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kytisos · 2 months ago

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My thoughts on the REPO open beta

We have been playing a good bit of the new REPO ‘update’ (open beta), and I have a lot of thoughts on it. Some parts were good, others were bad, so here is a small list of the most notable ones.

Note that this is a beta that is intended to be criticised by the playerbase, as said by the developers in their announcement. The goal is to hear player feedback before anything is officially implemented. There is a dedicated channel in their Discord for this kind of feedback. Nothing mentioned here is official yet, and is likely still subject to change.

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Overcharge/the strength nerf. It was honestly needed, because after getting 13 strength upgrades, the game became basically the same every level. That being said… I am not a giant fan of the new mechanic. It fixes the problem on later levels, but makes it infinitely harder for earlier levels, where you could strategically try and stun an enemy to kill them with well-timed physics.

I truly understand that they want to move away from every person doing the same thing and abusing the enemies at every turn, but that was admittedly also a very fun part of the game. Having to be more strategic about how you play the game now also has its advantages of course, but I do hope they tone down the overcharge mechanic a little before it’s officially implemented. Especially in singleplayer, where you can’t rely on a group to do the heavy lifting with you.

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This brings me to the second big point: the item meta. The developers have already made it clear that they want to steer the players away from abusing strength, and use more items instead. In my opinion, this comes with another set of issues.

Items have limited use (very limited, in some cases) and have to be recharged with an energy crystal. However, these things break after not even fully charging some items, and are ridiculously expensive to get after a certain amount of levels. 30k for a single crystal is just not sustainable if you’re being forced to fight enemies with weapons to survive, especially if you are in a bigger group.

They either need to rethink the costs of the crystals, or how much energy the store in order for this to remain enjoyable, because unfortunately, this is not it.

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The health pack bug has been fixed. Completely expected, and yet still surprisingly disappointing. It was never intended to be in the game in the first place, and yet, it fixed a problem that I’m only now noticing: how ridiculously expensive health gets after a certain point, especially with multiple people. You only get 25 hp at the end of every level, and a measly 1 hp after being revived by teammates.

As the levels get bigger and more dangerous, with multiple enemies who can deal big damage, health gets harder to keep up with. Combine this with the costs of the energy crystals and multiple teammates to sustain, and it becomes basically impossible for people who are just playing for fun to make a lot of progress.

The game has become very unbalanced, and a lot of this would be fixed with cheaper items in the shop. Either give health and energy a set price, or make them scale with levels way less.

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The new museum map is really good. It’s very unsettling, and it feels a lot more open than all of the other maps. Items are easier to spot and move through rooms, but in turn, there are also fewer hiding spots. I have yet to encounter this map on higher levels, so I haven’t seen it with all the pits yet, but I like it so far. It plays very differently compared to the other maps, which I personally find refreshing.

One time the baby head cried and attracted the Huntsman like a concerned father. That was pretty funny.

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Items doing less damage was something I didn’t see coming. Before, you could use smaller items to take care of annoying enemies (Chef, Animal, etc.), essentially risking the item’s value for safety and the orb if you managed to kill said enemy. It was a good balance between risk and reward, because you could miss, be killed, or the enemy could run away and despawn.

Now, however, they changed items to deal a lot less damage, making them basically useless as weapons. To me, this seems completely unnecessary. It removes an aspect that was really fun to REPO, and didn’t seem unbalanced either. I genuinely hope they plan on reversing this again.

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Why… why would you buff Upscream. The guy was annoying enough as it was, potentially stunlocking you or flinging you headfirst into a pit. Now it does even more damage. For what reason, genuinely? I do not like it.

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Duckbucket my beloved. Very fun, 10/10.

Also, the Huntsman hums now. He is awesome, please keep that in.

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I have yet to try playing with strangers, but I doubt if I ever will. So, I have nothing to say about that unfortunately. I’m glad they put it in, though.

For now, that was all I had to say. I like that they are forcing a more varied gameplay, but I think it needs some serious work on rebalancing the issues that come with this. I’m still excited, because they have shown before that they do listen to the feedback from players. So, fingers crossed that they see these issues too. Keep it balanced without removing the features that made REPO stand out from the rest, and I will be more than happy.

#repo #repo game #Repo beta #black cat speaks ✾

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x1633chefrick · 3 months ago

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Not for sale I'm just showing off HAHAHAHA >:] ))

#chef rick #rick and morty oc #m399 rick #repo rick #Aurick #I GONNA EAT THEM THEY'RE SOOOO CUTE

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popculturebuffet · 7 months ago

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TMNT Month: Rise of the TMNT: The Evil League of Evil Mutants: The Very Model of a Terrificish TMNT Episode (Patreon for Brotoman.EXE)

Hello all you happy mutants and welcome back to TMNT month. As we wind down, it's only fair we visit one of the most recent TMNT cartoons, a fan faviorite of some renown and a show I dearly love for doing something fresh and unique with the franchise. While the Franchise is still in first class hands in it's new Mutnat Mayhem era and i'm proud to say it's a worthy succesor to Rise, I still miss Rise and wish it'd gotten the love from the network it deserves. A throughly goofy show that didn't lack heart or pitch perfect action, wasn't afraid to be silly or change major core sof the franchise, and was always gorgeous to look at, Rise will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the other tmnt runs and while it's short run meant it didn't get to go the distance, it at least means unlike all other three shows it didn't stumble as it went either. It only got better , ended on a high that got the second best tmnt movie ever as a coda one I would'v ecovered this month had nthe sheer exaustion of the year and a slight cold not caught up with me. Still brotoman threw me the best consolation prize possible.

