Deinonychus
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2012
- Messages
- 401
Hey everybody! This report details the experience I had two days ago with 2C-C. First off, some seriously big ups to MGS for having recommended this compound so enthusiastically, and for prompting me to turn the PM I sent him after the experience into a proper trip report. We had been talking about 2C-B and -C and how they relate to one another in a thread in PD. I had never tried it before, though I already had a generous supply. Up until now I had generally considered 2C-B to be my favorite PEA. I also greatly enjoy 2C-T-2, 2C-D, and 2C-E as well, as far as PEAs go, but 2C-B has always been dearest to my heart due to some very profound personal realizations the first time I took it. I am lucky enough to have the hydrobromide salt, which makes insufflation possibly without causing the type of ridiculous agony that snorting PEA hydrochloride salts will induce. But with that said, I think that 2C-C definitely now is an equal to 2C-B as far as being a new favorite. It is a new, awesomely perfect ally in my psychedelic explorations! As MGS said that he preferred 2C-C to –B, I decided to finally get around to trying it posthaste, since I have never encountered anybody who takes that position, and I strongly respect MGS as a poster and psychonaut, so these factors prompted me to get down to business and try 2C-C.
A bit of background about me: I am very experienced (perhaps too much so) with all types of drugs save dissociative anesthetics. I have tried DXM several times as a young kid, and ketamine once, and while I hate DXM ketamine was absolutely beautiful. It is simply my lack of supply sources for ketamine that have prevented any further experimentation. I was a straight-up coke/crack fiend for about six months more than seven years ago (seven years *clean* at that, not a single relapse, woo go me!) and after I quit using cocaine I have strongly disliked anything that is stimulatory. Unfortunately for the past seven years since I quit coke I’ve been a daily heroin user, not having missed a single day of use of heroin in over five years and not having missed a single day using either heroin or methadone in fully six and a half years.
I’m a 24-year-old, 135 pound, 5’ 11” tall male, and employed as a successful recording and mixing engineer for hip-hop and indie rock music. I am most partial drug-wise to opiates, empathy/entactogens, and psychedelics, not necessarily I any order of favoritism. At the moment I have been single for about a year, and lead a generally healthy life despite my heroin habit, through a varied vegetarian diet, proper exercise, and through use of vein rotation and using Neosporin, I do not have any real tracks and never have had any abscesses or other physical harm produced by my IV use.
My mindset at the time was generally positive. I have never really been depressed, and I have the lucky ability to prevent heroin from being the only enjoyable thing in my life. I still revel in the simple pleasures and wonder of even being a living, conscious being, and was excited to be trying a new psychedelic. There are some things I have been unhappy about of late, like being unemployed as far as a day-to-day job, as recording and mixing work comes and goes and is not a constant thing. My aged dog has recently had a stroke and lost feeling and motive power on half her body, so that is very upsetting. I've known for a while I need to reduce my heroin habit at the very least if not quit entirely, for financial reasons and for health and wellbeing. And finally I am very lonely romantically, as I miss having another human being who cares for me in that way. But while those are negatives, I have never in my entire life let negative things overwhelm the positive aspects of life. That would be tantamount to accepting defeat in my eyes, though that philosophy only applies to myself and I wouldn't pass judgement on others for not seeing things that way.
Anyway, enough about me, on to the trip! I like to read trip reports as a leisure time thing, and I was always a bit perplexed by the reports of this compound being underwhelming. Having that in mind I chose a dose of 80mg. I have generally an average natural tolerance to psychedelics, not needing any more or less than most people. That said, I consider myself to be a real veteran tripper and drug user in general, being absolutely confident in my ability to handle psychedelic states. The only drug experiences where I have ever felt that I would be unable or unsure of my ability to handle things if some heavy-duty badness went down, and where I felt that I have gotten too fucked up is alcohol. Thus I don't drink hard liquor and don't drink beer fast enough to get really drunk. Other than that I haven't ever felt as if I used too much of something; I can handle my drugs like a champ. This is not meant as bragging, just a statement of fact and an acknowledgement of something I am very proud of.
