Drunk Illusions: Writing help?

[3113]

I need some writing help, as I've never had this experience myself, nor do I have enough drinking friends to know:

I have a character who gets drunk the night before, does some crazy stuff, then remembers what he did the next morning ( more or less). BUT, I want him to remember it all wrong. For example, he may remember that he threatened someone with a baseball bat, but it was really a toy rolling pin. He may remember that he told someone they were going to be "fucked" by him, but what he really said is, "I'm all fucked up."

Though his memory. obviously, won't be crystal clear, he needs to be sure enough of what he thinks he remembers to be really worried.

I know when people get drunk that the results vary. You might wake up and remember nothing, or only some things, or everything. But can you wake up and remember them quite wrongly? Or do you need to have taken some other drug to get that result?

Thanks for any insights.

 

[rgraham666]

In my experience, you'll either remember things or not.

Like my ex who never remembered pissing on someone's floor or wandering into traffic. But she was an alcoholic and I believe she had some sort of allergic reaction to something in red wine which was her favourite plonk.

I've gotten utterly shit faced a few times in my life, but I remembered everything even the things I'd rather forget.

For the effects you want you'd have to go with the psychedelics, LSD or mushrooms. Even after forty years I still recall how odd my perception was under them.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I either remember things completely clearly (and wince) or not at all (and shudder)

 

[3113]

I either remember things completely clearly (and wince) or not at all (and shudder)

Okay. If I get a concensus on this, then what can the guy take, in addition to drinking, that would give me the "wrong memory" results?

I don't really want him to go on a full-blown acid trip, and I don't want his memory to be completely screwed up. What I'm looking for here is more a matter of misperception. He remembers pretty much what happened, but his perspective is skewed. Someone chokes on a drink, tears run down their face--but our drunk remembers that they started crying. That sort of thing.

Also, this guy is part of a pretty Yuppie crowd. So if there's going to be an added drug in there, and a hallucinogenic one at that, I'd like it to be the sort this upscale crowd would go for. Something "naughty" and hip rather than made in the basement or bought from the addict down the street. Would, for example, Absinthe work--it was said to give people mild hallucinations? I found this info: "wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), which contains the neurotoxin thujone. Thujone is chemically similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and some speculate that the two compounds act on the brain in similar ways."

Obviously, Absinthe is illegal, but I could see someone having an old (?) illegal bottle of it stashed away, that they bring out for a special occassion. One glass for everyone to try?

 

[gauchecritic]

As far as I can see there would be no problem with him remembering it wrongly if the effect of the alchohol made him perceive it wrongly at the time.

Alchohol tends to reduce preconceptions (waking up with people that you wouldn't associate with when sober) inhibit motor skills (taking the long way on a straight route) and bypassing the autonomic nervous system (letting cigs burn down to your fingers)

Inducing bi-polar symptoms would have a large effect on perception too.

 

[rgraham666]

Absinthe FAQs.

 

[janiexx]

Absinthe FAQs.

Is Absinthe still banned in the US?

It's undergoing something of a revival here in the UK, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

On a recent visit to Vinopolis in London, I had two glasses of Absinthe on top of numerous wines, whisky, port and sherry.

Unfortunately, I remembered everything the next day, but I wish I'd forgotten my headache

janiexx

 

[3113]

Is Absinthe still banned in the US?

I believe so. Here's a quote on that,

absinthe remains illegal in most places. It's still made in Spain and the Czech Republic and can be sold in the UK. But the concentration of thujone in the modern product is much less than in the old days.

This would suggest that the stuff you're getting in the UK is not quite up to the stuff praised by Oscar Wilde and other bohemian artists. Maybe that's why you weren't impressed. Or maybe we moderns, with our history of LSD and meth labs are harder to impress when it comes to drugs and liquor?

How did it taste, by the way?

 

[janiexx]

I believe so. Here's a quote on that,
This would suggest that the stuff you're getting in the UK is not quite up to the stuff praised by Oscar Wilde and other bohemian artists. Maybe that's why you weren't impressed. Or maybe we moderns, with our history of LSD and meth labs are harder to impress when it comes to drugs and liquor?

How did it taste, by the way?

It tasted like Pernod - the barman trickled water into it over a slotted spoon holding a sugar lump which made it go cloudy.

