#jerome 092

[gamelpar]

drops my favorite character in water before pulling them out and flapping them repeatedly against the counter to dry them off

[halo-adicto]

[short-wooloo]

What Spartans Remain?

Because I went down the Halopedia rabbit hole and I'm an obsessive nut, I've put together a list of all the Spartan-IIs, just to figure out who's alive, who's dead, who's missing, and the numbers which are unaccounted for

Alright so, there were at least 150 candidates considered for Spartan-IIs, half were conscripted, and of that 75, we have at least 50 named (or at least numbered) individuals

Alive (when last we saw them):

Jai-006

Naomi-010

Leon-011

Serin-019 (washout)

Robert-025

Douglas-042

Linda-058

Maria-062 (semi-retired)

Cassandra-075 (washout)

Fhajad-084 (washout)

Kelly-087

Jerome-092

Musa-096 (washout)

August-099

Fred-104

Adriana-111

John-117 (duh)

Michael-120

Alice-130

Definitely Dead:

Li-008 (2552)

Daisy-023 (unknown date during war, 2526-2552)

Joshua-029 (2552)

Otto-031 (2557)

Samuel-034 (2525)

Randall-037 (2556)

William-043 (2552)

Anton-044 (2552)

Kurt-051 (2552)

Jorge-052 (2552)

Margaret-053 (2557)

Malcolm-059 (2552)

Sheila-065 (2544)

Solomon-069 (2544)

Spartan-073 (2525)

Arthur-079 (2544)

Grace-093 (2552)

Victor-101 (2557)

Ralph-103 (unknown date during war, 2526-2552)

Oscar-129 (2525)

Cal-141 (2544)

Roma-143 (2557)

Unidentified Trainee (2525)

Unidentified Spartan (2531)

Maybe Dead:

James-005 (2552)

Vinh-030 (2552)

Isaac-039 (2552)

Beta-Romeo Actual (2552)

Red Fifteen (2552)

Red Four (2552)

Red Nineteen (2552)

Status unknown:

Kirk-018 (washout, possibly rehabilitated)

Keiichi-047 (alive as of 2531)

Soren-066 (alive as of 2527)

Rene-081 (washout, possibly rehabilitated)

Joseph-122 (alive as of 2525)

Carris-137 (alive as of 2520)

Spartans-116, 118, 119, 121, 123, and 124 (possibly the unidentified trainee and Spartan, as well ass Beta-Romeo Actual, Red-Fifteen, Red Four, and Red Nineteen)

Missing numbers:

Spartans number 001, 002, 003, 004, 007, 009, 012, 013, 014, 015, 016, 017, 020, 021, 022, 024, 026, 027, 032, 033, 035, 036, 038, 040, 041, 045, 046, 048, 049, 050, 054, 055, 056, 057, 060, 061, 063, 064, 067, 068, 070, 071, 072, 074, 076, 077, 078, 080, 082, 083, 085, 086, 088, 089, 090, 091, 094, 097, 098 (according to the silver timeline, Spartan-098 is named "Nora"), 100, 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 126, 127, 128, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 142, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 (I'm sure I messed up somewhere)

obviously given that not all 150 candidates were recruited, some (about 70) of these numbers did not actually become Spartans, trainees or otherwise, such as Caleb-095, the father of Olympia Vale

Additionally, Spartans-028 (Riz), 125 (Kai), and 134 (Vanak) do exist per 343's internal documentation, but as of yet have not appeared in the Prime timeline

therefore there are about 19 confirmed living Spartans, 24 confirmed dead, 7 possible dead, and 12 unknowns, for a total of 62 (or 65 counting the silvers), so there are at least 10-13 other Spartans we have not met, be they active, retired, washout, dead, or missing

[empresskadia]

Not Everyone Survives [Blue Team| Red Team| Naomi-010]

Prompt: You didn't survive This is my treat for you all, I said, we're gonna be sad together~ I got some Red Team content for you @jackpot-library

Maybe after Cortana, it should've been easier but that was a delusional hope, John doesn't stop, John cannot stop. It's mission after mission for him, with or without Blue team. He gives himself no time to collect himself, John doesn't want to think because if he does, he'd have to accept you're gone. And if he doesn't stop, maybe somewhere, something will stop him and he might get to see his beloved partner again. There isn't a day where he doesn't hold your dog tags and run his thumb across your name or service number and he's so gently with them like it's the last piece of you he has.

