#biblical trivia

[thesafewaystobereckless]

That time a gym hottie tricked me into going to biblical trivia

About two years ago in my final semester of undergrad I took a weightlifting class to hit the minimum amount of hours to be considered full time so I could keep my fellowship. While I took this class, I met this absolutely gorgeous guy. He and I got along really well, and I had a big crush on him. A few times I had asked him to hang out, but our schedules usually didn't align. One day though, he invited me to go to a trivia event with him, and I readily agreed. I wasn't sure if he was gay, but I figured this was a decent sign.

At the event, I learned that it was being run by the church group he belonged to. I made polite conversation with the folks there, despite instantly wanting to leave. We talked about what we were reading, and I learned a lot about faith books I would never even pick up once. The exact version this bible was escapes me now, but one fellow bragged about reading it cover to cover. That was actually a bit impressive. Even the most hardcore bible thumpers I knew growing up never delved that deep into the text.

I always show up incredibly early to events, so I was stuck in this faith literature discussion for a solid 20 minutes before my guy actually showed up. Once the event started, of course, it started with a prayer. I just closed my eyes and waited it out. I hate to say it, but it was unfair how attractive the guy leading the prayer was. I guess the Lord really does like giving people temptation to test them.

Then this hit me like a punch in the gut. The fellow leading the event said he was excited to see so many new faces at this event, and this was a good turnout for their recruitment effort. I'm from the south, and I'm usually not too surprised if a queer person is religious in some capacity since it is such a big part of many peoples' lives. But that cemented that this wasn't some date invitation. This gym hottie just wanted me to go to church.

And what were the topics at this biblical trivia?

Well it was real scandalous. Geography, history, Disney, bible verses, The Office, and the tiebreaker round was about biblical history, specifically biblical chronology. Here I realized that The Office really is as edgy as the Good Clean crowd could get.

My team was at a pretty considerable advantage because I did academic team all 4 years in high school, so I know a lot of unrelated and mostly useless facts. We had a pretty high point advantage till we got to the bible verse section, in which I was completely useless. In the section on The Office, I got our points back up till we tied with another team, leading to a tiebreaker round. I knew we would lose at this point, so I played a bit dirty.

Once we got a single point advantage, thanks to a complete guess from a teammate, I decided to bust out a fakeout technique we used to use in academic team. Essentially, you make it obvious you're about to answer, except you don't. You make sure the other team sees you do this, and this will usually pressure them to answer before you, even if they're not ready. And this worked till the final question.

The leader made the final question worth 2 points. Whoever got it right would win. So I used my fakeout once more. I didn't care if it was dishonest. If I can't get a hottie, I wanted to get a win. My fakeout worked yet again. But they answered correctly this time, listing the books of the New Testament in order. Like all of them. I didn't even know how many there were in that series. We lost.

To really rub salt in the wound, the night of this event there was a full blown winter storm going on. I walked about two miles getting there, and I was going to have to walk back. Ending the event, there was another prayer, praying for the safe return of us to our homes. People did ask how I was going home, to which I would say that I would be walking. I was a bit surprised, because I'm used to even the most vile, purely hateful, bible thumpers to be at least performatively charitable. However, not even the gym hottie that dashed my hopes offered me a ride. Granted, I didn't ask, but after like 6 people asked me how I was getting home I figured someone would offer since most of them drove to the event. But whatever. I suppose God allowed me to make the trek back safely. Perhaps he was glad I was with God fearing people again and my not slipping on ice and eating curb was his reward.

After this, I didn't really talk much with this guy after the trivia night. I'm used to crushing on straight guys, but this was the first time where someone got me to do something I truly would never do. I'm not against religion, I just have no interest in it. Faith is deeply personal to people, and my lack of it is also personal to me. I don't want that changed on terms other than my own.

That night, I would have been a winner if it weren't for God 😉

[elfmoon3]

ARCEUS' RING REPRESENTS THE BIBLICALLY ACCURATE ANGELS!!!

I was talking to a friend about gaming Easter eggs, and I said that Arceus is literally God. That's when I noticed that the ring around Arceus could represent the BAAs. (Biblically Accurate Angels)

Why'd I think of this bizarre idea? Well, if ya'll pay attention to the anatomy of Arceus, the scarla of his eyes are green, and the jewels on his ring are also green. Possibly representing his eyes, which change color whenever his typing is changed. His ring will also change color as was.

And here comes the kicker...what other heavenly beings that have multiple eyes? The answer is the Ophanim or the thrones of God. WHICH IS WHAT ARCEUS IS IN THE POKÉMON WORLD!!!

IDK if that was intentionally done, but I caught onto it!! GameFreak can't hide anything from us fans. I figured it out.

[volcanocraft]

hiii how did you like the wild life finale?

This seems to be a really contentious subject for the fandom and that's wonderful! I always enjoy when opinion is extremely diverse on a topic, i genuinely believe it contributes to a safer and more creative environment.

I think a lot of people forget that critique is ultimately derived from hope and love, it takes real time, dedication, and focus to understand and verbalize what they mean. Both parties want to see their series doing well. It would sincerely suck if everyone was so indifferent to the ending that one opinion homogenized the consensus of the fandom. It would be even worse if no one was allowed to voice their concerns or favourite moments in fear of betraying an established community narrative or attacking the ingenuity of the games.

Negativity comes from the same place optimism does. I have seen opinions I both agree with and heavily disagree with fundamentally, and I am ultimately very grateful to see both!

Thanks for asking my opinion. I don't think I would've written anything about it if you hadn't asked. Here you are!

The Good

Grian, Jimmy, and the ever present Cain Instinct

"It was always going to be this way, Jim." <- Said by someone who has a very normal relationship with a man hes known and attempted to nurture for around a decade.

