History Fanfic / Redemption

* TheBeard: [[spoiler:After the fall of Beacon, when Team CRDL becomes the keystone of the shelter's defence, Glynda has Russel pretend to be in a relationship with the Malachite twins to project an image of Team CRDL being unspeakable badasses who have everything under control to keep the refugees' morale up.]]

* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Jaune. Oh dear God, Jaune. Russel and Cardin both separately wonder if this is his Semblance.

--->He’s looking at me with big, pained eyes. He looks like a puppy that’s been kicked. In the groin.
--->I let out a heartfelt groan. ‘I’ll only do it if you all agree to never bring this up again.’

* KnightInSourArmour: Russel, after [[spoiler: Violet’s death]].

* SurvivorGuilt: Russel, due to [[spoiler: Violet’s suicide]].

** [[spoiler: Jaune's canon semblance works similar to Russel's.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: When the hunter shadowing mission started the author announced the story would get both physically and mentally dark. Cue [[spoiler: largely underground battles with masses of Grimms inside a mass grave]]. Afterwards, when they reconnect with the other teams after the Breach, [[spoiler: a bomb that the White Fang has left for Blake is triggered. Blake is severely injured, and Russel heals her despite his Semblance and Aura being dangerously low. The strain of this leaves Russel comatose and on life support for a day]].

* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler: Violet]].
* DidntSeeThatComing: Sky accidentally does this to Ozpin and Goodwitch. As his Semblance makes him a living lie detector, he can identify when they aren't telling the truth about [[spoiler: their reasons for firing Russel as the tournament's medic]]. After CRDL confronts Goodwitch, [[spoiler: Qrow is sent to explain the situation, to try and limit the damage that CRDL may unwittingly cause by blundering in unaware]].

* EccentricMentor: Wivern, one of the Huntsmen CRDL shadows on their mission during the Breach of Beacon. To be fair, though, [[InsistentTerminology he's not their mentor]].
** He also appears to be a SinkOrSwimMentor, but that is ultimately subverted and lampshaded: while he was content to let Russel and Cardin fight Grimm by themselves, he also pointed out that he wasn't exactly going to stand by and let them get mauled if they were in over their heads, and he did also need to get an idea of their skill levels.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Because of the aesthetic differences between Russel and the rest of CRDL, the author made Russel a character who was originally from Vacuo, and who had moved to Vale to enrol in Beacon. This is superficially similar to Sun Wukong, and when Russel and Sun meet [[spoiler: at the dance]], they discover they have several friends in common. What Russel doesn't realise is that [[spoiler: one of those friends told Sun about Russel and about Violet's death, and that Sun, not realising Russel had only told CRDL, let the information slip out to RWBY.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: Dove and Sky, to Dove's family.
** Cardin to his team (once he's gotten over his more dictatorial instincts).

* StrawmanHasAPoint: The story explains in context why Jaune forging his transcripts is a worse offense than people usually believed.

* EvilMentor: Downplayed. Because Corvus and Wivern [[spoiler: lie about their true names]] CRDL is justifiably suspicious. However, it's revealed that [[spoiler: they are legitimate Huntsmen, and they are on a necessary mission. They're also Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long. When Russel [[StepfordSnarker reveals]] [[BuxomIsBetter in a]] [[ShesGotLegs very]] [[MaleGaze misogynistic way]] that he's interested in Yang, Taiyang almost chokes and Qrow has to make sure Tai doesn't break their cover]].

* HilariousInHindsight: Sky and Russel argue over what is Yang's best feature (her chest or her ass) [[spoiler:right in front of her father, who is in disguise at the time]]. When this is revealed to the team, it's several minutes before Dove can speak.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The whole point of the fic.
* AngstWhatAngst: Russel acts like this sometimes to hide his own grief and guilt over [[spoiler: Violet’s suicide]].

