Later on, while she is confident in her ability to compete in traditional LD, such as at Bolton, most of the training time she spends between Bolton and Isidore Newman is devoted to what makes traditional and progressive LD different. Including flowing opponents who spread, as well as how to answer kritiks, and other arguments based on theory. She does so, knowing that 3 of the remaining 4 tournaments after Bolton will be more progressive, including Columbia and Stanford.
Ultimately, however, after Isidore Newman, at which he placed third, Oscar starts running his own set of stand-up comedy shows at parties around the parish in an attempt to raise funds for the Tournament of Champions (ToC), for which he qualifies for the first time. However, while Anna did pretty well for herself at Bolton, she didn't break at Isidore Newman, at which she finished 3-3. Which was a relief to her since she wasn't in the announcements and hence her "radar signature" was less prominent to Marjorine's eyes. At least for the time being.
As for Roger, he gets to be in the morning announcement that Monday since he won the novice LD division at Isidore Newman, making him go into the spotlight and on to varsity LD. Plus drilling with Anna gave him exposure to the more esoteric arguments of progressive LD.
"Did you somehow become a lame nerd like Anna?" Marjorine asks Roger.
"You were expelled from band because of how you treated my teammate! Do you want to be expelled from school as well?" Roger asks her.
While people can get good grades from time to time, if I pick on people based on that, I would get caught much faster. Roger has a point. I already accumulated 3 unexcused absences because of the 2 suspensions I served. Third out-of-school suspension this year and I am expelled, Marjorine is suddenly reminded of the price she paid for bullying Anna earlier in the season.
As with the Venomous Agendas in 2025, the S&D coach decides that whether to go to the ToC or to NSDA Nationals (Nats) will depend on the other players' ability to qualify, because the budget won't allow the school to attend both. On top of that, the school hasn't attended either in forever, if at all. And the coach, as does Oscar's father, feels Anna can realistically final at NSDA-State and hence attend Nats.
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As for Columbia, in January, she breaks for the first time in inter-state tournaments at the varsity level but finishes 20th after being eliminated in double-octos, out of a field of 106. No ToC for me, I guess... Anna sighs after being eliminated. Roger finishes that tournament 2-4, while, as per usual, Oscar makes it to the final. Anna then calls Oscar at the end of the tournament on Teams.
"Congrats Oscar, on being the runner-up at Columbia!"
"Thank you. It's obvious to me you have a lot more experience of debating than you originally led me to believe" Oscar then remarks something about Anna.
"I originally wanted to join junior year but there was a player who made me feel uncomfortable. Like, I get that I wouldn't be starting from scratch back then, but here's our little secret: I used to be a VA before I transferred here, and the LD debater in the theater department made me practice some with her, all year"
Knowing Oscar, if he told the student body I am an ex-VA, they would simply laugh because they wouldn't take him at face value. Even Marjorine didn't spread rumors that I am an ex-VA, Anna reflects upon the implications of confessing this aspect of her past as a Venomous Agenda to him.
"Was that... player, as you put it, like Marjorine or not?" Oscar asks her.
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"No, he was, like, do debate, it will be good for you, but you won't realize the benefits until you consistently compete for ToC bids. To him, there are skill ceilings requiring progressively higher levels of competition to overcome and it's as if I already hit one from the get-go"
"He was probably aware of the full extent of your intellectual gifts"
"You're the one who understands me best"
As much as I embrace my intellectual gifts, as a VA I was overshadowed by other people. Here people know I'm smart, but Marjorine is the one who rubs it in my face the most, just not always nicely. However, I prefer to let my intellect to speak for itself, Anna thinks, triggered by the words "intellectual gifts".
And yet the increase in the level of competition appears to have had the effect of reducing her social "radar signature" without fully flying under the radar since she doesn't place that high anymore. Especially since she feels like debate tournaments are all the same to the eyes of the student body.
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A few weeks later, at Stanford, which is an even bigger LD tournament than Columbia has been, with 226 players competing, Anna makes it to double-octofinals again, but her double-octos matchup triggers memories from her time as a Venomous Agenda, and more specifically, her first HSNCT run.
"On the neg side we have, from Detroit Catholic Central in Michigan" the head judge announces to the two players. "Best of luck to both debaters"
Detroit Catholic Central? That DCC I played against at the HSNCT two years ago? Why must DCC rear its ugly head at this tournament? I had a history against DCC, the VAs lost against DCC and placed 12th that year, with me having to hold the fort on the buzzer when Sadie got sick. Sadie, I shall avenge thee. That, even though DCC has no history against my current school, debating or quiz bowl, Anna ruminates as the game is about to start, amid flashbacks from that game against DCC at the HSNCT. Here's my chance to avenge that HSNCT!
The game proceeds mostly as she expected it to proceed when in the outrounds of a major inter-state tournament. Focus, Anna. I can do this. By now I know my rebuttal must attack the opponent's arguments at their core, and also defend against such; I can't introduce new arguments or evidence and still accomplish the above in 4 minutes, not with my word budget, Anna ruminates while her brain goes into overdrive. As her cross-ex period begins:
"Why do you take for granted that..." Anna then states the most important implicit assumption the opponent essentially took for granted, but Anna didn't.
The whole 3 minutes is spent challenging the basic assumptions on which the opponent's arguments lie, while remaining mindful of staying relevant to the topic. And the opponent didn't always have the best answers, but tried nonetheless to respond to them, one by one.
Sometimes Anna found other players went overboard with assumption challenges, and the arguments then formulated even went so far as to argue the topic was fundamentally flawed, or other topics should be debated over this one.
But not this one, and this round is very intense to her precisely because it manages to be so hard without falling into the trap of going off-topic. Or committing a breach of topicality, as both VAs and Majors refer to making off-topic arguments of any kind.
I did it! By a 3-0 ballot, I finally avenged this loss at the HSNCT against DCC! Also, if I'm not mistaken, DCC is the only school in Michigan that actually does progressive LD, Anna reflects, while not realizing that, by winning that game, she shut DCC out of the ToC, and DCC fell short of the ToC twice in a row.
On Sunday, she gets to play two more games, a 2-1 victory in octofinals and a 0-3 loss in quarterfinals. She then spends the whole afternoon doing homework while she is interrupted by Oscar at night...
"Anna, now it's my turn to make a confession. You might have been accustomed to me doing well in HI, but when I started out, with the encouragement of a teacher, I struggled to pick a script and memorize the resulting piece. There was no winging an HI performance, and it took me almost two years to feel like I knew what I was doing. Getting nuances and timing made me funnier as a class clown..."
"Oscar, here I don't feel any pressure to deliver. But I deliver nonetheless"
"You might seem like a smart girl like another, but I know that, in past years, I have seen worse kids in class, let alone on academic teams, referred to as nerds. So, next time people call you a nerd, take it as a compliment. I know how smart you are"
With this strong finish at Stanford, there is every reason to be hopeful about the state championship, especially since I beat Michigan's LD state champion just to get to quarters! Anna muses, realizing Oscar cares about her now more than he did at the start of the season.