I have to remind you that this is the second time Grian deliberately intended to end Jimmy’s life series, the first time is when they were Southlanders and he "snapped" at him for not taking his warning seriously.

I literally can't say anything that Grian hasn't said himself. If you watch his finale episode, he's constantly staring at Jimmy and thinking about how he could kill him right here and now. He switches to his sword, fidgets, stays silent while Jimmy and his group prattle on. Literally licking his lips and thinking about what to do. Ultimately, he chooses to strike without any chance of retaliation in the one place Jimmy feels safe in. And then when Jimmy is dead, Grian assumes he's watching him and says to his literal ghost "I love you"

Zombie Mechanic

I think this was a genius way of reintroducing the members who died early on. I don't think the series would've been the same without their revival. It was a super fun mechanic and their reduced health and commodified status balanced it out for me. You watched them lower your friend's casket into the ground but the next day he's back and he hugs you and you do not see any warmth in his eyes.

The Powerful Homo-eroticism of GemJoel [Canonized Edition]

The influx of gemjoel art was one of the best things in the entire world for me. Can you fucking believe i predicted it too. Now people refer to Joel as Gem's wife. This is everything I could have ever wanted. I've done three lines in celebration. Their dynamic was amazing too and i love that my inbox got flooded with anons as soon as any one of them said something incriminating. it's too bad they didn't battle it out for winner at the end with blood and tongue...

Good-FUCKING-Bye Canary Curse

I started getting really annoyed with how this specific fanon interpretation of Jimmy began to bleed into every single analysis of the series, creating relationships between characters and themes that were not there. I would argue that Jimmy himself barely believes in this supernatural phenomenon. I'm a hater and I only like it when I can fetishize watcher lore in a biblical sense.

The Bad

Leading Cause of Death... Snails

"You either loved the snail mechanic or you didn't" I say as someone who neither loved or hated it. But I think the fact that the snails ended so many peoples finales and contributed to so many deaths is a very valid criticism. I will say that Lizzie's snail and Skizzlemans whole episode kind of make it worth it, because it was just so fucking funny

I Wouldn't Have Attended Trivia Night

This is ultimately the point where I dropped off engagement wise. I think the trivia should have been minecraft-mechanic related and not about traffic life. "How many crafting recipes use wool?" Some of the questions were niche which makes sense because they were about specific moments. It doesn't matter if we think that lilac and poppies were important, no CC is going to, and the pool gets even smaller when you eliminate everyone who wasn't involved in that moment.

Conclusion

Personally, not my favourite. I think it lacks a lot of nuance the other series really cultivated with their simple mechanics which relied a lot on the ingenuity of the player themselves rather than situational opportunity. You could probably tell I lost interest because not even gemjoel could save me when I stopped posting about it. I got a lot of casual enjoyment out of it but that's it. I also eventually started feeling sore that the deaths were very coincidental. If you want a taste comparison, my least favourite life series is Secret Life and my favourite is Limited Life.

Some of the complaints I've heard is that there was not enough time for players to create alliances, flesh out cross-faction dynamics, or hold meaningful conversations. I disagree. There was a lot of motive for the players to collaborate and figure out the gimmicks together. They would even frequently congregate on the field at the bottom of the mountain. I think the wildcards helped make every conversation count and they could've talked at length if they wanted to (the G's did pretty often; as did Cleo and Bigb during the eating episode). There were a lot of chances to immediately take one another out but they decided instead to wait. Alliances were established and kept: the bamboozlers were ride or die for eachother, the spanners were tragi-comedy incarnate, and if cooperation's not your thing, you had team BET barely holding it together. People frequently encountered one another. I thought it was good.

Despite how I personally feel about it, I actually think its one of the best life series "objectively" in terms of content and watchability. There was genuine anticipation in seeing what happens each week. Each perspective was very personal because at that point it was about reactions and adaptability. If this was my first introduction to the life series, I'd be really pleased. But it does set up a kind of false impression of what the general theme of the series is. I guess you can think of this season as like... the beach episode [extended edition]. I did not get the impression the players were tired of the mechanics. The advent calendar format kind of does lend itself to a forced and rushed wrap-up finale.

[biocrafthero]

Biblically accurate Loop or something like that :3

Some close-ups + trivia under the cut

Demon!Loop is more visually inspired by Baphomet and Angel!Loop is similar to a seraphim. The former's hooves are inspired by this post I saw as well. I love funky stuff like this if you couldn't tell, teehee!

[lookingforhappy]

The Birth Locations/Suitcase Reveal Sucks

before you read please don't take this too seriously, I don't have a problem with people who enjoy this reveal I just wish more people would consider/analyse this as I feel like it's very half-assed and not at all well thought out

I know I've written something like this before and i'm sorry to write this again, but I think my arguments have developed and I want to explain better why I hate this decision.

I am referring to this set of posters for season 3

as the stickers on the suitcases were revealed to be their birth locations by Jeff King (executive producer and director) on instagram

the actual answer to his question is "lila's sticker" but semantics/specifics who cares (me)

why I distrust the theory/trivia as a whole

something I think should be considered here is that this is the only confirmation of this piece of trivia.

another example of TUA trivia that has been confirmed by the creators is the statement by Blackman (god ik just ignore that part for now, that isnt the point of the post & he's still a/the creator) on a reddit AMA that Grace helped the siblings choose their names based on their birth countries

however, these are both poorly researched/prepared pieces of trivia because they blatantly contradict each other

Luther's birthplace is Sweden, but Luther isn't a Swedish name, nor was is popular in either 1989 when he was born or 2002 when he was first seen using his name.

