VALOR'S DAY [Modplot]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Open to everyone!
What| Valor's Day Celebrations
Where| On Legion World or on Earth below
When| After heistplot.
Warnings/Notes| N/A


VALOR'S DAYUniversally celebrated through the United Planets, this yearly holiday celebrates the hero Valor, a Daxamite responsible for helping many UP species like the Braalians and Winathians to colonize their worlds over a thousand years ago. Valor's Day has over time evolved into a general holiday that promotes togetherness, charity, and good will through the galaxy.

Valor's Day celebrations through the UP are know for their displays of multi-colored lights, decorated trees, garlands of various plants and flowers, and "goodwill" carols. Valor's Day is also associated with Valor pageants and "origin" plays, and the playing of the blootsplort horn and tringlebells. Traditionally, gifts are given between different individuals, with each species having their own specific gift-giving traditions.

Legion World is no exception when it comes to the festivities. Garlands of rainbow flowers and wreathes of fragrant grasses decorate the halls and common areas. In some places where it won't interfere in Legion operations, goodwill carols play. The music is played on alien instruments and is probably very different compared to what some of the Legionnaires might be used to hearing around winter holidays, but it has the same mix of cheer and brightness as Christmas carols.

Comments

GIFT EXCHANGE

[letsgolegion]

In one of the larger common areas, a Valoriste has been arranged. The name of this web-like collection of strings of lights has no direct translation in many of the displacee Legionnaires' languages, and is decorated in colorful glass and paper ornaments. Each light is meant to represent a world touched by Valor, or that later joined the UP because of Valor seeding worlds throughout the galaxy.

There are tables in this large common area filled with Valor's Day treats, like star-shaped smintz cookies, cheesy boofs, and chocolate-covered soystix. There's also spiced trippaple cider and delicious blue grognod (which tastes similar to eggnog) to drink.

The atmospheric lights of the tree make it a great place to exchange Valor's Day gifts. Either Legionnaire can leave their gifts here for others to find, or exchange them in person around the tree.

[ooc: Players are allowed to either post lists of gifts as being left for others to open while they're not around, or play out specific scenes of people exchanging gifts in person.]

[turntex]

There are a series of gifts left under the tree shittily wrapped in what looks like newspaper. Where did Dave even find actual newspaper in the spacefuture? It's a mystery.

One bundle is labeled "to wash". Upon opening, it's revealed to be a brown t-shirt with a chest pocket, a cute little cartoon printed on and around the pocket.

Another package has a tag that reads "to reaper". Inside is a cheery decorative throw pillow. Something nice to spruce up a room, maybe.

One present is oddly warm and looks like one large box until unwrapped, where it turns out to be a stack of pizza boxes. All contain that spacefuture hawaiian pizza with no ham and extra pineapple. The tag reads "to grif".

There's a small box in there labeled "to kubo". Inside is a memory chip with some handwritten instructions on how to access the file on it on a comm device. The file in question is a pretty fucking sick remix of one of Kubo's own performances. And right next to that gift is another little bundle labeled "to mrs kubos mom", containing a hair scrunchie with a fun design, because hey, you gotta be able to tie back long hair if you're gonna be sword-fighting. Dave thought it was pretty considerate of him.

The ony thing left unwrapped is a life-sized cardboard cutout of Will Smith left standing tucked as close to the tree as Dave could get it. The image appears photoshopped, however -- skin turned greyscale, eyes colored in with yellow and green, and a pair of candy corn-colored horns stuck on his head. There's a tag on a ribbon looped around cardboard Will Smith's neck reading "to karkat <3 dave". He figures anyone getting nosy will just interpret it as his regular brand of bullshit anyway.

And anyone else Dave's ever spoken to will find a thoughtful card with their name on it. Happy Valor's Day, y'all.

[kingtyrantranger]

Jason's not expecting much. He'll be skipping most of the festivities. He will, however, pop gifts down for everyone.

What do they get? Action figures. Of themselves. The high quality ones that are programmed with poses, phrases, holographic power displays, reprogrammable uniforms, and limited AI so that they can actually 'interact' to an extent.

[unrecovered]

It turns out that Wash is absolutely a smartass in terms of gift-giving. Most of his packages are wrapped a bit messily, as that's what happens when the local spacefuture girl scout troop is outside a shopping center offering to wrap packages in exchange for donations to charity and you're feeling generous.