I have never really had a bad trip, and I have only gotten the capital-F Fear once, after stepping in dogshit. Incidentally later that night I was pulled over to check for curfew violation while my friend and I walked to the bus stop, still peaking on the quarter ounce of mushrooms we had taken, and we pulled off that interaction effortlessly. So thus dogshit must be much scarier than cops as far as inducing Fear states! Anyway as to people thinking this stuff is disappointing, I am of the opinion that inadequate dosing must really have something to do with people being underwhelmed. As mentioned, I took 80mg, and that was spot on for my physiology and desired level of intensity. I would definitely consider exploring lower doses, but I doubt I’d go lower than 60mg, and for sure I will definitely try it higher, perhaps 90-100mg, but only as I have the luxury of not having to worry about running out any time soon
The visuals were fantastic, again equal in every way to 2C-B, but different. There was a fascinating strobe-like effect and everything was glowing in this neon red/yellow/orange/green color scheme, somewhat like the stereotypical depiction of what visuals look like in film and other visual media produced by people that have never actually tripped. I don't think I've ever had visuals like that before, where there was the impression of light emanating from every surface, as opposed to the more ordinary patterning and morphing that goes on. As for that patterning, it was classic PEA all the way, with this wonderful recurring fractal symmetry in everything.
The real gem was the headspace though, and the body buzz. I personally am thoroughly besotted and in love with the heavy body buzz that 2C-B provides, and generally enjoy the vegetative effects of psychedelics, no matter how strong, DMT being a wonderful example. I understand some people find this type of body buzz and internal energy not easy to deal with, and yes, I imagine that perhaps having all that kinetic and psychological potential stuffed inside of you could be a bit startling if unused to the feeling or otherwise prone to anxiety. Luckily I have avoided any of the psychological issues prone to both my parents’ families, like anxiety, depression, manic-depressive/bipolar, seasonal affective, etc. So coupled with my ironclad confidence, healthy sense of self and self-image, and lack of mental confusion as to who I am and what kind of person I am and wish to be, I am thankfully able to handle my drugs, psychedelic or otherwise, without any confusion or mental anguish/perturbation.
Anyway, yes, I feel like the description of 2C-C as containing an element of 'intense relaxation' is apt, and paradoxical to me as a habitual opiate user. I've come to associate relaxation with nodding and generally with being a junkie that it was a remarkable experience to find my body so well at peace and warm yet in a very much not-opiated fashion. I had of course taken a shot some hours before the trip but it barely had any effects as expected other than keeping the sick off. The wonderful thing though is that there is so much more to this drug than simply relaxation.
To elaborate on that statement, the headspace seemed to be well allied and oriented in a complementary fashion to that relaxed vibe in the body. 2C-B is pushy, as fuck at times, in that waves of compulsion come to me in the midst of whatever I'm doing if its the right activity for the moment. Like, I do not have a choice, I *must* dance to this music, I have no choice but to enjoy the setting. And I definitely *like* that aspect, but all the same I like equally much how this was much more calm and self-directed.
I have always found that an easy way to communicate psychedelic states is to reference what feels to me to be the essence of the experience. Tryptamines in general are outwardly-oriented, about the greater world and cosmic order, very much spiritual but focused not on inner spirituality but rather the external one-ness of all things, oriented towards the interfaces and boundaries between me as a person and the universe. 2C-B on the other hand is very much directed inward, it is about ego, albeit for me at least a healthy form of ego (not in the strictly Freudian sense, more like the form of ego implicit in egotism, as Freud was a penis- and incest-obsessed crackhead IMHO), and definitely is most about the interplay between conscious thoughts and desires and unconscious forms.
2C-D is an interesting psychedelic in that it is pretty much equally-balanced between the inner and the outer. This 2C-C however was wonderfully centered inward, but not so much into the territory of the unconscious mind. Instead, this seemed to be all about the conscious psyche and intellectual pleasure, instead of the more carnal delights of 2C-B. Speaking of carnal delights, oddly enough I was simply not interested in eroticism, at all, to the point where the equipment simply didn't fully function. 90% maybe, but that 10% there makes all the difference. I was content to play with myself because it felt good, but had no real desire for orgasm, and that was precluded by the aforementioned not-fully-hardness of the relevant equipment. This was quite shocking considering how amazing sexual activity, even by oneself, is on other psychedelics, in particular the close cousin of this compound, 2C-B. I certainly have never experienced anything like the pseudo-impotence that this produced in my life ever before, and I attribute it partially to the noticeable numbing of skin sensations. Probably had there been female company it would have been worth the effort, but I digress...
