Story idea: locked in a protest

[desecration]

Soooo, this kind of story is not my thing, but I know that some of you dig this type of setup. Basically, a bunch of college students have taken over an administration hall. They can't leave because they will get arrested. They have to stay and find some way to pass the time, and there are all of these empty offices, supply closets, bathrooms, and whatever else they have in college administration halls for them to explore. Also they are sure that at some point, the riot cops are going to charge in, they all get arrested, and their lives are over as they know it. It's like Titanic lite.

One student on scene during the late afternoon estimated that there were about 30 protesters inside the building, and dozens outside. Shortly thereafter, about 30 officers with Claremont Police Department wearing riot gear arrived at the occupation, according to another Instagram post.

“Immediately after their arrival, the 18+ students sitting in Starr’s office were barricaded in by Campus Safety Officers, who positioned themselves in front of the exits,” the students’ release said.

Read the full article for more salacious details.

 

[intim8]

Are you tossing this out there for someone else to write? Thinking of writing it yourself? Just want ideas around it?

 

[desecration]

Are you tossing this out there for someone else to write? Thinking of writing it yourself? Just want ideas around it?

It's not my thing, so this would be a useful setup for someone else.

 

[intim8]

They expect the raid to happen in 3 days, for reasons. So they all start going at it in the various rooms. Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But some of them discover that the building has a basement, and there is a long-forgotten tunnel out to other parts of the campus (maybe built during the Cold War or something). So some of them are down there when the raid happens earlier than they thought.

EC: couples go at it in the rooms. One couple in the basement gets away.
Group: Groups go at it in the rooms. Several people in the basement get away.
Anal, BDSM, Fetish, etc: Add the relevant elements to the above
E&V: Most of the protesters are arrested in the raid, some without clothes, and do the perp walk nude. Several people get out just in the nick of time, but they don't have time to get dressed. They are later spotted nude on campus and arrested on the presumption that they were in the building.
Romance: One couple hides out in the basement and are never spotted. They fall in love, and emerge later after the entire thing is over.
Mature: One or more professors are among the protesters.
NC/R: A pair of cops find people in the basement, and promise to let them go, if....

etc. etc.

 

[desecration]

Tunnels and cops coming in three days, yes! Yes, you have made this into something much more interesting. Well done! And I hope you write it.

 

[intim8]

you have made this into something much more interesting.

In 13 minutes. Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is gold.

I probably won't write any of those stories, but you never know. Anybody else, please feel free to steal the ideas.

 

[intim8]

Heh, or we could get a group of writers to all write that same story, pick one category each.

 

[desecration]

Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is gold.

Yes, for the most part, but no, all ideas are not equal. Sometimes a group can build up a concept and make it interesting, at least people used to do that with collaborative fiction back in the day. I think you have made a good start, but yes, execution is gold. I hope it happens somehow.

 

[intim8]

all ideas are not equal.

OK, some are worth a quarter.

 

[desecration]

I like to think that some ideas need incubation. There are few really bad ideas (consuming Taco Bell and Modelo Especial after midnight, maybe) but many ideas need to evolve a bit, and when they are done, they look nothing like they did when they started out.

 

[intim8]

Heh, or we could get a group of writers to all write that same story, pick one category each.

All with the same title, like "Protest Lockdown", or "...For Tomorrow We Die", but each with their own description. All use the same basic setup, and each with a different MC, but the same people are locked in in each variant.

 

[intim8]

many ideas need to evolve a bit, and when they are done, they look nothing like they did when they started out.

Happens to me a lot. And I'm a pantser, so basically none of my stories end like I imagined they would.

 

[MrPixel]

Read the full article for more salacious details.

Ohgawd. Hadn't heard about this. That's where I went to school, [ahem] years ago.

Yes, there were tunnels on our particular end of everything - Claremont Colleges are a cluster of schools - but there was no connection between our buildings and that specific building. The only time I ever needed to be in the Pomona College admin office was for the infirmary after a trampoline class injury.

Ah, the memories. There was supposedly a picture in the Pomona College yearbook of me riding my bike wearing a sousaphone en route to an event, but our sub-college had its own yearbook, so I never got to see it. Now just try and work that into your story.

