Russel Thrush in Service with a Smile

In *Service with a Smile*, **Russel Thrush** is a secondary protagonist working at Jaune Arc's coffee shop alongside Velvet Scarlatina. He is a member of Team CRSN alongside his partner, Pyrrha Nikos, and team mates Sky Lark and leader Cardin Winchester. He is first mentioned by Glynda Goodwitch in chapter 3 as she discusses the troubles with Team CRSN and makes his first appearance in chapter 8 looking for a job. His final physical appearance is in chapter 61 following the Vytal Festival and he is last mentioned in chapter 62 by Jaune after the Beacon Academy examinations.

## Background

> "*Villains aren't cartoonishly evil people living, breathing and eating misery...[They're] normal people.*"
> ― Coeur Al'Aran to The Increasing, 2017 September 25[[source]]
>
>

In canon *RWBY*, Russel Thrush is presented as a one-dimensional school bully whose main purpose is to mock Velvet Scarlatina for her Faunus traits alongside Cardin Winchester, run in fear from an Ursa Major, get unceremoniously defeated alongside the rest of Team CRDL by Pyrrha Nikos in a 4-versus-1 spar, and get unceremoniously defeated in a 2-versus-2 round against Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil. Coeur decided that black-and-white representation of Team CRDL was inadequate and seeked to expand their characterization beyond one-dimensional racists, giving them a fuller background. In particular, they received this in *Professor Arc*, where they became better people by the time the Arc family visited. The rest of Team CRDL also received favorable treatment in *The Beacon Civil War*, where they threw their support behind Jaune to lead them to victory during the Beacon Civil War, gaining great respect for Jaune in the process. Coeur would explore this concept further in 2021 with the publication of *The Self Made Man*, where he affirmed his belief that Team CRDL members were likeable if one was not a Faunus or making them look stupid.

## Service with a Smile from Russel's Perspective

### Prelude

Russel Thrush was born in 17 BB in a small village settlement in Vale to an unknown mother and father. At some point, due to chronic abuse, Russel's mother left and never returned, not taking him with her in the process. Russel's father blamed him for his mother leaving, and started beating him. To keep his father inebriated, Russel started working in 4 BB to get money at the age of 13, lying about his age to receive employment. Russel had his income stolen by his father for illicit habits including prostitution and drugs. Russel's résumé indicates that he has extended history working in the service industry, with several references affirming that Russel worked hard, interacted well with customers, and had a consistent record of not calling in sick. According to Mr. Mars, a former employer of Russel, he mentions that Russel's father was a known issue in his community, and that he specifically chose a mohawk style to make sure he did not resemble his father.

According to Russel, after an instance of using stimulants, he had a seizure and vomited in front of Cardin. Russel states Cardin was not sympathetic, but still took him to the nearest hospital. Russel did not see Cardin again until he met him at another restaurant, with the latter trying to get him fired by telling his employer he was a drug addict. At some point, Russel started talking with Cardin, and the two became friends. Eventually in 2 BB, Russel lost one of his jobs due to family conditions out of his control, resulting in a loss of his income and his father becoming sober. According to Russel, Cardin intervened as Russel's father was beating him within an inch of his life, attacking with intent to kill until Russel pulled him off. Cardin later told Russel to live with him, and spent the next two years helping him train to join Beacon Academy (31).

#### Beacon Acceptance

Russel mentions that he desired to get away from his home situation, and worked to earn more disposable income so he could receive training and apply for Beacon Academy. Russel was accepted and passed initiation, becoming partners with Pyrrha Nikos and ending up on a team with Sky Lark and Cardin Winchester, known as Team CRSN. According to Glynda Goodwitch, Russel and Pyrrha initially had amiable interactions, but a short while later, something happened that resulted in antagonism to the extent they would not sit together in class.

