History Fanfic / ArcCorp

* ObliviousToLove: Like in canon Blake doesn't even suspect that Ilia might be into her. Even more, she thinks that Ilia actually has a crush on Adam.

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Ruby got involved with Jaune and Arc Corp because she saw him hunting an anomaly and followed him around because he claimed to be Huntsman tracking a Grimm. When Blake jokingly asks if her obsession with becoming a member of the organization extends to any romantic interest in Jaune after she compares her devotion to getting hired to her mother's ten year quest to bed Taiyang, Ruby is horrified at the notion. [[spoiler: Chapter 67 reveals that [[StalkerWithACrush Ruby actually does have a crush on him]], with her becoming even more embarrassed when Blake expresses confusion over the idea that [[EverybodyKnewAlready said crush was supposed to be a secret]].]]

* MistakenForRomance: Due to their closeness, several characters assume that Blake and Jaune are romantically involved at first glance, with them expressing surprise or disbelief whenever Blake (and sometimes Jaune) insists [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend this isn't the case]]. For her part, Blake explains to Ruby at one point that Jaune himself isn't the reason for her being disgusted by the idea, though she doubts they would make a good couple considering her (and especially his) copious amounts of baggage, but rather the rest of Arc family. [[spoiler:She eventually does develop feelings for Jaune, to her chagrin and everyone else's smugness, but she still dislikes the assumption that they ''have'' to be dating.]]

* PosthumousCharacter:[[spoiler: {{Downplayed}}.Even after his death, Blake keeps mentioning Adam almost every chapter.]]

* SarcasticDevotee: Blake serve as this to Jaune, with them both being members of a TheMenInBlack-style organization. Despite her originally believing that he's totally incompetent, she still follows his lead and trusts his judgement even when skeptical, and they soon become close enough that Blake isn't shy about making it clear that her loyalties lie firmly with her best friend rather than the organization as a whole, fully willing to break company rules and etiquette when needed to defend and protect him.

* TechnicalPacifist: How the Containments Branch of ARC Corp operates. As their name implies, their modus operandi is containing and monitoring anomalies, only resorting to usual killing and destruction that the rest of the organization partakes in if a particular anomaly's very existence is dangerous. This softer approach makes the Containments Branch subject to a lot of derision and suspicion from other branches, [[spoiler: which isn't entirely unjustified seeing as how Jaune and Blake's operations do occasionally extend to hiding some of their activities and findings in order to protect the lives of more peaceful (sometimes sapient) anomalies from the wider company's notice, not the least of which includes hiding the existence of Vale's entire anomalous population.]]

** Saphron treats Jaune rudely or with disdain, ranging from her apparent apathy to killing her younger brother on multiple occasions if it gets a mission done, to working to undermine the more peaceful operations of the Containment Branch as a whole. The Arc family in general is depicted as having little familial love to go around, with none of that love going towards Jaune.

** Saphron clearly looks down on Jaune at times, with much of it seemingly being fueled by her doubting his abilities as a director due to his instance on containing anomalies rather than kill them all with extreme prejudice, with their relationship being very strained as a result. Her wife Terra insists that Saphron's callous and dismissive attitude towards her younger brother is more AngerBornOfWorry than anything else, but Blake is incredibly skeptical of this.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Subverted. It initially seems like this is the central conflict between Jaune and Ozpin; the former being raised in ARC Corp to see all anomalies as a danger that must be kept away from humanity, and the later, being an anomaly himself, feeling that some anomalies can benefit Remnant and should be approached on a case-by-case basis. As the fic goes on, it becomes clear that Jaune's own stance is actually the grey between his family's "kill 'em all" anti-anomaly mindset and Ozpin's optimistic belief that anomalies and humanity can live in harmony, believing instead that the masquerade must be maintained for the good of ''both'' groups due to how easily things could go off the rails. It's later revealed that beyond containment, [[spoiler:Jaune allows dozens of anomalies, both in and outside Vale, to roam free so long as they can keep a low profile, being on friendly terms and working alongside several that live in the city proper. Naturally, he never reports their existences to his family, and he also refuses to let Ozpin know about this element of his beliefs as well, as he doesn't want the parasite to think he can be fully swayed to his viewpoint either.]]

* {{Fangirl}}: Ruby became one for Jaune and ARC Corp when she saw him kill an anomaly and has decided she wants to work for ARC Corp. Jaune is very much against it, not just because she is fifteen years old and thus too young to work there full-time, but also because she's a huntress-in-training and he doesn't want to risk Ozpin's wrath.

