#but most don't get addicted to it like Dalinar did

[cosmereplay]

One of the fascinating things about addiction (intellectually, not to experience, obviously) is that the pathways involved in addiction (famously dopamine but others too) are also the pathways involved in connecting to each other. Feeling good is connected to feeling a sense of safety and belonging.

Humans are mostly social creatures. Broadly speaking, most of us want to be around other people, and rejection hurts. Bad. If we get rejected, those dopamine pathways make us crave belonging, and that pain motivates us to do whatever we can to get back in the social circle, to belong again and feel safe. Sound familiar?

It's no coincidence that people who are lonely and rejected are more at risk for addiction. Dopamine-mimicking drugs can briefly give us that sense of safety and belonging when we don't have it. At their best, drugs provide us a brief respite, a feeling of safety that can carry us through when we can't get it (with abusive families or pandemics, for example). At their worst, drugs are a distraction from facing the ways we've hurt other people and doing the hard work to actually belong with people again. Often with addiction, it's both at the same time.

(There is lots of evidence out there about the connection between addiction and belonging. A great entry point is Johann Hari's TED talk called Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong.)

Moash is particularly vulnerable to wanting to keep Odium's gift for both reasons - he's isolated and lonely, and he wants to avoid thinking about the people he's hurt. He misses the camaraderie of Bridge Four back in Oathbringer, even before his new 'family' of Graves and co are all killed by the Fused. Moash needs to belong, and Odium sucks him in. He's given jobs and gifts and even a new name to show how he is welcomed there. But he's not safe there like he was with Bridge Four, and deep down he knows it. Odium's gift of 'peace' is enough to distract him - to quiet his doubts, and squash any motivation he might have to escape from a very bad situation.

One of the the things that I've noticed is how addicting Odium's powers/boons are. Obviously, we have the Thrill, where people get addicted off the high of killing people. We have the Heart of Revel, where it entices you to indulge.

But I haven't seen much of Moash's addiction to Odium's "peace." Like, I've read it as Moash is drugged. Odium's boon is literally him taking away guilt and hurt and pain. I've never had alcohol or drugs, and a big plan of mine is to never have any, but from the way i've heard and understood it, that's what drugs do. They take away emotions that you don't want to have and artificially create "happy" ones. And then once they wear off, emotions crash in, and you body craves the high from that substance, they don't want to be feeling these "bad emotions."

That's literally what happened to Moash.

[if-one-of-us-falls]

Ok we're doing this. We're reading the stormlight 5 prologue. I'm just going to liveblog here in one post to not spam everyone this time.

Spoilers ahead, of course.

wow gavilar is INSUFFERABLE. the ego of this guy has no end.

he calls the stormfather "it"

I just KNEW he was a manipulative piece of shit to dalinar too!

"both his pain and his addiction made him easy enough to control." i hate him so much

also i'm confused. is gavilar a radiant? (feels unlikely to me) why is the stormfather around him all the time? and you need to find words to become a herald? that's interesting

haha the two bastards meet

yeah he's literally a seon in a trenchcoat huh

"how long has it been since they all laughed together - he, Ialai, Navani and Sadeas" AREN'T YOU FORGETTING SOMEONE YOU STORMING PIECE OF SHIT

this prologue has revived my love for dalinar apparently. turns out gavilar is enough of an asshole to cancel out war crimes (temporarily at least)

does he like... not know that they are heralds?

"the man can't abide someone having more secrets than him" hrrrngahhahhhhhhhgggg

i want to see nalan beat the shit out of gavilar. it would be so satisfying

i'll try to stay content with the knowledge he gets murdered that day anyway

im so confused?? are they not really heralds? did the stormfather lie to him? i assume the stormfather lied to him because he is such an asshole and the stormfather doesn't actually buy his bullshit

"the sun could love the stars but never as equals" dude sure has a high opinion of himself

taravangian?

babe wake up new death rattle just dropped (we heard most of this one before though)

gavilar is the worst job interviewee ever

a herald has died????? (like... now? or did he see into the future?)

ok yes the stormfather did lie. good for him

"and why on all of roshar would it have done so" i can't possibly think of a reason

well! i really don't know what else to say. i really want a scene where the stormfather explains to dalinar that gavilar was not worth all the credit he's been giving him

tbh there weren't as many crazy reveals in this prologue as i thought there will be. It does set up the ba-ado-mishram backstory pretty well though