I spent the trip mostly doing as I always do on psychedelics: listening to music! I also thought a lot about my current place in life as far as my addiction. I find myself listening to music so often on psychs because music is one of the most powerful things that effects me, even while sober. That love for music and the raw, passionate emotion it can invoke is one of the reasons that I became a recording and mixing engineer, and music is probably my greatest hobby, both playing and listening, so enjoying it on psychedelics is just totally natural to me! Ordinarily I tend when tripping towards things like RJD2, Nostalgia 77, Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (dark/doomjazz being the only for of jazz I enjoy, jazz being the only genre in general that I really don’t like). However this time I broke out some wonderful indie rock (Bishop Allen, The Deadly Syndrome, MGMT) and listened to dubstep for the first time on a psychedelic!
I listen to dubstep all the time, that being easily my favorite form of EDM, or even of all electronic music. Strangely I simply had never gotten around to listening to it tripping, and it did *not* disappoint! I had no choice but to dnace like a madman, it was so totally awesome and moving and powerful! Additionally, I discovered that while in the past I have only enjoyed a few songs by MGMT from their first album, their music is actually very fucking trippy. I realized that the majority of the songs on their first album that I had initially dismissed as ‘too 80s’ and too scatterbrained were actually totally kickass, and their second album which I have never really liked at all proved to be transcendently good medicine, with more of that inability to stand still and not dance. Also, as a musician myself, and a recording/mixing engineer, their production value was revealed to be even better than I had given them credit for.
I also went to the big park down my quiet residential street here in Chicago and watched the sun rise. Boy, was that ever great! We’ve been having weird weather for the past two months in the Chi: not hot at all, with rain almost every day in the form of storms, and generally low humidity (for which I am so thankful for, I hate humid weather if it’s also hot out). Anyway, there was a cool, florally scented breeze, and the sunrise was partially obscured by cloudbanks, which yielded some truly gorgeous imagery! All the plants are SO verdant and shockingly green right now from all the rain, even while sober, and that was terrific to experience in the state I occupied. I also mourned the remodeling of my playground area in the park, which I grew up with as a child and contained swings that adults could fit into, and had shabby play equipment and woodchips.
Now it’s been paved over with some rubberized safety crap for the yuppie shitbags that are finally now invading my actual block after leaving it alone in favor of the surrounding areas, with slick new play equipment, and swingsets that are shorter than I am tall when standing up, outfitted with those baby-swings shaped like rubber baby diapers. I would have had so much fun swinging on the old swings just then, tripping beautifully and deeply, and I felt (and always have/always will feel) that it is just a travesty that things are inevitably ruined via ‘improvement’ when the rich young urban professional scum arrive. There were *tons* of rabbits out too, and they must have picked up on my pleasant vibe, because they were not the least bit afraid of me and actually got very close, instead of the usual running like mad at the slightest sign of human presence.
One note about this drug: the duration is indeed longer than many other PEAs, on par with 2C-E and –T-2. It lasted a good seven to eight hours, with a half hour or forty-five minute come-up. I always insufflate 2C-B, and so that obviously affects the duration, but even the few times I have taken it orally when friends have declined to sniff it, it still was shorter than this 2C-C.
Also, it is worth noting some things about the comeup, and for clarity I will add absolute timing to be explicitly and unambiguously clear. There were very definitely some real alerts around the half hour mark (T+0:30) after I had dosed the bitter (tastes awful, truly) powder in some smoothie. However, nothing else much developed after that for fifteen or more likely twenty more minutes (T+0:50), leading me to wonder at the time whether those first alerts were imagined (in retrospect I'm quite sure they were real). Then things started to kick in, but even once the drug began taking effect it took at least a further half an hour if not a full forty-five minutes (T+1:30) to really fully kick in and begin peaking. By that I mean that the beginning of the altered state of mind had not significantly arrived until two thirds of the way into that forty-five minutes (T1:15). The body buzz likewise began around T+1:00 but only became strong around T+1:15. And the visuals themselves began to manifest around T+1:00 but didn't fully arrive until between T+1:15 and T+1:30.