* RealityEnsues:
** After [[spoiler: draining his Aura by healing Blake of taking a bomb to the face, Russel lapses into a coma and is kept in the infirmary for a number of weeks.]] When [[spoiler: he is released]] his fitness levels are incredibly poor and he has lost much of his stamina.
** Once Ironwood and Ozpin are made aware of Russel's Semblance [[spoiler:of healing]] they [[spoiler:hire him to work as a medic during the Vytal Festival Tournament, while Cinder's faction targets him to prevent him from finding out about Mercury's legs.]]
** Part of CRDL's reason for hating Jaune once they learn of the forged transcripts comes from the logical consequences of this; primarily, that Jaune cost someone who had actually trained for applying to Beacon their chance at attending the Academy, and that it is a legitimate concern that Jaune will hold JNPR back or put the rest of their lives at risk to accomodate for him needing to catch up in terms of skill level.

* NotSoDifferent: Downplayed, subverted and played straight all in one![[spoiler: Ren reveals that he and Nora spent time in foster care after the death of their parents. Russel notes that he feels a stronger connection to Ren as a result, but he never says the same thing about Nora, and he also notes that there is no one type of child produced by the foster care system]].

* RealityEnsues: After [[spoiler: draining his Aura by healing Blake of taking a bomb to the face, Russel lapses into a coma and is kept in the infirmary for a number of weeks.]] When [[spoiler: he is released]] his fitness levels are incredibly poor and he has lost much of his stamina.

* KarmaHoudini: Jaune, to team CRDL. As Russel points out during the Mountain Glenn missions, Jaune displays no regret for costing someone their chance into Beacon due to his forged transcripts and relies on the rest of JNPR
to carry him until he catches up to their level.

* BadPowersBadPeople: Cardin feels he has this before Russel snaps him out of it by pointing out the ways he can use his Semblance to his advantage. His Semblance is to [[spoiler: induce fear]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Russel and his team survive the invasion of Vale, as do many other named characters. However, the events of canon still happen, and Russel willingly gives up trying to reach Yang that night, despite her having already lost her arm, because too many ordinary citizens need his help, and he can't, as already established in-story, can't heal a missing limb. In the aftermath, when Yang completely shuts down as in canon, she doesn't reply to any of his letters.]]

*** Cardin goes from a racist bully to a genuinely good leader and professional Huntsman over the course of their mission. He puts trust in Russel, [[spoiler:uses the Semblance he hated to save his team from a horde of Grimm]] and even [[spoiler:allows Russel to heal Blake despite the very real risk to Russel's life]].
*** Russel goes from an angry, depressed guy suffering the stages of grief to a guy who's happy where he is and who quite clearly adopts CRDL as his new brothers. He also gets over his grief at [[spoiler: Violet's death]], gets a handle on his temper and bad attitude, and [[spoiler: starts a relationship with Yang]].
*** Even Dove and Sky get some: Sky goes from being a nerd who's not great at fighting to being a decent tactician who can come up with a half-dozen possibilities for the motivation behind the invasion of Vale off the top of his head, while Dove goes from being someone whom nobody takes seriously to being a real peacemaker between the teams.
*** This is best seen in their fight against the Grimm, where all of their incompatible or despised Semblances come into play: Cardin [[spoiler: uses his Semblance to draw the Grimm to him and]] triggers the cartridge of fire Dust that Russel gave him; Russel [[spoiler: goes to save him from the collapsing cave and is guided to him by Dove and Sky, Sky using his super senses to tell Dove where to direct them. Russel then heals Cardin, and Cardin returns the favour by pulling Russel to safety.]]
*** There's also the fact that for the most part, none of CRDL care when they find out Blake's a Faunus. By that point, they've gotten a real sense of perspective.
*** Russel's reason for disliking Jaune is that while the members of CRDL are all trying to become better people, Jaune never displays guilt or remorse for sneaking into Beacon under false pretences, and instead keeps benefiting from his more competent friends.

** Russel [[spoiler: is dealing with a lot of grief, but he is also]] just a natural smartass who doesn't suffer fools lightly.

*** Blake’s ears especially, as well as the partnering system and how it matched everyone up romantically.

* PaperThinDisguise: CRDL's supervisors [[spoiler:Qrow and Taiyang]] out of all people, though CRDL do not know them in person.

* PragmaticEvil: [[spoiler: Russel's enemies from Vacuo are bullies, not sociopaths. They defend civilians alongside of CRDL instead of trying to pick another fight in the middle of the invasion.]]

