Greetings Spartans, and welcome back to yet another Community Spotlight! I swear I just wrote one of these and it was Uny's turn to write a Community Update and yet, I find myself behind my keyboard with Photoshop open and the #HaloSpotlight hashtag searches up on my screens. I also once again find myself completely inundated with incredible creations from all corners of the community and it makes me appreciate Halo even more (Who knew that was possible?). You are all amazingly talented and passionate and the fact that part of my job is literally to spend time pouring over all the content...well, Chief's not the only lucky one in the galaxy. :)

CRÈME DE LA CRÈME

Do you remember counting down the days until Halloween? The day you got to dress up in your really awesome costume and show the world your inner superhero, princess, sportsball player, etc? Well for some, that desire has never gone away. Cosplay has become its own thing and some people have become very, very good at it. Part of being an adult is ice cream for breakfast and dressing up in costume anytime you want. Check out @spicythaidesign's ODST and tell me he isn't a badass, I dare you.

Eye Candy

Shaking up the sections a bit but since I opened with some sweet cosplay, I figured I'd round out the cosplay set here! Check it out.

If spicythai needs a weapon, maybe he can see if @Waya37 has one or two to spare. This is a handmade arsenal of UNSC weapons that any Spartan (or ODST) would be right at home with.

I've seen a lot of great cosplay photos but @OlyOlyOxen_free (aka Two Penny Props) and @aazphoto might have just snagged the "Sam's Favorite Photo" award with this one. I love this. (I had to doubletake to see who posted this at first to make sure it's real.)

Check out @att_117's homemade Spartan cosplay. Did I mention he's dual wielding a Needler and a Plasma Pistol? I see you too like to live on the wild side, my friend.

If one cosplay is good, two is even better. Bonus points for cosplaying with your partner and having a built in battle buddy like @spacemeat_cosplay.

Snicker's Doodles

Now it's time to fill the cookie jar with some of the other standout things for this Spotlight. There's so many every week that it's hard to choose but these are some of my favorites.

It's winter and it's cold and I would give anything to swap places with @PonyZombieslaya's Spartan sitting here along the beach. Give me a book, some water, and the sun and I'm a happy girl (Hey I can dream).

I have no desire to be this Spartan though. Fighting a battle, in the snow, up to their waists in the icy banks? Pass! Looks like /u/YahirL 117's army of miniature troops are more determined than I am. Count me out of this op - I'm still daydreaming of that beach break.

Now, if @Masterj2001 is offering horseback rides when he takes Master Chief to the wild, wild west then I might be in. I don't normally love mashups but this worked surprisingly well, IMO, and looks great.

Apparently this week is all about dream vacation spots or something so apropos of nothing, @Squidzrule is utilizing the H2A Blind Skull and is taking us on a beautiful scenic tour of Uprising (inb4 'n00b that's Great Journey'). I couldn't decide if I liked the original graphics or the new graphics better so here, have both because they are stunning.

Not to be outdone, @greywolfxn took Master Chief on a hike that's out of this world. Maybe he hitched a ride on part of @XDMadman02DX's fleet/convoy. I've done some "Beduoin trail rides" in some gorgeous places but this would put those to shame. Look at that sunset. One of my favorite parts of Halo is you guys - the community! What makes it even better is seeing the new generation of people pick up the sticks and jump right in. /u/_Bond_1 and his teammate participated in the Microsoft Store 2v2 tournament in Calgary and had a blast doing it. Unrelated, anyone else feeling really old right now or just me?

Half Baked

Now we come to the hand-drawn/painted/made section of the Spotlight - my favorite! (Okay so it's all my favorite, who's counting?)

Ahh Beaver Creek...Such a charming ski resort in the mountains of Colorado. It's not too far from Vail, actually. Wait - what? That's not the right Beaver Creek? Oops. Well in that case, let's take a look at this incredible 3D print of one of the best Halo 2 maps. Related: If you can't buy any gray filament for your 3D printer either, I'm not gonna name names or anything but you might want to have a chat with /u/Exitaph.

We can't have a Halo match without Spartans and lucky for us, @higherstarrysky sketched out Master Chief and Cortana. It's simple and elegant. Love it.

While we're talking about Chief and Cortana, check out rmdashrflash's flashback to Halo. And hey, the squirrel flood is kinda cute, right? ...maybe a little? I love how not-impressed Cortana is. "Not again!"

This week we also have a really cute anime take on Chief and Cortana by /u/MonkeyMandibles!

Maybe Chief and/or Cortana aren't your thing and you prefer Arbiter. If that's the case, take a peek at @Rythaze's "sad barbiter" painting. I wonder why he's sad. :(

/u/SlmnSknRll knows her husband loves Halo (and hey, don't we all? That's why we're all here!) so she pulled out all the stops and made this incredible (and big!) woodburned "shield" of Halo iconography. I know I've said "this is badass" at least once before but really. This is badass.

One thing missing from the above however, is the Banshee. /u/exstmonsters whipped up this Halo 4 Banshee and I'm really hoping to have Grim tell us more about it. I know he loves Banshees. [OH YOU KNOW I DO! -Grim]

I always knew people loved creating their own PC builds but I didn't quite realize the extent that people went to. /u/GenghisSwann (fantastic name by the way) took his PC case and turned it into something that looks like it was issued by the UNSC. I happen to have that same PC case and now I'm wondering how I requisition this UNSC version instead of my standard issue black case. You can check out the rest of the build on the imgur album here. There's even a safety cover over the power button! So cool.

