#cross guild theory

[loganwritesprobably]

Cross Guild Future Members

Working on a fic series that largely centres around the Cross Guild, not as a throuple but as a pirate crew and it's making me ask the question: who else will join?

Watching theory videos recently makes me feel pretty secure in the idea that Moria and Doflamingo will join, perhaps Weevil.

Other names that get thrown into the ring are, naturally, the other remaining ex-warlords.

Kuma is dead, Jinbe is a strawhat, Blackbeard is a captain in his own right in the race for the One Piece, which I feel rules them out automatically

So then the question becomes.. where do people stand on Law and Hancock? I've seen Law joining Cross Guild gain traction as a theory, especially following the aftermath of his battle with Blackbeard, if he and Bepo are the only survivors, (even if that is only true temporarily).. but I'm not super sold? I mean, he's betting on Luffy if anyone, surely? He wants it for himself, of course, not to be Pirate King necessarily but for answers on the past but if he were to pick a second best who he can trust to give him what he wants - surely that's Luffy?

Hancock.. has a whole island to lead. She has a crew, and they notoriously do not trust men. Amazon Lily and men do not mix. Cross Guild is like 98% men, and even that feels generous. I don't think she'd abandon the Kuja pirates either - but then she worked with the Warlords so could she agree to a temporary alliance to keep her people safe? They were attacked by marines, and by Blackbeard, and if not for Rayleigh.. well.

What do people think? I'm just not sold on it all

[hey-august]

⚔️ Would he peel the orange? 🍊 (Cross Guild x Reader)

🐊 Crocodile 🐊

Yes. But only once.

It's malicious compliance, really.

After you've asked a few times, he'll give in with a grumble.

It's a massacre. A slaughter.

The poor citrus was hooked and stabbed so many times that it's a sad pulpy lump.

Crocodile licks the juice off his fingers and winks at you.

He claims that he was trying to get the seeds out. Really, it was all to make a point.

He'd rather pay someone to peel oranges for you. Or buy you fruit that is less high maintenance.

Here's the thing, though, Crocodile has no qualms about peeling bananas for you. He seems to have a soft spot for that particular fruit...

🦅 Mihawk 🦅

Yes, although he'll make a sly comment at first. He's seen you peel oranges before.

He's aware this is some sort of game. A test. And he's willing to indulge you.

Mihawk pulls off the peel in one long continuous strip. It's a beautiful curled ribbon of zest.

He also picks at any areas with too much pith, carefully removing the bitter fluff.

The same for stringy pieces. His deft fingers meticulously remove anything that would ruin your snack.

Mihawk also asks if you want him to segment the orange. It seems like he wants to do this part, so you let him.

After this, there's an unspoken expectation that you'll peel oranges for each other. You're not as thorough, but you're learning.

Eventually, the smell of citrus reminds you of the swordsman.

🤡 Buggy 🤡

So...no.

The first time you ask, he just cuts the orange into wedges. It doesn't matter if the peel is still there, you can just eat the fruit.

The next time you ask, he dramatically pulls off his gloves and snatches the orange from your hands.

He pulls off pieces of peel and drops them wherever. On the table, the floor, dropping them over the railing...

And since you're a captive audience waiting, Buggy will start cracking jokes and telling stories.

He gets so invested into whatever story he's telling that he starts eating the orange. Your orange.

Buggy doesn't realize until he's eaten nearly half of the citrus fruit.

He looks at you with cheeks full of partially chewed orange and juice on his chin to ask if you wanted the rest or if he could have it.

Happy Valentine's Day, loves. ❤️

[glassbead-xx]

I do like the theory that Crocodile was born a girl and then got changed by Ivankov for some reason, I really hope it’s true

The Crocomom theory is another thing, and while I don’t think it’s true I do like it because the possibilities are endless and it’s comedy gold

I have a top 10 of One Piece ships and Crocodile x Dragon is the newest entry lol

[kacievvbbbb]

While I’m sure he will because obviously (and I low key want him too because I’m tired of powerscalers)

I think it would make a lot of sense (and be super impressive) if Mihawk doesn’t have conquerors Haki.

He just doesn’t display any domineering attitudes at all, nothing about him screams desire or need to impose his will on anyone.

