Chapter 23, Page 57
The following is an article excerpt from Intrigue, a monthly periodical offering in-depth coverage of current events, politics, culture, and business with an emphasis on long-form articles, photojournalism, and interviews. [Article originally published five months ago.]
THE SUBSTANCE SPIRAL:
A PERSONAL ACCOUNT
By Roxy Liene
The Struther Institute recently surveyed 600 people about substance use, and 81% of respondents considered it normal to experiment with drugs or alcohol while in college. Of the survey respondents who attended college, 73% reported using drugs or alcohol at least once while enrolled.
Even without the study’s results, it’s no secret how prevalent substance use is on most campuses, or how it’s a part of “College Culture.” I should know. I was one of those college students—part of that aforementioned 73%—who experimented with both drugs and alcohol.
I didn’t dive into that world right away and stayed relatively clean during my first two years of college. Sure, I had the occasional alcoholic beverage, but I’d only drink at parties. Parties seemed like the stereotypical image of what college life should be and drinking went hand-in-hand with that perceived experience.
Then came the drugs.
During my third year of college I grew particularly adventurous one night and tried Deltra. Compared to the other illicit substances on offer, I viewed Deltra as the “safest” option. It’s technically classified as a mind-altering/psychoactive drug, but I reasoned that it was natural—it came from a plant, after all!—and it was legalized for medical use. How bad could it be?
The first time I tried it, I hated it. I had a severe coughing fit, felt so nauseous I spent the evening hunched over a toilet bowl, and then ended up intensely paranoid for a couple hours. After that less-than-enjoyable experience, who’d want to try Deltra again, right?
Wrong. A week later I was at another party. It took a few drinks and some convincing by a handful of friends that I should give Deltra a second try. They claimed the first time’s always rough. I was still skeptical, but figured it was worth a shot. So, I tried it again. And they were right. The second time was everything they said it would be…and more.
A month went by and I quickly became a ‘Deltra disciple.’ I bought it on the regular from another student who seemed to have an endless supply. This was great, as I would smoke it once or twice a week. It didn’t take long for that to change. I started using it every other day. Then every day—if I could afford it. It turned into a nice escape from all the studying, the worrying about tests, the various social pressures, and a million other things. In my mind, any excuse to use Deltra was a valid one.
Then a friend introduced me to other drugs: Boost, Sensoral, and Nucaine. According to her, if Deltra made me feel good, those would make me feel great! Hearing that, how could I not try them? So I did, and each one topped the last. I was hooked. These new substances gave me a stronger, longer-lasting high—but they were also much more addictive than Deltra, which I was already becoming dependent on.
As I developed a desire for this new varied assortment of drugs, two things happened: money became increasingly tight and my grades went into free fall. This was what I would later call the “Substance Spiral” but, at the time, I was too consumed with how I was going to get my next fix.
And then I discovered the pleasure drug Aphrosia. I’d just met a guy, we started dating, and (thanks to Aphrosia) the sex was amazing! This turned into yet another addiction. I found that I couldn’t enjoy sex anymore without Aphrosia.
Shortly after, my then-boyfriend introduced me to Euphoria, which he claimed was the pleasure drug to end all pleasure drugs—and he was right. Euphoria was incredibly expensive, but he was well off and could afford it.
Taking Euphoria was both the best and worst drug-related experience of my life. It lives up to its reputation—I never enjoyed a greater sense of sexual pleasure before or since. To some degree, it was detrimental to future sexual experiences, because nothing could ever compare. Aphrosia was strong, but not in the same way “E” was. It’s hard to describe, but someone once told me the ‘release’ from Aphrosia was like a fire hydrant bursting—and Euphoria is like the dam giving way and releasing the whole reservoir. I don’t know if that’s an ideal analogy, unless you’ve taken both drugs, in which case it makes perfect sense.
Reaching climax on Euphoria made me feel like I ascended to some elevated plane of existence. In a way, it’s almost an out-of-body experience. The pleasure hits in increasing waves and the drug’s long-lasting, so that elation stays for a while. The problem is, when it’s over, you want it again. And again. Coming down from Euphoria is difficult, it’s as if you’re going from the greatest vacation of all time—a warm, sun-soaked tropical paradise—to suddenly dropping down naked into the coldest, dirtiest urban gutter imaginable.