York receives a thumb drive with a rather large data file on it: it's the equivalent of a book of puzzles for him and Delta to work on. Supposedly, at least one of them is completely unsolvable. They'll just have to test that theory.

Chief's package opens to reveal a very old but still in box Xenomorph figurine.

Reinhardt's is a small bag, in which is a single beer koozie with "IT'S HAMMER TIME" printed on the front in large, obnoxious font.

Nita receives a plastic shark fin on a headband, with a note reading, "Wear it while you're swimming."

Pidge, Kubo, and Dipper each receive an envelope with a piece of paper and a card. The paper reads "Class canceled the week of Valor Day." and the card is a single Get Out Of Class Free coupon, to be used at any time, no excuse required.

Reaper receives a perfect replica of his missing gun, made, uselessly, out of a hunk of solid plastic. The attached note reads, "You were naughty this year."

Grif receives a box of spacefuture twinkies, because why not.

One final package is addressed to Locus, wrapped neatly and in completely different paper, and with no From name on the label. Inside is a copy of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

[i_got_this]

[South's new so it's not like she had a lot of time to prepare. Or a lot of people to prepare for. She does bother for a couple things for those who initially welcomed her;

York gets a spray breath freshener 'so you don't smell like a brewery after we hang out'

Kubo gets a pair of sunglasses (South drew a tongue-out smiley face over the left eye) and a loaf of bread with the note 'pre-porter' stuck on it.

Grif gets a gift card to a convenience store. It's for the equivalent of about $5.

Jason gets a pack of gum and an energy drink

Hiccup gets a stick of deodorant

From: 4zúc4r

[vata]

Most of the gifts are laid out under the Valoriste, wrapped in holographic paper that's about as attention-grabbing as the woman responsible for them. If that wasn't enough of a hint, some of the nicknames written out on the attached cards are:

To Dígitos: the paper's a glittering mix of red, blue and white, shifting every so often when the box is tilted - heavy as it feels from the outside, inside is a coffee mug that's been custom made to order by an alien company - designed to read as 'intergalactic hero' in their native language, arranged to form something resembling 7 and 6 respectively. Instead, translation software and relatively different definitions mean that it actually says 'space good dude'. The mug's also been stuffed to the brim with an assortment of hard candy that no one in their right mind would eat and enjoy* (*provided they're under the age of fifty five), a little confetti resembling the kind local to her home, and a box of instant, dangerously maximum strength coffee.

Just add water and stir.

To Soldado: The paper's a little more subdued this time. Still flashy, enough that it has armored patterning along the sides with webbed little octagons embossed across the surface, but the color's something closer to Locus' suit. Lightweight, opening the package reveals a thickly knitted, peppermint pattern scarf woven out of a foreign substance that's resistant (according to an attached certificate from Bepsy.com) to 'fire, lightning, dust storms and little kitten claws :)'. At the tail end of the scarf on either side are pockets for sticking your hands into, each with a pattern of a rifle surrounded by the words 'Vaya con dios'.

To Cortana: There's a bright azure box left under the Valoriste as a courtesy, but it comes with an added bonus of a file sent directly to Cortana's Omnicom. Inside the box is a little hologram projector that spits out a custom logo on cue, the exact same color as Cortana's virtual skin and marked with coded patterning to match. The file itself? Same thing, only the straight up usable version, just in case she feels like marking her own virtual territory.

To Tracer: The golden box holding Lena's present seems programmed to vibrate every now and then with jittery blue light, mimicking Tracer's penchant for flitting from one location to the next. Inside? An unparalleled...ly soft set of mittens with clipped fingertips, shaped like glittering little space jellies. They're sickeningly cute, as far as these things go. And that's not including stubby little tentacles for knuckles, or the gold embroidery underneath.

To Payback: The box is black and gold with alternating, flashy stripes that look as real as something fresh out of a jewelry store. Tearing away the paper reveals the smallest little tool, embossed with a glowing bird skull and somewhat Mexican-influenced embossed patterning around it. Popping open the device itself splays out a full set of high-tech lockpicking tools with a fully functional interface that Parker should be able to utilize easily.

Happy hunting, amiga.

