I’m talking words, historical events, books, bands, whatever…
For me:
Words - anathema, amaranth - I’m sure there are lots more, that’s just the A’s!
Historical events/book - Malleus Maleficarum, despite knowing that this was the title of an AFI song for years, I didn’t actually know what the title referred to until the other day 
Bands - Sisters of Mercy - I always just assumed they were a heavy metal band, I don’t know why!
What have you learnt?
I will never forget being 11 and needing to know what exsanguination meant.
That and Slayer. Jade mentioned Slayer, and I looked them up.
I’ve never really thought about this before…
I’m pretty sure I scored as high on the English portion as I did on the SAT when I was in high school because of Davey lol.
As for books? Not books specifically, but I had never heard of Baudelaire before I learned it’s his poem “De Profundis Clamavi” (which is amazing and I can see how Davey’s lyrics have been so influenced by him) that Davey recites in Midnight Sun. Baudelaire is now one of my favorite poets.
Eh…not really bands per se, but in general AFI made me become interested in music in a way I hadn’t been earlier in my life. I mean I had always liked music, but it was so very restricted by my parents. Really anything heavier than the Beatles was “the devil” to them. 
So yeah, I began really exploring bands that shared similarities with AFI in some way, which led me to hardcore punk and then early punk rock and the underground scene that was happening in New York in the early 70s (the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, Richard Hell, etc.)…later I really got into metal, and I still thank AFI for that.
Speaking of Sisters of Mercy - I can’t say I’m a fan of their sound, but I do quite like early Paradise Lost, who was very influenced by them. Here is their cover of “Walk Away”. I think it’s fantastic. I love their guitar tone from their earlier days. Perhaps you’ve seen this before and that’s why you assumed Sisters of Mercy were metal? 
@Vanished I never knew that about Midnight Sun. I had read a little of Baudelaire after listening to HIM’s “Love The Hardest Way” where Ville Valo compares the effort of someone loving him to reading “Baudelaire in braille” but I don’t recall that poem.
I like the Sisters of Mercy cover but I don’t think I’d heard it before. I think I just assumed they were metal because of the imagery and religious sounding name of the band 
@_tonibell I remember looking up exsanguination! I’ve remembered a few more too…imbrued, preternatural discarnate I am in love with that man’s vocabulary!
Black Sails was like relearning english. Porphyria? What?
That was the main album for this.
@STORMS I think Black Sails, AoD and STS taught me a lot of these things! I didn’t know what a nephilim was before AFI.
Also films: I think I got into the John Hughes (Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink) because of AFI mentioning them in an interview. And Heathers , although I never got that as much as the Hughes films and I was late making the connection between that and Veronica Sawyer Smokes.
http://afinewshq.com/afi-dictionary/
Because I didn’t realise until the other day that the title Yurf Rendenmein was not in fact, in another language 
I’m 100% sure the only reason I scored so high on the vocabulary portion of the SAT is because of AFI. I definitely remember looking up imbrued.
I can think of several bands that I’ve ‘discovered’ due to AFI. Echo and the Bunnymen, Dead Can Dance, a lot more, but that’s all I can think of at the moment.
If it makes you feel any better Prophyria and Malleus Maleficarum aren’t English. Davey made you learn some Classical Latin. 
I had to look up prenambulate everything else I’ve always caught because he and I are about the same age and I’m huge into Edgar Allen Poe, Frank Herbert, Anne Rice, I grew up around Italians and Cubans and spent loads of time at their houses and I took Spanish in middle school and French in high school. I was also in a really advanced middle school and high school choir so we sang in several languages, but primarily Latin. My father was a paramedic and we used to read the EMT manuals to help him study and ask him questions. So good ol’ Capt’n Hoek has only managed to throw me a vernacular curve ball once.
I do occasionally find bands because of the guys, but usually I just laugh and say ,“oh my God, I LOVE so and so” … Davey has mentioned one band he loves I don’t like. Other than that, I have been a fan of the same bands as long or longer… Hunter and I both love Norwegian folk music and Prince… Honestly aide from their love of 80’s music, I don’t know much about Jade and Adam’s taste in music.
I have been obsessed with roses since I was 4?? In the late 70’s. I wear Tea Rose a LOT. So when he mentioned Rose 31 in a Dreamcar song, my immediate reaction was “Dammit Davey” and I bought a sample bottle online to see if I’d like it. Well naturally, dammit, I do… It’s $102 an ounce. Don’t care. Bought it anyway. 
Wait! Are you referring to Le Labo Rose 31? Because I’m obsessed; if not, totally ignore my statement.
But, yeah, I grew up with academics and going to fancy ass prep school; Davey wasn’t really introducing me to anything, BUT I was happy to see that a band could use beautiful language and still shred.
Jade runs the gamut from what I’ve picked up from interviews with him. He goes from Slayer to 80s to punk. I even think he may have mentioned a Kendrick Lamar album once. Anyway, it’s really interesting. I think that now that there’s less “tribalism” in regards to music, it’s cool to see that these “older” bands had many different influences, not just punk or metal.
Did anyone ever read Jade’s blog on blogspot back in the day?
I used to love it and found out about lots of cool stuff because of it. For example, House of Leaves, A Game of Thrones (before the show), Elliott Smith, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Probably some other things I forgot, but they’re the main things I looked up because he mentioned it and ended up loving it.
I’m not an English native speaker, Spanish is my first language, so every AFI album (especially Black Sails) helped so much to expand my English knowledge, and now I can understand many poetry words lol.
When it comes to bands AFI shaped (literally) my music taste, before them I only listened to the bad music my family enjoyed (how sad) and I only liked The Cure, and then while becoming a huge AFI fan I discovered many goth bands (which is why, partially, I’m into the subculture) including Bauhaus, Joy Divison, The Birthday Party, The Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Alien Sex Fiend, and now Sex Gang Children (Davey wears a t-shirt of it and I was like “Oh, he likes it, I must listen to it now” haha.)
Sorry life’s been a real horror show for a while. I didn’t mean to ignore you.
Yes Le Labo’s Rose 31. I’m all out of it too. 
. Mama’s gotta get more!!! 