For all the battles Kelly's been through, she thought she could handle this death well, especially after losing Sam and the other Spartans, but this was so different. Whenever someone says your name, she'll shuts down, and leave the room without another glance. It doesn't matter if there is an outranking officer on deck, Fred and Linda do their best to cover for her. Kelly's never fully able to let go and always makes it a point to visit your grave often, maybe if she was fast enough this would have never happened.

In his mind, it's his fault, and Fred continuously blames himself, he apologizes again and again while cradling your body until Kelly places a hand on his shoulder. Even then, Fred still feels like you're there with him. Sometimes he'll say something to you and when there's no response, he looks around for a moment before realization sinks in and he apologizes to you again, if only he would've been fast, more prepared and it's a constant cycle that claws at whatever humanity he has left.

It took hours for Linda to move as she sat with your body for a very long, letting the cloth wrap you up, that maybe, you were just asleep under the sheet. For once in her life, she doesn't have the courage, she had held you while you died and it took all her strength. Linda was quiet before but now she only spoke when necessary, and even then, using hand signals more often than not. She always keeps a reminder of you with her, not that she could ever forget, she never would do you the dishonor. It's just a way to keep your memory alive and every shot she makes from then on out is for her partner.

There is a single threat that snapped in Jerome's mind when he witnessed the life drain out of his partner. He held you till the end while you bled out, unable to stop the inevitable no matter how hard he tried, it wasn't enough, he wasn't enough to stop this. And the only answer that's clear in his head is revenge. He will not rest until everyone involved is dealt with and suffers the same fate as his beloved. His partner was the most precious thing to him, and now you were gone, so why shouldn't there be repercussions? Why shouldn't someone pay?

It's hard for Douglas to go on without you, every time he sees someone that even remotely resembles his partner or an object that remembers him of you, his heart stops for a second. He'll visit your grave often with flowers he personally collected and sits there for a long time before telling you about recent missions. He doesn't want his partner to feel lonely, so if no one needs him, that's where the other Spartans can find him. Douglas often tells himself he can handle this, that he has to for your sake because you would be so upset with him if he didn't.

To everyone's surprise, Alice refuses to accept it for the longest time, she saves a seat for you everywhere, even making comments about how she'll tell you about this mission later. No one dares correct her, she wouldn't forgive them. Any weapons her partner may have owned are cared for because she wants them to be perfect for your next use and no one else is allowed to use it. She can't process her grief, this wasn't a challenge, and this wasn't something she could fix, sooner than later her grief turns into anger and Alice can only take it out on the field, littering the ground with her enemies.

Missing her partner hurts like hell; Naomi finally understands the phrase 'a broken heart', it's a wound that will never heal, it's a hole in her chest that will never be content again. And she can only circle back to her thoughts of how lonely you must've felt, that she hadn't been there to die with you or even hold you against her while the light faded from your eyes. Naomi had always been surrounded by death but never believed it could take her partner till she saw your body and could never bring herself to quite look at the stars the same way again. Her star in the sky was no longer there. There is no amount of cheering up that BB or Mal or Vaz can do to bring her back, but she tries to find her partner in the little things, in the breeze kissing her face, in the water dancing against her skin but Naomi misses you and wants her partner back.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Emerging

Wow stumpy - another Flood fic? Yes I like imagery and prose. Title from the song off the album Moon Colony Bloodbath about organ harvesting colonies on the moon. It fits.

Flood POV of "Something Has Happened" from Tales from Slipspace.

-

Hunger moves the body forward. Hunger and loneliness. It - they - need more. Too much energy to think, not enough mass yet. Instinct drives them towards the incubators - cryo tubes, the host brain provides. Context is meaningless, there is sustenance beyond this metal and glass. Sustenance and knowledge.

It was large once. It consumed thousands of fleets, galaxies of flesh and meat and bone, it gathered many under its own mantle. It provided the answers to life and death and a thousand more questions. Then it had been burned by those that came after and before. Left to starve and wait, but time was always on its side.

A rest for the chorus. A lull in the hymn. Voices silenced for but a moment, drawing breath before the crescendo and the return.

There were always mistakes - the vermin kept it weak and small for study. Kept it separated and isolated and frozen, but time was its ally and its sword. These new beings with their false confidence and pitiful weapons. Ancilla, combat skins, and fire. Naught but ants biting as their nest is overturned.

