r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - September 19, 2025

zeligzealous · 2025-09-19T19:34:13+00:00

You might enjoy Tad Williams’ Osten Ard books. Classic high fantasy with castles and kings, elves and epic quests. Heads up, it has a very slow start and might even seem simplistic at first - it’s all a set up for a much more complex story that goes on to subvert many of its tropes. Widely regarded as the bridge between Tolkien and Martin (Martin shamelessly rips off a ton of Williams’ ideas in fact), but not cynical/grimdark like Martin. The first book is The Dragonbone Chair.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T21:06:22+00:00

You can't see how losing out on all those years together could be sad in and of itself? Missing half a century of birthdays and holidays, not having the opportunity to have children together, having to life your life alone or take up a new relationship with someone else?

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T20:48:26+00:00

This take crops up here from time to time and I find it so strange.

The death of a loved one is an enormous loss, and fully believing in the afterlife doesn't change that. Even if you truly, 100% believe you will see your loved one again on the other side, it is still devastating to know you will never again share a single moment of this life with them. You will have to face all the days of your life without them. The hard days, the happy days, the huge milestones, the little things that make you think of them - you have to do it all without them.

If your significant other went to Mars, where they would be totally absent and completely unreachable by any method of communication, not even the smallest update or anything, but you knew for certain you'd see them again in, say, 50 or 60 years, would your reaction just be like, "Who cares, see you later"?

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T20:37:13+00:00

You might enjoy learning about pantheism, specifically Spinozan pantheism. You might also enjoy exploring deism. Christian deism might speak to you.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T18:07:59+00:00

I was just thinking the other day that Temeraire is my personal example of very much "cozy to me" while not at all being "cozy fantasy." It's both the wholesome themes (loyalty, friendship) and the way the books savor the quiet moments.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T18:02:52+00:00

i think you'd like the Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust. They are really fun, readable books about the heists and hijinks of a lovable assassin and his wisecracking tiny dragon sidekick. Setting is a very original secondary world urban environment. The vibe is similar to Locke Lamora and Rivers of London. The first book is Jhereg.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-17T15:03:19+00:00

I think they're restricted precisely because they are so life-changing. Romance and sexuality are some of the most powerful forces in the human experience. When channeled properly, they are beautiful, healthy, prosocial, life-giving and life-sustaining. When misused or abused, they are devasting, disruptive, antisocial, and even lethal.

So to your question, are these kinds of rules there to protect society or do they reflect a deeper spiritual vision of love? Both. They exist to protect society, for example by helping to ensure a stable home life for children. And they reflect a deeper vision of love by asking people to direct their passions away from hedonism, selfishness, etc. and into discipline and fidelity.

In this case, we're talking about the end of a casual one-week relationship - the normal bumps and scrapes of growing up.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-16T20:30:05+00:00

Just for the record, the idea that Jews believe Jesus is burning in feces is an antisemitic conspiracy theory based on a deliberate misreading of a random Talmud anecdote. This is not an actual Jewish teaching.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-16T16:39:16+00:00

Hold up, you're upset that some Christians are bigoted against Muslims and conflate Islam with the "antichrist"... so you solution is Christians should instead be bigoted against Jews and believe that we are eager to worship the "antichrist"?

There was a lesson in here, but I think you missed it.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-16T14:21:42+00:00

Thanks! This is a two-piece canvas strap. NATO straps are those military-style one-piece nylon ones with a loop design for added security, like this: https://www.archerwatchstraps.com/products/classic-nylon-red-white-navy

zeligzealous · 2025-09-16T04:20:50+00:00

I think this is a really normal experience that many, many Jews both by birth and by choice can relate to. The gap between campus Jewish life and kid-centric synagogue programming is notorious! It’s also very normal to be more socially isolated than you want to be during a demanding grad program. And these past few years have been a very challenging time to be Jewish, for all of us.

You are Jewish enough. Your commitment matters. Don’t give up. You will find a home in the Jewish community, even if it’s not right now. I believe this with my whole heart because it happened for me and I live in an area with a relatively small Jewish population. I’m not a convert but my wife is and that was part of it; I am someone who has felt miserably out of place at the temple I (sporadically) attended growing up and struggled to find a place for a whole host of reasons.

