and disrupting the peace, these people still feel like humans just like everyone else.
Not to mention how entertaining it is to read about a villain who has fallen in love. Or really gotten deep into any type of relationship, whether that be romantic or platonic. Scar was willing to drop the killing and torture because Grian asked him to, even though that was something the group did frequently. He remained a criminal, but changed his habits regardless.
And he still doesn't have the morals of a hero.
Which is the most interesting part to me. In stories, if the hero were to fall in love, they would eventually have to make a decision. Save the person they love, or save the city (or whatever the stakes are). In most cases, they somehow manage to save both things. But, in some they do not. If they were to choose their love over the city, they would be called selfish and in turn villainized. If they saved the city, they would be adored by the population, but they would have lost the one person they had a deep connection to.
Villains don't have to abide by those morals. They don't have to make that choice. In fact, if their loved ones got hurt, they would likely lash out to a harsher degree. And, they would continue until that person is returned to them alive. Preferably unharmed.
That's apparent in Scar. In all the Bamboozlers really, but especially him. In this newest chapter when he called up the G's and threatened them? Endangering innocent civilians until they agreed to his terms? Then learning that they hurt Grian, and now he'll likely hurt the G's back? Assuming Grian doesn't continue to ask him to stop killing people, i honestly predict at least one of the G's will be the one to die, given the character death tag in the description.
And I personally cannot wait to see that. The finale will be fantastic I just know it.
I've binged this fic over the past two days and it has ruined me in the best possible way. Kudos to the author. It's fantastic, and their writing definitely sounds like they should be a published writer at some point in their life (if they want to of course).
So I just discovered and read the entirety of 17776 and WOW. BIG spoilers under the cut and a VERY long discussion ahead
First of all, I was surprised to be greeted with an article style story as a first impression and then further surprised with the bait and switch into the blog style the story is seemingly known for.
Second of all, I looked at everything, obviously. All the pictures and videos, because I was so enamored and eager to understand more. There were a lot of really interesting details, which I'll get into now.
Throughout the story, it's reiterated that people are thousands of years old because they stopped aging. You see that sentiment, and you might think, 'Oh wow, that's interesting.' And move on, because it's just words.
But then there's these score cards with the details (and scores) of a person, with one of the details being the year they were born. I don't think any of them were in the 2000's. And, as the name of the story suggests, the story takes place in the year 17776.
Seeing the actual numbers gave me this hard to explain deep, almost gut sinking sensation. Because I would do the math in my head every single time and sort of pause in horror as I realized just how LONG these people have been conscious and alive. For me, numbers have always meant more than phrases, and this REALLY hit the mark for me.
I think I remember reading something once that said that IF humans had longer lifespans or lived forever, our brain, as it is, would be unable to hold and process all of the information that comes with that. A majority of people forget more of their life the longer they live it, and that's only 80 years of information on average. (Not taking into account infantile amnesia.)
It's impossible to imagine living 197 times our current average lifespan, with that multiplier only increasing since, as it's presented in the story, time is infinite. If you're curious about where I got that number, here's my process:
17776-2026= 15,750 years. 15,750/80≈ 196.875
round to the nearest whole number= 197
Another thing that really stood out to me was the reiteration of the lack of children. Throughout the story, it's this sort of devastating thing that humanity has come to terms with, almost. I say almost because there was this a segment where this girl was recounting to her boyfriend about a time she was diving in the partially submerged city of New York City and she saw a mural where a mother was holding her infant child. They both got quiet and seemed sad about it and pivoted onto another topic, that being the 500 game (I think? I was too fixated on their reactions to the mural)
Another example of this is when the space probes were talking about the Bee ballroom. JUICE got on the topic of sidewalks and how, now, people just. walk in the middle of the street. JUICE seemed confused as to why sidewalks were needed in the first place until they all remembered: children.
I think my biggest question, besides the obvious one of why humans stopped aging and dying, is why children stopped being a thing. Aging and dying, I understand, those are both things that are commonly eliminated in many stories with sci-fi elements. But children is a new one that really catches my attention because children are how we evolve. They're how we not only develop new physical features but cultural features as well.
Each generation is shaped by the way the previous generation was raised. Without that, there's stagnation, which is exactly what happened in 17776. Humanity has settled into an infinite stalemate due to the lack of change and not needing to worry about the future with the fact they eliminated all of their issues like disease, food, housing, etc.
There's nothing and no one to combat, nothing and nowhere to explore, nothing to learn or discover, just nation-sized, cross-country football games that go on for thousands of years at a time and various other sports, hobbies, and obsolete jobs.
The concept of immortality, especially one this boring, is a terrifying concept to me. If I was told I would live forever from this day forward, I think I'd break down and go crazy. I can barely handle the fraction of the lifespan I've lived already, much less 197 times that with no end in sight.
The way 17776 is presented, progresses, and ends is extremely unique, in my opinion. I don't think I've read anything like it. To anyone who has read this far, first of all, thank you. Second, if you have the time, I really recommend reading it. It's a bit slow a first, but I really think it's a great thought piece. It's just a single Google search away.
Hey, so a while back, I saw an AMAZING thread from LOTR fans about Frodo cursing Gollum and placing a gea on him and so damning Gollum to inevitably fall into Mount Doom and take the Ring with him—and how this is a recurring theme in the Legendarium where curses and oaths have real power and are not to be messed with. And while again the thread was AWESOME, it also made me think of something.
So we all know how Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring, and then when Frodo fights back, Boromir screams that he’ll kill them all and curses him and all halflings to darkness. Given how we’ve established that curses have serious power and all of them come to pass—is Boromir laying a curse on Frodo? Because you could argue that it worked on Frodo but all the other hobbits seem to not be damned to darkness (I would argue the Scouring of the Shire doesn’t even count because the hobbits were able to rebuild). So what’s going on? Is it that Boromir didn’t really mean it? Did the curse only fall on Frodo?
Eight and Five both grapple with "I was wronged very deeply by the person who was entrusted with my life" and "the human who mentored me at my loneliest helped me recognize the value of human life" in VERY different directions which led to some of the climactic debates between who is worth saving in war times
Which gives us the angle of choosing pacifism or annihilation that gives way more depth into their final argument in the Everglades