Rounding out this section is @wavedawheat with this stunning poster. I'm not a crazy poster person but I want this on my wall. Love this.

Skin Milk

You kids are insane in the best way possible. Not only do you make incredible art, some of you also commit fully and get incredible art inked onto you for forever. I'm equal parts amazed (it's so good!) and envious (I'm far too chicken) and absolutely love seeing these Halo tattoos.

@WadeWAS83 is starting a Halo sleeve and we all know you can't have that without Chief and Cortana. Now, I fully admit that I am heavily biased here because Halo 4 Chief and Cortana are personally my favorite iterations but look how good this. I love it.

Hopefully by now we all realize that Spartans work best as a team and one of the best teams is Blue Team. I can't think of a better zapper to use as a symbol of lifelong friendship between two IRL Spartans. Hats off to you and your squadmate, /u/scubastan46!

According to /u/sadsap23, if you've ever spent hours stuck on "The Library" on Legendary desperately hoping for a checkpoint, you should have one of these Legendary tattoos. Well, I've definitely played The Library more than I care to admit but I'm still too much of a baby to get a tattoo so instead I will admire yours from afar. This is incredible.

Sweet Rolls

After a quick intermission and snack break, we're back for a multi-feature filled section.

Let's kick things off with Paradise Halo breaking down how Reciprocity was knocked down to the UGC Classic Loser's Bracket by GMS. These breakdowns are well illustrated, explained, and easy to follow. Check it out!

Do you like montages? We think they're kinda fun and a great way to showoff your skill whether it's with guns or, in Boonshadow's case, Warthogs! Specifically, Warthogs with Gauss Cannons!

If more mainstream Halo gunplay is more your style, check out this Halo 3 Dualtage by Fear The Dope. It's pretty, well, dope! Especially with the current Halo 3 popularity.

Not to be outdone on the Halo 3 hype, here's a community montage titled, "RS Impact H3M1" edited by Execrated. Be warned, the music is far more chill than the Dualtage but that doesn't take away from the sweet snapshots at all.

DoubleAA is taking a new approach to the montages he produces. Looks like he's doing a series where he tries to edit a montage that replicates the style of a montage creator. I love this idea and I can only imagine that it helps grease the creativity wheels and hones skills. In the first episode, he's taking on SillyGoose's style in honor of SillyGoose being one of his biggest inspirations.

Not only that, he'll be using the same clips for consistency while changing the style. I can't wait to see how the same clips vary based off someone's style and I'm looking forward to the next episode so be sure to send that my way please!

The guys over at Termacious Tricocity are back, back again. (Did anyone else read Canon Fodder or just me?) This video is all about (wait for it....) trick jumps! I know I know, no one saw that coming, right? What if I said these are some really Stellar campaign trick jumps? I really haven't figured out how they pull these off without dying because I seem to trip over my shoelaces in campaign and die but man if these aren't some awesome launches.

One of the things that I think most people would agree identifies Halo as "Halo" is the music. Here's a cover of Halo 2's "Epilogue" performed on cello by hiddenklmm. I played a lot of instruments in school so I will never not love musically inclined individuals doing a rendition of Halo.

Recipe and Ingredients

We recently released Halo: Renegades, a sequel to the novella Smoke and Shadows, both by Kelly Gay. Lore-loving community member @haruspis had a chance to sit down and interview Kelly in, what he says, is "undoubtedly the best Halo novel since Silentium." That's a pretty high bar considering all the other fantastic books in the Haloverse. Here's a quick intro to the blog and interview for Renegades:

From haruspis' spoiler-free review:

Kelly Gay quickly earned her reputation in the fanbase as a writer who naturally and brilliantly draws from obscure corners of the Halo canon with Smoke and Shadow, and that is absolutely reflected in this book.

You can definitely enjoy Renegades if you’re not somebody who religiously follows the lore, but – make no mistake – this is a story where those who have been following the progress of certain character and story arcs over the last decade will get the most rewarding reading experience.

Here's a sneak peek of the interview with Kelly:

haruspis: What’s the story with how you got into Halo? What really drew you into the series?

Kelly: My editor at Simon & Schuster (who also helms the Halo novels), brought me onboard when pulling authors together for Fractures. We worked together previously on my Charlie Madigan urban fantasy series and from that relationship he knew I was into gaming and sci-fi.

Summer of 2014 or 2015 (terrible memory), I get a call asking if I wanted to write a Halo short story. Being familiar with the franchise and the massive scope of the universe made it a huge draw as there was so much potential in terms of storytelling.

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Be sure to read the rest of the interview between haruspis and author Kelly Gay here!

Petits Fours

Still with me here? I've had to refill my coffee cup more than a time or two while getting to this point so thanks for hanging out. Here's the part of the Spotlight where I do a quick Twitter roundup of awesome content. Grab your latte (or tea if that's more your thing), settle in, and enjoy!

Doodle's Snickers

Looks like /u/logicalsanity is updating his resume! It's looking pretty good to me. I wonder what my odds would have been if I'd included my K/D on my resume...Actually no I don't wanna know.

*gulps last sip of coffee*

That's it - that's the end of this edition of the Halo Community Spotlight! As always, if you see your works in here, please send me a message with your Gamertag so I can get you your 🔥🦄 goodies! If you don't send me your Gamertag, you don't get to show off to your friends and that's no fun. Until next time!

Ciao! xx

--Sam