Diego is always a fairly popular name in Spanish speaking countries like Mexico but it's hardly high on the list (only statistic I can find is ranked at 31.)

Allison is neither a South African name nor is it listed as it's top names.

Klaus is Germanic (kinda fits the theme) but as far as I can see Klaus is not a biblical name which is much more typical of the Amish. Klaus is also not listed amongst the top Amish names that I've seen.

Five obviously is an outlier here.

Ben is clearly not Korean, and while I have had fun discussing the roots of his name with others (Jae-min becoming Benjamin, and Bin becoming Ben) I don't think that there's any way that the creators will acknowledge this. Ben has origins in Hebrew and is not at all popular in Korea.

Vanya (the applicable name, as Viktor wasn't yet revealed) is a male name in Russia. it's female in other countries like Bulgaria, but not Russia. It's a nickname/evolution of the name Ivan. Vanya is also not a popular name in Russia, but Ivan does seem to be. And I seriously doubt that they're going to reveal that Viktor originally named himself Ivan while he was identifying as female and then decided to change his name anyway?

which is to say, the word of the creator cannot always be trusted/believed, because that's not necessarily what will be reflected in canon or by the other creators.

there is quite a history in fandom of creators not understanding the themes/plotholes of their own creations, so i'm a little stunned at how quickly everyone integrated this into their canon without a second thought.

i have arugments as to why these locations are bad choices for the characters, but first lets take a look at what i believe these stickers were meant to represent

Placing down a read more because this became huge.

what the other stickers reference/mean

it's no secret that i think the stickers were hints to the events (related to each character's arc) of season 3.

but before i get to that let's breakdown the rest of the stickers and their meanings:

all of the umbrella's have an umbrella sticker. Lila is the only one who doesn't (so if we're playing the "who is the odd one out" game then it still falls as Lila because she is the only one without the umbrella sticker)

Luther

Luther dies in Hotel Obsidian, and never makes it physically inside Oblivion or has any part in powering it - so his sticker has the colours/design of Obsidian.

Diego

Diego is one of/the first to discover Hotel Oblivion, so he has the Oblivion colours and logo.

Allison

Allison is involved in Reginald's plot to use Oblivion to reset thte universe, so gets Oblivion's logo instead of Obsidian.

Klaus

Klaus was the one to know and direct them to Hotel Obsidian, so he has that logo.

Five

Five's revelation that he was the Founder of the Commission, and the impact of that discovery, links him to the Commission more so than either hotel.

Viktor

viktor has the hotel Obsidian logo because he has very little impact on anything to do with Oblivion and is one of the votes that decides to remain and die in Obsidian.

Lila

Lila has the Commission because she was raised in the Commission, not the Umbrella Academy.

Lila has the Obsidian logo in opposition to Diego's Oblivion logo as she chooses the opposite of Diego (I personally believe they should have swapped these two but..)

why the birth locations are more likely/appropriate as hints for the events of season 3

Luther - Stockholm, Sweden

This is probably my strongest argument: He is made fun of for having "Stockholm Syndrome" within the show

found: Season 3, episode 3, minute 13.

Luther, obviously spends all of his character development/moments with the Sparrows and Sloane - being kidnapped by them and developing "Stockholm Syndrome" for Sloane (romantic) and for the Sparrows as a whole (platonic/idealism/escapism)

Luther's mother's newpaper cutting also mentions 911 being called, but 911 is not the emergency number of Sweden, 112 is. Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay use 911 but not Sweden.

If Monica wasn't in Sweden at the time of Luther's birth, then Stockholm is hardly his birth location.

throughout the seasons we get a few instances of Diego, Ben and Viktor speaking their native languages, hinting that the 7 were all taught their mother's languages (with Allison at least likely learning all 7)

But if Luther is Swedish, why didn't he or Diego know what Oga For Oga meant if that's Luther's mother's language? and why was Five the only person who seemed to understand Swedish when he's not the Swede of the family? Why did Diego not at least recognise his brother's supposed second language? Or Luther for that matter?

Luther was a part of the Academy for 23+ years, longer than anyone, yet Reginald (who expects the best of his children) didn't bother enforcing this as a part of his education? his number one had a worse education than his number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7?

Diego - Mexico

Diego apparently doesn't even get the luxury of a city, place or region. But I can confirm that his mother's newspaper cutting states that he was born in a "small town in Northern Mexico".

However, Diego's sticker could instead be a reference to the Aztecs or Mayans - his sticker has mayan/aztec pyramids on it, I believe maybe Chichen Itza specifically?? Ancient civilisations that were very advanced for their time, and that are somewhat frequently involved in alien conspiracies.

Diego is one the one to open Oblivion when he removes the harpoon, and is the first to enter it and confront the Guardians.

Oblivion is an Ancient building/place built by an Ancient civilisation of what is assumed to be aliens, and Reginald (confirmed alien) is the one to have directed them into Oblivion at first as well.

Allison - Cape Town, South Africa

Nelson Mandela is pretty famous for his part in the anti-apartheid (segregation) movement, helping to end segregation in South Africa. He was jailed in a Cape Town prison for attempting to sabotage the pro-segregation government, and then later his office as president was located in Cape Town.

an easy connection to make with Allison's arc in season 2, and the significance of it in her arc in season 3, with her dealing with PTSD, grief over Ray, and feeling alienated by her family who didn't have the same experience as her in the 60s.

Allson's mother has nothing connecting her to South Africa outside of this, as far as I'm aware.

Klaus - Pennsylvania, USA

This one I will concede is about his birth location. But in this case, it's also heavily related to his season 3 arc, as he is the driving force of the mothers plotline and literally travels to Pennsylvania.

PA is a strong and relevant hint for his s3 arc.

Five - Dublin, Ireland

Five could be connected to Ireland in multiple ways.

