I made a headcanon post a while ago about Halo hcs when I was less familiar with some of the books & graphic novels and ngl I hold myself to a lot of those! I stand by what I said!
But I also have more thoughts now so I'm handing these over. (Headcanons under the cut to keep the post short for those scrolling by!)
— I still stand by my headcanon of Fred being the one to drag the rest of Blue Team out of danger and help patch them up on the field. But now I would like to add onto this with my headcanon that it takes ALL THREE OF THEM to drag HIM out of stupid situations he gets himself into because hes too stubborn to give up.
And since Kelly is an enabler, and Linda is happy to watch people get themselves in trouble for fun....... usually he's on his own LMAO
— Linda is basically a herding dog. Since she usually brings up the back, being a sniper and all, she's gotten very good at keeping the rest of Blue Team in front of her. This has translated also into her being exceptional at headcounts and herding Marines around - squad leaders who have seen this in action LOVE this about her. Especially when they've got new recruits who aren't quite used to active fights.
— Vale and Thel have in depth discussions about Sangheili culture when possible. Vale is thoughtful and considerate, and very respectful, and has a lot of by-the-book knowledge. Thel is trying to figure out how to honor tradition while allowing his home to evolve alongside new technology and new times, and is also still working to reconnect with his culture.
They end up being very good friends. Vale is one of the only Spartans that Thel openly speaks kindly of in any measure, the only others, of course, being Chief and his team.
— Rtas has olfactory hallucinations where he smells the Flood under times of extreme stress. He always only asks Thel to verify if its really there - and Thel is extremely patient with him and never judges his anxiety about the possibility of having to face the parasite again.
Over time, the hallucinations get weaker, and the stress threshold it takes to make them appear gets higher, resulting in fewer hallucinations over all. Thel silently celebrates the milestones Rtas doesnt realize, when he goes a long time without having a hallucination again.
— Chief once asked Cortana how the Flood smelled.
Her entire response was "never ask me that again."
— Thel also developed a fondness for Cortana, in his own way, when fighting alongside Chief. He was fascinated and inspired by the trust those two shared, and learning she became... well. What she was. Did sadden him, but also strengthened his resolve to ensure his people would be ready to fight for their home, and to help the UNSC, if Chief needed his aid.
— Vale and Buck initally clashed HORRIBLY. It took them a week or two before they settled and got more comfortable with each other. Turns out, Buck is just bad at controlling his own tone, and Vale didn't exactly get much practice with socializing as a teenager, plus she didnt know about Victoria...
...yeah turns out finding your teammate just Talks Like That and ISN'T trying to hit on you ends up making him a lot more likeable.
— Joyeuse really, really, REALLY wants to meet the rest of Blue Team, some day. Chief doesn't really say anything, not wanting to be wrong about it happening some day if he never sees them again, but he also would love to introduce his new AI companion to his siblings.
— Related: Chief is afraid to introduce Esparza to Blue Team because he doesn't want them to scare the poor guy to death.
— Spartan Locke is not good at picking locks. Of any kind.
(He's good at breaking them, though.)
— Jorge's sacrifice was inspired by what happened to Sam. It's why he knew he'd be able to take that ship down.
— Palmer admires Blue Team the way you'd admire a well trained attack dog. Respectfully, being impressed by them, but also while being acutely aware that interactions with them should be handled with care so not to incite aggression.
— This is until she hits it off with Kelly and realizes the team banters basically 24/7 through subtle body language shifts, HUD signals, and hand signs. Then she's not so wary of them. They only look serious for the sake of morale and upholding their training.
— Many Spartan IIs practice Reach's native tongue whenever they can, often holding conversations with each other in it, to keep the language alive however they can. When Marines or ship personnel from Reach hear this, the ensuing excitement and conversation tends to lead to a massive morale boost among the ship's crew.
— Privately, Cortana always had a fondness for cataloging data about alien lifeforms she came across with Chief. Joyeuse would also pick up this habit, but unlike Cortana, she comments on it freely.
It's a welcome habit, as far as Esparza's concerned. Makes all this unfamiliar bullshit a whole lot less intimidating...
(Both Cortana and Joyeuse are from brain scans of Halsey's, after all. Of course they'd have the same fascination with unfamiliar biology as their maker.)