Like I don’t think it’s a coincidence that everyone we’ve seen use conquerors are either high ranking members of extremely large crews/territories in which they are constantly enforcing their will on their crew or they have such a fierce need to protect something they turn that will on the world. It’s not lost on me that the first time we see Luffy unconsciously use Conquerors it’s in a bid to save ace.

Mihawk neither has nor wants a large crew and there’s nothing he particularly wants to protect. Even his title I’d wager isn’t something he wants to “protect” giving his desperate want of stronger opponents.

Hell I’d argue that he didn’t have a “Will” till he met Zoro and wanted him to inherit it. I think that’s apart of what makes the whole interaction so surprising to him.

Also I think ghat regardless who they are or their general disposition people are drawn to people with Conqueror’s Haki and CH users are drawn to leadership.

Hell even Zoro who of the confirmed users has the closest personality to Mihawk especially before finding the crew. Had Johnny and Yasuke (I’ll never forget you too ✊) who looked to him as an older brother figure. Also I’ll just say that Zoro is more aggressive than Mihawk generally, he does intend to scare people a lot. And Despite his abrasiveness people can’t help being drawn to him just like Luffy (albeit in a lesser way). And Mihawk just doesn’t have that.

But You know who does? Buggy!

People just can’t help but be drawn to the clown they can’t help but make him their captain, they so readily believe his bolstering even though he doesn’t have much to back it up with. Hell even Mihawk and Crocodile have fallen under his spell it’s like they’ve forgotten (especially Mihawk) that they don’t actually have to go along with his bullshit. I wouldn’t be suprised if Buggy had CoH. We’ve already seen him become less of a coward by declaring what he really wants. He has a larger than life dream and The people love Buggy and Buggy for as mush as he hides it loves the people. He’s been too much of a coward so far to unleash it but All he needs is to actually make a stand for the sake of his crew and I wouldn’t be surprised if he unlocked Conquerors (that would have everyone that knows him fucking gaggged my god)

Anyway back to my point By no definition of the word can Mihawk be classified as a “leader” and I wouldn’t classify him as a “conqueror”. And so I think it would make so much sense for his character not to have the Haki of one. But what I do think would be cool is if he’s like an absence for conquerors haki. Like it just doesn’t work on him not because he has a stronger will but because he has no “will” he is the absence of will and so therefore cannot make others bend or be made to bend. He simply is.

[zeravmeta]

the true potential of cross guild is that no matter what, buggy can Only fail upwards. like i genuinely do think that mihawk and crocodile will come to begrudgingly respect buggy for inexplicably revitalizing their dreams and aspirations as actual pirates vs treating everything as business and never trusting anyone, but consider: Cross Guild just keeps expanding after the fact

Gecko Moriah and Perona, after their encounter with the Blackbeard Pirates, salvage what they can of their crew and join up

Doflamingo is broken out of Impel Down alongside Bon Clay in a second prison break scandal and they both decide to join up

Rayleigh, wanting protection for Amazon Lily and for Boa to gain more allies, gets in touch with Buggy after all this time to join his crew ala Jinbe joining Luffy

Neo MADS, in need of resources and manpower after their scuffle with the Big Mom Pirates, contact and eventually conglomerate into Cross Guild, meaning Caesar Clown, Judge and the Vinsmoke siblings all join as well

Vivi meeting up with them alongside Wapol after escaping Mary Geoise and joining them, at least until she can find the Straw Hats

Buggy, through no reason other than being gods favorite chewtoy, straight up having a fully decked out Yonko crew of former warlords, legends and everything in between where no one takes him truly seriously but at the very least respect his authority as Yonko to not kill him. but oh boy do they keep him guessing. the only reason it doesnt fall apart is because they're all united in dunking on this silly little clown that, for the funniest reasons ever, is luckier than the devil himself to not be killed by them

[local-loser-clown]

Buggy cracked the code

[marmota]

I just realized something. In the panel at Roger's execution, Mihawk is right between Buggy and Crocodile, thus foreshadowing Cross Guild maybe.