To The Locksmith: Bright sunflare orange packaging (radiant enough to blind when put in direct light) can be torn away to expose a tall, tall pre-purchased plant that'd been picked up from their trip to the New Jersey Casino. The base is a digital clock that plays a little jingle every hour on the hour - soothing as chimes in the rain - designed to be 'simple enough for a child to take care of!' according to the box. There are a couple different models available, but the one selected for him is a nightglow shadesong plant that acts as a soft, comforting nightlight, especially helpful to keep small children asleep and free of nightmares.

Attached is a card from Azúcar herself that adds: 'I hacked the clock in the base and turned it into a temporary signal-jammer for any basic communication networks. Give it to anybody you want to screw over - at least for a little while. xoxo Azúcar 💀'

To Vaquero: Out of all the gifts she's left out, McCree's is the least attention-grabbing. The paper's brown, organic-feeling and worn, and painted with virtual dust at the corners. It's also the heaviest out of everything else there, and inside it's easy to see why: one all-too-bright boot (about as close as anyone in space can come to replicating 'cowboy anything') carrying an oversized bottle of bourbon from a planet called Hvewrir V. Apparently it's top of the line.

And she would know: she stole it from the top shelf supply in the New Jersey Casino.

Just in case your characters aren't too sure about checking under the display for their gifts, Azúcar herself will be loitering nearby, more than content to slyly nudge them towards what's been laid out for them specifically. No thanks required.

Well— all except for one, that is.

To Gabriel: It's laid out on his bed in her safehouse; she doesn't mention it immediately, doesn't prod him towards it except for the occasional check-in to see if it's still there. Night-black paper, unmarked aside from a little hand-drawn skull on top with a speech bubble that reads 'die die die!'.

Inside is a pair of pitch dark leather gloves, the underside (and inside) patterned with icy, glowing plates that seem to seep smoke. Beneath that, a nifty tactical beanie to match and a small, small digital plug-in for his omnicom. A card attached instructs him on how to link the card up with his own personal omnicom, and that doing so will allow him to read directly from her personal database at any given time, '-love, Sombra'.

In truth, linking it does nothing but change his every incoming call to play a midi version of Feliz Navidad at max volume for a full, relentless minute.

Happy Valor's Day, mijo.

[ooc: feel free to assume Sombra is either lurking nearby if you'd like to thread out gift giving, or content to just creep on them as they open their gifts without saying anything if you'd like to handwave it! Alternatively I'm open to wildcard shenanigans so threads of just sipping cider by the Valoriste and talking smack about the Legion proper/holidays/hacking/the fact that her hair freaking glows as much as the decorations/whatever.

Come at me. :)]

[steelandtemper]

Having learned the true meaning of Valor's Day from Sombra, Cortana has decided to show that she cares about people's capacity to maybe be useful to her in the future, and has whipped up a few AI-flavored gifts for the handful of people she likes.

Sombra's gift is as described.

York + Delta get another murderously difficult encryption puzzle, this one more elegantly planned and executed than the first, since she's not rushing or trying to prove a point with this one. Inside is a sophisticated motion- and threat-detection algorithm for York's bad side that can run either in concert with Delta or just on his armor if Delta's busy, and a mathematical package that's basically the AI equivalent of an album of piano concertos for Delta.

Reinhardt gets a huge directory containing every single UP culture's versions of paladin legends, in various well-reviewed adapations. (It turns out there's a bunch on the Justice League in there, because come the hell on, that's pretty much King Superman and the Knights of the Satellite Table.)

Locus gets an updated tactical package for his armor. If he's suspicious, it's properly signed with the relevant UNSC keys...but then it would be, wouldn't it?

Babbage gets a program for the sim room that's basically the Museum of Pre-Electronic Computing. Every version of a computer starting with Babbage Senior's difference engine through the very last mechanical computers of the World War II era like Enigma is modeled in complete working detail. Run all the agonizingly slow calculations you want, Babbage! Is he into that kind of thing? She has no idea, but has been reliably informed that "it's the thought that counts."

The Master Chief is not covered under her conclusions about the meaning of gift-giving, and she always does anything that occurs to her to make his life easier, anyway (except to stop causing trouble) but she still makes sure to time her most recent firmware update on his armor for the holiday.