* PungeonMaster: Both Yang and Russel; Ren [[spoiler: who is the JNPR member in their group when the teams are split up for a group assignment]] is less than amused.

** [[spoiler: The semblance cannot recover lost body parts.]]

It is now complete with 42 chapters and is a standalone series without any sequels or spinoffs.

It is now complete with 42 chapters. Some elements in the story have spawned an [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039312/ unofficial but endorsed spin-off]] called ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12646249/1/A-Harvest-of-Dust A Harvest of Dust]]''.

* SequelHook: The last chapter gave a mention to Amber, the Fall Maiden, which is a reference to the spin-off fanfic ''A Harvest of Dust''.

It is now complete with 42 chapters. Some elements in the story has spawned an [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039312/ unofficial but endorsed spin-off]] called ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12646249/1/A-Harvest-of-Dust A Harvest of Dust]]''.

** Once Ironwood and Ozpin are made aware of Russel's Semblance [[spoiler:of healing]] they [[spoiler:hire him to work as a medic during the Vytal Festival Tournament.]]

* SequelHook: The last chapter gavea mention to Amber, the Fall Maiden, which is a reference to the spin-off fanfic ''A Harvest of Dust''.

* StepfordSnarker: Russel, with a vengeance.

* TricksterMentor: [[spoiler:Qrow under the alias Corvus.]]

* FacePalm: Everyone in the team, but especially Sky, who frequently plays the mature one to the rest of his team's antics.

* StraightGay: Dove and Sky.

Because CRDL shows up so infrequently in the actual show, the author invents numerous situations and events, including occasions where CRDL interacts with RWBY and JNPR, to the extent of developing some actual friendships with the main characters that can be pretty {{Heartwarming}}.

* BlessedWithSuck:
** Cardin, whose fear Semblance makes him lethal to his own team in a melee [[spoiler:until he gets control over it]]; Sky, whose super senses make him a hilariously unfit partner for Dove, whose Semblance is basically sonic screaming, and Russel, who hates his Semblance so much he refuses to tell his teammates what it is for almost two semesters.
** Russel's Semblance is revealed to be [[spoiler: healing through absorbing and then suppressing injuries]]. He has a lot of issues with it because [[spoiler: his parents, who were Hunters, and his grandmother, who was old, all died before it manifested, then Violet, who he could have saved if she hadn't set it up otherwise, killed herself in such a way as to make sure he couldn't help her]]. He tells his teammates [[spoiler: that his Semblance is simply absorbing injuries and that he doesn't actually suffer from them; unfortunately, by that point they know him well enough to know he's lying through his teeth. Surprisingly, they see that as very positive because it means he's not suicidal]].
*** Russel's Semblance also [[spoiler: leads him to be targeted by an unknown assailant so that he can't heal Mercury after Mercury is attacked by Yang during the tournament]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Russel and his team survives the invasion of Vale, along with many other named characters. However, Russel also gives up trying to reach Yang that night, willingly, because too many ordinary citizens are waiting for him to help.]]

** [[spoiler: The first 2/3 of Chapter 42, the finale, takes a dive from that.]]

* PragmaticEvil: [[spoiler: Russel's enemies from Vacuo are bullies, not sociopaths. They defend civilians alongside of CRDL instead of trying to pick another fight when the invasion happens.]]
** [[spoiler: Junior Xiong is a nightclub manager with mob connection, but he is very active to offer his building as a public shelter and send his man for disaster relief.]]

** [[spoiler: When Yang is evacuated to Patch in chapter 42, Glynda tried ordering Russel and the Malachite twins to stick together so he can keep his morale up. It works, but is platonic.]]

It is now complete with 42 chapters.

* HurricaneOfPuns: How Yang and Russel's conversations always end up. Ren gets increasingly irritated by it, especially when they start punning with his name.

* TricksterMentor: [[Qrow under the alias Corvus.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''He was lying. Ozpin... was lying to us.]]

Is now complete with 42 chapters.

--->I make the mistake of looking at Scarlet again. He’s looking at me with big, pained eyes. He looks like a puppy that’s been kicked. In the groin.

* TricksterMentor: