Speech and Debate Club Meeting on Library

Bonabelle Row

September 13, 2021 1:47 AM

Speech and Debate Club Meeting by Bonabelle Row

Bonabelle hated starting club meetings because you just sat there awkwardly and hoped people showed up. At this point, there were at least a few familiar faces who had been before and more that she knew throughout the school, so that helped tremendously. Still, if no one showed up, Bonabelle would just sit there by herself all night. Not that she'd mind that usually but she did often have something else on her mind these days . . .

Her thoughts were on her girlfriend as the first student arrived and Bonabelle greeted them with a light smile and a polite nod. Refreshments weren't properly allowed in the library - and it was a library! Who would be so monstrous as to bring some - but there was water available, several notebooks if students needed them, and writing utensils. When enough time had passed that Bonabelle figured anyone else likely wasn't coming, she greeted those gathered.

"Hello. Welcome or welcome back. I'm glad to be getting started again and this year I think I have a better idea of how to do this. I picked out some books that are available in the library and I've found to be especially good resources on speech writing, debate, rhetoric, and logic, so those are in the middle of the table next to the notebooks if you want them," she said, pointing at the stack. "Otherwise, I think tonight will mostly just be the chance to get to know each other and to brainstorm some ideas. I'll take notes if anyone comes up with anything or if topics come up in conversation that seem like they'd be good. We'll be doing different kinds of debate styles and speeches so variety is good. As far as introductions, I can go first.

"I'm Bonabelle Row, I'm a fourth year Aladren student although most of you probably know that. My uncle is the guidance counselor here," she added lamely since Wait, like Mr. Row? was a common enough question with her last name, despite the fact that they bore very very little resemblance. "I am the founder of this club so I've been here since the beginning and happy to answer anyone's questions if they have them. Do you want to go next?" she asked, turning to the person on her left.

Subthreads:

Present! by Valentine Duell

22 Bonabelle Row Speech and Debate Club Meeting 1488 1 5

Valentine Duell

September 13, 2021 5:32 PM

Present! by Valentine Duell

Valentine rush through the halls as fast as she dared. She was probably going to be late and that hadn't good. After last year she had decided to limit herself to only two clubs this year. Things got a little tricky once she had been put on charge of one though. With a little bit of simple, rational thought however she had sorted things out.

Initially she had thought that running a club might just count for being in two clubs. The problem with that kind of thought left her unable to do anything else. So, rationally, it had to be false. The only logical conclusion then was that she would stick to her initial resolution and only be in two clubs, running a club was an entirely different thing and therefore didn't count.

This perfectly logical conclusion was necessary because there were two other clubs that she needed to continue with, both for the same basic reason. If she ever found herself in a duel or heated discussion, she wanted to know how to handle herself. It had been one of the very first things her super-smart girlfriend ever pointed out to her. Plus, her super-smart and altogether wonderful girlfriend was running one of them and there was no way Val was not going to be there to support her.

She arrived at the library in time, but was not the first to arrive. That was okay, she'd made it. After greeting the founder and president of the club along with the other members in a friendly manner, she took the nearest seat she could get to Bonabelle. Apparently, she noticed, Bonabelle hadn't yet worked out an agreement with Mr. Fox-Reynolds for proper club snacks. Maybe she could help with that sometime, her gaming club had figured that out.

Val giggled when Bonabelle asked if she wanted to introduce herself next. "Sure!" She exclaimed merrily, "I'm Valentine Duell, also a fourth year, but a Teppenpaw!" She figured she may as well follow Bonabelle's lead and so followed suit, "My aunt is the Divinations professor." After that she was at a bit of a loss, she was tempted to say something about Bonabelle, but really, really didn't want to embarrass her here. "Hmm…" she thought just a moment, saying she ran the gaming club might sound like some sort of tacky advertisement.

"I don't really like to argue," she admitted blushing just a bit, "so, I'm here to learn how to do it properly. Just in case." She was sorely tempted to elbow or throw a wink at her girlfriend as an acknowledgement of their first meeting. But… it did occur to her that it might be taken the wrong way. She was not looking to start a fight with Bonabelle. Instead she turned and smiled at the person next to her, "You're next!"

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Rosalynn Tellerman

September 14, 2021 12:57 PM

I'm here, too! by Rosalynn Tellerman

Rosalynn had joined two clubs last year, and already found herself in charge of one of them. She had briefly debated (heh!) if that meant she should drop the debate club to focus more on the art one, but decided she could handle both. Neither were quite what she was really looking for in an extracurricular activity, but combined they hit both her creative needs (even if she preferred performance art more than physical art) and her desire to have an audience (even if the debate was more logical than dramatic).

No promises if anyone ever started a drama club that hit both itches at once (she kind of had planned to do that herself either this year or next, but wasn't sure she wanted to be running two clubs; well, the occasional Saturday night show in Aladren she put on with Morgan was almost what she was looking for there anyway), but for now, Rosalynn was enjoying both of the clubs she had chosen. Besides, she was an Aladren, and the debate club could be quite interesting in its own right depending on the topic they decided to go with for any given debate or speech.

Today, the speech was just a short introduction, but she could handle that well enough. She waved at everybody else when Val passed it on to her. "Hi, I'm Rosalynn Tellerman. I'm a third year Aladren," she gave a nod of acknowledgement toward Bonabelle to show she recognized the sameness in their Houses, but did not feel it was necessary to verbally point it out. "I have no relatives on staff," she admitted because this seemed to be a thing they were including, and she decided to carry on with it because it segued nicely with why she was here, "but my dad used to be, before he got a job as a stage magician in Las Vegas, and I've inherited an interest in convincing people to believe things that I want them to believe from him," she grinned and her eyes twinkled a little at this bastardization of what debating was all about. "So that's why I'm here."

She turned to the person sitting on her other side, with a slightly too dramatic flourish for a casual club meeting, but what was the fun in life without a little too much drama? "Your turn," she smiled at them.

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