#thought dear mr pleasant would be the exact type of person to find that absolutely hilarious

[lastchanceonthestairway]

Had an idea and had to sketch it rq

[tayfinities]

Devan Campbell is back and we haven't realized it yet

I know it might sound implausible, but bear with me for a second here.

My friends and I have had this theory for a while now, ever since the screen test video introduced us to the new characters, before we even knew who exactly they would be. At one point, we were ready to completely abandon it. But instead of proving us wrong, the newest episode provided us with even more evidence for this theory. If this is all wrong, I'll gladly put my clown wig back on. But until then… I'm pretty convinced that the person we're lead to believe is Richard Ramirez is actually Devan Campbell, aka the second antichrist. 

The casting is a little bit too perfect

This is where our theory began. Yes, it might be a pure coincidence. But the likeness was enough to immediately put this idea in our heads.

There are two other things that made me doubt who we're actually dealing with here. The first one, Ramirez has already appeared on AHS: Hotel, played by completely different actor. The second one, his teeth. Real-life Richard Ramirez was known for his less than pleasant smile. But here? It's almost like Ryan is making a point of Zach's teeth being absolutely perfect. His smile is the only bright and flashy thing in many, many scenes that are otherwise completely dark. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it's being shoved in our faces blatantly enough to make us notice SOMETHING isn't right. 

Yes, both of those things might be a complete coincidence. Let me get into the proper evidence, then. 

Parallels to Michael Langdon

When Richard talked about Satan in 9x01, I thought nothing of it. After all, the real-life Ramirez was a satanist as well. He might've been just a regular follower, in Satan's very good graces, but a regular follower nonetheless. It's only because of what went down in 9x04 that I was convinced there's something more to their connection. It seems much more personal, it seems like it's been going on for a long time and is based on MUCH more than pure belief. It seems even deeper than what we witnessed between Michael Langdon and Satan. The difference of treatment in those two was a subject of many, many jokes, mine included. Why abandon Michael to die while tending to Richard's every need? Maybe that's the thing. Richard IS his other son. And one much better adjusted to an antichrist's existence at that. 

There are many things that make me think he isn't purely a human lead by Satan. First of all, why would he be? Him, of all people? Why would he be given special attention, if his purpose was nothing more than being a serial killer? But what makes me believe he's actually an antichrist, is the fact that his powers are way too similar to the ones Michael had. 

Let's talk for a second about how he managed to find Brooke when she left for Camp Redwood. When his connection to Montana was revealed, it seemed more than obvious. She simply told him where they're going and he followed, right? I'd be inclined to believe that too, if not for one scene from 9x04. I'm this one, he was trying to do the exact same thing - find Brooke. How? He seemed guidance from Satan. In what way? Through the exact same type of ritual Michael has ways used to communicate with his father.

This could be interpreted as a power of divination, it could just be a simple case of guidance though. But that's not all. I'd be willing to overlook that, if not for the fact that Richard seems to be more or less immortal. 

Let's take a closer look at his fight with Mr. Jingles. He seemed absolutely unperturbed by the danger, and not only because of his confidence in his own skills. Even after he got gravely wounded, he kept laughing. Yes, for a second here and there he did look like he was in pain. But the reactions were not only over-exaggerated, but they were followed by another fit of laughter. Those are reactions of someone knowing they're not in any actual danger. Because even though wounding someone that way would normally work… He's nothing like normal.

Not only he wasn't concerned about his wounds at all. He barely fought when Jingles grabbed him and impaled him on a branch. He KNEW he was going to be okay. And it turned out to be exactly the case. Surrounded by satanic whispers, Richard was resurrected and all of his wounds were instantly healed. Not only that, but his eyes turned completely black - not unlike what we've already seen in the previous season. 

His smile after being resurrected leads me to believe it wasn't the first time that happened even more. 

At this point, I was almost convinced what we're dealing with is not a regular human killer. But lo and behold, the preview for the next episode confirms my thoughts even more. 

Where have we seen a similar phrase before? Oh, wait...

The parallel is so blatant it practically hits you like a brick. Not only they're talking about the exact same thing. The way Richard approaches Donna makes me think of a very different scene of Michael’s, namely him taunting Ms. Venable. We can't tell for sure until we see the next episode, but everything points to the fact that both of those scenes involve women being faced with a reminder of their greatest shame. 

How is that even possible?

How and why on earth would Devan find himself in 1984, then? More importantly, why would he be posing as Richard Ramirez? Hasn’t he already spoken about his backstory?

First of all, this season has already introduced us to the idea of imposters (the townies celebrating Jingles Day by pretending to be Mr. Jingles and pulling pranks) and copycats (Margaret murdering her fellow camp counselors and cutting their ears off - just like Benjamin did to his victims in Vietnam). Second of all, we’ve already learned that just because a story told by a character has been shown up as a flashback, it doesn’t in any way make it real (Margaret’s “memories” of the massacre night). And even IF his memories were real… the idea of someone being implanted with false memories has already been introduced too, just one season before. Nothing explicitly disproves this theory so far.

Now, why? That depends on whether or not we actually are in 1984.

If we are, maybe Devan traveled to the past to hide from the witches and disguised everything he did as actions of a serial killer of that time. Maybe he’s been hidden by his father under the identity spell. Maybe I’m grasping at straws here, but the moment I saw the intro for this season, I thought of Back to the Future’s DeLorean.

Maybe it’s not even 1984, and what we’ve seen so far in an elaborate simulation experiment lead by the Cooperative, where they’re trying to find what makes everyone snap and turn into a homicidal maniac (which would be a much more effective and interesting way of inducing chaos than nuclear war, if you ask me). But that’s a whole another theory on its own.

Either way, maybe what became a joke material for so many fans does make sense after all. Maybe that’s why Satan ignored Michael and let him die while doing everything to help Richard. From what little of him we’ve seen this season so far, he seems much better suited for this role than Michael ever was (as much as I will always adore him). Even if he’s not Devan, but simply the previous antichrist, who says the time in hell must run in a linear fashion? Maybe Satan has already learned from his future mistake and chosen someone much more ruthless and devoted to his cause than Michael.

One thing I’m sure of - Richard isn’t just a regular serial killer.

Or I’m a clown, but that I am either way.

I wouldn’t have been able to amass all of this evidence without my dear friend @serinigalini. Credit for all the gifs I used in this meta goes to my other dear friend, @zach-villas. Thank you so much for letting me use them ♡