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CostasNarrativeXP end of the year feature
Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo"
Plot outline by Auguste Maquet

A sweeping tale of betrayal, vengeance, and redemption, following Edmond Dantès as he transforms from wronged sailor to cunning, resourceful Monte Cristo.

Volume V Chapter 106-107
00:30 106 Debray finalizes Madame Danglars's secret wealth, contrasting her greed with the poverty of Mercédès and Albert. Albert enlists and sends his mother to Marseille.
35:30 107 Andrea, imprisoned in La Force, hopes Monte Cristo will save him. When Bertuccio visits, Andrea suggests Monte Cristo is his father. Bertuccio promises to return tomorrow with the real name.

Main Characters of Volume V
Edmond Dantès / Count of Monte Cristo – Brilliant, resourceful, and vengeful; uses intelligence and disguise to manipulate events and punish wrongdoers.
Baron Danglars – Ambitious, greedy, and scheming banker; morally corrupt and self-serving.
Gérard de Villefort – Calculating, ambitious prosecutor; obsessed with reputation and hiding family secrets.
Madame de Villefort – Cold, manipulative, and ruthless; prioritizes wealth and status over morality.
Valentine de Villefort – Gentle, kind, and virtuous; represents innocence and moral integrity.
Noirtier de Villefort – Wise, strong-willed patriarch; paralyzed but mentally sharp and influential.
Haydée – Loyal, intelligent, and devoted; embodies gratitude and love toward Monte Cristo.
Maximilien Morrel – Courageous, honorable, and passionate; driven by loyalty and love.

Costa's Wordbook
Asmodeus, Le Sage - Alain-René Le Sage (1668–1747), a French novelist and playwright, created Asmodeus in the novel Le Diable boiteux (The Lame Devil), a demon or devil, often associated with luxury, lust, gambling, and deceit
Pallet n a straw mattress; makeshift bed
Lamoricière, Changarnier, Bedeau - famous French generals and military figures who were highly prominent in 1830-40s

La Force - fr, a large, notorious prison located in central Paris, operating from the late 18th to mid-19th c.
Big bug n A prominent or significant person
La savate - fr, worn shoe; though in prison talk, to beat one with an old heavy shoe, a violent act
Anguille - fr, eel; prison talk, long, flexible, and whipping motion of the makeshift weapon used as a flail
Pincette - fr, pincers; French parlor game, one person hides an object, the others search. The searchers are guided by clues using the metaphor of heat to indicate proximity
Racine - fr, Jean Racine (1639–1699) was one of the most celebrated and significant playwrights of the 17th-century French classical period;
Monsieur Pixérécourt - fr, René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt (1773–1844) was a highly popular and prolific playwright who specialized in melodrama during the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Pygmy n derog. a person who is insignificant or lacks ability in a particular respect

Complete Features
Songs of Dead Dreamer, Last Unicorn, Brothers Karamazov, Fellowship of the Ring, Winnie the Pooh, Jane Eyre, Angels & Demons, Perfume, Great Gatsby, Jekyll & Hyde, Maigret, 1984, Metamorphosis, Dracula, Don Quixote, Dorian Gray, Anne Frank, Lord of the Flies, Liar's Poker, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Great Expectations

Milestone
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI host + illustration, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content

Patreon: costasaudiobook
Podcast: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn

Show your feedback: https://open.firstory.me/user/cln9oxg7r007d01xyhd0fadj5/comments
CostasNarrativeXP end of the year feature
Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo"
Plot outline by Auguste Maquet

A sweeping tale of betrayal, vengeance, and redemption, following Edmond Dantès as he transforms from wronged sailor to cunning, resourceful Monte Cristo.

Volume V Chapter 103-105
00:30 103 Noirtier warns Maximilien, who finds Valentine dead. He carries Noirtier to her side. Maximilien, d'Avrigny, and Noirtier compel Villefort to swear vengeance, giving him three days.
20:25 104 While Valentine is prepared for burial, Villefort obsesses over Benedetto. Monte Cristo takes five million francs from Danglars, forcing the banker to gather cash, burn papers, and flee his creditors.
43:46 105 Monte Cristo follows a suicidal Maximilien, revealing he is Edmond Dantès. The Count stops him by promising happiness and requires him to live with him for one month.

Main Characters of Volume V
Edmond Dantès / Count of Monte Cristo – Brilliant, resourceful, and vengeful; uses intelligence and disguise to manipulate events and punish wrongdoers.
Baron Danglars – Ambitious, greedy, and scheming banker; morally corrupt and self-serving.
Gérard de Villefort – Calculating, ambitious prosecutor; obsessed with reputation and hiding family secrets.
Madame de Villefort – Cold, manipulative, and ruthless; prioritizes wealth and status over morality.
Valentine de Villefort – Gentle, kind, and virtuous; represents innocence and moral integrity.
Noirtier de Villefort – Wise, strong-willed patriarch; paralyzed but mentally sharp and influential.
Haydée – Loyal, intelligent, and devoted; embodies gratitude and love toward Monte Cristo.
Maximilien Morrel – Courageous, honorable, and passionate; driven by loyalty and love.