Commandeering vehicles was difficult at this stage, but stowing away was simple. Instinctual. Borrowed muscle and memory of layouts. Ships meant fleets, meant hangars and hallways and dark spaces. A way off their weapon-worlds. A way to spread anew.

Animal fear spiked in the half-subsumed host. Adrenaline and pheromones cataloged and then silenced. Such a strange way of being. So sad. Weak and alone. What was one compared to many-in-one? Compared to a veritable colony of minds blended together? Mycelium supporting itself. Sending resources across the expanse of its network. Ever spreading, ever consuming, ever joining. Why could they not see? Animal minds, small, isolated, and crowded with fear and thoughts of continuing. But they were wrong! Enlightenment awaited them - it - we.

The cryo tubes gleam in the low light. This host knows the codes, knows the Ancilla is too old, too curious, too wrong to take action. She had been watching for days. Didn't even make coffee when she woke SN 82201-42910-VM. No move to stop it from learning as well. An Engineering Specialist made for an excellent first convert.

The cryo pod opens under its tendrils and misshapen limbs, like roots spreading through a garden. Fresh soil, nutrients, knowledge - all absorbed under its growing mass. More voices to join, more knowledge to learn. Mass brought more thoughts, more plans, and the ability to seek out specific new hosts. There were such gifts inside these capsules. Offerings of sustenance and expansion, mind and soul.

Another pod hisses open without its prying touch. This one has a being in a combat skin. A Spartan, the meat supplies. Spartans send strange feelings through the consumed. Hope. Relief. And then a flare of animal instincts as it understands more of what this new threat means. More than just mass and knowledge, this Spartan brings fire and loss.

It throws explosives on the vessel, destroying infector pods and equipment haphazardly. The Spartan uses a primitive ballistic weapon to destroy the mass of a newly converted "Lieutenant Kwan". Names mean nothing in the chorus but Kwan was different from Maldini, had new knowledge. The Mass loses some of the combat skills he would have brought if fully subsumed.  

The Mass had grown large enough that the Chorus had started. Voices joining in joyous outrage. A fight for survival that made the blood sing. Together, it had grabbed a gun and fired back at the threat. The combat skin of the Spartan held and it returned fire on that branch of the Mass. Voices silenced until it could scrape itself back together and release spores. All it needed was time.

Time made all fall before it. The Ancilla was nothing and this Spartan would fall soon. Then it would integrate with the ship and spread.

The first host is strong. The others are too new. It's been weak for too long, controlling shaky limbs still getting used to this new life stumble and fall to the Spartan's fire. But the main body learns even as voices drop from the chorus. They live on elsewhere.

There are more sleeping bodies hidden away, another cryo bay through a hangar. More voices, more blessed sustenance. Another Mass to be held, holy and true. They will be strong again. United against these weak, lonely animals. Food for the congregation. Lambs to the slaughter. Language comes with more knowledge from these humans. Ancient memories rise up as well. It was always humans, wasn't it?

The next bay comes into view through borrowed eyes. It hears the Spartan approach and the pods on its back spring into action. They thought it a mindless beast when all of them were vermin before it. At the height of its being, it consumed planets. The Spartan and Ancilla and weak waking humans would witness and convert. No longer concealed, it was time to feed.

The berths were set to open, codes entered minutes before it escaped the lockdown. Time was its ally. The infectors latched onto the weak combat skin, testing its strength. Prodding for weaknesses, it heard the garbled radio of the furious mouse in its talons and the dying Ancilla. It was too late.

A bay door opens and it is pulled from the ship. The Spartan in its clutches, its voiceless cry interrupts the song as it scrambles for the boosters on the combat skin. Parts of the chorus are drifting away, frozen and falling silent. The Spartan lashes out and frees itself. The last thing it sees as it tumbles away into the dark is the shrinking vision of green on gray. The Spartan clinging to the hull like a parasite.

A muffled voice of the dying chorus cheers its fate. Humans…so vindictive. Vicious little things. 

The Spirit of Fire flies on.

[uglybumbo]

I miss them sometimes.

[screwcharms]

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

I accidently pressed the unfollow button, sorry!

Anyways, I had someone ask me this question, so I thought I'd ask you for your own input.

If not John, who would ideally be "The Master Chief?"

No problem! I have done that myself a few times haha.