[nikirari]

if nobody gonna feed my need for crocoshanks interactions I'm gonna do it myself – also known as a snippet of crocodile and shanks with some implied missing limbs touching (feat. crocomom theory) 🙄

anyhow I have one braincell and a dream and severe anxiety when writing fandom bits BUT maybe someone would share my vision that the cross guild polycule and shanks should interact in all directions 👌

[blommis-writes]

It's 2 AM here and I'm too tired to elaborate properly but I just realized that from a certain point One Piece started showing a mirrored structure when it came to antagonists in the various arc. For example, as of right now we have Egghead Arc's fight with Lucci mirroring Enies Lobby's one. This means that after that we might have someone coming back from [I don't remember atm which arc came before W7/EL and I'm too tired to check].

Again, too tired to elaborate properly but we also already know that at one point stuff's gonna happen with Vivi - and I think that, being that a mirror to the Alabasta Arc which was the second, whatever's gonna happen it's gonna be in the second to last arc.

My theory includes that, mirroring the first arcs/East Blue Saga, whose antagonists were Crocodile, Buggy, and Mihawk,,,, the Cross Guild is gonna be among the last antagonists toward the end of One Piece.

If I wanted to elaborate better I would also talk about Shanks being the first pirate in Luffy's backstory shown in the East Blue Saga, thus if the mirrored structure keeps up he might be the last obstacle (and due to some other stuff we already know there's at least a 80% chance of him being it).

Don't know if there's stuff in the manga that already proved or blew off this theory but please bear with me I'm anime-only and I just had my single braincell activating and making me realize the mirrored structure thing

[bobauthorman]

Here's how I think the showdown with Cross Guild should go;

Luffy vs Crocodile

Zoro vs Mihawk (Natch)

Nami vs Buggy

[elimaybeafish]

MORE SHIT D POST

Luffy has announcement to make

*on Morgan’s ship*

Luffy *on the world news^tm snail*: sukazki get your bitch ass outside

Luffy: I don’t have time for all of you

Luffy: me buggy shanks and black beard are all meeting at loud star right now

Luffy: I want to fight you over any one else be there bitch

Buggy panics and takes the new world

*context I think buggy and luffy are crowned duel pirate kings by Morgan*

Buggy *in panic mode*: all this land *points to map of new world* belongs to the pirate king

Buggy: an-and the this money r-right Luffy

Luffy: ah ye sure

Buggy: this is our UTOPIA

[deadjane]

Pspsppspsps what if Buggy was a ex slave baby that the Rogers found when he was 5-6. That's where the self worth issues come from and why he hates people ordering him but at the same time if threatened his oooold survival instincts kick in (the reason he is so obedient to Crocodile and Mihawk)

[goingbuggy]

When you have time I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about post time skip buggy!!

Hi, anon! Sorry for the late-ish reply. I thought carefully about how I wanted to reply, but alas, here I am again, starting my metas in the strangest places. Anyways, here’s a seemingly unimportant question: Why is it funny that Buggy keeps failing upwards?

My answer also happens to be one of Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling:

"Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating."

You might be wondering why I chose this quote -- after all, Buggy manages to escape most conflicts by sheer coincidence. Take the canon-filler episode(s) “Little Buggy's Big Adventure,” for example; coincidence is the sole reason why he ends up on Gaimon’s island and eventually finds Alvida, one of his future allies. But for as much as Oda is guilty of using coincidences to benefit Buggy, he also creates coincidences to get Buggy into trouble. Sure, Buggy left on good terms with Gaimon/found Alvida, but only after:

Suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Luffy

Losing most of his body

Being chased by killer fish/eaten by a ginormous bird

Nearly getting shot in the head by Gaimon over a misunderstanding

Being chased AGAIN by a deadly crab???? LMAO???

Buggy’s “luck” functions like a pendulum -- for every good thing that happens to him, horrible things are guaranteed to follow. This core aspect of his character is what keeps the gag afloat. Buggy is never rewarded by the narrative without experiencing consequences. In order to earn moments of respite, he has to suffer.

I find it hilarious when people argue that Buggy doesn’t deserve to have good things happen to him. Because, yeah? Duh. Oda loves having his cake and eating it too. It’s not necessarily good to play both sides with the audience when it can cheapen emotional impact, but Oda will absolutely continue to make Buggy both a complete joke and a genuine character. He has fun that way. However, he’s not going to help Buggy without hurting him first.

