With what little there was to know about the character already it was nice to have one basic thing about them left in the open for fans to decide for themselves, or at least have it a non-issue in canon with gender neutral pronouns. Their file is already littered with black ink anyways. :P

: On the flip side, I think you nit pick too much. Head canon goes a long way
: for changing little things about a story that don't sit well with you.

I sweat the small things because they make a universe more believable. But you're right, I shouldn't let my headcanon feel any less relevant because of this.

: This "book" is fantasy, about fantasy war.
: War is not politically correct. Unpleasant things will be said, done, thought
: etc.

Yeah, except this had nothing to do with war, fantasy or otherwise. At all. Not to mention "politically correct" means nothing more than "basic respect and courtesies."

: I'm glad it makes some people uncomfortable, otherwise it can't be taken
: seriously.

"'As I told the Rookie then, If you ever fall for a woman, make sure she’s got balls.'
Ah, hell, you know what I mean.
Words to live by.”

Personally I'm not all too glad to be uncomfortable to this degree in a universe I enjoy so much, not when it kinda mocks myself and other people like me at a subatomic level. We all knew what Buck meant by this in Halo 3: ODST and with the summary of that narrative in this book being long enough already, this was just so... ugh.

Yeah, I'm being nitpicky as usual, but this was unnecessary.

: I can't stand the thought of putting a filter on everything just because it
: might make someone uncomfortable- what a travesty!

There's giving a sense of discomfort to enrich the audience's experience in a story, then there's just being weird. This was the latter.

: They should have just left his story alone. Why 343 chooses to wrap up some
: story threads and not others baffles me. I don't follow their thought
: process at all.

The Rookie, unlike the other three, had so little in the way of background. Sure, we got him front and center at the end of Dirt, but that's about it. Nothing really special. I did like the scene where the Rookie bites the dust though. It was probably one of the most tense moments in recent memory for Halo, and while you knew he was dead from the start, it was still very shocking for it to actually happen. Did it need to happen? Sure, maybe a little bit in the future. This felt like getting rid of loose ends as quickly as possible without putting a real face on a mysterious character.

How they framed his death will might add a lot of fuel to the fire towards the hatefest of Renegade Option. Why they needed them in the scene at all beyond the typical Halo family reunion that every story needs to be confuses my brain thing.

: Some things are just better left un-finished.

: Why try to put a resolution on every little thing?

: Whatever.

: I always assumed that Buck and his team were more loyal to each other, rather
: than the UNSC. Akin to staying and working at a job you hate because you
: really like your co-workers.

I got that feeling too right up until the Rookie bit it. Then everyone wanted to beat each other's brains out on the deck of that dropship. There were definitely rifts like any tight-knit group has, but to this extent? I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. It can make sense, and I'm sure it does, but maybe I just don't want to face the reality of it all.

: I'm really starting to care less and less about anything new in the series. I
: continue to labor for "old" Halo though. I wonder if this is
: what it's like to be a Star Wars fan....

I think any long time fan of a series will go through this once or twice during the course of their fandom. Just keep hoping that this trend of content that disappoints you personally fades with time. I'm sure Halo will come around for you again. Plus I enjoy having people stick around on here. :)