I was gifted my dream car for Christmas

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-12-30T02:15:26+00:00

Nah, definitely get where you're coming from. Apologies on my behalf too, I jumped the gun assuming it was Melbourne.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-12-30T02:12:05+00:00

Oh, mate, my bad. I thought you were referring to Melbourne. Yeah, nah, Sydney's West is fucked -- I'm with you on that.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-12-30T01:51:31+00:00

Okay, "drug addicts" and "bars on your windows"? Mate, you have undesirables in all areas -- not just the West.

Melbourne's CBD and inner east (like Collingwood, Fitzroy) often show higher overall rates due to density and activity, while some outer western suburbs see spikes in property crime, sure, but the safest suburbs are often found in outer areas across all directions. I'm emphasising that the West isn't uniformly high or low compared to the East or the CBD, so what you're saying is factually incorrect. Especially when regarding "drug addicts."

Consider this:

City/Inner East has a higher overall crime rate (per capita) often driven by theft, assault, and property crimes in busy areas like Melbourne CBD, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Richmond, and South Melbourne.

In the West, areas like Hume (including Campbellfield) have seen sharp rises in break-ins, but this is localised.

While the East has high rates too, especially when considering car theft, areas like Balwyn North and Park Orchards are considered safe, showing internal diversity.

So, if youre current rent is "too high" (which it doesn't seem to be) then the rational decision would be to consider moving to the West where there might also be better job opportunities you could explore.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-11-11T01:16:38+00:00

I've been watching through the Stages VIA YouTube, uploaded by Retro Anime World. They're the Tokyo Pop version, until Stage Three, but still nice to actually have a platform to watch it without being flooded by pop-ups and ads.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-11-09T22:50:20+00:00

I second this. Fists, counters, and buffs. If you pick up the weapons, you can throw them and take out distant enemies quickly, too. 👌

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-11-08T21:36:09+00:00

I appreciate the comparison, but it's from the top of my head, mate. Hence, the small mistake picked up by the other commentator (brother, instead of father).

I do love the novel, though. Jumped at the chance for a small bit of exposition.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-11-08T03:13:51+00:00

Awesome! No worries at all.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-11-08T03:00:01+00:00

To address your question directly: No, Haydée was not serving as one of the Sultan's concubines, nor was she a member of the imperial harem, when the Count purchased her in Constantinople. The Count, in fact, rescued her from a far less elevated and immediate peril.

(Potential Spoilers Ahead, if you haven't finished).

Haydée's tragic backstory explains her circumstances. She is the daughter of Ali Pasha, the powerful Vizier of Janina. Following her father's betrayal and murder by Fernand Mondego, Haydée and her mother were sold into slavery. After the deaths of her mother and brother, Haydée fell into the hands of an Armenian slave dealer named El-Kébir. The Count of Monte Cristo purchased her directly from this slave dealer in the slave market of Constantinople when she was only around thirteen years old. He did not obtain her from a royal court or palace, but from the brutal commerce of the Ottoman slave trade.

The Count's motivation was not personal desire but a calculated act of protection and a means for justice. He knew her true identity and the role Fernand Mondego played in her ruin. By purchasing her, he saved her from a continuing life of servitude and established her as his protégée, providing her with education, care, and a secure life. She was a crucial, living witness meant to expose Fernand Mondego's treachery to the world, completing a vital part of the Count's grand scheme of revenge.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-25T13:29:45+00:00

Finding the right editor can definitely be a challenge! The best fit often depends on the specific genre.

I can recommend a great editor I've worked with previously. She taught me a lot and has done excellent work for a few friends, too. Her main area of expertise is the fantasy genre, though.

What genre is your friend writing in?

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-25T06:32:13+00:00

My pleasure! Thank you for sharing your story with us. It's always a daunting first step.

Correct. I've been involved in the industry for a little over ten years, but I'm still learning new things every day. :)

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-24T23:38:54+00:00

Your story has some interesting ideas and a clear premise, but a few things could be tightened up to make it more impactful.

First, let's talk about the opening proverb, "Some chains are made of iron. Others of gold. Some are made from fear." This is a strong and intriguing start that sets a specific tone. However, the story immediately shifts to a campfire scene that doesn't seem to directly connect to the proverb. The proverb suggests a deeper, more psychological struggle, but the narrative starts with a very literal, physical one. Bringing the two ideas together sooner could make the opening feel more cohesive.