Despite my new love affair with Euphoria, I did have some concerns. During this “Substance Spiral” stage, these worries didn’t include any of the drug’s obvious health risks, or the cardiac-related ones, which Euphoria is known for. But I was bothered by how my body went into auto-pilot while on the drug. More so than the other substances I tried before, it was scary how little control I had on Euphoria. And “little” is an understatement; there were times I had zero control—my body simply went into what I describe as “absolute carnal mode.” It would often take me multiple orgasms to begin to regain my faculties and, even then, it took a while to get back to normal.
I was addicted to Euphoria. I think I became addicted the very first time I tried it. Day and night, I would crave the drug. Thanks to my then-boyfriend, it was always in supply—until we broke up. I eventually dipped into my college savings to fuel this addiction, but the money didn’t last. Cheaper substances like Deltra, Boost, and even Aphrosia didn’t give me the high I now required from Euphoria.
The “Substance Spiral” continued, hitting hard and fast. I ended up dropping out of college and moved in with a friend. That didn’t last either. I couldn’t hold a job, couldn’t pay the rent, and couldn’t effectively function in daily life. Completing the most simplistic task became difficult. Combing my hair, brushing my teeth, or showering felt like monumental hurdles—yes, it got that bad.
I craved a high 24/7.
It was only after a forced intervention from my family and a long stint in rehab, that I finally got my life together again. It wasn’t easy, at times it was pure hell. But the support of my family and the patience of the counselors in rehab saved my life. Literally.
I’m now back in college and plan to graduate this year. My goal is a career as a substance abuse counselor. I hope to use my experience to help others avoid the “Substance Spiral” that I went through and, if the Struther Institute’s college substance survey is any indication, the need for counselors is at an all-time high.
Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Salaiix.
“Yes” to what question?
I think between Madison’s fractured state of mind and the ambiguity of her answer, Yalee’s going to use it to validate the “more” option.
Again, seeing Yalee’s lipstick smudged on Madison’s own lips is too damn sexy.
Along with yet another excellent page, the article’s great as well.
Yeah, two-and-a-half years of Reena and Madison getting stripped naked and/or sexually assaulted in most scenes they’re in just about does it for me. Time to peace out, it was a fun ride up until this particular Horror High arc which just tested my patience to its breaking point. Best wishes going forward anyway, I’ll always treasure the physical copies of the first two volumes, and I’m happy I was here for the ride, I’m just no longer the audience for this one, it simply took me a while to realize it.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I got into this comic 3-4 years ago, after stumbling on to it (I liked the artstyle and was intrigued by the story). The story has always had a metric fuckton of “fanservice” (Madison and Reena’s frequently having wardrobe malfunctions, pantyshots/upshot shots, cleavage shots, etc). But it was more “tolerable” than the grotesque, fetish porn shlock that it has been for the past two and a half years+.
I’m no prude either, my favorite manga is Berserk and I draw spicy art myself, it’s just how this has gone hand-in-hand with neutering Reena (in Chapter 1 she aims her gun at a coworker for spanking her, she’s unrecognizable from that early spunky new cop in this arc, way tamer and far too nonchalant after the fact…), Madison fought like hell in spite of the drug but I’m just not sold on how they even got it into her system in the first place. And something about the whole affair being non-consensual every single time kills any sexy factor for me. Were she getting it on because they desire it (policing Pallad must be one hell of a stressful job, they’d understandably need to release some steam, golden opportunity for genuinely hot chapters right there), it’d be one thing. But for the past couple of years it’s sexual assault after sexual assault after sexual assault and it just got to be way too much for me to tolerate anymore. And yes, there’s actual rape in Berserk too, but first, the manga doesn’t linger on that half as much as this, they’re way less graphic, and they connect to the characters’ development: it’s traumatic, and it shows the cruel reality of it, it adds substance. Plus, it also has several consensual scenes scattered throughout (and they also serve their purposes). Here… well, I think I just conveyed my thoughts well enough, you can piece together the rest.
