History Fanfic / Redemption

** How Russel treats [[spoiler: the reveal of Pyrrha's Semblance. Sure, he's mad, but the fact that his armour-wearing teammates kept picking fights with the girl with a Semblance of magnetism is too appealing to his sense of irony for him to hold a grudge. Though he does insist on being the one to tell them.
*** ''On tel'It makes almost dying worth it.'''

* RealityEnsues: After [[spoiler: taking 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.

* CallBack:

** 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]].

* HurricaneOfPuns: How Yang and Russel's conversations always end up. Ren is not amused, especially when they start punning with his name.

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

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

** Dove and Sky are Jerk Bookworms that can also fight.
** Russel builds himself an escapist mindset and uses his background as an excuse.

** 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.

*** 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]].

** 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 power is to induce fear.

** Cardin, whose fear Semblance makes him lethal to his own team in a melee; 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 hasn't even told his teammates what it is yet.

* DarkerAndEdgier: When the hunter shadowing mission started the author announced the story will get both physically and mentally dark. Cue largely underground battles with masses of Grimms inside a mass grave. Afterwards, when they reconnect with the other teams after the Breach, [[spoiler: Russel took a mail package bomb for Blake, leaving him paralyzed and the team unable to take part in the Vytal tournament]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: When the hunter shadowing mission started it is announced to get physically and mentally dark. Cue largely underground battles with masses of Grimms inside a mass grave. Afterwards, when they reconnect with the other teams after the Breach, [[spoiler: Russel took a mail package bomb for Blake, leaving him paralyzed and the team unable to take part in the Vytal tournament]].

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

** 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.

** [[spoiler: Violet]]. A large portion of [[spoiler: Russel’s]] character arc is working out the resulting angst.

* JerkJock:
** The entire group, although for different reasons.

** Dove and Sky suspect that Russel has PTSD; really, it was just the way he was expressing his grief over [[spoiler: losing Violet]] .

''Redemption[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11297352/1/Redemption Redemption]]'' by [=RainStorm4=], is a re-telling of WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} from the point of view of Team CRDL. The author watched the show, decided the GangOfBullies archetype wasn't good enough for a series with such great characters, and took steps to amend that themself. It's told from the point of view of Russel Thrush, who's presented as a DeadpanSnarker with a DarkAndTroubledPast, and shows Cardin as a JerkJock who develops into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold; Sky Lark as a nerd developing into a BadassBookworm; and Dove Bronzewing as the PluckyComicRelief who also serves as TheHeart of the team. Considering that only one of the four was given any personality in the show, this is definitely an improvement.

** Russel, due to Violet’s suicide.

''Redemption[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11297352/1/Redemption]]'' by RainStorm4, is a re-telling of WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} from the point of view of Team CRDL. The author watched the show, decided the GangOfBullies archetype wasn't good enough for a series with such great characters, and took steps to amend that themself. It's told from the point of view of Russel Thrush, who's presented as a DeadpanSnarker with a DarkAndTroubledPast, and shows Cardin as a JerkJock who develops into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold; Sky Lark as a nerd developing into a BadassBookworm; and Dove Bronzewing as the PluckyComicRelief who also serves as TheHeart of the team. Considering that only one of the four was given any personality in the show, this is definitely an improvement.

** Downplayed for Russel: he had several foster-parents and his last ones actually tried to convince him to stay in Vacuo rather than moving to Vale. Also Subverted in that his lack of family made him cling to [[spoiler: Violet]], leaving him emotionally-devastated when [[spoiler: she died]].

** Because of the aesthetic differences between Russel and the rest of CRDL, the author made Russel originally from Vacuo, who had moved to Vale to enrol in Beacon. Russel makes much the same comments about Vacuo and Vale that Sun Wukong do, and when he 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.]]

''Redemption,'' by RainStorm4, is a re-telling of WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} from the point of view of Team CRDL. The author watched the show, decided the GangOfBullies archetype wasn't good enough for such a series with such great characters, and took steps to amend that themself. It's told from the point of view of Russel Thrush, who's presented as a DeadpanSnarker with a DarkAndTroubledPast, and who shows Cardin as a JerkJock who develops into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold; Sky Lark as a BadassBookworm, and Dove Bronzewing as the PluckyComicRelief who also serves as TheHeart of the team. Considering that only one of the four was given any personality in the show, this is definitely an improvement.

Because CRDL shows up so infrequently in the 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}}.

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

** Team CRDL, gradually: Cardin and Russel have a couple of good moments, like when Russel refuses to allow Cardin to become ashamed of his Semblance and when Cardin helps Russel get over Violet’s death, and Sky and Dove, who are partners, are frequently made of this trope.

** Cardin feels he has this before Russel snaps him out of it.

** Cardin, whose fear power makes him lethal to his own team in a melee; Sky, whose super senses make him a hilariously unfit partner for Dove, whose Semblance is SonicScreaming, and Russel, who hates his Semblance so much he hasn't even told his teammates what it is yet.

** Violet.

** Violet. A large portion of Russel’s character arc is working out the resulting angst.

** Downplayed for Russel; his poor attitude, lack of a stable home and decision to date a Faunus girl made him a bit of a social outcast, although he and Sun Wukong do have several friends in common.

** Russel, after Violet’s death.*PosthumousCharacter:
** Violet, Russel’s dead Faunus girlfriend.

* PTSD:
** Dove and Sky suspect that Russel has this; really, it was just the way he was expressing his grief over losing Violet.

** Russel with a vengeance.

''Redemption,'' by RainStorm4, is a re-telling of ''Web-comic/RWBY'' from the point of view of CRDL. The author watched the show, decided the GangOfBullies archetype wasn't good enough for such a series with such great characters, and took steps to amend that themself. It's told from the point of view of Russel Thrush, who's presented as a DeadpanSnarker with a DarkAndTroubledPast, and who shows Cardin as a JerkJock who develops into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold; Sky Lark as a BadassBookworm, and Dove Bronzewing as a GuileHero. Considering that only one of the four was given any personality in the show, this is definitely an improvement.

Because CRDL shows up so infrequently in the show, the author invents numerous instances, 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 {{Crowning Moment of Heartwarming}}.