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fifteenth-entity · 2 years

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🌙Greystorm and the sun and moon trope☀️

Hello Greystorm nation, today I bring you my unwanted agenda.

So, sun and moon trope, huh? Yeah, what about that? I want that for Greystorm. But how do we do that for Greystorm? Who is the sun and who is the moon? Today I analyze all these questions for you and try to tear down any expectation you have. So, lower your expectations first and foremost, and I present a semi-in-depth analysis of something that my brain came up with a few days ago and I am now doing as a way to cope with finals.

!!IMPORTANT WARNINGS!!

This research was done with my limited knowledge after having watched up to episode 14 of campaign 3. I don’t know how things continue on from this point, save for one or two spoilers I’ve inevitably encountered. OBVIOUSLY, THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-14.

Table of contents:

. . .Definition of the sun and moon trope

. . .Definition of tai-chi

. . .Appearance, species and color

. . .Personality and class

. . .Shapes of the characters and the kiki and bouba effect

. . .Counterarguments to my points

. . .Interesting observation about clothes

What the hell is the sun and what the hell is the moon?

… Concerning tropes of course.

The short answer: I have no fucking idea either.

The long answer: there’s no definitive source that I could find that clearly dictates the characteristics the sun and moon characters should have to be classified. So, I offer you this piss-poor attempt at defining the sun and moon traits from years of consuming tumblr and having sun and moon anime shipping gif posts shoved down my timeline.

The sun character is usually characterized by being extremely happy-go-lucky and sensitive to other people’s wants and needs. They have an aura about them that lights up the room that they walk in, and they tend to look on the bright side of things. As such, they might also be characterized by a sense of naivete and cluelessness, that ends up devastating them later on when they’re faced with the cold, hard and merciless truth. To boot, they also come equipped with bright colors in their design and a glint in their eye that acts as the only eyebleach you could possibly ever need. They’re the life to the moon character’s death, they bring joy and life around them and, when they’re not devastated by the cold, hard reality, they’re brave in the face of adversity and swear that they will change the world for the better.

On the contrary, the moon character, while not necessarily stoic and serious 24/7, is more tranquil, serene and reserved than their sun counterpart. They give off a sense of wisdom and intelligence, but also a deeper depression and apathy that only the sun character can fix. They might be serious and reserved, but they can be passionate and explode into violent outbursts or heart-wrenching wails if the situation provokes them enough, and they’re usually involved in darker and sinister things. All of the things they care for have long since disappeared, and as such their moral compass is only pointing in the direction of making sure the sun character is safe and happy. Usually, these characters tend to have a darker color scheme, or, if not necessarily darker, they come with edgier and more gothic elements to their design, or design choices that are void of any happiness.

So, by this definition, this would mean that Dorian is the sun character and Ashton is the moon character. However, I disagree, and I also believe that this interpretation is quite shallow and unfaithful. So I wanted to take a more in depth look at this entire thing. There are many ways to define the sun and moon characters, especially in different cultures, but I decided to go with the definition that tai chi gives to yin and yang, as they both also include the sun and the moon.

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The tai-chi of it all

(NOTE: I am aware that the characters also have features and design choices that are opposite to what I point out. If the features were so cut and dry and belonged to one group specifically, 1) this essay wouldn’t need to exist, 2) the characters would lack balance. If we’re still going with the tai chi route, balance is needed, not only within the characters themselves, but they should also “fill up” the gaps between each other. Dorian’s 7/10 moon features should fill out Ashton’s 3/10 moon features, and vice versa.)

One important aspect of tai chi, from my minimal research on it, is the relationship between yin and yang and the balance between those two elements. Both yin and yang represent a set of elements and natural phenomena opposite to each other. Yang represents the sun, and yin represents the moon. For this essay, I will be using the definition of yin and yang to represent the elements the sun and the moon character should have to be the sun and the moon respectively.

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Yin: Moon, Night, Shadow, Soft, Art, Emotion, Receptive, Concealed, Water

Yang: Sun, Day, Light, Hard, Technology, Logic, Active, Open, Fire

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Appearance, colors, symbolism, physics, species and everything in between

I AM EXCLUDING CLOTHES FROM THIS CATEGORY, because I believe that clothes are more representative of what the character wants to present themselves as, rather than who the character is in spirit. Since Dorian and Ashton have portions of their body that are covered in clothes, despite the fact that they’re skin-tight, I’ll be omitting those from the analysis, as the clothes are more visible than the skin.

I’m going to clear out the least obvious but most important thing first: Ashton and Dorian are Earth and Air genasi respectively, however there is no mention of earth or air in the characteristics of yin and yang. Closest thing I could find was the difference in landscapes and directions. However, in popular media, three things are true: Earth and air are opposites, fire and water are opposites, and water and fire have air and earth as compatible elements respectively. Earth and water are seen as not opposite, but incompatible, and the same holds true for fire and air. Therefore, we will equate air to water and earth to fire for the sake of the continuity of this analysis. This means that, since Ashton is an earth genasi, this classifies him closer to yang, and Dorian, being an air genasi, is closer to yin.

Dorian has a mostly duochrome color scheme, dependent on two things: the color blue and the achromatic colors and shades. Blue is a color heavily associated with water and the ocean, which is represented by yin, and which we equated to air earlier. I’m sure you’ll also have heard of the expression “silver moon” over and over again, and I don’t have to point out the obvious. The moon, however, also scientifically controls the tides of the ocean, furthermore connecting the blue of Dorian’s skin to the moon. However, yin is also represented by shadows. The silver and black of his hair, which are considered achromatic colors/shades, are quite close to shadows in this regard.

Ashton, on the other hand, is a whole mess of colors, and in the beginning I had trouble finding a stable answer. However, their color scheme answers to both the sun and light, as they’re inter-related. Scientifically, the color of light is literally all the colors humans can perceive, aka all the colors of the rainbow. Light, therein, is closer to the rainbow than it is to any other color. Ashton has green skin, purple hair, golden scars, but the biggest offender is their opalescent brain. His brain literally reflects all the colors of the rainbow. Suffice it to say, I think that explains most everything concerning their characterization as the sun.

Tearing down complex characters into the bare minimum for entertainment purposes (aka personality)

This section gets exceptionally tricky, because we have to consider which one is objectively better from a moral standpoint (aka an inherently subjective thing), plus yin and yang doesn’t normally focus on such personal things as emotions. The brunt of what yin and yang focuses on is material things, those which can clearly be defined and differentiated between. What might be considered, then, as yang to one person, might be considered yin to another, when it comes to emotions and situations. In truth, the majority of lists I found for yin and yang didn’t make any serious mention of emotion or otherwise. I only found “logic” for yang with no counterpart for yin, and “art” for yin with no counterpart for yang. Therefore, “emotion” for yin and “technology” for yang was a logical leap that I had to take in order to fill in the gaps, so this is up mostly to personal interpretation. Therefore, my findings on this specific section could be taken with a grain of salt. However, I still have enough material to work with, although we’re gonna have to get a little more “highschool literature analysis and symbolism” on this section for that reason. Another thing that helps this section is the fact that we’ve already built up a few connections to yin for Dorian and to yang for Ashton, so we can reverse engineer some connections.

Firstly, Dorian was, undoubtedly, the most secretive between the two. While Ashton themselves held some secrets close, Dorian was the one who inevitably popped when his lies could no longer support themselves, such as when Cyrus appeared and when his identity as a simple adventurer was questioned due to his ridiculous amounts of wealth. This is a clear connection to the “conceal” element that yin rules over, but also a metaphorical way of interpreting the “shadow” element. Shadow usually means darkness in popular media, and Dorian himself isn’t a dark individual. However, shadow can also be interpreted (and is, in most cases) as secrecy or mystery. Despite the fact that after the lore drop we got a crystal clear idea of what Dorian was all about, it was the fact that he strived to hide it in the first place that gives him that characterization.