But that's a very meta perspective. How does Buggy view his own beneficial coincidences? He’s now an emperor, and extremely close to the One Piece/Pirate King title that he so desperately wants. But why does he think he’s being rewarded, in-universe?

His facade.

His devoted followers, his influence, that billion-berry bounty, his emperor status -- all of it stems from his fake persona and its snowball effect. He’s well aware of this. In fact, I think it’s likely that he hates himself for being such a coward and hiding behind lies. But when he sees his true self as worthless, what else can he do except dig himself into a deeper hole?

Look at 1082. Buggy finally stands up for himself, claiming that wealth and power come from chasing after your dreams -- not grand schemes. Here, he’s talking to himself as much as he’s talking to Crocodile and Mihawk.

“This is wrong… This isn’t how I wanted my life to go…”

It’s a very depressing peek at the man behind the curtain. Buggy only ever wanted to follow his dreams, but he uses schemes to get ahead instead, because they're all he thinks he has. His lies are a crutch to depend on, so he doesn't have to face the truth: he doesn't believe in himself. 

To me, 1082 reads as a "Hail Mary" moment from a character at an emotional low. Buggy still doesn't believe in himself, but he is saying: Fuck it. If Shanks and I finally have an equal chance at becoming Pirate King, I at least have to try... Right? We can confirm his lack of self-confidence, because Buggy even admits he got here by “luck or chance or whatever."

He cannot entertain the possibility that he'd get this far any other way. Of course he doesn't see himself as Shanks' equal. It’s one of many reasons he didn’t want to go with Shanks at Loguetown; he assumed he’d be working “under” Shanks (even though Shanks only said “Come with me!"), because he truly believes he is lesser in terms of potential/greatness. ("You coward!" can also be interpreted as Buggy projecting his own insecurities onto Shanks.) Buggy's decision in 1082 is a desperate leap of faith. "Go for broke," "shoot for the moon," etc.

Post-Timeskip Buggy may appear more dangerous than ever before, but in reality, he’s just a small fish in a big pond. The farther he crawls his way up the ladder of success, the worse he feels, because the life he has built is not how he wanted to live at all. Based on everything we've known about Pre-Timeskip Buggy, we should expect him to be happier than ever. He has influence. Power. His monetary value in the eyes of the World Government has shot up exponentially. But look at the poor guy. He's miserable.

If you've ever seen Better Call Saul, I think this scene from S4E9 is very similar to how I feel about Buggy:

JIMMY: There you go! Kick a man when he’s down! KIM: Jimmy, you are always down.

Buggy is a character who is always down, even when you think he might be up. Until he stops maintaining that false image, he will always be punished by the narrative pendulum he's trapped himself in.

Unfortunately, change is hard, especially with the stakes he’s currently facing. If Buggy actually has to fight Blackbeard, Luffy, or Shanks... he can’t. Not alone. He needs people to believe the facade, because that's what got him here in the first place. He may look invincible, but he is quite possibly the most vulnerable character right now.

Crocodile and Mihawk would sell him to Satan for one corn chip (especially after that stunt he pulled in 1082). We haven't seen him improve his physical abilities (unless Oda pulls some off-screen bullshit). As an emperor, he has more people gunning for his head than ever before. Buggy’s last line of defense is his long-running gag -- if Oda decides to subvert our expectations, he’s a dead man walking.

And who would he have to blame but himself? He built his image on smoke and mirrors. Eventually, he's going to have to pay the price.

If Pre-Timeskip Buggy is a man defined by coincidence, then Post-Timeskip Buggy is defined by consequence.

[probablyaparadox]

Oh gosh here we go again- the peak of my hyper fixation on something where I finally post a theory... SO CROCODILE- (Y'all love this guy on tumblr-)I'm going to be very truthful, this started out as a head cannon which I found evidence for in this theory to bring my idea's to completion, and really ties up my thought process together.

