I Just Saw The Amazing Digital Circus Trailer And Noticed:

I just saw the Amazing Digital Circus trailer and noticed:

For half a second you can see Ragatha get grabbed by what is clearly a black, low-poly looking appendage, which is almost definitely the same thing that was creeping down the hall when Caine was snapping his fingers in the announcement trailer, which has something to due with that shadowy eye pit. So yeah, there's something older and darker than Caine in the circus and it's out for blood or worse.

So the people have spoken, so it shall be!

Should I write a SM fic that follows the outline of a 20 year old British comedy? (I swear it'll be cooler than I'm making it sound)

The plague doctor theory

The more I think about these two the more fascinated I am by them. At first I thought they were imps, candleheads, or hybrids, but I don't think that's the case, mostly due to their pattern-less, all black horns, which no imp or candlehead has displayed.

This got me thinking, if my theory that Belphegor and Baphomet are indeed a couple, with Baph doing most of the actual ruling while Bel prefers to stay in her lab, then like how the candleheads were made by Baph to populate Sloth, these plague doctors might have been made by Bel, specifically to be her lab workers, meaning she might have plague doctor element to her design.

This explains why they were the ones to take Stolas away, they're the elite healthcare experts in Sloth, which already specializes in healthcare, they're the cream of the crop. It would also explain why we only see two, the plague doctors weren't meant to be a wide spread species.

I don't think anyone's theorized about these guys before, so I hope this will start some discussion.

I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to directly call this out but, we've actually seen peaks at both of Mammon's forms.

What I'm assuming is his "hidden" form has shorter, more jagged prongs and a weird V shaped pattern on his forehead, I honestly have no idea what that's actually supposed to be, if anyone has any ideas, please share them.

His "true" form, on the other hand is the one teased with the twitter image, having longer and smoother prongs that end in dollar sign tassels, the V pattern is also replaced by a crown pattern. The arms on this design look pretty interesting to me, since they appear almost like they're skeletal and only look thicker due to the sleeves, same for his legs and puffy looking pants. This is why I headcanon him as being more skeleton than shark and that his suit is padded to make his outline bigger. Having said that, his facial features do kind of look like a front facing shark, so the actual shape of his face might be closer to Striker or Chaz than the usual fan design which is more like Fizz.

I know we all joke about how shitty of a bodyguard Alessio is, but all that tells me is that when someone, probably Moxxie, goes for Crim's throat, Ale will go fucking berserk and show us why he's Crimson's number one. I just REALLY hope this doesn't lead to him dying since he's honestly one of the best side characters.

Decided to rant about Striker's character and why I think he works (Warning: This ended up being massive)

The best analogy about Striker that I can make is that he isn't really a cowboy, but a comic book villain who themes himself around being a cowboy. Now that I've done the meme-y version, allow me to actually explain.

A lot of people seem to overlook that there is a single thread that holds together Striker's personality, and is the root of most of his characterization. And that thread is a need for respect.

Let's look through his appearances and explore how his obsession manifests:

Harvest Moon Festival:

In his first episode, Striker presents himself as a model Wrath imp in order to gain the trust of Millie's family and Blitz. The only person he breaks character around is Moxxie, since he assumes Moxxie's insecurity about not being good enough in the eyes of his in-laws will make him automatically respect someone who they do approve of.

He later breaks character when Blitz catches him, he tries to convince Blitz that they're too good to live their lives around the whims of nobles, he tries to show himself as someone who can get Blitz what he wants, or rather, what Striker thinks Blitz wants, again to seem like someone who's "got it figured out" .

Another note worthy thing is his very professional way of speaking with Stella in both this and the next episode he's in, we'll get back to this later.

Western Energy:

The first point of interest is easy to miss the significance of, when breaking into the Richest Cup he makes it as dramatic as possible, he's trying to show himself as dangerous enough to warrant such cocky recklessness while surrounded by goetic demons.

After he takes Stolas we see his hideout which is full of scavenged western imagery that looks like an ominous lair, but upon closer inspection is actually a meager living arrangement for a deeply troubled demon.

His actual rant to Stolas includes a line about nobles taking everything lower class demons care about, showing WHY respect is important to him, he's never felt that he, or the part of society he belongs to, have been respected, or as he later says, all nobles do is try to talk over them.

Striker torturing Stolas shows how his need for respect is reflected in him being an assassin, he thinks he can get respect through fear, that having the most primal form of authority over someone will make him feel more significant. And this is why Stolas and I.M.P. are his greatest enemies, their irreverence makes them the only targets that don't play his game, that remind him of what he really is, a desperate, fragile, hero in his own mind, willing to do whatever it takes to prove his importance, not to others, but to himself.

Once again, he's begrudgingly cordial towards Stella despite his hatred of royals, in an effort to get even a fleeting acknowledgement of his worth. Showing that his belief that he can play into people's minds to get what he wants extends to his emotional wants as well.

Oops:

Here we see Striker in a much different light, mostly due to his new employer. First off, he's much more open with his frustration and moments of weakness, despite Crimson actually being physically present there and being able to see and hear everything. I think this is because Crim is a rare example of someone Striker doesn't feel he needs respect from. Crimson is, at least in Striker's eyes, an imp who has found moderate success by mimicking the lifestyle of a royal. He might not show it, but Striker probably resents Crimson just as much as, if not more than, he resents Blitz and Fizz, since Crimson has no actual royal support (that we know of).

Speaking of Blitz and Fizz, in his interaction with them in the cage scene we get the most blatant example of Striker thinking that his victimhood as an imp makes his "accomplishments" more worthy of respect, as he completely skirts around the fact he's the only hybrid out of the three, and we also learn he's aware of all this on at least some level when he threatens Fizzarolli for comparing him to a royal due to his arrogance.

And lastly, the climax when he grabs Fizz and the moment when we get the immortal line "Why is it always a sex thing!?", and why is it always a sex thing? Why do the members of IMP and those close to them not fall for his act? Put simply, it's due to trust, no matter how skilled or intimidating he is, Striker is still a loner with no one and nothing to fall back on beside his own skill. In sharp contrast to this the main cast have strong enough bonds that they know someone will oppose him. For example, Striker's attempt at demoralizing Stolas fails because he didn't think Blitz would trust his employees enough to do the saving.

So, yeah, I think Striker currently has a better thematic through line than any other villain in the series and I'm interested in seeing where they take him next. That being said, I feel Crim could be just as great and will probably make a similar post for him after his third episode.