[littlecousin]

Nita got a gift for literally everyone. If your name's on the Legion roster, even if she's never met you, you at least have the space future equivalent of a $10 Starbucks or Amazon gift card. Yep, actually that nice.

As for her CR, we have the slight problem that Nita is hugely thoughtful and I'm kind of a jerk...sooooo, you tell me what she got your character. She's not above good-natured gag gifts if she thinks it's something they'd appreciate, but in general, all this "telling your friends you love them" shit is entirely her jam, so she's really really good at presents.

Re: GIFT EXCHANGE

[bachido]

There was no gift-giving winter festival from his childhood for Kubo to associate Valor's day with, but there had been many things he would have liked to have been able to give his mother in winter, when they spent so much time in their cave keeping warm. Being in the position to afford gifts for her was wonderful.

For her, he had two things they'd always wanted in their cave - a thick, warm quilt, made of beautiful patterned silk and layered with down, large enough for both of them to snuggle under. And best of all - another shamisen.

It had taken a while to find anyone still capable of making such an archaic instrument, and Kubo presented it wrapped to her with immense pride.

For Dave, he had more fine silk (or the future's equivalent of silk, anyway) goods - a quilted haori jacket with pockets, black with red accents embroidered with Dave's broken record logo. It was a comfortable piece of clothing, warm as a blanket to go over Dave's comfy god jammies. He'd also tucked an origami horse into the pocket, folded from an elegant embossed red and black paper.

He'd gotten Wash a fine jacket, too - this one a lighter silk, in a fine grey and black pattern that shifted like shadows, the cuffs embroidered with silvery thread. It was as comfortable as Dave's, but less like a blanket and more like a nice shirt a person might wear in spring for an extra layer. In the pocket was Wash's origami, a powerful tiger, each stripe individually folded.

Everyone Kubo had spoken to enough to get a sense of what they might like got a piece of origami, folded from artisan paper that Kubo had had to go out of his way to find. Any ideas he'd had about origami not being a hefty enough present for good friends went out the window when he realized how difficult artisinal - or any - paper was to find these days. For Jason Grace, a cleverly folded wolf. For Azula, an elegant koi in red and gold. For Mabel, a lithe deer. For Dipper, a detailed fox. For Karina, a blue paper rose, folded thorns intact. For Roland, ironically, a lobster. For Switch, a killer whale. For Victor and Yuuri each, he'd folded replicas of Makkachin. For Pidge, a lion. For Tadashi, a humpback whale. For Barry, a cheetah - he'd looked up what animal was fastest on Earth. For Hiccup, Toothless. For Robbie, a cat bearing a remarkable resemblance to Niels. For Stephen, an eagle. For Rebecca, a carefully articulated archer. For Kyle, a shark. For Grif, a regular ordinary normal child. For Inahime, a lotus with watercolor paint anointing each carefully folded petal.

With his collection of special gift paper in his pack, he circulated the party, looking for people he hadn't spoken to long enough yet to learn what they might like for a gift.

[the_real_sir_prize]

Victor doesn't know a lot of people here yet, but he does know one person, and that one person absolutely deserves a present. Especially since being here has been so miserable for him.

Yuuri deserves something nice.

Which is why Victor can be found carefully cradling a box in both hands, humming and looking very pleased with himself. Makkachin is padding along at his side, occasionally bouncing up to try and nose the box. Victor laughs and fends him off, coming to a stop in front of of Yuuri's door.

"Yuuri~" he calls out, gently kicking the door a couple of times due to his lack of free hands. "Happy Valor's Day! Can I come in?"

UNDER THE TRINGLESPRIGS

[letsgolegion]

Tringlesprigs have been placed around Legion World, and have a similar gimmick to mistletoe, though any form of friendly affection is considered appropriate, such as handshakes, hugs, or even something as simple as words expressing a Valor's Day greeting. People can also just ignore tringlesprigs or decline the tradition if they're not interested.

Normally. Right now something a little abnormal is going on.

Earlier in the day, the Roboticans brought a fractured and faulty baby AI to Brainiac 5 to see if the errors can be fixed so that the Robotican child can be saved. But due to its very high intelligence and curiosity, it has escaped digital containment and is hopping from computer system to computer system to explore. After seeing all the decorations and looking up the customs behind them, it's now trapping pairs of people under the tringlesprigs with forcefields projected from Legion World's internal defenses.