I'd be hard-pushed to try it again - think I'll stick to whisky...

janiexx

 

[TheeGoatPig]

You also have to be careful of absYthe, which is a synthetic, and doesn't contain any of the original mind altering drug in it. If you drink it in the states, it's likely to be absYthe.

I've never been drunk or high though, so I can't answer the original question.

 

[3113]

I've never been drunk or high though, so I can't answer the original question.

Hmmm. Someone's going to have to change that. I wonder if we can get any volunteers?

 

[3113]

It tasted like Pernod

So licorice-y. Like Ouzo. Hm.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Hmmm. Someone's going to have to change that. I wonder if we can get any volunteers?

Oh yes, because my friends and realatives haven't tried already...

If I lose track of a drink for even a second it isn't my drink anymore.

 

[cumallday]

I know everything there is to know about getting ripped, tanked, sloshed, tore up, hammered, high, stoned, crazed....Fucked Up! All you need to do is have your character mix drinks. A little beer, a little tequila, rum, gin & tonics, smoke some weed, and pass out. I've had blackouts, this year's company Christmas Party being one. The cool thing is, story wise, your memory tends to slowly come back to you over a couple of days. Do not have your character take LSD or mushrooms. These drugs keep you up all night and have no effect on your memory. Also, you can get seriously drunk, snort a line of cocain, feel absolutlely sober, and then resume your drunkeness once the coke wears off (just a thought). I hope this helps.

 

[slyc_willie]

Even at my worst, I have managed to remember almost everything I have ever done while tanked, pised, drunk, whatever. Alcohol does have an effect of memory and perception, but not (I think) to the effect that someone truly blacks out . . . not unless they are above .04 on their BAC. At which point an EMP is usually called for.

Alcohol clouds judgement, and can, but not always, clouds memory. At the very least, impressions remain, which may serve in your story. Mistaking a baseball bat for a bowling pin may or may not work; if the two were laying side-by-side, then your protagonist may think he picked up one when he actually grabbed another.

For truly different perceptions of reality, I would suggest shying away from 'just' alcohol and lean toward the more hallucinogenic drugs out there. Ecstacy, or 'X,' is quite common in clubs these days and has a cocaine-like effect of heightening perceptions . . . while also warping them.

Other people I know of pop a Zanex or two and then imbibe heavily on alcohol. This makes their senses dulled and they often forget the time or who they are with, often harkening back to conversations they had engaged in hours before. One guy I know of recently went to a house party, combined Zanex and beer, and ended up in a threesome . . . but he could not remember who the other two girls were, and suspected that one of the 'girls' was actually a trannie.

Don't know if this helps, but at least it may give you some ideas.

 

[cumallday]

Where I come from a 'blackout' means you cannot remember what happened the previous night. Example...
Myself: What happened last night, man?
Buddy X: Fuck, I can't remember. We drank that bottle of Whiskey with Mooseheads and....
Myself:L Went downtown to shoot stick...
Buddy X: And got kicked out of Subway, yeah yeah, but how did we make it back to your place?
Myself: Shit, I have no fucking clue.
And so on and so forth.

 

[3113]

A little beer, a little tequila, rum, gin & tonics, smoke some weed, and pass out.

This helps a lot. I very much appreciate your expert info on other kinds of drugs and what they do , etc.

I actually don't need the guy to black out, just not remember everything right away and then remember it just a little wrong. I think mixing drinks would be a good way to go.

 

[3113]

Mistaking a baseball bat for a bowling pin may or may not work; if the two were laying side-by-side, then your protagonist may think he picked up one when he actually grabbed another.

Ah, excellent idea! That works. Given how bad people's memories are when they're sober, I think I can certainly get away with this given that the guy's drunk, mixing drinks, etc.

Thanks.

 

[starrkers]

Okay. If I get a concensus on this, then what can the guy take, in addition to drinking, that would give me the "wrong memory" results?

I don't really want him to go on a full-blown acid trip, and I don't want his memory to be completely screwed up. What I'm looking for here is more a matter of misperception. He remembers pretty much what happened, but his perspective is skewed. Someone chokes on a drink, tears run down their face--but our drunk remembers that they started crying. That sort of thing.