(there is a link between Five and JFK, "the 1st Irish American President" but I can't see the link to s3 here so honorary mention only).

A link that I understand is a somewhat touchy topic for any Irish citizens is the stereotype of drunkeness in Ireland. While there have been studies to prove that Ireland doesn't drink more than other countries such as England, it remains a well-known stereotype and the Irish people are statistically more prone to alcohol dependency/addiction.

There is also the phrase "make it Irish" which means to put alcohol in a drink, one of the more popular drinks to do this to is coffee. Which brings us back to Five - he is known for his love of coffee and for getting spectacularly drunk.

season 3 in particular features his drinking addiction in it's full glory. it's also plot relevant as his drunkness causes the murder mystery setup of the final episodes.

(also, while it's not great to have Ireland be the hint to alcohol, it's also not great to have Five, the alcoholic of the series, be the Irish representation)

Another interpretation could be the root of the name "Dublin" meaning "black pool". It was likely derived from the River Poddle which would have been stained black with peat. This could be a hint towards Five's elusive role as the Founder, as his life so far has been stained with childhood abuse, the apocalypse and his foray as an assassin, making the reveal of the Founder a shock.

One other interpretation is the Irish vs. English. Five is perhaps the most skeptical of Reginald throughout season 3, moreso than even Luther or Diego. While England has enraged many countries, Ireland is one of the most well known for it's dislike of the English, and has a lengthy history of war and altercations with England. So Five's sticker may be a hint for his re-ignited distrust of Reginald. It also works well as a predictor for Five and Lila's (English) bathroom fight.

Five's mother's newpaper cutting has several contradictions to the Ireland, Dublin location. First and foremost being that she is cited as being from both a "small seaside community" and from "county clark".

There is no County Clark in Ireland, but there is a County Clare and a County Cork. However, County Clare is on the opposite side of Ireland to Dublin and County Cork is even farther away,

Dublin, as the Capital City, is also not a "small seaside community" by any stretch of the imagination.

And the Irish police would likely not be referred to as "provincial" but instead be called Gardaí or The Garda Síochána.

Viktor - Moscow, Russia

Moscow is seen in season 1, episode 1 very briefly as Reginald arrives to adopt Viktor. You can see both the Spasskaya Tower and St Basil's Cathedral. Viktor also speaks Russian, something that none of his siblings have demonstrated.

However, this is not actually Viktor's birthplace (if we believe that the props have canon information, as most argue that Diego is definately from Mexico due to his cutting stating his mother was in Northern Mexico, etc) as according to his book Viktor was born in "small town off the Southern coast of Russia".

Moscow is nowhere near the coast and is not exactly southern either, nor is it a small town. And while this isn't exaclty specified that the "small town" he visits is the place he was born, it wouldn't make much sense if it wasn't, as Viktor was able to track his mother down via newspaper articles about his birth.

Moscow could mean a lot of things for Viktor's arc:

it could be a reference to s1, ep1 but instead of his exact birth location, it could simply hint to his mother's country and toward Harlan's involvement in the mothers' deaths - and the long reach of his powers from America to Russia.

It could also be a hint to Viktor's significance as a much more involved and aware plot driver this season as Moscow is the politcal centre of Russia as its capital city.

It might also hint at his disconnect from his family (not being a part of the Academy and not understanding the hard decisions and necessary teamwork that come with it) causing tensions, as while Moscow is the political capital, Saint Petersburg is considered the cultural capital.

Plus Moscow's history as the capital works well as a parallel to his journey with his powers, and works as a hint to Viktor developing his powers with Harlan because Moscow also briefly lost its status as the capital to Saint Petersburg, possibly a parallel to Viktor, the most powerful of the Umbrellas, losing his powers to Reginald's drugs. Moscow was later restored as the capital, paralleling Viktor's regaining of his powers.

Lila - Berlin

Lila is nice and simple, she was considered the outlier by Jeff King anyway as her suitcase doesn't match her confirmed birth place (London), and instead is a pretty obvious hint to her time in West Berlin, Germany, with Trudy and Stan.

why i dislike the chosen locations as the birth locations

in general I think it's silly to choose almost all capital cities: Dublin, Moscow, Cape Town, Stockholm, Seoul..

I know these are populous places but there must have been some variation? (aside from Klaus, who has plot armour for this point due to his Amish origins, and Diego, who is the only non-capital city purely because he wasn't given the dignity of a named city/town/village)

it's also lazy writing (and i believe somewhat racist?) to have every sibling come from the country/continent you'd expect?

the latino is mexican

the black woman is african

the asian man is asian

the blonde haired/blue eyed man is scandinavian

even Klaus, Five and Viktor are all white men from predominantly white countries.

at least try to subvert expectations?

to an extent i understand that they were trying to incorporate the actors ethnicities with Justin having korean roots, and David being raised in mexico. But the only irish thing about Aidan is his surname, and Emmy has no known connection to South Africa. I'm also pretty sure Tom isn't swedish at all and Elliot isn't russian.

it's lazy, poorly planned and honestly highly questionable writing at best

[hype-queer-fixated]

Me at 8: *hearing "he knows him in the biblical sense"* ah yes, he knows him thoroughly, back to front, the way one knows the bible extremely well to be closer to the Lord or to slay one's enemies at vbs trivia

Me at 15: *hearing "she knows her in the biblical sense"* oh oh okay I see I see like the way the bible uses "know" when it means fuck haha......wait...