** Downplayed with Ruby. She spends the first few dozen chapters badgering Jaune about working for ARC Corp, eventually getting him to let her work there for a week to fulfill the work experience requirement her school has and becoming an office-sitter afterwards. Since she's a Huntress-in-training, she does manage to carry her weight when she does end up in field alongside Jaune and Blake, even managing to [[spoiler:save them both after the two are trapped by the farmers exploiting the Wheat Valley anomaly]]. It doesn't stop Jaune from disliking that she's so adamant about becoming a part of the business, temporarily firing her at one point and telling Blake he has no plans to hire her full-time once she turns 17, but this is purely because he doesn't want to see a friend get hurt as opposed to thinking Ruby is a hinderance.
** Played with in regards to Amber, Jaune's youngest sister. She ends up having to intern at the Containments Branch due to staffing issues caused by the Mountain Glenn incident necessitating that both her and Lavender (Jaune's other younger sister) quickly be brought up to speed and start running their own offices. She's still helpful due to at least having a theoretical knowledge of everything to do with anomalies, but her presence nevertheless frustrates all parties involved, as the rest of ARC Corp wouldn't have sent her to Jaune if they had an actual choice, while Jaune and Blake are put off by having to deal with a spoiled brat who hates the former and will happily inform everyone else if she sees something suspicious about the way they operate. Even Amber ''herself'' doesn't want to be there, due to hating the thought of working under her anomalous brother at the only branch of the organization that isn't about killing anomalies with extreme prejudice.

** Jaune and Ozpin openly dislike each other, but they do agree that anomalies shouldn't be abused. When the latter comes across a potential anomaly, he will tell Jaune about it so he can handle it (assuming it isn't something he can use himself) and he helps cover it up to keep the peace. And despite the constant barbs, their relationship is far more civil compared to Ozpin's relationship with the rest of ARC Corp, as while Jaune simply wants to see him contained, his father wants Ozpin dead and tried to kill him the last time he was in Vale (Ozpin doesn't seem to hold a grudge about it, though).

* KarmaHoudini: Roman Torchwick runs off to Mistral with the money he got from selling stolen dust and doesn't get punished for his crimes.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Subverted. [[spoiler:Jaune assumed this about Cora, and fervently tried to take it down. Eventually, he realized that it was benign, but by that point, he'd completely destroyed any hope for any real friendship, and so now they mostly avoid each other and use a middleman whenever they need to communicate.]]

* InstantAIJustAddWater: [[spoiler:Cora is this, somehow gaining complete sentience despite having been nothing more than an aimbot that her creator made to cheat in online shooters. For once, Jaune fully admits to Blake that he's just as baffled that such a thing happened to an aimbot of all things, as opposed to a more complex AI, but suggests that they not dwell on it.]]

** Jaune tells Blake that this is the reason behind his awkward relationship with [[spoiler:Cora, an anomalous AI]]. He was so convinced that they were secretly evil that by the time they finally got on the same page, too much damage had been done for them to become anything other than begrudging acquaintances.

* FateWorseThanDeath: For the crime of rifling through girls' unmentionables in their private quarters, the ''Blank Slate'' pervert's fate is to live the rest of their life without anyone being able to meaningfully interact with them, as all identifying information beyond the immediate fact of their existence is permanently wiped from reality, including their own mind. Plus they only have one hand. Jaune muses whether it would be a mercy to let them abuse the power until even that last aspect is erased (their mind, not their hand).

* KansasCityShuffle: In Chapter 80, [[spoiler:when taking calls from members of the Vale anomalous community who are reporting what they know about members of an anomalous terrorist group who are attempting to fight [[TheMenInBlack ARC Corp]], one of said members calls Blake directly with the promise of rating out the entire group if she meets him in the old warehouse district. Jaune and Blake know that it's an obvious ambush to kill or take them hostage, but play along knowing it'll be the quickest way to take out the most zealous members of the organization.]] The following chapter reveals that [[spoiler:while it was an ambush, it was one organized by the Albain Brothers, who propose that the Containments Office let the terrorist cell go free and build a community on Menagerie (and presumably work for the White Fang). Since fighting them on it would result in the White Fang exposing ''everything'' that's been going on in Vale to the rest of ARC Corp -- who would swiftly kill everyone, including Jaune and Blake, if they knew -- the duo has no choice but to concede.]]

* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: While Jaune seeks to record and contain as many anomalies as possible, and even [[spoiler:works alongside them]], Nicholas errs on the side of MurderIsTheBestSolution and prefers to eliminate all anomalies found. This contrast is also found in their office names; Nicholas runs the Blades Office, while Jaune runs the Containments Office.