The transition between coming up and peaking was very gentle and smooth. The effects I just spoke of, the trifecta of visuals/body/mindfuck, just kept getting stronger and stronger from T+0:50 to T+1:30. There wasn't really any acceleration in the pace of the increase in effects. Instead all those aspects mentioned above simply transitioned in a linear fashion, until the peak was finally reached. This was actually really cool, because when the effects were about half there I began to think that I might be at the peak, and was suitably impressed with the subjective effects. Yet they just kept getting more powerful and proved to me that I hadn't peaked. My reaction to discovering that this magical, totally euphoric state was still coming on was joyous, as I felt like it just kept getting better and better, surpassing initial expectations!
I experienced some insights as well, one of which is that I worry too much about duration of trips, causing me to instead just use the heroin as my default state. I don’t take longer-acting PEAs that often, and the reason has been because I always think they’ll last too long to stay enjoyable. Yet I finally figured out this trip, in relation to its length, that length isn’t something to avoid, rather it is actually a benefit, because you get to enjoy the magical state that much longer! And I realized that it is my heroin addiction itself that has made length an issue in the past. It isn’t that I’m worried I’ll get sick, as I always ensure I am properly dosed up about on opiates about an hour before dosing any psychedelic, and always ensure I have some for after the trip, so withdrawl isn’t the thing I have been fixated on regarding length of psychedelic action. Rather, I found while thinking about things that it’s just my addict-self being greedy, and making up nonsensical/red-herring excuses like ‘what if it’s so long I get bored?’ to prevent myself from engaging in drug experiences and activities other than shooting dope.
The second major insight relates to some things I discovered on 2C-B. My first 2C-B trip placed that compound so highly in my esteem by allowing me to clean myself physically, but in doing so also cleanse myself mentally and spiritually. That experience revolved around the realization I had while cleansing myself inside and out in the shower that no matter what you are, what you do, how fucked up you have made things, everything broken can be repaired. The corollary and caveat to that statement, which I also found during that first trip with 2C-B, is that while everything can be repaired, it will not be the same as before it was broken, the cracks will show even if the broken pieces have been put back together. So relating this to my addiction, I can - when the time comes where I truly want to be clean more than I want to get high – repair myself, but I will in accordance with the caveat I mentioned not be the same person at all that I was before being addicted, or be the person that I would have been had the addiction never existed at all. And that’s okay, for that is what scars are for: to remind us not to hurt ourselves in that manner again, are they not? So that was my realization the first time I did 2C-B.
That relates to this trip as follows: while thinking about my life as of late, I was reminded of the truth of that statement about repair always being possible. When I had that first 2C-B experience, I felt that statement very viscerally, like it was totally concrete, and true, and an immense comfort. But in the time sine then it has become more abstract, becoming something that I have realized but partially forgotten, letting the immediacy and veracity of the statement slip away. This compound allowed me again to bring that concept back to its original state of absolute confidence and thus I was reminded that it is actually possible to heal instead of just considering that idea to be a pretty thing to dream about that isn’t relevant to practical considerations and daily life.
Speaking of realizations and how we reach them and how truly we believe them, 2C-C does remind me of its brominated cousin in certain respects as to psychological insight and personal growth. I find that 2C-B is sometimes derided as ‘not being a true psychedelic’, or not capable of producing insight. There have been many posts to that effect in the 2C-B BnD threads in PD. The thing is, while 2C-E, -T-2, and tryptamines in general are perfectly capable of forcing insight on you, or more accurately capable of producing insight without necessarily your having sought it out or without focusing upon and having put effort into that discovery, that is not 2C-B’s modus operandi, nor is it the way of 2C-C. Instead, the halogenated PEAs (with the exception of 2C-I, which I find utterly boring in every way and generally useless for anything at all) simply open the door to insight, making realizations possible, creating the potential for insight but not taking you by the hand and leading you through that opening. We as trippers have to do the actual work and psychological gymnastics of getting to those insights, and if you don’t focus on producing meaningful things, the halogenated PEAs will not produce insight independently of your desires. Rather than being a failing, I think this aspect of 2C-B and –C is a good thing, because oftentimes the mental work of travelling through the door these compounds open is just as important as the end result of realization itself, because it produces a more nuanced, rich form of insight, due to the self-examination that is necessary to use the potential that 2C-B and –C provide and offer upA. Anyway, it is charming and wonderful to find that 2C-C and –B are alike in this regard, because it allows both for just plain old fun tripping if that’s what you desire, with the experience being lighthearted and recreational, while also permitting introspection and insight to be found as well, should that be what you seek.