Also, Dorian is a fucking bard. Not only are bards a type of musician, but, according to their description on D&D Beyond, bards rely more on the stories they weave for magic than the instrument they play. This makes Dorian double not only as a musician, but also as a story-teller/writer. We can also tell that Dorian is more of a charismatic individual, and is also one of the more animated members of Bells Hells next to Laudna. He’s constantly trying to sway people with words, and has strong reactions whenever Chetney or anyone else provokes him. Even when he’s trying to hold back emotions in more charged scenes, he’s an open book to the listeners and watchers of the episodes. He’s the most overtly empathetic and emotional out of the two, and even though he’s by no means overly emotional or hysteric, he has his outbursts at moments that are clearly personality related and not class-related. (Wherein Ashton’s rage is a feature of his barbarian class)

Dorian is, also, the one between the two that is the most receptive, the one that takes action after having been ordered to. He only takes leadership in situations where he has requested specifically for it, or when times are dire and his high charisma is the only thing that will help. Otherwise, he asks for the advice and the opinion of the people involved, and even then, is swayed easily by those other opinions. Especially in battles, Dorian was usually the one with distance, the one who let others take charge, not because of cowardice, but because that’s what his magic allowed him to do.

On the other hand, Ashton, except for one instance, is quite open with his past and most things he knows about himself towards other people. Aside from the time where they redacted the letter they received from Jiana Hexum when Imogen asked to read it, they always leave the door open for openness and sincerity, within their own ruleset of course. Dorian never provided the chance for others to coax information out of him, instead deflecting and lying, until his lies collapsed, but Ashton, if the individual is willing to pay them or get them drunk, is willing to tell the one listening everything about themselves. They’re open, even if at a cost. Even when he redacted the letter, it’s because Imogen didn’t earn the right to all his info - she came in at a tie with him. However, he was still willing to share some things, the ones she was worthy of learning, even if they painted a spotty and incomplete picture.

Did you know that in ancient Greece, the word technology didn’t actually involve anything that involved what we now consider technology? Wires and computers and stuff were a thing of the future - therefore, technology in ancient Greece involved architecture, pottery, drawing, and other creative activities. Anything that involved craftiness was dubbed “technology”. (Technology comes from the words τέχνη (techni) and λόγος (logos), and literally meant “the study of art”.) Ashton has quite the crafty and creative side to them, as we can see from him making the Nightmare King mask himself to go to the ball, and as we can see from their design - the clothes he’s wearing are clearly modified and customized. However, if that doesn’t suffice for you, they’re the result of a technician (Milo Krook) taking liberties and fixing them up. And while it’s inferred that Milo is the one who takes up the brunt of the work fixing FCG, it’s implied that Ashton themselves know a thing or two when it comes to fixing up FCG in a pinch.

As Dorian is the most animated and emotional character of the group, Ashton, while not being the most calm, is the most realistic and logical between them all, sometimes even more so than “team-mom” Orym. They were the one who took Bertrand’s death with a more realistic as opposed to joking approach, and they’re the ones constantly weighing in the logical result/factor and managing their expectations, bringing the group back down to earth (lol). He’s by no means apathetic, and he clearly has a soft and sentimental side to him, but he doesn’t allow for it to take over and skew their results if there’s no wiggle room - in situations that allow for more emotion and relaxation, they relax and emote. But when the time doesn’t allow for that and calls for a more logical approach, not only do they make sure they follow that approach, but he makes sure to keep the others in check as well.

Lastly, Ashton is definitely the more active between the two - despite all the logic that makes up his character, he can be brash and spontaneous, and also impatient. He doesn’t wait around for others' opinions once he decides his course of action is logical enough, and instead he acts on his own and lets the rest follow. They also engage in a lot of close up combat and rush in whenever they can, both due to their nature as a barbarian, and also their want to engage in a fight. Sometimes, even, their itch for action overshadows their logical side.

Shapes and the kiki and bouba effect

So I’m sure most people are aware of the kiki and bouba effect, but for those unaware: A study was done on multiple people, who were shown two shapes, one curve-heavy and round, and the other spiky and jagged. Those people were asked to assign the names “kiki” and “bouba” to each shape, and the overwhelming majority named the rounder and curvier shape “bouba” and the sharper and spiky shape “kiki”. We can therefore infer that a “kiki” adjacent thing is hard, therefore spiky means hard. Meanwhile, a “bouba” adjacent shape is soft, therefore curvy means soft. In tai chi, yin represents soft and yang represents hard.