 

[desecration]

I guess that explains your knowledge of Route 66! Sounds like it was fun. I knew some guys vested in Hollywood and they all sent their kids to Pitzer.

 

[SimonDoom]

This brings back memories, because I remember as a student journalist covering a campus building occupation, entering the building, hanging out with the occupants, and asking them questions about what they were doing and why. It was a very interesting experience, although I've always been somewhat skeptical of the efficacy or righteousness of occupying college buildings as a way of supporting a cause. I can see multiple opportunities for erotica here as a subset of the broader category of "erotica under duress" stories.

 

[MrPixel]

I knew some guys vested in Hollywood and they all sent their kids to Pitzer.

Yep. Pitzer. You confirmed the reputation at the time that if you (i.e., your folks) had money, you could buy a very nice degree from Pitzer. IIRC, though, the poli-sci classes were at Pitzer. If I knew then what I know now, I would have probably taken a few. HMC was too much of a grind, tho', and my studies there suffered due to my liking music classes at Pomona maybe a little too much.

 

[Jorunn]

In the Great Cold North, it is not uncommon to have tunnels between buildings today. Many at university connect with dorms, thus a commuter student would walk into their class bundled up with snowy boots, but a resident would show up with no coat and wearing bedroom slippers on their feet. But for a story, maybe the old Cold War tunnels (or bomb shelter rooms) would be more exciting. In Bergen, Norway there are many WWII German bunkers with connecting tunnels that can be explored. I may use those in a future story.

 

[intim8]

But for a story, maybe the old Cold War tunnels (or bomb shelter rooms) would be more exciting

Yeah, they have to be forgotten enough that the cops don't know to camp out at the other end of them.

 

[desecration]

IIRC, though, the poli-sci classes were at Pitzer.

Apparently it has quite a reputation for that. Seems like a good place. I like these university clusters where you can take classes at other colleges. What a cool idea!

 

[desecration]

In the Great Cold North, it is not uncommon to have tunnels between buildings today. Many at university connect with dorms, thus a commuter student would walk into their class bundled up with snowy boots, but a resident would show up with no coat and wearing bedroom slippers on their feet. But for a story, maybe the old Cold War tunnels (or bomb shelter rooms) would be more exciting. In Bergen, Norway there are many WWII German bunkers with connecting tunnels that can be explored. I may use those in a future story.

Steam tunnels are pretty common at colleges even in Texas. The reason is that if you need to run electrical, plumbing, or other lines to the different buildings, you don't want to be digging up the Quad! But you can find a way to sneak in often to smoke that weed or have some quality alone time with your significant other or others.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The tunnels at my alma mater were extensive, almost convoluted. There was graffiti in them, but of a curiously nice, even humorously polite nature. One stands out in my mind. LOST THREE DAES ONLY ONE CANDEL LEFT PRAY FOR OUR SOULS

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

They expect the raid to happen in 3 days, for reasons. So they all start going at it in the various rooms. Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But some of them discover that the building has a basement, and there is a long-forgotten tunnel out to other parts of the campus (maybe built during the Cold War or something). So some of them are down there when the raid happens earlier than they thought.

EC: couples go at it in the rooms. One couple in the basement gets away.
Group: Groups go at it in the rooms. Several people in the basement get away.
Anal, BDSM, Fetish, etc: Add the relevant elements to the above
E&V: Most of the protesters are arrested in the raid, some without clothes, and do the perp walk nude. Several people get out just in the nick of time, but they don't have time to get dressed. They are later spotted nude on campus and arrested on the presumption that they were in the building.
Romance: One couple hides out in the basement and are never spotted. They fall in love, and emerge later after the entire thing is over.
Mature: One or more professors are among the protesters.
NC/R: A pair of cops find people in the basement, and promise to let them go, if....

etc. etc.

Just a note: Many large building complexes like major universities run their utilities through underground tunnel systems for ease of maintenance. I spent hours and hours running form campus police in the ones under UT Austin back in the day.

For additional story ideas, those tunnels have access points in the dorms, even the all girls dorms, and the science buildings(ahem, chemistry).

And if you want to go horror, well, maybe it's a very old university and the tunnels go places best left undisturbed, and what if a small group of students takes a wrong turn and opens the wrong door?

EDIT: "Running from the campus police" can also be described as wandering around almost lost and hoping we didn't get caught.