obligatory "lmk but the spider demons survive" au except it aallll gets worse before it gets better
if youre wondering what happens to syntax in this scenario, well..
the only reason why these two wouldnt immediately kill syntax is if he was useful to them. in this instance, something happens to the poor girl that lbd is possessing, which leads her to go for syntax out of desperation instead
I'm deeply invested in the "Crowley is Raverne" theory. After diving deep into arguments from both sides, I’ve narrowed it down to two plausible conclusions:
- Crowley is Raverne but has amnesia: It means something happened to Raverne that wiped his memories of Briar Valley, explaining his mysterious disappearance and why he never returned to his wife and child. Honestly a "I forgor" twist as conclusion would definitively be infuriating, stupid, but TOTALLY in character for Crowley 😂.
- Crowley and Raverne are relatives (likely brothers): This theory is purely speculative since there is no argument supporting it, but it makes sense by filling in some important gaps. It also supports an idea in particular: Crowley wasn’t inspired by Maleficent’s raven (Diablo) but rather by the Evil Queen’s raven. A theory supported by the Book 8 trailer and Crowley’s connection to the Dark Mirror, both rooted in the Evil Queen’s universe. If that’s the case, then Raverne would be the Diablo-inspired character, not Crowley.
As Book 8 is coming soon, we might reach the end of this rabbit hole.
I personally have pretty mixed thoughts about "Crowley is Raverne" theories. Like, I get why it's popular (because c'mon, it has a LOT of entertainment value whether you believe in it or not). I think it's a pretty funny idea myself. However, if it were to become canonized in Twst, the writing has a LOT to explain, and it cannot be handled with like a few lines of dialogue.
It’s like trying to untangle a ball of yarn… The more you attempt, the more tangled it becomes.
If the amnesia route: how? What did he get up to after that, and why did he decide to go into TEACHING? How did Lilia not notice his old friend if this isn't a case of Crowley feeling as though he needs to go into hiding (if he's not aware of his original identity anymore)? This route conflicts with another popular theory about Crowley's motives (that he is inducing OBs in an attempt to revive his dead wife (ie his "flower of evil").
If they go with "teehee, I forgot": it's even worse because it paints Crowley as a highly neglectful parent and a bad friend (when I think he already gets shit on enough by fans for "being useless"). It also means he was ACTIVELY hid in plain sight but also chose to exclude his own dorm leader son whose face is UNCANNILY similar to that of his late wife and bestie Lilia, who are right there. Even if they explain it as he felt like his own life was in danger or he felt guilty that he wasn't there for his wife/son/friend/country when they needed him most, IT STILL MAKES HIM LOOK REALLY BAD. My issue isn't that Crowley may have done bad things (I support fictional characters' crimes/j), it's how fans will react to it, especially because Malleus is such a beloved character + people are protective of him and his feelings. And if Crowley's plan WAS to revive his dead wife, why go about it alone when your son and friend are there too...
If they go with "Crowley is related to Raverne, but isn't actually Raverne", there'd be a lot less to explain and my main complaint with it would be "this wasn't foreshadowed well at all". Like, the best we got is Crowley seems to be a fae himself since he's been headmaster for at least 100 years + has fae ears and wears a mask similar to the Briar Valley soldiers of 500 years ago. We otherwise have zero indication he has any connection to BV, Malleus, noturnal fae, etc.
I don't agree with what seems to be the Twst fandom's interest in assigning a single Disney character to a single Twst character as inspiration. I get that Twst itself does this very often, with the most direct examples being the dorm leaders themselves each having an obvious Disney counterpart. Still, I don't think this is a hard rule because even the ones inspired by explicitly named characters relate to other Disney characters or have traits of others. For example, Rook is twisted from the Huntsman, but he remains truthful about Vil's beauty like how the Magic Mirror was for the Evil Queen. Riddle is very much the Queen of Hearts, but he relates to Princess Rapunzel and her complex relationship with Mother Gothel. Other characters don’t have a clear inspiration and instead see to be an amalgamation of ideas and characters. For example, Jack can be the wolves from Frozen, the wolves from Beauty and the Beast, etc.
I think the same is true of Crowley. He does have obvious connections to the Evil Queen. Crowley uses the Mirror of Darkness, a Magic Mirror stand-in, to sort students into dorms (which has been in use for 100ish years, the same amount of time we know NRC has been losing to RSA; are the two events related?). Pomefiore is NRC's oldest dorm and Crowley holds it up as a symbol of tradition. He is also shown to be associated with apples, which appear on his vacation shirt in book 4, and Crowley also discusses his fondness for the school's apple tree. In his SSR vignettes, Crowley even likens his own students to apple trees he is cultivating.
But!! There’s arguably references to Diablo as well. For example, Crowley is often depicted with a cane, which has a bird on it. This is similar to how Diablo rests on Maleficent’s staff.
Furthermore, Diablo in JP is written as ディアブロ / “Diaburo”. Crowley is ディア / "Dia"; they share the ディア aspect in their names, which is significant only because we know of a prominent fae family in Twst whose names all begin with Mal (マレ/“Mare” or “Male”). For example, Malleus is マレウス and Maleficent, Diablo’s master, is マレフィセント.
I would go on, but I don’t want this post to be too long. My point is, Crowley can easily have a vague inspiration or multiple at once. There’s this interesting Reddit post about how Crowley is possibly inspired by various iconic Disney birds, so I’d encourage you to check that out!
I’ve seen a variation of the Crowley/Raverne theory which proposes Crowley is his familiar or some kind of helper. Raverne was an emissary, so having an animal companion that can spy and deliver mail for him might make sense. It would also be easier for a missing animal to go unnoticed because they’re harder to distinguish from one another than a whole man.
Regarding Crowley’s goals… I don’t think it’s necessarily his wife he’s trying to revive (if his goal is revival at all). I’ve seen others suggest he is plotting to revive the Great Seven, since the book 8 trailer calls attention to the OBs and the original villains.
I remember back in book 6, Lilia noted the planets aligning for the first time in a while. This is a reference to Hercules, when Hades waited for the planets to align in order to free the Titans from their cells. I wonder if Crowley needs to wait for the right timing to perform some ritual to release something out of its own containment…?