* MissingMom: Juniper Arc. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that she died on the outskirts of Mountain Glenn, meaning that unbeknownst to her family, she was close enough to the city to become subject to the affects of its anomaly. Blake encounters her ten years later, still attempting to research and stop the anomaly.]]

* TrapIsTheOnlyOption:
** When Weiss visits the office to warn Jaune and Blake that [[spoiler:Winter is planning another auction, this time with an anomaly capable of curing anomalous inflictions]], they immediately realize that it's a trap meant specifically for Jaune, since such a thing can't exist. However, they decide to go anyway as an excuse to directly confront them.
** [[spoiler:While taking calls from members of the Vale anomalous community who are reporting what they know about members of an anomalous terrorist cell who are attempting to fight ARC Corp in an attempt to gain more freedoms, one of said members calls Blake directly with the promise of rating out the entire group... if she meets him alone at an abandoned warehouse in the dead of night. [[SchmuckBait You know, just to talk.]]]] Jaune and Blake roll their eyes at the obvious setup for an ambush, but play along knowing it'll be the quickest way to take out the most zealous members of the organization. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}} when it turns out that the anomalous group are working under the guidance of the White Fang, [[IKnowYouKnowIknow who knew they knew]], and instead use the ambush to trap them into making a deal that lets them go Scott free.]]

** [[spoiler:While taking calls from members of the Vale anomalous community who are reporting what they know about members of an anomalous terrorist cell who are attempting to fight ARC Corp in an attempt to gain more freedoms, one of said members calls Blake directly with the promise of rating out the entire group... if she meets him alone at an abandoned warehouse in the dead of night. [[SchmuckBait You know, just to talk.]]]] Jaune and Blake roll their eyes at the obvious setup for an ambush, but play along knowing it'll be the quickest way to take out the most zealous members of the organization.

*** Weiss is at the very least aware and complicit in the SDC selling anomalies for profit. Though she is more of a white sheep in the family, as she is at least willing to work with Jaune Arc to give him information when an item her family auctioned is being used at Beacon, likely out of concern for her friends being caught in the crossfire. [[spoiler:Even after her family, sans her little brother, are killed by Jaune and Blake, she doesn't become vengeful towards them (though obviously not happy with them or about what happened), and her focus is not being killed by other, less scrupulous members of the Arc family.]]
** Saphron is perfectly willing to kill Jaune when he gets caught by an Anomaly without even trying to rescue him. Ozpin indicates that the entire Arc family in general had so many children just because they wanted to be able to replace any that die in the line of duty.

* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: When Weiss visits the office to warn Jaune and Blake that [[spoiler:Winter is planning another auction, this time with an anomaly capable of curing anomalous inflictions]], they immediately realize that it's a trap meant specifically for Jaune, since such a thing can't exist. However, they decide to go anyway as an excuse to directly confront them.

*** Weiss is at the very least aware and complicit in the SDC selling anomalies for profit. Though she is more of a white sheep in the family, as she is at least willing to work with Jaune Arc to give him information when an item her family auctioned is being used at Beacon, likely out of concern for her friends being caught in the crossfire. [[spoiler:Although time will tell if she gets any worse now that ARC Corp has officially wiped out her family.]]

* OhCrap: Hazel states that this was Salem's immediate reaction upon getting an update about what Cinder was doing in Vale, with him receiving little instruction outside the need to assure Arc Corp that she had ''absolutely nothing'' to do with Cinder's plans to steal from the organization.

** The creature haunting the Scarlatina home is ''profoundly'' creepy and scares Blake half to death, but Jaune is fairly sure it doesn't want to hurt anyone (if it did, it would have already) and is just curious about the newcomers. At seeing more of its behavior, the conclusion Jaune comes to is that its protective of things familiar to it, Blake is similar enough to the house's normal occupants that it recognizes her, and Jaune is different enough that it's trying to protect ''her'' from ''him''. The one time she does lash out and strike it in fear, it's not only physically but ''emotionally'' hurt because it was only trying to help. The duo end up adopting the creature after the mission.