Anyway, this is wonderful material, thanks to MGS ever so much for recommending it so highly! I cannot recommend 2C-C highly enough: it is an awesome, powerful drug, every bit the equal of the brominated cousin, while being wonderfully unique and distinct subjectively! A truly astounding new ally was found during this trip, which I definitely now treasure wholeheartedly! I cannot wait to introduce my friends to this spectacular molecule, and all the glories that lie within its aromatic resonance and graceful form!
Thanks for sticking with me if you've read this far, and try your best to hunt this stuff down. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!
A bit of background about me: I am very experienced (perhaps too much so) with all types of drugs save dissociative anesthetics. I have tried DXM several times as a young kid, and ketamine once, and while I hate DXM ketamine was absolutely beautiful. It is simply my lack of supply sources for ketamine that have prevented any further experimentation. I was a straight-up coke/crack fiend for about six months more than seven years ago (seven years *clean* at that, not a single relapse, woo go me!) and after I quit using cocaine I have strongly disliked anything that is stimulatory. Unfortunately for the past seven years since I quit coke I’ve been a daily heroin user, not having missed a single day of use of heroin in over five years and not having missed a single day using either heroin or methadone in fully six and a half years.
I’m a 24-year-old, 135 pound, 5’ 11” tall male, and employed as a successful recording and mixing engineer for hip-hop and indie rock music. I am most partial drug-wise to opiates, empathy/entactogens, and psychedelics, not necessarily I any order of favoritism. At the moment I have been single for about a year, and lead a generally healthy life despite my heroin habit, through a varied vegetarian diet, proper exercise, and through use of vein rotation and using Neosporin, I do not have any real tracks and never have had any abscesses or other physical harm produced by my IV use.
My mindset at the time was generally positive. I have never really been depressed, and I have the lucky ability to prevent heroin from being the only enjoyable thing in my life. I still revel in the simple pleasures and wonder of even being a living, conscious being, and was excited to be trying a new psychedelic. There are some things I have been unhappy about of late, like being unemployed as far as a day-to-day job, as recording and mixing work comes and goes and is not a constant thing. My aged dog has recently had a stroke and lost feeling and motive power on half her body, so that is very upsetting. I've known for a while I need to reduce my heroin habit at the very least if not quit entirely, for financial reasons and for health and wellbeing. And finally I am very lonely romantically, as I miss having another human being who cares for me in that way. But while those are negatives, I have never in my entire life let negative things overwhelm the positive aspects of life. That would be tantamount to accepting defeat in my eyes, though that philosophy only applies to myself and I wouldn't pass judgement on others for not seeing things that way.
Anyway, enough about me, on to the trip! I like to read trip reports as a leisure time thing, and I was always a bit perplexed by the reports of this compound being underwhelming. Having that in mind I chose a dose of 80mg. I have generally an average natural tolerance to psychedelics, not needing any more or less than most people. That said, I consider myself to be a real veteran tripper and drug user in general, being absolutely confident in my ability to handle psychedelic states. The only drug experiences where I have ever felt that I would be unable or unsure of my ability to handle things if some heavy-duty badness went down, and where I felt that I have gotten too fucked up is alcohol. Thus I don't drink hard liquor and don't drink beer fast enough to get really drunk. Other than that I haven't ever felt as if I used too much of something; I can handle my drugs like a champ. This is not meant as bragging, just a statement of fact and an acknowledgement of something I am very proud of.
I have never really had a bad trip, and I have only gotten the capital-F Fear once, after stepping in dogshit. Incidentally later that night I was pulled over to check for curfew violation while my friend and I walked to the bus stop, still peaking on the quarter ounce of mushrooms we had taken, and we pulled off that interaction effortlessly. So thus dogshit must be much scarier than cops as far as inducing Fear states! Anyway as to people thinking this stuff is disappointing, I am of the opinion that inadequate dosing must really have something to do with people being underwhelmed. As mentioned, I took 80mg, and that was spot on for my physiology and desired level of intensity. I would definitely consider exploring lower doses, but I doubt I’d go lower than 60mg, and for sure I will definitely try it higher, perhaps 90-100mg, but only as I have the luxury of not having to worry about running out any time soon
The visuals were fantastic, again equal in every way to 2C-B, but different. There was a fascinating strobe-like effect and everything was glowing in this neon red/yellow/orange/green color scheme, somewhat like the stereotypical depiction of what visuals look like in film and other visual media produced by people that have never actually tripped. I don't think I've ever had visuals like that before, where there was the impression of light emanating from every surface, as opposed to the more ordinary patterning and morphing that goes on. As for that patterning, it was classic PEA all the way, with this wonderful recurring fractal symmetry in everything.