### Applying for Jaune's

Russel soon noticed a job poster Yang put up around Beacon as part of her guilt for dislocating Jaune's shoulder and decided to apply for a part-time job as a waiter at Jaune's. He prepared his résumé and travelled into Vale to meet with Jaune on Wednesday. Co-incidentally, he happened to see Velvet Scarlatina, who was also curious to get a job. Jaune was busy interviewing Velvet, so Russel told Jaune that he could wait and take as much time as he needed. After around 10 minutes, Jaune finished his interview with Velvet and met with Russel to discuss his credentials. When interviewed by Jaune Arc, he told Jaune that his mother died when he was young, while his father lost his job and fell to substance abuse. Russel presented his résumé to Jaune, explaining that he has a consistent service work history and that he would like to earn money while enrolled at Beacon. When Jaune was getting a read on Russel, he could not detect fabrications in his story and empathized with his home situation. When Jaune asked whether he could call the references, Russel approved the notion, mentioning that one restaurant would not open until after 7 PM, but others were available for reference. As Russel and Velvet waited, the two engaged in conversation, until Jaune summoned Velvet to follow him. Later, Jaune revealed to Team RWBY that he hired both Russel and Velvet. As the quintet engaged in further discussion, Yang mentioned Russel's schedule would be similar to theirs since they were first-years, which Jaune accounted for, mentioning Russel would arrive for the last two hours of the day, conduct an eight-hour shift on Saturday, and a four-hour shift on Sunday. When Coeur was asked by Slenderbrine whether he was conspiring to pair Velvet with all members of Team CRDL, Coeur responded that at this point, Russel and Velvet were "not exactly friends."

### First Day of Work

Russel's first day of work on Thursday saw him engage positively with three different customers. According to Jaune, Russel arrived 15 minutes early for his shift and required minimal oversight to handle the equipment. When engaging with families, Russel would take orders directly from the children, which gave reassurance for people concerned with his "punk rock" appearance. After noticing Jaune interacting with Alexander Sterling, Russel came over and asked about the situation. Jaune reasusred him that he did not know Alexander, and that they likely would not see him again, and the two decided to get back to work.

### Café Prime Emergence

On Friday, Jaune and Russel noticed activity was down compared to previous days. Upon closer inspection from intelligence collected by Ruby Rose, they realized there was another coffee establishment that looked to siphon Jaune's customer base by giving free drings for huntsmen and huntresses. Russel noted from his experience that restaurant competition was fierce, but informed Jaune that he still had an advantage in customer service. Russel pointed out that while Café Prime could produce drinks more quickly and cheaply, they could not appeal to customers more personally compared to Jaune. Coeur affirms this, stating that Jaune's advantages lay in the fact that he was a smaller company and that he only needed to watch over himself, Russel, and Velvet.

#### Collecting Intelligence

Later in the day, Russel accompanied Velvet to collect more intelligence on Café Prime. Russel immediately noted that the restaurant served to maximize the customer:surface area ratio and that the coffee cups were made out of cardboard. As a Café Prime waitress arrived, Russel prompted an interaction with a glowering expression. After the waitress left, Russel explained to Velvet that the Café Prime staff acted more like robots than engaged employees, creating a façade of interest before moving on. Russel and Velvet engaged in further dialogue, noting they received different people each time, creating a less personal experience. Russel pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of personal connectivity, as it is easier to remember a few people at a smaller establishment, but any mistakes made by one employee reflects poorly on the entire company. Another piece of advice Russel points out is that customers and waiters tend to miscommunicate their verbal cues, recommending that Velvet look over peoples' heads to avoid this miscommunication. Velvet, applying the ideas, mentions that Coco Adel tended to get frustrated when people took away her food before she was finished. Russel, satisfied with the example, recommended that Velvet pretend other customers were like Coco to motivate optimal service.

#### Encountering Cardin

As Russel was satisfied with the progress he was making becoming friends with Velvet, he was dismayed to realize his team leader, Cardin Winchester, was also present. Russel soon found the situation awkward, as he felt an obligation to appeal to Cardin's ingrained racial discrimination while maintaining a friendly attitude in front of Velvet. This effort failed, resulting in Velvet being cold towards Russel, much to his frustration. After returning to Jaune's, Jaune contragulated Russel and Velvet on collecting quality notes, but noticed the two were quiet since their return. After considering the notes with Team RWBY, they began devising an idea to attract a greater customer base by appealing to a sense of fun that Café Prime could not match.

## References

1. ↑ **The thing about CRDL is that I imagine they're actually very likeable if you're not a) a faunus or b) someone showing them up in class.**
2. ↑ Pyrrha Nikos and Russel Thrush hadn't seemed like an entirely bad partnership at first, but something had clearly happened. Now, the two couldn't so much as speak to one another, and often sat on opposite ends of the classroom. They weren't antagonistic, thankfully. They just avoided one another… all the time.
3. ↑ Russel and Velvet are not exactly friends
4. ↑ [Jaune's] advantages being that he is a small company and can therefore afford to be more specialised, more generous and also to provide better service....Jaune just has to watch himself and Russel at the moment, and Velvet a little later.