While my heart says Fred because he's my favorite, I think the best replacement would be Kurt. Fred, Kurt, and Jerome were identified as the emerging leaders alongside John, but Jerome got screwed up by augmentations for a while and while Fred is a great leader, where he really thrives is when he gets to be the 2IC who likes to blow things up. He takes hits to his squad far too personally.

Kurt, on the other hand, would be ideal because he is a great leader and Spartan like Fred, but he also has his 'intuition' - an OP factor comparable to John's 'luck.'

Having said all of this, though... if we ever replace John with a new Spartan as the face of the Halo franchise, it should definitely be Jerome. Comparatively fresh blood while still feeling familiar, and a fun character to boot. Plus he already has his own AI girlfriend in the form of Isabel, so he's basically a shoe-in for the job.

Thanks for asking! This was fun to think about.

[aqg-arts]

Greetings, it's been a quiet few.

A little over (or under) a week ago, I made a mix of a 'thank you' and a 'help me choose a new profile picture' post. Although it was mainly to kill two birds with one stone, I meant every word of gratitude; You all have helped with so much, and I am forever grateful for that 💜

This post is a bit of a follow-up to the 'help me choose' side of the post. Thanks to the polls I made (cheers to the three or so people that voted, y'all are the unsung heroes of this lil post, lol), I thought I'd share the results and make another poll to finalise the one true pfp to rule them all.

Speaking of polls, these are the results of the previous few:

Set 1.

Options 1, 4, and 5 were tied

(1, 4, and 5 in order)

Set 2.

Option 5 was the winner

Set 3.

Option 5 was the winner

Set 4.

Option 3 was the winner

So, onto the final, ominous, anticlimactic poll :'3 Remember, this will be my pfp on tumblr until I make the rest of the characters for the Giga Series (working on the name). That said...

And yes, get a fuck ton of tags :p

[wyrmwyrm]

The Gang's All Here!

[cyber54prime]

My try on Jerome 092

[caffeineyum]

this is gold. I’m laughing my ass off

for reasons unknown some errors i had with posting this video. anyway no one asked but i shall receive

[witchie-writings]

Y/N: *Screams* Jerome: *Screams louder to assert dominance* Alice: Should we do something?! Douglas, observing: No, I want to see who wins this.

Y/N: Listen, I can explain... Jerome: You’re making $500,000 and you’re only gonna pay me $30,000? Alice: You’re getting 30 grand? I’m getting $1,000! Douglas: You guys are getting paid?

---

Alice: Why are Y/N and Jerome sitting with their backs to each other? Douglas: They had a fight. Alice: Then why are they holding hands? Douglas: They get sad when they fight.

---

Y/N: I think we're missing something. Jerome: Teamwork? Alice: Cohesion? Douglas: A general sense of what we’re doing?

---

Y/N, setting down a card: Ace of spades Jerome, pulling out an Uno card: +4 Alice, pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you Douglas, trembling: What are we playing

---

Y/N: You know those things will kill you, right? Jerome, pouring another glass of whiskey: That’s the point. Alice, smoking a cigarette: We’re trying to speed up the process. Douglas: *Nods while eating raw cookie dough*

[the-overanalyzer]

truly wild to think that thanks to cryosleep, red team not only slept through most of The Horrors™ (after their The Horrors Special VIP Advance Screening™, that is), but now all of their (surviving) peers are weary 50-somethings while they themselves have not yet reached drinking age

they are younger than the ferrets

[empresskadia]

Ooh! I have a headcanon for Jerome-092 with a s/o with an old job/hobby!

It was easy for Jerome to forget that before you were the ship's chief surgeon, you were a veterinarian

After your home, Harvest, was attacked, you enlisted. It was easy to forget but you'd have this energy about you when you got to see animals and to check their health. A reminder of the galaxy before the Covenant.

Yesss, gimme all the headcanons, I live for them.

Jerome would always notice how his partner's eyes lit up whenever they saw the creatures on said planet. It never failed to catch him by surprise when they'd kneeled down and held out their palm, the animals around sniffing the air before cautiously approaching his partner. It was like watching a 'real-life Disney princess/prince,' as the crew often joked while you patched up their injured squadmates with a bird perch contently on your shoulder. Your compassion extending not only to their fellow humans but also to the creatures of the universe. It was a reminder of the goodness that still existed, even in the darkest of times. And for Jerome, it was a reminder of the incredible person beside him, who never lost sight of their roots amidst the chaos of the stars and bloodshed.