** Here, Grimm and Aura are both anomalies (named ''Brothers Grimm'' and ''Light Of The Soul'') that were let loose into the world during the containment breach that brought the Arc family their name, instead of being created by the Brother Gods or being the remnants of Old Humanity's magic. Similarly, the Dust used for practically every industrial purpose you can find is a byproduct of the anomaly ''All Becomes Dust'', which Nicholas Schnee and Serenity Arc stole away as they betrayed the ARC Corporation.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Salem is still the leader of the Grimm and is dead set on trying to kill Ozma (with a willingness to destroy Vale as well if it could allow her to accomplish her goal), but she is also shown to be unflinchingly polite as well to Jaune, treating him like family. A far cry from the Salem from canon, who was FauxAffablyEvil to everyone around her, and was willing to coldly harm or dismiss her own minions if she was displeased with them.

* BatmanGambit: After realizing the invisible Beacon student is following their investigation, Jaune does two things: he tells the Beacon faculty that he's ID'd the perpetrator, and he lets the story leak out to the student body. This provokes the student into attacking them that night, where Jaune and Blake are able to defeat them.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Blake views Jaune's family in this manner as she learns more about them. It comes to a head when she calls Saphron after Jaune is captured during a mission and, rather than start planning a rescue, Saphron talks about {{Mercy Kill}}ing her brother without a second thought and finding someone to replace him. She's so aghast when Jaune not only explains afterwards that this is standard procedure, but also implies that some of his other siblings would actually get some enjoyment from murdering him, that she drags him off to meet her parents so he can know what an actual loving family is like. Her hatred of them manages to deepen even more when she learns that [[spoiler:several of his siblings indeed wish he was dead, and that Jaune's father actually did attempt to kill him at one point, only stopping when one of his sisters pointed out that he could make for an interesting test subject.]] For his part, Jaune is well aware that his family is awful, though it's unclear how deep his awareness of their hatred for him goes: it's telling that the family member he likes and admires the most is [[spoiler: his godmother, Salem, if only because their shared anomalous nature helps them bond]].

** Saphron isn't outright abusive towards Jaune but she clearly looks down on him, continues to doubt his abilities, and their relationship is very strained. Jaune admits in Chapter 13 that they argued a lot before he got his own office, due to his stance on wanting to contain anomalies rather than kill them all with extreme prejudice. Becomes a definite example by Chapter 18, where she decides to kill Jaune rather than rescue him from an anomaly.
** And she's implied to be one of his ''better'' family relationships, as Jaune later claims that while Saphron would have at least felt bad about it (despite her seeming almost indifferent about his survival), he simply says of his other siblings that "some would enjoy [killing him] more than others", which is backed up by Coral's own statements regarding Jaune's place in the family several chapters later.

* NervesOfSteel: In sharp contrast to Blake, Jaune tends to keep a cool head when dealing with anomalies, likely because he's been dealing with them longer and knows how to tell if the anomaly in question is hostile or not.

** Ruby's reaction to the Guardian Weaver -- which is a dog-sized spider with a human-like face -- is to hug it, call it cute, and croon over like it's an actual dog.
* NonMaliciousMonster: The ''Guardian Weaver'' (or Timothy, as Jaune calls him) may look like a giant monster spider, but he's ultimately harmless. Or, rather, isn't easily provoked. Jaune's first observation of him is that he's been in the Scarletina house for a long time, yet has never once made a violent move against anyone inside. Indeed, it would rather find a nice place to hide if when personally threatened, only turning violent to protect others.

** The creature haunting the Scarlatina home is ''profoundly'' creepy and scares Blake half to death, but Jaune is fairly sure it doesn't want to hurt anyone (if it did, it would have already) and is just curious about the newcomers. At seeing more of its behavior, the conclusion Jaune comes to is that it's protective of things familiar to it, Blake is similar enough to the house's normal occupants that it recognizes her, and Jaune is different enough that it's trying to protect ''her'' from ''him''. The one time she does lash out and strike it in fear, it's not only physically but ''emotionally'' hurt because it was only trying to help.

** Downplayed and PlayedForLaughs in regards to Jaune and Blake's first mission. Jaune quickly comes to the conclusion that the anomaly in the Scarlatina residence isn't dangerous because it had not done the residents any harm despite having had plenty of opportunities to do so. As such, Jaune is calm and relaxed when it comes over and looms over him in his sleep. Unfortunately, he hadn't bothered to inform Blake of his analysis before the two decide to sleep to lure it out, thinking that it was obvious. This results in her being stressed out and paranoid, thinking it would try to eat her or worse. Since she was left unable to sleep, Blake panics upon finally seeing it. She rightfully punches him in the gut for not mentioning the anomaly's harmlessness.
** Jaune tells Blake that this is the reason behind his awkward relationship with [[spoiler:Cora, an anomalous AI]]. He was so convinced that they were secretly evil that by the time they finally got on the same page, too much damage had been done for them to become anything than begrudging acquaintances.