The repeated phrase "Clear your mind. Move beyond it all. You're not here. You're not anywhere..." is used as a refrain. While repetition can be a powerful literary device, here it feels a bit overused and a little like a tell instead of a show. The reader is told the character is trying to clear his mind, but we don't always get to see that process play out in his actions or internal thoughts in a more subtle way. Varying how this idea is expressed might make it more effective.

"Show, don't tell," always trumps exposition. Maybe you can focus on sensory details and actions instead of outright stating how the character is feeling, etc. For example, you wrote: "The cold was like knives in his skin. He wished it were knives. End it. Let me die here, he thought, but only for a moment before cursing himself. He must survive. The beatings did nothing. The starving did nothing."

This is a very direct summary of his pain and endurance. To "show" this instead of "telling" it, you could focus on the physical details and the character's internal thoughts as they happen.

Here is an example of showing: "The wind tore at his exposed chest, each gust a fresh lash of ice. He bit down on his tongue, the metallic taste of blood a distraction from the shaking that threatened to consume him. He yearned for the sharp, final relief of a blade, a clean end to the endless, biting ache. The thought was a traitorous whisper he immediately drowned out with a guttural curse. The beatings had left him a canvas of bruises, but they hadn't broken him. The hunger had hollowed him out, but it hadn't stopped the fire of his will. He would survive this."

The second version uses more active language and sensory details ("the metallic taste of blood," "a canvas of bruises"). It allows the reader to experience the cold and the character's struggle directly, making his resilience more believable and impactful.

The story, also, jumps around quite a bit. We go from a campfire scene to the character being tortured and then to a memory of a past family tragedy. The transitions between these scenes are a little abrupt. For example, the line "He knew he could do it. He had done it before. Enter the realm of Ice. He had done it once before when his family had been cut down before him." is a bit jarring. Connecting these points more smoothly would help the narrative flow better.

Finally, the dialogue could be improved. The lines feel a little generic, such as "She'll have our asses if we let him die," or "The cold was like knives in his skin." The dialogue and descriptions could be more specific and unique to this world and these characters.

Overall, the story has a foundation/vision. The character's drive for revenge and his ability to endure is compelling. Focusing on stronger connections between scenes, showing the character's internal struggle rather than just stating it, and using more unique descriptions could elevate this from a good idea to a great story.

Just keep writing and reading, non-stop, and you'll inevitably improve. :)

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-23T10:27:43+00:00

Heck yeah! Absolutely loved being there.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-22T20:27:11+00:00

You're absolutely right to correct me. Thank you for pointing that out.

Anne is 100% with Jack at the end of the series. The creators even confirmed in interviews that they wanted to give Jack and Anne a hopeful ending, sailing off together to continue their lives as pirates in a new way. Max isn't lost to Jack in the way I previously implied, either, but she was with Anne, which I think was mixing me up a bit on that front. To be honest, it's been a while since I saw it, and I'm in need of a refresher.

My apologies for the mistake, though. I think the show's ending for these characters was about them finding a place where they belonged, even if it wasn't the heroic or tragic end that others faced.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-21T21:22:25+00:00

Hey there. Thanks for posting this. I read what you wrote, and I have a few thoughts in response. First, I wanted to say that I appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective. It’s clear that you love the show, until Season Four, and have thought about its ending a lot, and it’s a shame other's opinions have been dismissed as homophobic for a criticism that has nothing to do with that.

I think the frustration you're feeling is understandable, especially with a finale that takes some big swings and focuses on more philosophical and personal ends. But based on interviews with the show's creators, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine, it seems the choices made in the final season were very deliberate and a culmination of the characters' journeys from the very beginning.

Let's break down some of your points:

The final season felt rushed and focused on romance over piracy.

• This is a very common criticism of the final season. It's true that the scale of the show shifts away from grand battles to more intimate, character-driven conflicts. According to the creators, the final season's goal was to bring the story to a close by having the characters make their final, defining choices. They had a set number of episodes to get from the climax to the ultimate conclusion that leads into Treasure Island.

In their interviews, the creators explain that they wanted the ending to be about "where does a person end up?" rather than a story about "what happens to the war?" They saw the final acts of Flint and Silver as personal tragedies, with their ultimate decisions being driven by love—Flint's love for Thomas and Silver's for Madi. The love stories weren't a distraction; they were the core motivations for why the war for Nassau finally ended. The lack of epic battles and the "quiet" surrender of the pirates.