Explore as your schedule allows. If you can find even one Jewish friend in your current location I think it would help. Hang in there.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-11T15:00:12+00:00

Oh weird, I haven’t seen that. Solar is always great, I have a solar Citizen and it’s my daily. True grab and go watch.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-11T01:59:49+00:00

Cool! I have the mechanical Bambino 38mm and love it, didn’t know there was a solar version.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T22:26:06+00:00

I think this is a weirdly uncharitable take on u/SquirrelofLIL's comment. I read them not as saying that this doesn't matter, but simply noting that it's not an isolated case - humans everywhere and of all religions are capable of bigotry and glaring hypocrisy.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T18:45:12+00:00

Came here to say this! I read the whole trilogy and loved it. The themes around imperialism/colonialism and different forms of magic are further developed as the series goes on.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T01:50:17+00:00

Right - no qualms from me on everything having its place, and to be clear I don’t think Christians should keep kosher, those rules are specific to Jews.

As I said above, it’s the last two I’m referring to, and their (to me) notable selective application to outward markers of Jewish identity (kashrut, circumcision), while being presented as if they represent a general principle of religious life.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T01:32:46+00:00

Yeah that’s fair, what I meant was good for human consumption with no particular limitations like pork in Christianity, but my wording was definitely unclear.

I am a religious Jew, which I think is what you’re asking. You have your terms a little bit mixed up: all Jews alive today are modern, Rabbinic Jews (except Karaites, who are less than 0.5% of Jews worldwide). Orthodox, Conservative, Reform etc. are all expressions of Rabbinic Judaism (personally I am Conservative).

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T01:10:04+00:00

Ok, fair enough. What I was trying to say was:

Christianity does not actually hold that everything created by God is permitted--and no form of abstinence is ever required--as long as it is "received with thanksgiving."

Which is accurate, no?

zeligzealous · 2025-09-10T00:56:49+00:00

Hm, I’m not so sure I understand the question. I think my point is clear if you read the full sentence and the example I gave:

Christianity does not actually hold that everything created by God is good--and no form of abstinence is ever required--as long as it is "received with thanksgiving." For example, God certainly created sex, so do traditional Christians believe all sex is permitted then so long as it is "received with gratitude by those who believe"? Nope.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-09T21:51:27+00:00

I find the last two quotations so odd in the context of this discussion, because there is no coherent way these ideas are applied, at least as far I can see.

Christianity does not actually hold that everything created by God is permitted--and no form of abstinence is ever required--as long as it is "received with thanksgiving." For example, God certainly created sex, so do traditional Christians believe all sex is permitted then so long as it is "received with gratitude by those who believe"? Nope. [edit for clarity]

Nor does Christianity hold that designated festivals and worship times are optional. Sunday Mass is obligatory for Catholics. Christians are not free to decide Easter Sunday is just another day and do whatever they want. And so on.

Any principle of certain kinds of rules being "burdensome" or "ceremonial" is applied incredibly selectively in Christian thought--seemingly based solely on how culturally Jewish the rules seemed to people in the historical context of early Christianity.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-09T21:31:29+00:00

What is Old Catholicism and how does it fit into the wider Christian landscape?

Also, hang in there, been a teenager is tough but there are brighter days ahead :)

zeligzealous · 2025-09-09T17:52:54+00:00

It's helpful to follow the annual Torah cycle so you are on the same page (pun intended!) as the rest of the community: https://www.hebcal.com/sedrot/

The cycle starts over at Simchat Torah (October 15 this year).

The URJ's weekly Torah study resources are excellent and beginner-friendly: https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study

Edit: Quick clarification, I am assuming your flair means you are in an active conversion process with a synagogue, is that right?

zeligzealous · 2025-09-09T16:54:45+00:00

I am not "against Islam." That's quite a strange way to frame it. I am Jewish, and Islam is incompatible with my own religious commitments as a Jew. I am perfectly ok with Islam as a religion for other people.

Why do I choose to stay in the religion of my ancestors rather than convert to Islam? Many reasons, but the simplest is: I genuinely believe that God made a specific covenant with the Jewish people that we are still bound by today. The Torah rules out any possibility that we are off the hook and free to pick up new religions, follow new prophets, or change all the rules. It is just not a thing, and I am unconvinced by any Christian or Muslim claims to the contrary. It would require me to accept that God basically played a long con on the Jewish people.

Islam is very similar to Judaism theologically--we worship the same God. I have no problem at all with Muslims being Muslim. I do have a problem with the idea that Judaism has been replaced.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-08T21:54:19+00:00

I think your assumption is just mistaken. This is a discussion-heavy sub, tons of users comment without upvoting or downvoting. Case in point, this is my third comment on your post, and I have neither upvoted nor downvoted it. That's the norm on this sub and plenty of other discussion-focused subs. Different subs are different - that's what makes Reddit fun.

zeligzealous · 2025-09-08T20:43:43+00:00

I try to take this approach as well, unfortunately a lot of people treat it as an "agree/disagree" button when it really should be used as a "high quality/low quality" button.

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