To throw a different opinion into the mix, I couldn’t possibly disagree more. Every scene fits into the context of the situation and that’s what makes the key difference.
Everyone has a right to their opinion but I guess what really bothers me is the exaggerated claims that Reena and Madison get stripped naked or assaulted in almost every scene of this story arc. That’s far from true.
I don’t recall Madison being in any such situation in this arc until when she got to the bar. A bar where the owner is strongly implied to have drugged women before and taken them to his back room or sold them off. Her current situation is in context of that. As to how the drug got into her system, it was in the drink Wilkos basically forced her to take. Maybe some people don’t read the written entries because a ton was written on how the drug works. We even got insight into why Yalee is having such a power fantasy of doing this to Madison right now, which adds both context and substance. It’s certainly not random and we’re seeing just how depraved these villains are. This isn’t a Marvel. A bunch of content is more sanitized then ever, so nowadays I can see this being too extreme for some, as opposed to the anime and movies of the 80s/90s which this comic is clearly influenced by. Let’s face it, most mainstream entertainment’s currently afraid to show “villains doing actual villainous things”. Again, it’s a context thing. What we see Wilkos and the girls at Sumter do align with their criminal motives in context of who and what they are.
As for Reena, sure, she’s got the brunt of it, but again, the context is there. She’s been the target of both the rich-bitch girls of Sumter and the lusty headmistress, but in each instance the cause is there for why they’re doing it. The characters’ reasons are criminal, yes, but Mora, Siyo, Thorne, etc have been established as seedy people, all on an excess power trip who clearly look to dominate and subjugate anyone “beneath” them and the way they do so with Reena is a means to that, at least in their twisted minds. The girls are all rich, they can’t dominate Reena with money or social influence. So they do so the only thing they can, by physically humiliating her.
I also take issue with the claim that Reena’s been neutered. Right before this arc started, we see her aiding Madison to fight that giant mech, no different than she was Chapter 1. We’ve only seen a drastic change in her demeanor once this arc started because she’s undercover. She’s an 18 year old rookie with almost no training (plus zero in undercover work) and given the assignment by the mayor himself. She’s repeatedly been told how important this case is, how students might be getting murdered, and she needs to basically put a stop to it…all without a partner or even a weapon. There are numerous times in this arc where Reena clearly expressed her own self-doubts about this and how she’s basically out of her depth on this assignment. She’s treading carefully to not botch the case up which, if that happens, could end up with another student’s death. When going up against mechs, masked criminals, Miss Bliss, handsy coworkers, and whoever else in the context of a uniformed cop, I’m sure Reena would still be spunky. In a school where she needs to basically keep up the image that she’s a naive rich girl, while solving a murder mystery, calls for a much different approach.
Maybe for some it’s fetish porn shlock, but honestly I feel that label’s a disservice to the story when there’s a logical direction and context behind every scene, no matter how graphic they are.
What I love about DZO and this story arc is how far the envelope is constantly being pushed. I agree with what the comment above said about seeing villains *acting* like villains and that’s what we’re seeing. Hands down this is my favorite story arc so far and it’s given me some of my favorite Reena scenes. That moment where Madison tells Reena she “has her back” felt like a big step forward for the two of them. It tied nicely into that earlier locker room convo Sera and Reena had with Reena feeling like she’s made no progress with Madison. Don’t really see Reena as being diminished either. Really hope the author stays the course with this arc and doesn’t cave to toning it down.
Never understood why people even announce they stop reading a free webcomic. Do they think the author’s going to rework the story into what one particular reader wants, or stop including what they dislike? I’m generally curious. If I’m buying a monthly comic at the local comic shop and lose interest in the series, I still wouldn’t write to the publisher. What’s the point? I’d just stop buying it. But a FREE webcomic? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If this comic went full on hentai I’d still be here reading. Enjoyed it on day one when I found out about it five years ago and still loving every update. The work you guys put into this comic’s leaps and bounds above so much of the mainstream and indie slop other there. Keep up the great work.
Fuck yeah. This is EXACTLY why I read this comic. I enjoy the hell out of the story, characters, and the T&A takes it up ten notches above most anime. No reason to stop now. Fuck the douches complaining.