But the man standing here now has the same green hair and hard grey eyes, though not his earrings. And though he’s in tactical black gear down to the boots, he carries two swords and there’s a third katana on the vice admiral’s hip.
Just the idea that Corso is wearing one of Zoro's swords already makes me seethe!
“But it's good to see how it compares with other swordsmen.” There’s a faint note of pride in his voice.
The patronizing tone with the use of "it" is so... dehumanizing...
He makes himself watch it completely. The light in Roronoa’s gaze flickers, still fighting fiercely and for a moment there is a spark of recognition as he looks at him. Smoker lets the shame of it burn through him as he watches a man drown and do nothing.
This is so horrific. Zoro starting to remember, just enough to know he should fight, or be made to forget again. But helpless to prevent his inevitable fate. And Smoker, having no choice but to assist, even be complicit in ordering his crew to participate in this.
There’s something important about the tip of it, so he lets it strike him. The blue-grey stone is cool against his skin but it doesn’t hurt at all beyond the bruising pressure. He doesn’t know why he was so wary about it before.
The implication that he's still trying to block the tip for Luffy....
He wishes he could be the black sword, but he isn’t. Outside he’s a weapon and inside he’s all mixed up.
His perspective is so good. The muffled quality of his thoughts, the things he pays attention to and what he believes he should do and think. This metaphor is so effective. And the subtle ways things start to come back!
Thank you for the detailed comment, i appreciate it!! and yeah, i know smoker is so frustrating in this...i want to strangle him lol but honestly that's what makes his character (as well as the other marines in OP) so interesting - like why do they continue to work for this organisation that they know is corrupt etc...
The implication that he's still trying to block the tip for Luffy....
YEAHH exactly i'm so glad you spotted it!!!
and thank you so much for your kind words on zoro's pov - i was a little worried bc i haven't really written anything like this before and it's hard to write a character that has basically 90% of his history/personality erased due to the set up, so i'm glad you liked it!!
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yelp on Chapter 2 Tue 07 Oct 2025 05:18AM UTC
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fleshandfeather on Chapter 2 Thu 16 Oct 2025 09:02PM UTC
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