The real gem was the headspace though, and the body buzz. I personally am thoroughly besotted and in love with the heavy body buzz that 2C-B provides, and generally enjoy the vegetative effects of psychedelics, no matter how strong, DMT being a wonderful example. I understand some people find this type of body buzz and internal energy not easy to deal with, and yes, I imagine that perhaps having all that kinetic and psychological potential stuffed inside of you could be a bit startling if unused to the feeling or otherwise prone to anxiety. Luckily I have avoided any of the psychological issues prone to both my parents’ families, like anxiety, depression, manic-depressive/bipolar, seasonal affective, etc. So coupled with my ironclad confidence, healthy sense of self and self-image, and lack of mental confusion as to who I am and what kind of person I am and wish to be, I am thankfully able to handle my drugs, psychedelic or otherwise, without any confusion or mental anguish/perturbation.
Anyway, yes, I feel like the description of 2C-C as containing an element of 'intense relaxation' is apt, and paradoxical to me as a habitual opiate user. I've come to associate relaxation with nodding and generally with being a junkie that it was a remarkable experience to find my body so well at peace and warm yet in a very much not-opiated fashion. I had of course taken a shot some hours before the trip but it barely had any effects as expected other than keeping the sick off. The wonderful thing though is that there is so much more to this drug than simply relaxation.
To elaborate on that statement, the headspace seemed to be well allied and oriented in a complementary fashion to that relaxed vibe in the body. 2C-B is pushy, as fuck at times, in that waves of compulsion come to me in the midst of whatever I'm doing if its the right activity for the moment. Like, I do not have a choice, I *must* dance to this music, I have no choice but to enjoy the setting. And I definitely *like* that aspect, but all the same I like equally much how this was much more calm and self-directed.
I have always found that an easy way to communicate psychedelic states is to reference what feels to me to be the essence of the experience. Tryptamines in general are outwardly-oriented, about the greater world and cosmic order, very much spiritual but focused not on inner spirituality but rather the external one-ness of all things, oriented towards the interfaces and boundaries between me as a person and the universe. 2C-B on the other hand is very much directed inward, it is about ego, albeit for me at least a healthy form of ego (not in the strictly Freudian sense, more like the form of ego implicit in egotism, as Freud was a penis- and incest-obsessed crackhead IMHO), and definitely is most about the interplay between conscious thoughts and desires and unconscious forms.
2C-D is an interesting psychedelic in that it is pretty much equally-balanced between the inner and the outer. This 2C-C however was wonderfully centered inward, but not so much into the territory of the unconscious mind. Instead, this seemed to be all about the conscious psyche and intellectual pleasure, instead of the more carnal delights of 2C-B. Speaking of carnal delights, oddly enough I was simply not interested in eroticism, at all, to the point where the equipment simply didn't fully function. 90% maybe, but that 10% there makes all the difference. I was content to play with myself because it felt good, but had no real desire for orgasm, and that was precluded by the aforementioned not-fully-hardness of the relevant equipment. This was quite shocking considering how amazing sexual activity, even by oneself, is on other psychedelics, in particular the close cousin of this compound, 2C-B. I certainly have never experienced anything like the pseudo-impotence that this produced in my life ever before, and I attribute it partially to the noticeable numbing of skin sensations. Probably had there been female company it would have been worth the effort, but I digress...
I spent the trip mostly doing as I always do on psychedelics: listening to music! I also thought a lot about my current place in life as far as my addiction. I find myself listening to music so often on psychs because music is one of the most powerful things that effects me, even while sober. That love for music and the raw, passionate emotion it can invoke is one of the reasons that I became a recording and mixing engineer, and music is probably my greatest hobby, both playing and listening, so enjoying it on psychedelics is just totally natural to me! Ordinarily I tend when tripping towards things like RJD2, Nostalgia 77, Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (dark/doomjazz being the only for of jazz I enjoy, jazz being the only genre in general that I really don’t like). However this time I broke out some wonderful indie rock (Bishop Allen, The Deadly Syndrome, MGMT) and listened to dubstep for the first time on a psychedelic!