Me at 34: *watching "he's just an angel I know"* clearly commentary on being seen and "known" through the near-religious experiences and sacred script(ures) of queer platonic and queer romantic intimacy. also crowley wants to bone his angel

[mediaevalmusereads]

God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible. By Esther J. Hamori. Broadleaf Books, 2023.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: Biblical studies

Series: N/A

Summary: The Bible is teeming with monsters. Giants tromp through the land of milk and honey; Leviathan swims through the wine-dark sea. A stunning array of peculiar creatures, mind-altering spirits, and supernatural hitmen fill the biblical heavens, jarring in both their strangeness and their propensity for violence--especially on God's behalf. Traditional interpretations of the creatures of the Bible have sanded down their sharp, unsavory edges, transforming them into celestial beings of glory and light--or chubby, happy cherubs. Those cherubs? They're actually hybrid guardian monsters, more closely associated with the Egyptian sphinx than with flying babies. And the seraphim? Winged serpents sent to mete out God's vengeance. Demons aren't at war with angels; they're a distinct supernatural species used by Satan and by God. The pattern is chilling. Most of these monsters aren't God's opponents--they're God's entourage. Killer angels, plague demons, manipulative spirits, creatures with an alarming number of wings (and eyes all over)--these shapeshifters and realm-crossers act with stunning brutality, each reflecting a facet of God's own monstrosity. Confronting God's monsters--and the God-monster--may be uncomfortable, but the Bible is richer for their presence. It's not only richer; the stories of the monsters of the Bible can be as fun, surprising, and interesting as any mythology. For anyone interested in monsters, myths, folklore, demons, and more, God's Monsters is an entertaining deep dive into the creaturely strangeness of the Bible.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: descriptions of violence, mention of suicide

I picked this book up after it got a shout out on Dan McClellan's TikTok/YouTube channel. I've been diving into critical studies of the Bible and thought this would be a fairly good entry point.

Overall, I thought this book was incredibly accessible. Hamori summarizes the major stories she discusses so if you're not familiar with the Bible, it's still easy to follow her analysis. Hamori assumed a passing familiarity, but she's not writing to a specialist audience; of anything, she's writing to undergraduates or casual readers with an interest in diving into more academic interpretations of the Bible. As a former academic, I did want something a little more rigorous, but I am also not the intended audience, and that's OK.

Hamori also writes with a casual style that a lot of people might find enjoyable. Her prose includes a lot of glib humor and pop culture references, so it feels less intimidating than the prose in a textbook or academic monograph. Personally, I kind of wish the prose was a little more straightforward since I value the insights over the delivery method, but I also recognize this style might help a lot of readers connect with ancient texts.

Hamori's book also cites very few secondary sources (at least compared to a traditional monograph), and I think that's so casual readers and new students aren't overwhelmed by Biblical scholarship. It's fairly effective, though if you're looking to put Hamori's book in conversation with the broader field, you'll have to do your own digging.

In terms of the content, I very much appreciated the literary analysis and the historical insights that Hamori provides. Each chapter is devoted to a single type of monster, which means the organization is easy to follow, and within those chapters, Hamori is guided by a singular question: what does each monster reveal about God? I appreciated this guiding question because it meant that I wasn't reading a list of trivia facts about ancient beasties; instead, I was reading about each monster's relationship to the divine and how ancient writers would have thought of God based on these monster tales.

TL;DR: God's Monsters is a good introduction for students or readers with a casual (yet more academic) interest in the Bible. Though I personally did not vibe with the pop culture references and humor that characterizes Hamori's writing style, I can see how it makes this book more accessible, which it very much is if you're not used to reading academic monographs.

[glitched-username]

★heyllo, it's me erm- it's me again. Sooo, I saw that you are trying to, y'know, figure out 'Frida's' whole vibe and stuff in order to make G/t headcanons for her, erm- (which, I very much would like to read =P /gen!!)

Soo, here's a bit of her personality that based on her trivia, written on the turtle-pedia website

★..ermm, yeah. I think that she would give off a 'stoic giant vibe' ?? I'm not sure, she appeared in the series like, 3 to 4 times ?? I'm not sure, ummm-★

★yeah erm. She is cool. Frida is erm- cool.★

★..m'kay hoped this helped, even a little bit-★

Okokok, I hear you but also when it says "so serious it's funny" it makes me IMMEDIATELY want to make her smaller than biblically accurate Mikey. A super stoic, serious and dangerous giant isn't funny. What IS funny, is a 4 inch tall super serious and stoic turtle who can easily take down something the size of Gus

Plus I'm adopting the idea of her being a bog turtle and those guys ARE smaller than box turtles soooo....

She also seems to be the person Big Mama trusts most with valuable artifacts so the small size would make her incredibly good at spotting an authentic item or if someone is trying to sell her fake ones by eyeing the tiniest of details.

Turns stealth and sneaking up on intruders a breeze

Also this only works if Frida is older than Raph cause the oldest sibling being the tiniest is just 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Raph: Maybe you'll loosen up a bit when you're older like me!

Frida: I'm older than you

Raph: **unable to process how a turtle can be smaller but also older than him**

[accountingforprincess]

Hello my master

I am your dove

keep telling me "faster"

your voice, oh I love

Think straight, I'm still able

Staying anon for more

If you know of the bible

the olive branch? It's the name of this whore.

-🕊

Just want to take a moment to brag to everyone that this is the second cool poem this little dove has sent me.

Honestly, kind of just really blown away that I'm somehow popular enough to be getting erotic poetry sent to me.

To actually respond to it through, little dove, the fact you're able to think straight is a very apparent failure of mine. As you say, you need to keep rubbing your clit faster, pumping your dildo in and out and your pussy harder.

I will say though, I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to my biblical trivia. Maybe you can make it simpler by fucking yourself like the whore of Babylon until you're too brain-dead and desperate for my command to cum you get over your shyness and show me who you are.