What are the key takeaways? 1. Crocodile specifically Avoids having a ring on ring finger, and this could be because he has a spouse 2. Him having lost them in some way, and Iva knowing about them. But why Iva? And why do I say them? Y'all already know- I'm saying Crocodile is gay, and has a husband, well somewhere out there. This makes logistic sense because well, why Iva becomes answered, but we also have a subtle hint in crocodiles overall design. Firstly

Crocodiles Outfit is surprisingly evocative of the victorian dress. Mostly thanks to the vest and cravat look. Additionally, the victorian era began in 1837, very close to when Cigars became popular. I bring this up partially because I think it's cool, and partially because it allows for some implications to come across, as one piece's world spans socially over several decades in terms of atmosphere and acceptance. Mostly that the victorian era was a time where being LGBTQ+ was still considered taboo. So while most of new kama is living in the times of 1970's to modern day, he is very much living in the victorian era. One revolves around being loud and proud, and the other very much around subtleties. What subtleties does he have? Well. For starters, It's a very- Choice colour with the purple vest there. (this is mostly a joke, although purple is associated with signalling, it's usually a different manner as far as I'm aware.) What I actually want to talk about is the earring. Most characters in one piece Wear double earrings if they are wearing them (I.E. Law, bart, Nami, Blackbeard etc.) For those of you unaware, Earring signalling goes like this. Right is gay, left is straight. I could only find three characters wearing a single earring. 1. Zoro on his left. 2. Benn Beckman on his right (Good for him!/hj) and 3. Crocodile on his right. So with this ramble aside. I think his interactions with Iva and the gays TM make much more sense. He's down with the gays because well. He is. They literally give him an entirely new outfit, just like they do for the rest of the LGBTQ+ people they bring in. And why IVA SPECIFICALLY would know that he is married, as per Iva knowing and being all gay peoples parent (/hj). In all seriousness I think it would make sense in this context that he asked Iva to help with his wedding or something of the like, since he (and presumably his husband) likely didn't have many connections to people who could do wedding stuff non-judgementally I.E. a cake or getting someone to do the vows. It's very wholesome, but it's something that I could see as Crocodile wanting to be kept secret, as he's been characterized as someone very secretive. This part is pure speculation/almost definitely false; but. I could definitely see some sort of "held hostage" situation. As Crocodile said "If you want to protect something, do it right." This could be someone who is protecting something, but also someone who lost it. I mean, they've forced the other warlords into similar corners, with the protection of Amazon Lily, or the release of Arlong (and likewise the safe return of all the escaped slaves from the Sun pirates who just wanted to go home.) It makes the "wanting to have a power that can match the WG or any nation in force" goal of his have a much more interesting reason than "KING OF THE PIRATES." We got enough folks aiming for that already, and I feel like if you beat an early antagonist that badly and just keep using him, you gotta have some kind of pay off that doesn't involve him getting beat again.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Do you think there’s a chance cross guild will create a genuine bound between the members ?

oh man, i really don’t know.

part of my uncertainty is that… i’m pretty sure there’s some history there? not, like, a super significant chunk of backstory or anything, but more than just what we’ve seen on-screen.

idk if mihawk and crocodile knew each other prior to becoming warlords, but they have at least known each other that long

buggy knows crocodile on sight in impel down; he’s either been keeping tabs on the warlords (why?) or he’s met crocodile before (when?)

otoh, buggy identifies mihawk as ‘hawk eyes’ when they meet at marineford, with a hint of uncertainty (kisama “tama no me” da naa~~!!?) that makes me suspect he only knew of mihawk at that point (for shanks reasons? or the previously suggested ‘keeping tabs on warlords’ reasons?)

and then there’s the line-up of reactions to the news coming out about buggy being on roger’s crew:

…crocodile doesn’t look especially surprised, does he? though i guess this could be a ‘…sure, this might as well happen’ reaction too.

anyway, between that, the way crocodile entices mihawk to come work with him (which i’ve already said i find quite interesting), and the fact that all three were in roguetown the day roger died, i think there must be history between some of the pairs within this trio that we don’t know anything about.

and i think those starting points, whatever they were, have to inform what their current working relationship could become. without that context i don’t feel confident saying a genuine bond will definitely form, or that it’s never gonna happen.

[deadnamedblog]

trying to predict BB endfight

Blackbeard has been associated with threes for a while now, and Luffy dislikes unfair fights.

I think the end fight against Blackbeard will be against a trio, but which one?