I listen to dubstep all the time, that being easily my favorite form of EDM, or even of all electronic music. Strangely I simply had never gotten around to listening to it tripping, and it did *not* disappoint! I had no choice but to dnace like a madman, it was so totally awesome and moving and powerful! Additionally, I discovered that while in the past I have only enjoyed a few songs by MGMT from their first album, their music is actually very fucking trippy. I realized that the majority of the songs on their first album that I had initially dismissed as ‘too 80s’ and too scatterbrained were actually totally kickass, and their second album which I have never really liked at all proved to be transcendently good medicine, with more of that inability to stand still and not dance. Also, as a musician myself, and a recording/mixing engineer, their production value was revealed to be even better than I had given them credit for.
I also went to the big park down my quiet residential street here in Chicago and watched the sun rise. Boy, was that ever great! We’ve been having weird weather for the past two months in the Chi: not hot at all, with rain almost every day in the form of storms, and generally low humidity (for which I am so thankful for, I hate humid weather if it’s also hot out). Anyway, there was a cool, florally scented breeze, and the sunrise was partially obscured by cloudbanks, which yielded some truly gorgeous imagery! All the plants are SO verdant and shockingly green right now from all the rain, even while sober, and that was terrific to experience in the state I occupied. I also mourned the remodeling of my playground area in the park, which I grew up with as a child and contained swings that adults could fit into, and had shabby play equipment and woodchips.
Now it’s been paved over with some rubberized safety crap for the yuppie shitbags that are finally now invading my actual block after leaving it alone in favor of the surrounding areas, with slick new play equipment, and swingsets that are shorter than I am tall when standing up, outfitted with those baby-swings shaped like rubber baby diapers. I would have had so much fun swinging on the old swings just then, tripping beautifully and deeply, and I felt (and always have/always will feel) that it is just a travesty that things are inevitably ruined via ‘improvement’ when the rich young urban professional scum arrive. There were *tons* of rabbits out too, and they must have picked up on my pleasant vibe, because they were not the least bit afraid of me and actually got very close, instead of the usual running like mad at the slightest sign of human presence.
One note about this drug: the duration is indeed longer than many other PEAs, on par with 2C-E and –T-2. It lasted a good seven to eight hours, with a half hour or forty-five minute come-up. I always insufflate 2C-B, and so that obviously affects the duration, but even the few times I have taken it orally when friends have declined to sniff it, it still was shorter than this 2C-C.
Also, it is worth noting some things about the comeup, and for clarity I will add absolute timing to be explicitly and unambiguously clear. There were very definitely some real alerts around the half hour mark (T+0:30) after I had dosed the bitter (tastes awful, truly) powder in some smoothie. However, nothing else much developed after that for fifteen or more likely twenty more minutes (T+0:50), leading me to wonder at the time whether those first alerts were imagined (in retrospect I'm quite sure they were real). Then things started to kick in, but even once the drug began taking effect it took at least a further half an hour if not a full forty-five minutes (T+1:30) to really fully kick in and begin peaking. By that I mean that the beginning of the altered state of mind had not significantly arrived until two thirds of the way into that forty-five minutes (T1:15). The body buzz likewise began around T+1:00 but only became strong around T+1:15. And the visuals themselves began to manifest around T+1:00 but didn't fully arrive until between T+1:15 and T+1:30.
The transition between coming up and peaking was very gentle and smooth. The effects I just spoke of, the trifecta of visuals/body/mindfuck, just kept getting stronger and stronger from T+0:50 to T+1:30. There wasn't really any acceleration in the pace of the increase in effects. Instead all those aspects mentioned above simply transitioned in a linear fashion, until the peak was finally reached. This was actually really cool, because when the effects were about half there I began to think that I might be at the peak, and was suitably impressed with the subjective effects. Yet they just kept getting more powerful and proved to me that I hadn't peaked. My reaction to discovering that this magical, totally euphoric state was still coming on was joyous, as I felt like it just kept getting better and better, surpassing initial expectations!