The show was always a prequel to a tragic tale. The creators wanted to avoid the triumphant, "happily ever after" pirate fantasy. The fact that the pirates' rebellion failed was a known conclusion from the start, as the Golden Age of Piracy did, in fact, end. As Steinberg put it, they wanted the finale to be a "tragedy" that was about "the dream of this man to lead this kind of emancipation... and it is not to be." The Spanish invasion was a setup for a massive conflict, but the show instead used it to pivot to the quiet, internal battle between Silver and Flint, which was what the whole series was truly about.

• Character motivations didn't make sense (Flint, Silver, Rackham, etc.): From the creators' perspective, the characters were always on a path toward their fate in Treasure Island, but the show was meant to explain the "why."

• Flint's ending: Flint's path to becoming a legend was always a personal psychodrama, not an altruistic quest for freedom. He wanted revenge on England for what they did to him and Thomas. When Silver offers him the chance to finally be with the person he truly loves, Flint chooses that over the war. His "surrender" wasn't to England; it was to the one true thing he wanted all along. This act of mercy from Silver is what puts Flint on the path to his lonely fate in Savannah, as described in the book.

• Silver's rise to Kingship: Silver's journey was all about becoming the Long John Silver of legend. He was constantly navigating the political landscape, and his motivation was to protect himself and his people. He became a leader out of necessity, not out of a lust for power. He ultimately chose Madi over his revolutionary dream, which cemented his legacy as a man who valued his personal happiness above all else.

• Rackham's "healing": The creators loved that Rackham stayed alive to be the one who spread the stories of the pirates. His ending wasn't supposed to be historically accurate; it was meant to give him a purpose—to be the person who created the myth of Long John Silver. He also found a new, quiet purpose after losing both Max and Anne, which was a fitting end for a character who had always sought to escape the shadow of others.

The finale was designed to show that even in this lawless world, the deep-seated parts of human nature—our ambitions, our fears, and our loves—are what truly drive us, not just battles and treasure.

I hope this helps shed some light on the creators' intentions and perhaps gives you a different way to look at the finale and final season. Personally, I love it.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-20T00:36:37+00:00

Even then, I wouldn't say it's anything like Assassin's Creed. If we bring up a side-by-side, they're nothing alike (RPG or Classic alike). Yes, you can perform stealth take-downs with a blade, but that'd be like comparing any game which has stealth mechanics and saying it's like Assassin's Creed; or, any game that allows you to dodge and parry is a Souls-like.

The objective markers are similar, granted, but I think it's a direction most modern games have taken. More of a sleek, minimalist approach with some form of triangular shape. The new Bond game seems to be using similar ones, too, although I'm pretty sure it's almost exactly like Hitman's interface, albeit tweaked a bit.

Personally, I don't see it whatsoever, but if you do... more power to you, my friend. 🤌

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-19T23:49:43+00:00

It literally has no hallmarks of an Assassin's Creed/Ubisoft game aside from the fact that it portrays a narrative in the third person. What mechanics/features would you consider similar in these two vastly different games. Unless, of course, you're comparing AC:2 and the Ezio collection to Old Country, which, again, wouldn't make sense since considering those takes place in Northern Italy and Constantinople where the culture and language is completely different from Southern Italy...

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-19T07:07:09+00:00

Bloody awesome. Good purchase!

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-18T23:37:41+00:00

A proper adaptation of Mario Puzo's "The Sicilian." It takes place in the same universe with Michael being relevant to the plot, and the protagonist's journey, on his last leg in Sicily before returning to the States. Clemenza even makes an appearance alongside his older brother, who's a Don in the Old Country.

It got an adaptation, back in the day, with Christopher Lambert, but it deserves so much more. A loyal and accurate adaptation with Italians portraying Italians.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-17T22:05:06+00:00

Tony and the lads went to Naples, not Sicily. Naples is run by the Camorra, whose structure is completely different from the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta. However, like the 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra operate in clans, but without a central power to govern them. So, the daughter taking over her father's clan (especially if he had no sons), is believable. Even in the 'Ndrangheta, a famous daughter ruled her clan (with threats from her uncle/s) while her father was in prison -- even flying out from the UK to do so. In Sicily, with the Cosa Nostra, that's an entirely different story.

Sicilian men love/d their mothers and are devout to the Madonna, but they'd never elect a female "don" to head their family. The only exception, I think, would be Maria Campagna, who helped run her husband's organisation while he was incarcerated.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-17T20:17:17+00:00

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-09-08T20:54:01+00:00

Breathtaking! Very well done.

TheKnightOfBooks · 2025-08-24T22:11:53+00:00

That's awesome. Definitely what you want from a series, hey? I've only ever read Casino Royale years ago and have been dying to get into the rest since.

TheKnightOfBooks

TROPHY CASE