"BREET! Tringleringletralalala!" singsongs a robotic, childlike voice from a nearby speaker, every time some of them are caught. "It's Valor's Day! Follow the rules! If you do it, then you can go!"

Every Legionnaire has already had the custom explained to them, so they at least know of the many ways they can escape.

[ooc: Characters do not have to kiss to escape -- even something as simple as a hug, handshake, or effusive declaration of liking someone (whether true or false) can do it.]

GET UR ADORABLE CHEEK KISSES (or other show of affection) HERE

[littlecousin]

Nita's entirely okay with affectionate gestures, so she hasn't been making any real effort to avoid the tringlesprig danger zones. A lot of Legion staff have gotten a peck on the cheek paired with a friendly laugh since the tiny Robotican terror escaped into the computer systems, and really, what kind of monster objects to getting a kiss from the half-human personification of a ray of sunshine?

She looks over at her fellow prisoner with a tolerant half smile. "You can tell it's a little kid because it hasn't gotten bored with this yet."

[agnominal]

Locus does not appreciate being trapped under the not-mistletoe, which he will now be doing everything in his power to avoid from now on, but it doesn't help him now. He'd thought to simple ignore the festive decoration. Turns out this rogue AI has other ideas.

It's always the AI, isn't it?

So there he stands, stuck, like some terrifying Tin Man out of the Wizard of Oz, unable to move until someone 'follows the rules' and sets him loose again. Which, given his intimidating appearance, he doesn't expect to happen for some time.

This is, in a word?

Unfortunate.

[unrecovered]

Wash, to say the least, is not pleased. He'd thought he'd marked all the tringlesprig locations in his HUD; evidently he'd missed this one the first time around, or it's new. Either way, he stares at the offending plant, and then the singing speaker, as though they're to blame (as opposed to Tiny Tim the AI) and the force of his withering glare will make them let him go.

No dice.

So he just heaves a sigh. "We should probably get this over with."

[goddamngrenades]

It's either accidental or subconscious- he needs to do a lot of walking back and forth to transfer his avalanche of gifts (Wash wasn't wrong) from his official quarters to his habitat for an unboxing video and even though he keeps taking different paths to get there he still finds himself stopped, arms full of whatever, under one of these tringlesprig things. Delta mapping out routes to avoid them hasn't worked either to their mutual mild confusion.

Still.

Knowing that it's a kid at fault here just trying to make the holidays more holiday like keeps him from getting irritated. Handing out handshakes or hugs or whatever isn't all that terrible, even if it does stall out his transfer of packages quite a bit. Whoever he's stuck with always gets a smile, a wave and a quick question: "I'm easy, man, whatever you're good with, so am I."

[i_got_this]

South isn't usually one for random displays of affection and she's irritated at being stuck against her will with whoever, but she'll begrudgingly participate. Although sometimes it's amusing to watch the other person squirm uncomfortably before doing what's required to get them freed.

"What's the matter? Do I make you nervous?"

SNOWBALL FIGHTS AND PRANKS

[letsgolegion]

Due to the many cold-climate habitats in the habitat areas, there's more than enough snow to go around and Legion World is cool enough that it's possible for it not melt absolutely immediately. This means abundant opportunities to sneak up and snowball someone in the back of the head, or put snow down the back of their shirts.

In the Habitat Area itself, there's a nice wooded alien habitat covered in snow and ice, where Legionnaires can get into an honest-to-goodness no-holds-barred snowball fight if they want -- and the transuits can keep them warm enough to not be bothered by the cold.

Snowman Prank

[goddamngrenades]

It's cold in Legion World and there's plenty of snow- so. Time to set up little (under six inches tall) snowmen posed in increasingly absurd dioramas in windows and on countertops, in door ways, anywhere there's a chance someone will walk by and see them. Occasionally they're made up to look like little snow-man replicas of various legionaries, helmets for armorbros, little lightening bolts embedded to mimic the Flash's uniform, winged feet and a bathingsuit for Nita- a twig Shamisen for Kubo. Packing in a long sidecut with a tiny laptop for Sombra takes time but, hey, he's got plenty. Parker gets a bowl of pudding. A tiny one. Almost every legionnaire down to Kid Q and Brainy have their own snow-man dopplegangers placed around Legionworld. Sometimes they're placed near Tinglesprig to lure people underneath, even, because York thinks he's hilarious.