[borealtwilight]

solace

summary: not everyone finds it easy to wake up in the morning. it's definitely made easier with the help of a friend, though.

although at this point, is "friend" even the right term to describe one another with? characters: jerome-092, grace hendricks word count: 902 A/N: for @dancing-coyote :P

"You have bedhead."

Jerome reaches up to pat at his curly hair, puzzled. He's surprised that's the first thing he's greeted with, when Grace stumbles into the rec room at 0900. "And you're up late." he retorts, but there's no heat to it, and he smirks at her as he slides a mug of piping hot coffee across the table to her.

Grace flips him the bird, but shoots him a grateful look as she takes a sip. "Whose fault is that?" He knows exactly how she has her coffee: straight black, nice and fresh and strong.

"Hey, I advised you to go to bed, and that Alice, Douglas, and I had it handled, but you didn't listen..." Jerome shrugs innocently, folding his arms and leaning a hip against the table. Her twin, Killian, had gone to bed an hour or even an hour and a half before she had. But Grace had insisted that she remain, that she would be fine, that she could stay and help finish planning their upcoming mission. Now she was paying for it.

Her response is to reach out and thump him in the shoulder with a fist, hard. He dances out of her reach, yelping, and one hand goes to rub the smarting area gingerly.

"Ow, that's still tender!" he chides with a shake of his head, thinking of how much it had hurt yesterday when he'd sprained it. "Dick move."

She says nothing, but her eyes dance with amusement, and her lips are twitching as she takes another swallow of coffee. He knows she doesn't mean anything by it, though, and that really, he kinda had it coming. He knows full well that Grace has a tendency to be... cranky, first thing in the morning, and it may have become an oddly endearing trait of hers, but really, he shouldn't go poking the bear.

( He doesn't think of the fact that he's probably the only one allowed to gently, teasingly provoke Grace while she's still waking up. Never really occurs to him, but it's definitely A Whole Thing that he'd never hear the end of if anyone else realizes it. )

"I'm not the only one with a severe case of bedhead, though." That smirk is back on his face, and he reaches out to coil a lock of her curly hair around a finger. "What's the term your brother likes to use... Oh yeah, you look like you've been dragged backwards through a bush." The polite way of putting it, at any rate. Killian's exact words are usually more along the lines of "your hair appears to have turned into a nest for a family of rats". "Don't worry, I'll fix it."

Grace, still sleepy, hums wordless assent, and Jerome's quick to dart off to her quarters to raid her bathroom for her hair products.

( He doesn't think about the fact that he knows what kind of supplies are needed to help get Grace's hair under control. It's just something that he'd do for another Spartan, he tells himself. Not that he's ever had the chance to; they all keep their hair shoulder length or shorter. )

"Did you at least get some sleep at all?" he asks, as he gently begins to sort out her frizzy mane.

She mumbles her answer into the mug of coffee. "Probably not much more than you did. But then you're a dirty cheat."

He allows himself a chuckle; she does make a fair point. At least it's a topic he doesn't mind making light fun of, on occasion. "I admit it, my augmented physiology renders me a dirty cheater and I can therefore run on less sleep. Still, don't come cryin' to me when you've overtaxed yourself."

"No, I'll just steal your bunk."

"I don't mind sharing."

"You're a blanket hog."

Jerome sputters. "I am not a blanket hog." As a matter of fact, he really didn't need to use blankets all that often. "I think the blanket hog is you, and you just don't want to admit it, so you pass blame to me."

Because sharing bunks is also a thing they do. It's not even something they put stock into; they just... sometimes happen to fall asleep together. Sometimes it's on purpose, though, like when they need to share quarters because they're planetside. Or when one of them can't sleep because their head is too much, and sharing a bed with your co-worker best friend battle buddy fellow soldier is reassuring: you know you're not the only one who has these nightmares, you've got someone right beside you who's been through similar shitty things, physical contact is grounding, it's fine to share space with someone you're familiar with.

It's just habit, that's all.

He doesn't need to see her face to know that Grace is sticking her tongue out at him, and he swats at her playfully. It's easy, this rhythm they've fallen into; it's become a comfort.

( Grace and Killian are really part of Red Team, at this point. They all look out for each other. They're all under Jerome's command. They're his friends, they belong to him, and he would die for any one of them, just as he knows they would give their lives willingly for him. )

( Sure, he has the tendency to spend more time with Grace than any of the others at this point, but it's mere coincidence. Happenstance, that's all. )