Also, this guy is part of a pretty Yuppie crowd. So if there's going to be an added drug in there, and a hallucinogenic one at that, I'd like it to be the sort this upscale crowd would go for. Something "naughty" and hip rather than made in the basement or bought from the addict down the street. Would, for example, Absinthe work--it was said to give people mild hallucinations? I found this info: "wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), which contains the neurotoxin thujone. Thujone is chemically similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and some speculate that the two compounds act on the brain in similar ways."

Obviously, Absinthe is illegal, but I could see someone having an old (?) illegal bottle of it stashed away, that they bring out for a special occassion. One glass for everyone to try?

You don't have to go down the illegal route if you don't want to - anti-histamines or some antibiotics can do some mighty strange things when mixed with alcohol.

 

[3113]

You don't have to go down the illegal route if you don't want to - anti-histamines or some antibiotics can do some mighty strange things when mixed with alcohol.

A nice point, and I'll keep it in mind for future reference--but for this particular story I think it might be a little too much to have the guy fighting a cold or something like that.

 

[Weird Harold]

I actually don't need the guy to black out, just not remember everything right away and then remember it just a little wrong. I think mixing drinks would be a good way to go.

Contrary to popular belief, Mixing drinks doesn't make you any drunker or more inclined to hallucinate, it just makes you sicker when drink too much and makes the hangover worse.

True Blackouts are usually only a problem for alcoholics -- with a true Blackout, the drinker is essentially sleepwalking and will NEVER remember what happened during the Blackout. (Personal experience from a Reformed Lush, that.)

There is a point of inebriation just shy of a true Blackout where the time sense gets out of whack and the sequence and/or duration of events is hard to remember, but for most people, the events remembered are accurate.

Your character is likely to say something like, "Did I really threaten to knee-cap that gorilla with a roll of wrapping paper?" He might have mistaken the roll of wraping paper for a pipe or baseball bat at the time, but he's going to remember it was a roll of wrapping paper if he remembers what he threatened the gorilla with at all.

Your best bet is for your character to remember bits and pieces -- remember the gorilla but not the details of the confrontation; then remember threatening to knee-cap him without remembering what it was he grabbed; then the acute embarassment when he remembers the rest of the details and goes from hero to buffoon in his own mind.

 

[Guest]

i agree with weird harold, and who wouldnt?

any time ive been three sheets, the next day if i dont remember everything, i'll remember parts of the whole and usually in context with what really happened.
thankfully, those times are very few and far between.

 

[3113]

What I have in mind isn't going to work if his memory is clear but spotty. What I want--if I can have it--if for the guy to say, "I remember everything that happened!" and then the reader sees, from his pov, what he THINKS happened the night before. Like that he threatened someone with a knife, and said some nasty things to them, and they cried.

Then we switch over to the sober person, who says, "I wasn't crying, I was choking. It wasn't a butcher knife, it was a butter knife. And by the way, you were speaking Spanish."

And no, the drunk guy is not an alcholic. So. Am I back to the Absinthe?

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

I believe so. Here's a quote on that,
This would suggest that the stuff you're getting in the UK is not quite up to the stuff praised by Oscar Wilde and other bohemian artists. Maybe that's why you weren't impressed. Or maybe we moderns, with our history of LSD and meth labs are harder to impress when it comes to drugs and liquor?

How did it taste, by the way?

3113, if you'd been a long-time litser you would have known to ask me, it was my trade-mark drink for a few years -- many of my old avatars were of Absinth. This was back when I had lots of spending money and a shitty home life.

And no, you can't buy the wormwood stuff easily here (though a number of bars sell it anyway).

It really is an insane drink, unless you do it in moderation: The cliche images of Dionysian abandon apply perfectly to Absinth.

As to your question: No. I've never had false memories, just great clouds of amnesia from it. It became a bit of a Sherlock Holmes puzzle trying to recall the events of the previous night.

 

[CharleyH]

3113, if you'd been a long-time litser you would have known to ask me, it was my trade-mark drink for a few years -- many of my old avatars were of Absinth. This was back when I had lots of spending money and a shitty home life.

And no, you can't buy the wormwood stuff easily here (though a number of bars sell it anyway).

It really is an insane drink, unless you do it in moderation: The cliche images of Dionysian abandon apply perfectly to Absinth.

I find myself intrigued - hicup, interested - hicup. hic- up.

Edit to add absinthe - coke - heroine? Are they THAT different?