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

[jonesiseverywhere]

New York gets pretty cold, and cold brings winter, and winter brings snow.

And snow brings bratty kids who throw snowballs indiscriminately.

Snow Bathing

[the_real_sir_prize]

Some Legionnaires are from naturally cold climates, where there is a grand tradition of snowy escapades. Victor is one of them. In fact, Victor is a national hero of such a place.

Which means he can be found sprinting directly toward snow drifts, wearing nothing but a pair of tiny board shorts and the kind of muscles most often seen photoshopped onto male models, and diving in. Though, admittedly, the process is not without a shriek or two.

"Hooo!" Victor thrashes around in the snow before hopping to his feet, eyes bright and skin reddening from direct exposure to the snow. "It's cold it's cold it's cold!"

VALOR'S DAY FIELD TRIPS

[letsgolegion]

Down on the planet Earth, there are countless Valor's Day celebrations, due to the planet being such a multicultural hub, filled with many of the different species that were touched by Valor.

Collections of lights can be seen all over, vendors are selling Valor's Day treats and drinks from a variety of alien cultures, and carolers are singing goodwill carols in public squares. In some places, musicians are playing beautiful music on the blootsplort horn and tringlebells, and public Valor's Day pageants and performances can be viewed in parks and other areas, usually acted out by children. These stories tell of the great and selfless Daxamite hero Valor, who saved countless people that were kidnapped and genetically altered by the cruel Dominators, and helped them establish their own worlds and cultures.

In New Metropolis especially, there are some gorgeous sights, such a massive colorful Valoriste in the city center, and the cathedral of lights in downtown New Metropolis. Any Legionnaires that want to take in the sights off Legion World with their fellow teammates will find much to do, see, hear, and buy.

CHARITY

[letsgolegion]

It is common for Legionnaires to engage in charity works all around the UP during or around the holiday, whether they do that by visiting sick children recovering from gene therapies in children's hospitals, spending time with the elderly, rebuilding homes on Naltor destroyed in the recent disaster, or visiting refugee Xanthan children and bringing toys.

While the UP takes care of its own and there are low incidences of illness or poverty, there are still people in the UP that occasionally need a hand and any Legionnaires that want to team up together, push up their sleeves, and help out, can always find something to do.

WILDCARD

[letsgolegion]

If players have their own setting or scenario that doesn't fit one of the others, they can play it out there.

MOVIE NIGHT

[unrecovered]

Given that the previous movie night had been something of a disaster, that Parker had requested something with more explosions, and that Scream wasn't exactly seasonally appropriate, Wash had opted for Die Hard instead. Per usual, the film is set up on a projector in one of Legion World's larger lounges, with comfy furniture scattered throughout the room and tables piled high with snacks and drinks. The food and drink have taken a more seasonal bent: there's hot chocolate and eggnog, and in addition to the normal pizzas, Wash has convinced the kitchen to provide several chocolate and peppermint dessert pizzas, along with an assortment of other holiday snacks. There is, of course, popcorn, because you can't beat a classic.

One new addition to movie night is the sign by the door, naming the movie in question and listing its MPAA rating and the reasons it got an R. At least people won't be too terribly surprised this time.

Strategic Retreat

[agnominal]

He's made sure York made it back to his biome, and he's just exiting when he pauses to take a breath. He wants to get back to his own, back into his armor, and process what just happened.

Washington had mentioned he had allies here. But Master Chief? Locksmith?

Of course, he hadn't necessarily expected to acquire any of his own. It's not something he's skilled at. He isn't friendly. He has no charm or grace in social situations. How he even managed to wind up on York's good side in the first place is something of a mystery to him, and his fingers slip briefly into his pocket to wrap around that datastick.

Sombra, he knows, will eventually want something in turn. She's canny that way. York...genuinely appears to want to be his friend. He's not sure what to do with that. Honestly he's not sure he knows how to be a friend to someone, and not just an ally, a partner, an associate, or some variety thereof.

One hand lifts to rub at the side of his head before he lets out a brief, irritated huff, and starts down the hall. The sooner this night ends, the better.