[orobashooves]

Trivia: Jesus always was the friend who saves Buddha's ass when he piss off the gods

It's for his own good ❤️ Oh yeah, and he have more than two eyes (seven, precisely) bcs of "biblically accurate angels" stuff

[athenashaw]

Many thanks to any good omens fanfic writers

Your dedication won me, an atheist, $23 during a Christmas trivia event w. biblical questions

See my fanfiction addiction IS useful

[calder]

I'm most of the way through my first real playthrough of New Vegas, and I've had posts of yours in the back of my mind the whole way through. How'd you get started amassing all this knowledge? I want to Know Things like you do

im sitting on a few asks to this effect so i'll try to go into detail

i spent years arguing about the fallout setting (dont do this) until i became encyclopedic in the rhetoric, mythos, and iconography which constitutes its functional legacy among nerds. i turned over my understanding of the premise so regularly that it became a revolving door. i found that a holistic literalist interpretation--as in biblical studies--simply wasn't a functional engagement of the text, but it remains the dominant level of engagement with the fiction

fallout discussion circles are plagued by rampant projection, pretense, and condescension, and i grew to be morbidly fascinated with this in itself. thematic assessment is routinely drowned in stupid trivia. fallout lore is wielded to defeat valuable creativity and analysis. any lore that makes people uncomfortable is cast as surely unintentional, or a joke, or otherwise not real fallout. i wanted to developed a way of engaging deeply with the fiction, by approaching it as a flawed legend, defined by the myths and stories and coincidences it leaves in its wake.

fallout canon, as a concept, is a formless shadow. it does not mean the same thing to any two people, but everyone takes their own unique perspective on it very seriously. it's not unlike the dull stagnation of biblical canon, and the insight to be found in learning the apocrypha it corresponds to. these themes grew loud for me after listening to the radio play of "a canticle for liebowitz", a direct and clear influence on wasteland and fallout in its own right.

these games are also my outlet for occult thought in general. i am fascinated by conspiracy theory and the paranormal, but those things are not toys. this blog is a game-fiction-hobby context where i can indulge in "baking" "signs from god" without it being, yknow, intrinsically extremely dangerous and irresponsible. it gives me a place to try to understand that sort of thought without constantly exposing myself to real propaganda. does that make sense?

my approach was also influenced by taking an interest in george miller as a thinker and filmmaker. his work has always been inspired by the nature of legend and religion. just for instance, he made fury road contradict previous mad max lore from its first scene as a statement, to bounce people who would approach these stories through the sterile, fake-intellectual lens of grand fictional consistency

[hpoxfordprogram]

Running Around Europe

~by Michael Rascher Hectic, stunning, exhausting, and endlessly rewarding. My summer at GT Oxford was marked by incredible experiences that I will treasure for a lifetime. The friends I made, the foods I ate, the places I traveled to, and the views I saw were all spectacular. Despite how draining some days became, I truly wouldn’t trade a single one for anything else in the world.

As a member of the Italy travel group, I started my adventures in Rome where I quickly became immersed in the unimaginable amount of history and culture that it has to offer. Our first event together was a tour of the Vatican that ended in the Sistine Chapel! Truly an awe-inspiring space that encouraged wonder at how Michelangelo was able to skillfully paint such a beautiful fresco on the ceiling of a building over 500 years ago. It was also satisfying to connect bits of trivia I had learned from the pre-departure courses to what I was actually seeing in front of my face. My favorite part was seeing several depictions of scenes from the Biblical book of Genesis, especially The Creation of Adam. I’m thankful that I had some background knowledge from these courses so that I could further appreciate what I was viewing in the Vatican, as well as each of the following museums I visited later on the trip.

One of the best features of traveling with GT Oxford was that I got a free day in almost every city to go wherever I wished. On my free day in Florence, I traveled with a group of my friends to Cinque Terre, a gorgeous collection of five colorful coastal Italian cities. We had a short train layover in Pisa for about 20 minutes, and I was eager to quickly visit the Tower of Pisa but my friends urged me that it was still a mile away from the station. Taking this as a challenge, I grabbed a buddy of mine, hopped off the train as soon as it stopped, sprinted to the Tower, snapped a few pictures, and made it back just in time for our next train! It was well worth the effort to see an iconic piece of Italian architecture.

On my next free day in Milan, I took another trip with my friends to Lake Como which was absolutely spectacular. We spent the day hiking around the lake and swimming in the surroundings of beautiful mountain scenery. I would definitely recommend this as a destination for anyone traveling abroad next summer. The architecture was amazing and the views even more so. I even caught a glimpse of the villa where they filmed the Naboo lake house scenes in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, a rewarding pilgrimage for my younger self.

In Vienna, my day trip took me into the Austrian Alps where I hiked in the Rax mountain range, another incredibly rewarding experience.

Now as a distance runner, it’s been a goal of mine for years to run a full marathon. To my amazement, there just so happened to be a festival hosting a race in Belgium on our free day. While the fast pace of travel leading up to our stay in Antwerp left me with only a handful of opportunities for long training runs, I was still determined to compete and finish. So, I took a train with a couple buddies to the small town of Torhout and was immediately shocked at how many people had gathered there in the middle of nowhere to celebrate the Night of Flanders. The town was absolutely bustling and the environment was electric. After embracing the Flemish traditions and enjoying the festivities for a short while, the race began and I was off! Although it became incredibly difficult near the end, I successfully crossed the finish line (in excruciating pain) and completed my very first marathon as my friends cheered me on. Our spur-of-the-moment adventure resulted in one of my most memorable experiences of the entire trip.