Costa's Wordbook
M. le Procureur du Roi - Mr. Public Prosecutor
Mayoralty n the office or administration of the mayor, local government (Meh ral ty)

Puritanical adj having or displaying a very strict or censorious moral attitude towards self-indulgence or sex (puri Tan nical)
Croesus - The last King of Lydia, renowned for his extraordinary and legendary wealth
Robert Macaire… by Frédérick - Robert Macaire is a fictional character who originated in 1823, but became famous as the main character in the popular play L'Auberge des Adrets. Frédérick Lemaître (1800–1876) was the most famous and acclaimed actor of the period, whose performance of Macaire transformed the character into a satirical symbol of brazen, manipulative, and often criminal opportunism

Abélard and Héloïse - famous 12th-century lovers whose tragic, passionate, and ultimately star-crossed relationship became a celebrated legend of romance. They were married secretly, later forcibly separated, and became monks/nuns, but remained deeply devoted. Their shared tomb is a major feature of Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Malherbe, Du Périer - François de Malherbe (1555–1628) was a famous French poet. His celebrated poem, Consolation à Monsieur du Périer, written after the death of his friend's daughter

Complete Features
Songs of Dead Dreamer, Last Unicorn, Brothers Karamazov, Fellowship of the Ring, Winnie the Pooh, Jane Eyre, Angels & Demons, Perfume, Great Gatsby, Jekyll & Hyde, Maigret, 1984, Metamorphosis, Dracula, Don Quixote, Dorian Gray, Anne Frank, Lord of the Flies, Liar's Poker, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Great Expectations

Milestone
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI host + illustration, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content

Patreon: costasaudiobook
Podcast: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn

Show your feedback: https://open.firstory.me/user/cln9oxg7r007d01xyhd0fadj5/comments
CostasNarrativeXP end of the year feature
Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo"
Plot outline by Auguste Maquet

A sweeping tale of betrayal, vengeance, and redemption, following Edmond Dantès as he transforms from wronged sailor to cunning, resourceful Monte Cristo.

Volume V Chapter 99-102
00:30 99 Madame Danglars seeks help from Debray, then Villefort. She asks Villefort to let Andrea escape to avoid scandal, but he refuses. He has bigger worries at home, and Andrea has already been caught.
22:50 100 Recovering, Valentine sees Monte Cristo, who reveals watching her for nights, substituting poison for healthy drinks. He gives her red liquid, telling her to feign sleep when the killer soon to be revealed arrives after midnight.
39:05 101 Pretending sleep, Valentine saw her stepmother poison her drink. Monte Cristo returned, promising a safety plan. He gave her a drug, emptied some poison to fake consumption, and left through a secret door.
52:14 102 Madame de Villefort confirms Valentine's death and disposes of the poison. Monte Cristo secretly replaced it, which Dr. d'Avrigny identified, causing the killer to collapse as servants fled.

Main Characters of Volume V
Edmond Dantès / Count of Monte Cristo – Brilliant, resourceful, and vengeful; uses intelligence and disguise to manipulate events and punish wrongdoers.
Baron Danglars – Ambitious, greedy, and scheming banker; morally corrupt and self-serving.
Gérard de Villefort – Calculating, ambitious prosecutor; obsessed with reputation and hiding family secrets.
Madame de Villefort – Cold, manipulative, and ruthless; prioritizes wealth and status over morality.
Valentine de Villefort – Gentle, kind, and virtuous; represents innocence and moral integrity.
Noirtier de Villefort – Wise, strong-willed patriarch; paralyzed but mentally sharp and influential.
Haydée – Loyal, intelligent, and devoted; embodies gratitude and love toward Monte Cristo.
Maximilien Morrel – Courageous, honorable, and passionate; driven by loyalty and love.

Costa's Wordbook
Grisette n arch. a young working-class Frenchwoman; a common edible woodland mushroom with a brown or grey cap, a slender stem, and white gills
Lazaretto n an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases, especially leprosy or plague

Locusta - she was hired by Agrippina the Younger to concoct the poison used to murder her husband, Emperor Claudius, clearing the way for her son, Nero, to take the throne. Later, she was hired by Emperor Nero himself to poison his stepbrother and rival, Britannicus. After Nero's fall, she was publicly executed by his successor, Galba, in 69 CE.

Germain Pilon’s Grace - a highly important French Renaissance sculptor, considered the master of French sculpture during the second half of the 16th century. The monument Grace features three intertwined, nude female figures known as The Three Graces. They are depicted in an elegant, flowing style, holding an urn that once contained the heart of King Henry II

Complete Features
Songs of Dead Dreamer, Last Unicorn, Brothers Karamazov, Fellowship of the Ring, Winnie the Pooh, Jane Eyre, Angels & Demons, Perfume, Great Gatsby, Jekyll & Hyde, Maigret, 1984, Metamorphosis, Dracula, Don Quixote, Dorian Gray, Anne Frank, Lord of the Flies, Liar's Poker, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Great Expectations

Milestone
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI host + illustration, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content

Patreon: costasaudiobook
Podcast: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Reddit, Amazon Music, Firstory, Pocket Casts, KKBOX, Noice, Podcast Addict, SoundOn