History Fanfic / HoldingTheWorldOnTheirShoulders

''Holding the World on their Shoulders'' follows the events of May's time in Atlas Academy, with two sequels; ''Fanfic/LostInTheStorm'' (initially published as part of HTWOTS) which follows May's life after defecting and joining Salem, and ''Fanfic/{{Reignfall}}'', which follows the events of the original show from May's perspective.

* AbusiveParents:
** May and Winter were both raised in households that tried to mold them into just a second version of their parents, with no room for self-exploration or individualism. Jacques disinherits Winter when she decides to become a huntress, while May knows her parents would disown her if she came out as trans. Rhodes was better by comparison, but still treated Cinder less as his daughter and more like an obligation he had to fulfill and didn't rescue her from slavery for ''years''. And that's not even getting into how her adopted mother [[MadeASlave treated her]].
** Marcus Black, Mercury's father, raised Mercury to be a weapon, trained him to kill every day, hit him when drunk, and stole his semblance because it was a "crutch". Amusingly, Marcus is the only parent who's not directly transphobic, presumably because he wanted a son anyway and doesn't care enough about his child to object.
** [[spoiler:A private scene with only her present shows that Salem does truly consider May her daughter, but, in the same breath, she also plans how to best make May into a tool for her to use against Ozpin]].

''Holding the World on their Shoulders'' follows the events of the au up until the events that happen in the show, with the sequel ''Fanfic/{{Reignfall}}'' following the events of the show itself.

* ContinuityNod: One ''looooong'' in the making. In chapter 8, Salem watches the Moirai, a moth-like grimm she originally created to demonstrate her power for Tyrian way back in chapter 10 of ''Holding the World'', float past her window. It's grown a fair bit bigger than then, being roughly seven feet long.

* AdaptationalRelationshipOverhaul:
** Winter and May have so far no indication that they kow each other in the show (though it is not unlikely that they do), but have known each other since they were young children here.
** Cinder, Marrow, May and Winter, who run the gambit from colleagues to bitter enemies in canon, are here teammates with a complicated relationship. Likewise, whereas May is a member of the Happy Huntresses in canon, they are casual acquaintances of her in this continuity.
** Weiss is friends with Ilia, which is a common headcanon, but not supported in the show.
** Fria tells [[spoiler:Cinder]] that she was friends with Cordowin in their academy days.

The fic is loosely inspired by "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/32161645/chapters/79688038 Blackened Bluebird]]", another ''RWBY'' fic with the same premise. Unlike ''HWS'', which gives roughly equal focus to each of its four protagonists, ''Blackened Bluebird'' is entirely centered on May Marigold, who takes the role of Fall Maiden. Both ''Bluebird'' and ''World on their Shoulders'' are deeply angst-filled, bordering on DarkFic. Trigger warnings are provided for each chapter.

* RecursiveFanfiction: While it can be discussed if the fic counts as one itself, being inspired by ''Blackened Bluebird'' but not directly related to it, it does have its own fic in the form of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/41519691 Gayme Night]]'' by The_Valaxy, a shortfic set in an au where the events of "Janus" didn't happen, seeing the Happy Huntresses (including May) playing ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.

* SpecialThanks: The endnotes of the final chapter, "At risk of potentially sounding pretentious for what is the endnotes of a fanfiction", has thanks given to the author's friends, fiancee, author of ''Blackened Bluebird'' and artist that inspired Winter and Cinder's designs.

* RecursiveFanfiction: While it can be discussed if the fic counts as one itself, being inspired by ''Blackened Bluebird'' but not directly related to it, it does have its own fic in the form of [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/41519691 "Gayme Night"]] by The_Valaxy, a shortfic set in an au where the events of "Janus" didn't happen, seeing the Happy Huntresses (including May) playing ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.

* {{Irony}}: May's relationship to Cinder can be best described as "bad and deteriorating". However, after her trip to Vacuo, May swaps out her crossbow-sword for a bow-sword, which is Cinder's WeaponOfChoice in the show.

** When making her new WeaponOfChoice, May plays into the symbolism of it all; Her previous weapon, Matilda, was a comparably small and light bastard sword that worked for proper duels. Her new weapon, Clorinda, is a massive greatsword, representing her not constraining herself and taking up space.

* SwordAndGun: Unlike her BowAndSwordInAccord WeaponOfChoice in canon, Cinder's two swords can here transform into guns. She's the only one on team CASM who uses this combination, since Winter relies on her semblance for ranged attacks and May prefers the crossbow. Marrow's boomerang-rifle can be used as a sword in a pitch,though.

* TrickArrow: May makes heavy use of a grappling hook arrow for her crossbows. After swapping her WeaponOfChoice to a bow, Watts offers to make her sonic arrows.

* WeaponOfChoice:

* FallenHero: The fic chronicles May Marigold's fall from grace, from a WhiteSheep wanting to make up for her family's crimes, to a willing agent for the setting's UltimateEvil, set on ripping Atlas from the sky no matter the cost.

** Ash the pilot is based on Four-Seven-Niner from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: The solver-eyed fox faunus that would become the Hound in the show dies years earlier here, killed by Salem as part of an experiment to create the [[DemonicPossession Doppler]].

* DiesDifferentlyInTheAdaptation: The solver-eyed fox faunus that would become the Hound in the show dies years earlier here, killed by Salem as part of an experiment to create the [[DemonicPossession Doppler]].

* KilledByAdaptation: The solver-eyed fox faunus that would become the Hound in the show dies years earlier here, killed by Salem as part of an experiment to create the [[DemonicPossession Doppler]].

* AdaptationalExpansion: While the parasitic grimm Cinder used to steal the maiden powers was left largely unexplained in the show, the fic dedicates a lengthy arc to show how May retrieved the amulet of health that was used to create something similar.

'''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34252888/chapters/85221154 Holding the World On Their Shoulders]]''' is a ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' RoleSwapAU fic by [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asheskies/pseuds/Asheskies Asheskies]], swapping the roles of Cinder Fall, May Marigold and Winter Schnee. After being saved from slavery by the huntsman Rhodes, Cinder is accepted into the presigious Atlas Huntsman Academy, where she is assigned as a member of team CASM along with; Winter Schnee, the disinherited child of the prestigious Schnee family; [[LastNameBasis Marigold]], another heir with issues relating to their identity; and Marrow Amin, a Mantle native who barely got into Atlas by the skin of his teeth. Over their time at Atlas, all four will attract the attention of forces that seek their loyalties, leading to a quite different story from the one we all know.

* KingOfTheDinosaurs: [[spoiler:The grimm guarding the silent archive is modeled after a t-rex]].

* DoorStopper: Not egregiously so, but at 560,000 words split across 58 chapters, it's the length of a respectable epic, and that's not even counting in the sequel.

** The basic premise is that May Marigold becomes Salem's subordinate in place of Cinder, Cinder [[AdoptiveNameChange Rhodes]] becomes Ironwood's right hand woman in place of Winter, and Winter Schnee becomes a happy huntress in place of May. The meat of the fic is exploring how this swap actually happens, while a planned sequel fic explores how this will impact the main plot of the show.