Then, after arriving in Mansfield College and settling into my new home for the next six weeks, I was greeted by resident expert tour guide David Gunnell for an HP-exclusive walking tour of Oxford. He was so entertaining and contained a remarkable depth of knowledge surrounding the history of the city with corresponding literature and movie references. The tour was an enjoyable and informative blur that left me filled with wonder at the immense amount of culture contained in and produced by Oxford over the centuries. I developed a further appreciation for the city’s scholarly works in the classroom while learning from my professor in HTS 3032, Modern European Intellectual History. After reading a variety of influential letters and publishings, I can understand how important Oxford – and England as a whole – was in the development of progressive and forward-thinking ideologies. Together, these experiences opened my eyes to a thoughtful, academic world beneath the lovely facades of Oxford architecture.

One of my most memorable experiences in Oxford was visiting other colleges on Open Days, another opportunity I’d highly recommend. As I walked around the city with a friend, we got to tour the Bodleian’s Duke Humfrey’s Library and Christ Church’s dining hall – both incredibly famous Harry Potter filming locations – for free.

Weekends during GT Oxford were another huge highlight of the program. On the first weekend, I took a train to London with a group of friends and we met up with some more friends from the GT Europe program. It was incredible to see so many important landmarks and buildings in such a condensed area. I enjoyed it so much that I’m even going back to London on my last weekend to experience more.

The following week, I traveled to Dublin and Galway City in Ireland to do some hikes and visit the Guinness Storehouse.

Perhaps my favorite weekend was a vacation trip to the Spanish island of Mallorca with a small group of friends. We toured a family-owned orchard and I got to taste the best orange I’ve ever had in my entire life. After spending plenty of time on the beach, we finished the day with some paella. The next day, we had tapas for lunch and then went snorkeling and saw an incredible variety of sea life! The island was beautiful, and even the view out of our Airbnb window was stunning.

Another phenomenal weekend trip took me to Switzerland where I got to hike in the beauty of the Swiss Alps and swim in crystal-clear water. One surprising thing I got to do while staying in Basel was float down the Rhine River directly through the city center. The water was clean enough and the weather was warm enough that there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people gathered for a swim.

Joining study abroad with GT Oxford was one of the best decisions of my entire life and I am so grateful to have made so many new friends and new memories from all of the amazing experiences we shared together.

[geometricalien]

15 people, 15 questions

Tagged by @ultfreakme thank you!! 💕💕

1.) Are you named after anyone?

My first name is biblical and since my parents are Christian and my sibling also has a biblical name, I always presumed it was bc of that. My middle name though is actually a last name from my lineage

2.) When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday! It was day 2 of being home alone since my roommate left for the week and I was feeling particularly lonely since another friend wasn't able to hang out with me the last couple of days in addition to feeling isolated from family during the holiday season Plus being on my period --- yeahhh

3.) Do you have kids?

No. Nope. Nuh uh. Ask me again in 10 years

4.) What sports do you play/have played?

I did volleyball and basketball a lot in my youth, did soccer in elementary school

5.) Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes. Mostly only with friends when we know we are being sarcastic and are playing it up? Otherwise, I'm just such a literal person I hardly use it elsewhere (even when my friends and I are joking/using sarcasm we often say "just kidding" afterwards)

6.) What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Honestly height and hair. I have such bad face blindness, and I've had it forever. But I'll remember if someone was taller/shorter than me and their hair color

7.) What’s your eye colour?

Grayish blue. They were described like ice before if that helps

8.) Scary movies or happy endings?

Depends on my mood. I like horror movies and there are just so many different kinds- I haven't found a movie that genuinely scares me in a long time though... The last one I remember was Nope. I walked out of the theater and was just watching all the clouds in the sky fkdlsajf

9.) Any talents?

Nothing is really coming to mind... I guess I'm crafty? And it shows itself in different ways. I enjoy the process of creating. Be it in writing or drawing or baking and decorating or following steps- I enjoy having a vision and creating it

10.) Where were you born?

Usa

11.) What are your hobbies?

I read books and fanfiction, I write fanfiction, watch anime and shows, cook, bake, play genshin impact. I've been playing wordle every day for almost a year now. I like tactical stuff with instructions- like legos or putting together furniture- I got this DIY book nook last week and spent like 8 hours putting it together. In school as part of the STEM program we learned how to draft both by hand and on the computer through CAD and Solidworks- those were fun. I miss that. Again it uses that same part of the brain as legos. I also like playing with cards. I have solitaire and pinocle on my phone. I was also learning how to play chess (like the strategy part)

12.) Do you have any pets?

My family home has the cat I got my 8th birthday (barn cat, brown tabby with four white socks on his paws). In the apartment though there is my roommate's black lab, half ragdoll half Siamese cat, and who knows how many fish that keep having babies

13.) How tall are you?

5'10'' (on a good day sshhh)

14.) Favourite subject in school?

MATH HELLO! (......... but also the drafting classes damn i miss those)

15.) Dream job?

Can there be such a thing as having extreme trivia knowledge on my fandoms? I'd like that alot but otherwise.... I'd like to work at one of those cat [Blank] things. Be it a café or a bar or a bookstore (that'd be awesome!!) I think that would be fun

Tagging @alienjack @szivtalan @glitt-erm @amnestyaubrey @farklelucas @brazilian-whalien52 @bloodyspade0000 @traditionalartist @illbebuyingallofthoseflowers and anyone else who sees this and wants to hop in ☺️

[dbphantom]

1113 spoilers

Okay the ocean part we predicted but MAN... You guys know that one post about how fish are free from sin because they weren't on the arc? Yeah

[continues to VERY PATIENTLY wait for more information about the Eve tree (processes sunlight) and what the sapphire scale disease actually is bc why was it the result of a chemical experiment by Saturn and why specifically natural light and why is there a tree that can process sunlight-]

My biggest worry (and I know this might sound hypocritical but bear with me) is that Oda ties the sapphire scale disease back to fishmen/merfolk and doesn't do it with tact or nuance...