I experienced some insights as well, one of which is that I worry too much about duration of trips, causing me to instead just use the heroin as my default state. I don’t take longer-acting PEAs that often, and the reason has been because I always think they’ll last too long to stay enjoyable. Yet I finally figured out this trip, in relation to its length, that length isn’t something to avoid, rather it is actually a benefit, because you get to enjoy the magical state that much longer! And I realized that it is my heroin addiction itself that has made length an issue in the past. It isn’t that I’m worried I’ll get sick, as I always ensure I am properly dosed up about on opiates about an hour before dosing any psychedelic, and always ensure I have some for after the trip, so withdrawl isn’t the thing I have been fixated on regarding length of psychedelic action. Rather, I found while thinking about things that it’s just my addict-self being greedy, and making up nonsensical/red-herring excuses like ‘what if it’s so long I get bored?’ to prevent myself from engaging in drug experiences and activities other than shooting dope.
The second major insight relates to some things I discovered on 2C-B. My first 2C-B trip placed that compound so highly in my esteem by allowing me to clean myself physically, but in doing so also cleanse myself mentally and spiritually. That experience revolved around the realization I had while cleansing myself inside and out in the shower that no matter what you are, what you do, how fucked up you have made things, everything broken can be repaired. The corollary and caveat to that statement, which I also found during that first trip with 2C-B, is that while everything can be repaired, it will not be the same as before it was broken, the cracks will show even if the broken pieces have been put back together. So relating this to my addiction, I can - when the time comes where I truly want to be clean more than I want to get high – repair myself, but I will in accordance with the caveat I mentioned not be the same person at all that I was before being addicted, or be the person that I would have been had the addiction never existed at all. And that’s okay, for that is what scars are for: to remind us not to hurt ourselves in that manner again, are they not? So that was my realization the first time I did 2C-B.
That relates to this trip as follows: while thinking about my life as of late, I was reminded of the truth of that statement about repair always being possible. When I had that first 2C-B experience, I felt that statement very viscerally, like it was totally concrete, and true, and an immense comfort. But in the time sine then it has become more abstract, becoming something that I have realized but partially forgotten, letting the immediacy and veracity of the statement slip away. This compound allowed me again to bring that concept back to its original state of absolute confidence and thus I was reminded that it is actually possible to heal instead of just considering that idea to be a pretty thing to dream about that isn’t relevant to practical considerations and daily life.
Speaking of realizations and how we reach them and how truly we believe them, 2C-C does remind me of its brominated cousin in certain respects as to psychological insight and personal growth. I find that 2C-B is sometimes derided as ‘not being a true psychedelic’, or not capable of producing insight. There have been many posts to that effect in the 2C-B BnD threads in PD. The thing is, while 2C-E, -T-2, and tryptamines in general are perfectly capable of forcing insight on you, or more accurately capable of producing insight without necessarily your having sought it out or without focusing upon and having put effort into that discovery, that is not 2C-B’s modus operandi, nor is it the way of 2C-C. Instead, the halogenated PEAs (with the exception of 2C-I, which I find utterly boring in every way and generally useless for anything at all) simply open the door to insight, making realizations possible, creating the potential for insight but not taking you by the hand and leading you through that opening. We as trippers have to do the actual work and psychological gymnastics of getting to those insights, and if you don’t focus on producing meaningful things, the halogenated PEAs will not produce insight independently of your desires. Rather than being a failing, I think this aspect of 2C-B and –C is a good thing, because oftentimes the mental work of travelling through the door these compounds open is just as important as the end result of realization itself, because it produces a more nuanced, rich form of insight, due to the self-examination that is necessary to use the potential that 2C-B and –C provide and offer upA. Anyway, it is charming and wonderful to find that 2C-C and –B are alike in this regard, because it allows both for just plain old fun tripping if that’s what you desire, with the experience being lighthearted and recreational, while also permitting introspection and insight to be found as well, should that be what you seek.
Anyway, this is wonderful material, thanks to MGS ever so much for recommending it so highly! I cannot recommend 2C-C highly enough: it is an awesome, powerful drug, every bit the equal of the brominated cousin, while being wonderfully unique and distinct subjectively! A truly astounding new ally was found during this trip, which I definitely now treasure wholeheartedly! I cannot wait to introduce my friends to this spectacular molecule, and all the glories that lie within its aromatic resonance and graceful form!
Thanks for sticking with me if you've read this far, and try your best to hunt this stuff down. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!
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