Ashton is comprised of mostly of spikes and sharp/hard corners, the most obvious being their spikey gemstone hair. However, even Ashton’s facial features are mostly sharp corners. (Nose, mouth, ears, etc.) The pattern of their cracking that was filled with cold is also comprised of hard corners.

Dorian, on the other hand, has long, flowy, hair that is always in a curve. His facial features are also prominently curvier and lack the hard change that Ashton has.

Well, every argument has flaws...

Of course there were things that yin and yang represent that I couldn’t fit into the analysis because it wouldn’t make any sense, since I’m talking about people, and/or would take me hours upon hours of research with no guarantee that the results would make sense. But I also want to touch on a few miscellaneous things, specifically two more phenomena that yin and yang represent that go against my presentation of things.

Obviously, as I explained above, the characters aren’t going to be only logical or only emotional. What I focused on was which characteristic was more prominent in the character’s personality.

However, it’s important to note that yin rules over poverty, and yang rules over luxury. And… well, Ashton isn’t rich, and Dorian isn’t poor. Yin also rules over being trapped, and yang rules over freedom. This is the more flip-floppy and subjective aspect of the analysis - one could claim that, since Dorian isn’t stuck in the Silken Squall and has monetary leeway and freedom, he is free, and on the contrary, since Ashton is being weighed down by their debts and their disability, they’re trapped. However, Ashton, being pretty much a nobody (haha) socially, has more social freedom, and their disregard of the rules grants them as much freedom as they want, when Dorian’s ties to the Wyvernwind family and the pressure to maintain a good image for them restricts them significantly. Another aspect that yin and yang dictates is femininity and masculinity, or if you wanna be upfront, male and female. In my personal opinion, that argument is completely pointless and null in the context of Critical Role. Firstly, both are male and/or trans-masc, which means there’s no female/male duality. And while one of the two is more overtly feminine by our real life society’s standards, there’s no need to compare that as an opposite aspect, when both Dorian and Ashton are themselves more genderqueer and androgynous in their expression. So, clearly, tai chi might not completely fit my analysis.

Oh, are we talking about clothes now?

YES, cuz I made a wonderful observation while I was going over my analysis. Remember what I said as I talked about how I would review their appearance, and how I excluded clothes? Because I believe that clothes are more representative of who the character wants to present themselves as instead of who they are?

If we go by this logic, and apply everything we established before about yin and yang, Ashton wants to be seen as the moon, and Dorian wants to be seen as the sun. There’s not much to go off of on this section, so I’ll just keep it short and sweet and assume you’ve assimilated everything I’ve infodumped on you thus far.

Yin represents dirt and disorder, and yang represents cleanliness and order. Ashton’s clothes are not only dark like the shade, but they’re also tattered and disorderly and generally a mess. Dorian, on the other hand, has a good balance on his clothes and silhouette, and they’re visibly well kept, but his cape is literally the color of a sunset. What could this mean for them and this analysis? Well… it could mean many things. But I don’t feel like analyzing it that much, since it would be way more speculative than definitive, and I also don’t personally know the characters to know the ins and outs of why they present themselves the way they do and how they wanna be perceived.

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So, in conclusion, I believe Dorian is the moon character of the ship, and Ashton is the sun. Why did I make this essay? I don’t know, for fun I guess. Was I supposed to be studying? Yes! Did I do that? … you answer that question. There’s also much more symbolism for these two characters that I stumbled upon while verifying something for tarot, but I am way too tired and I have to study, so I’ll leave you with this, for now.

Thenks for the audience

#ashton greymoore #dorian storm #greystorm #critical role campaign 3 #bells hells #cr ashton #cr dorian #am i done?#i think #worst case scenario i just reblog this with new additions #or just... straight up edit this thing #kthx <3

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