** The ''Blank Slate'' hides the holder from sight... then from public record, then from history, memory, and ''causality'', which persists after the anomaly is taken away. Even their identity at a conceptual level is hidden, so much so that people staring right at them can't distinguish any details about them at all.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: ZigZagged. Trying to benefit off of anomalies resulted in the mass security breach that destroyed the original ARC Corp, so the current company finds the idea of trying to sell them abhorrent. This puts then in direct opposition to the Schnee family, which collects and sells anomalies in underground auctions.

* ForWantOfANail:
** Blake does not get into Beacon because she betrays Adam like in canon but then escapes the train early, instead of riding the train into Vale. She never meets Ozpin and never forms a deal with him to become a huntress.
** Ruby wasn't invited to attend Beacon early because the night of Torchwick's robbery, she got sidetracked watching Jaune, who is in the middle of an anomaly bust. Ozpin does grant her the offer regardless when he runs into her at Jaune's office in an early chapter, but by that point she's too enamored with Arc Corp to care, and has even decided she no longer wants to be a huntress.
** Because Jaune, Blake, Ruby, and Pyrrha don’t go to Beacon this time around, Yang, Weiss, Nora, and Ren end up forming Team YWRN (Yarn).

** ARC Corp, specifically Saphron Arc, are implied to have destroyed Kuroyuri in this timeline, yet Ren and Nora still survived and eventually enrolled in Beacon.
** Despite the different history behind the founding of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee still marries his way into the family and is the CEO by the present day, though it's suggested he's only the public face and others pull the strings for the anomalous side of the business.

* InstantAIJustAddWater: [[spoiler:Cora is this, somehow gaining complete sentience despite having been nothing more complicated than an aimbot that her creator made to cheat in online shooters. Jaune fully admits to Blake that he's just as baffled that such a thing happened to an aimbot of all things, as opposed to a more complex AI, but suggests that they not dwell on it.]]

** What Jaune concludes to be the motive behind the Schnee auctions. The family definitely doesn't need the money, and given that items like the Blank Slate ended up in the hands of a Beacon student, they don't seem too concerned about getting maximum profit for selling anomalies either. As such, he can only assume they just get pleasure in whatever mayhem might be caused, an idea that only gets more credence when the auction Blake and Roman attend immediately triggers a large-scale gang war.

** Similarly, there is friction between different offices of ARC Corp, particularly in regards to the Fist Office run by Saphron and Terra Arc, as they are typically called in as reinforcements against particularly nasty anomalies, meaning they wind up stepping on the other party's toes more often than not. This is especially the case where the Containments Branch is concerned, as their mission of containing and policing anomalies rather than killing them makes them the least-trusted, and thus the most subject to Saphron coming in and pulling rank if a situation in Vale to deemed to concern the entire organization.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Working for ARC Corp and regular interaction with anomalies invokes this in Blake, as after the mess that was Mountain Glenn, she finds that Timothy no longer remotely scares her and joins Jaune and Ruby in treating it as the TeamPet. She even notes how silly it was to ever fear him, as he is basically a ball of affection.

* MistakenForRomance: Due to their apparent closeness, several characters assume that Blake and Jaune are romantically involved at first glance, with them expressing surprise or disbelief whenever Blake insists [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend this isn't the case]]. For her part, Blake explains to Ruby at one point that Jaune himself isn't the reason for her being disgusted by the idea, though she doubts they would make a good couple considering her (and especially his) copious amounts of baggage, but rather the rest of Arc family. [[spoiler:She later realizes she ''does'' feel this way about Jaune, to her chagrin and everyone else's smugness.]]

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Jaune brings up an anomaly called the “Blood that Feeds”, a disease that gives victims a craving for blood. They’ll remain alive so long as they continue to consume blood, but their bodies will eventually rot away until they’ll essentially “walking sacs of blood”. The mythical vampire was made up as part of a cover story when the disease broke out across Mistral a few hundred years ago.

* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:Chapters 54 and 55 concern Jaune and Blake investigating a house that Blake eventually realizes is stuck in a temporal loop, with the mysterious actions they've being seeing having been performed by themselves during a different part of the loop. They make sure to re-create everything they saw happen throughout the day before escaping the house... only to end up at that office earlier that day, with Blake transformed into the woman who gave them the job. Blake goes in puts in the job request to make it a StableTimeLoop, and the two go off to get breakfast to prevent further interaction with their past selves and avoid thinking about how long they may have unknowingly been stuck in the house.]]