Like I have been flirting with the idea of humans turned merfolk for a while bc of H2O au and I don't think it's something you can just add w/o considering the implications (which is why I changed a lot of FMI to make Sanji the one who gets the transfusion from Jimbe... And you know, addressed Sanji telling him to kill himself (seriously, you write an entire arc about ending cycles of hatred and then have a main character tell another main character to kill himself as a casual joke and never address it? Huge missed opportunity right there)).

And don't get me wrong I'm not like "ahhh I know more than the author" and Oda did pretty well with FMI (ignoring Sanji's... entire character that arc) as far as I can tell (I'm not the end all be all) I just... worry, I guess? I really don't want it to end up with a 'cure' because being different is wrong. I just don't want there to be a moment of "hey here's a way to make them 'normal' again!" and it be framed as a positive.

I've been watching the new Xm/en show with my bestie and I like the way they framed it there (at least so far, we are only a few episodes in). After all, it's a fictional show, I'm down for fictional scenarios (what WOULD happen if they could strip away a core element of someone's personhood just bc it made them different?) But it's been handled relatively well (so far!) with a good amount of tact. Also, it's for adults and is focusing on this to give it the depth, time, and nuance it deserves. Its not a comic book for kids with 90 other plot threads going on.

It's funny how fixated on this I am because it probably isn't even going to happen??? Like it's probably just that Oda wanted a way to write Ginny out that was also symbolic (sun = hope -> Saturn turned her hope into something that killed her) but still... You get my dread at this being a thing just for a shocking plot twist, right? I'm hoping it just the H2O brainworms that immediately made me jump to this conclusion and nothing else [side eyes the trivia section on the wiki page for sapphire scales] it's fine, we're going to be fine, it's just a spin on a lot of old Biblical stories. It's fine.

Anyway enough of me griping bc "PROTECT ROBIN" obliterated me on the spot. Nami, I fucking adore you, you will always be famous to me 🥺 she deserved that spot on the throne in the cover art solely because she is the best

[nightsidewrestling]

D.U.D.E Bios: Patrick Turner

Zinnia's Husband Patrick Turner (2020)

The husband of Zinnia and son-in-law of Byron and Geia, Patrick.

"Unless it's beach related, I don't care."

Name

Full Legal Name: Patrick Stephen Turner

First Name: Patrick

Meaning: From the Latin name 'Patricius', which meant 'Nobleman'.

Pronunciation: PAT-rik

Origin: Irish, English, French, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish

Middle Name: Stephen

Meaning: From the Greek name 'Stephanos' meaning 'Crown, Wreath', more precisely 'That which surrounds'

Pronunciation: STEE-ven

Origin: English, Biblical

Surname: Turner

Meaning: Occupational name for one who worked with a lathe, derived from Old English 'Turnian' 'To Turn', of Latin origin.

Pronunciation: TUR-ner

Origin: English

Alias: None

Reason: None

Nicknames: Pat, Steve

Titles: Mr

Characteristics

Age: 31

Gender: Male. He/Him Pronouns

Race: Human

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Polynesian

Birth Date: September 5th 1989

Symbols: None

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Christian

Native Language: English

Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, Russian

Relationship Status: Married

Astrological Sign: Virgo

Theme Song (Ringtone on Geia's Phone): 'Bad Bad Things' - AJR

Voice Actor: Jason Momoa

Geographical Characteristics

Birthplace: Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA

Current Location: Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA

Hometown: Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA

Appearance

Height: 6'0" / 182 cm

Weight: 150 lbs / 68 kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: Sparse

Facial Hair: Clean Shaven

Tattoos: (As of Jan 2020) None

Piercings: None

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker

Illnesses/Disorders: None

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: Vegetarian

Relationships

Allies: N/A

Enemies: N/A

Friends: Tristan Lum, Xavier Ibarra, Ardalion Volkov, Lochlainn Rhydderch, Roderick Rhydderch, Flann Rhydderch

Colleagues: N/A

Rivals: None

Closest Confidant: Zinnia Turner

Mentor: Paul Turner

Significant Other: Zinnia Turner (30, Wife, Née Winter)

Previous Partners: None of Note

Parents: Paul Turner (50, Father), Maya Turner (51, Mother, Née Aiken)

Parents-In-Law: Byron Winter (53, Father-In-Law), Pelageya Winter (33, Mother-In-Law, Née Volkov)

Siblings: Osbert Turner (27, Brother)

Siblings-In-Law: Nathan Winter (33, Zinnia's Brother), Genesis Winter (34, Nathan's Wife, Née Rivers), Laurence Winter (27, Zinnia's Brother), Xanthia Winter (24, Zinnia's Sister), Joseph Winter (21, Zinnia's Brother), Venetia Winter (18, Zinnia's Sister), Isaiah Winter (15, Zinnia's Brother), Uliana Winter (12, Zinnia's Half-Sister), Emil Winter (9, Zinnia's Half-Brother)

Nieces & Nephews: Quincy Winter (13, Nephew), Hadley Winter (10, Niece)

Children: Bethany Turner (10, Daughter)

Children-In-Law: None

Grandkids: None

Great Grandkids: None

Wrestling

Billed From: N/A

Trainer: N/A

Managers: N/A

Wrestlers Managed: N/A

Debut: N/A

Debut Match: N/A

Retired: N/A

Retirement Match: N/A

Wrestling Style: N/A

Stables: N/A

Teams: N/A

Regular Moves: N/A

Finishers: N/A

Refers To Fans As: N/A

Extras

Trivia: Nothing of Note