Do people still believe the Dire Crowley is actually a phantom theory? I think I saw it, or perhaps it was Grim?
Whatever, going on this theory
Involving the Crowley = Levan/Raverne theory, its clear there's some connections here, like: Being a fae. Malleus and his hair and lips are similar. Bird mask that's similar to the faes in book 7. Mysterious guy, within a story with a acknowledged missing, not confirmed dead, guy. Diablo and Dire being similar names. Diablo able to be shaped-shifted, with Crowley drinking a shape-shifting potion to do so himself. The consent mentioned of both being/saying that Levan/Crowley is kind. Dark Mirror's face
And him being overblotted or tie to it make sense to, as he has covered places where blot usually is, aka: gloves and bird mask. And we have Dark Mirror's face again
However, counter point, we don't know which two famous birds he's based on, Diablo and that one in Snow White. He's has points to that latter on too, being: The golden nails, similar to Vil's overblot. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere. That one vacation shirt with apples. Fixation on apple trees. Pomefiore being the oldest dorm (tho that could just be a reference to how old Snow White is within Disney's history, I think anyway). I think he was standing in front of some peacock looking feathers in one of the trailers, with those feathers being in Pomefiore. Pretty fancy looking. The colors I guess, as he has blue with some pink/purple/magenta-ish, and black, similar to the Evil Queen's blue/purple/indigo with bits of red, and black. Lilia (would you be pink? Lilia or Lilia?) not noticing
So, yeah, a lot for Snow White-Crowley, but noticeable things in Diablo-Crowley. But, I have a thought
So, what if when Crowley was a phantom and took over Levan's body (as I think they do that, its been a while, bare with me), the phantom had resembled Snow White crow, with Levan of course representing Diablo
It would make sense that a lot of the crow comparisons is more external things (exp: outfit), while Levan/Diablo is moreso genetic (exp: hair. Twst genes are strong)
This could even explain why the Dark Mirror is the way that is looks, as perhaps the blot built-up from Levan's body due to Crowley is transferred over to the mirror itself, as too much could cause Crowley to show signs or even lose it
Now, it this was the case, why did Levan have a crow phantom and not Diablo? When someone overblots they seemingly get a phantom matching their character/movie, so what gives? How does this explain whatever the hell he's doing?
Well, while not as convincing, the phantom may have not been from Levan himself
It could've been a hungry phantom trying to find a mage to consume from, perhaps having been disturbed by the war or .S.T.Y.X., where it had accidentally stumbled upon Levan and his group while they were off
Perhaps someone else overblotted within the group or by the group's path, and the phantom wanted more magic then just the old host, getting a poweful fae. Perhaps the old host had a mindset of sorts that transferred into Crowley/the phantom, giving him the plan that involves Grim and Yuu
Perhaps it could've been forced by someone who had insider(s) or were a insider of .S.T.Y.X. (trying to tie this into .S.T.Y.X. and Grim and Yuu more into this), getting the phantom to begin with, or just had that phantom if not involved with .S.T.Y.X., and then had it and Levan fuse, using the now-made Crowley for whatever is going on with Grim and Yuu
Or something like that and this, not really sure how this can tie with other theories and implications. Nonetheless, this is just a little, large, thought I had, might as well share it here real quick