The Evil League of Mutants is Rise's mid season finale for season 1 and a big turning point in the series. Up to this ep, the seeds for a story had been planeted as we saw Draxum in the premire and a followup and the Foot Clan in the second episode and a few after. The main villians were there.. but the seralized story hadn't fully kicked in. This was a problem at the time, as some wondered why they spent all this time on all this wacky nonsense as the turtles dealt with a famous tv chef trying to eat other mutants, a news anchor who thought he was their arch enemy, a new zeland hippo stage magician, a repo man..tis, anamatronics gone amok, april's inability to hold down a job and of course Splinter stealing his son's car for a joy ride. It was mostly antics.. because while the series has great characters, some development and a nice story at the spine... doing goofy antics is kind of i'ts mo. The turtles are sillier without being complete jokes, a needle that was hard to thread in the era of everyone trying to do a teen titans go but was done well. The boys here.. are goofy morons, something Mutant Mayhem would take and run with while making a touch more realistic (Including hiring actual teens), the most teen the characters had been up to mutant mayhem.

Their not four ninja warriors who are also goofy people in thier spare times, but four goofuses with the bare minimum of training lead by someone who can barely rangle them. It dosen't make them any less likeable but explains why the series bends more towards comedy while still keeping the action tight: these turtles splinter , due to his own trauma and laziness, didn't take their training all that seriously so they still have skills but start a few pages behind their other versions, who even when not trained well to start or having their past lives skills and years of training like the idw comics. All versions of the turtles grow, get better with time and have a steep learning curve, but the rise ones start at rock bottom and climb up. These boys are teenagers first, fighters second.. and that works. It works with who this splitner is and what this series is and makes their growth even more noticable than usual as we see them go from barely being able to use their mystic ablities to ending the series on a knock down drag out fight with an evil godlike shredder using all their powers in concert. It's a clear evolution done masterfully and it begins here as the turtles are first slapped in the face with both their biggest obstacle and their lack of training, and left without their magic superpowers to fall back on. Cna our boys hack it.. well yeah this is only the mid season finale. But it's a solid ep that paves the way for the series to rise further and has a truly awesome music number from john fucking cena. What's not to love? So join me under the cut as we see why he's the very model of a warring warrior scientest

We open with the boys fighting the Sando Brothers, two crab mutnat acrobats who easily floor our heroes. Their played by voice acting greats and How Did This Get Made? Co Hosts Ben Scheer (the future Chip Whistler) and my boy Jason Mantzokus (Alex from Close Enough and tons of other voice work). IT's nice ot see the two together, close friends in real life and reminds me of the later pariing of scheer and his wife June Diane Rapheal for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

The boys are floored by what would normally be one off jobbers for them, trying to use their powers.. but not really succeding with Leo still at that phase where he can't portal his way out of a paper bag. It's a fun fight with the sandos really showing off why they should've been used more: they have great cordination, a killer look and neatly tuck their heads inside their shells to avoid damage, something Mikey can also do in this incarnation if not nearly as well. It's a shame they didn't get more screentime, if understandable: the show already had some more well developed villians it found more to do with. There just here to set up the plot and pad out the villian team.

Speaking of which before they can dine on turtle soup their mysteriously teleported away. The Boys have no idea what happened, as it wasn't Leo (He makes that very clear), and Raph is forced to do the one thing his brothers have dreaded: they have to train

Leo is naturally the first to moan, which still feels weird to say even with how much I LOVE this version. All four frankly: I like Raph as less of a rage head or a smart ass and more a joyful if still impulsive booster, mikey focusing on his fun side and heart instead of his stupidity like 2012, Donnie as an amoral but loveable mad scientest, and Leo as the slacker for a change, taking Raph's role while still being unique in it: Unlike Raph in most versions he dosen't WANT the role, as he fears the responsiblity. He can do it, he just chooses not to since someone else wants to.

Still Raph convinces them: They need to be able to handle guys like this like a boss and need help. Enter splitner and like the rest of the cast I love how diffrent Splitner is. Dont' get me wrong, I love the classic versions and each version tweaks them slightly, but when your four cartoons, four major comic continuities and way too many other iterations for me to take the time to count it's okay to you know, switch it up. Try something different. And I like Splinter as a good dad, who geninely loves his kids.. but also a burnt out husk of a man with a ton of baggage who prefers to be lazy, can't seem to learn his childrens names, and will steal their car to go on shenanigans. He's a mess and had he just stayed a comedic mess he might've worked.. but the series slowly gives him depths and it starts here: Most versions of Hamato Yoshi took their transformation with grace. This one, already having tons of baggage we find out over the course of the show... just kinda gave up. He gave his sons a good life and good training, but he's not this steadfast wise warrior. He's a man who lost his old life completely and wears a kimono less out of a symbol of heritage or because it fits hima nd more because it means he dosen't have to put on pants.

It says something though despite what we learn later and what we've seen at this point that the second the boys ask for more formal training... he's EXCITED. He was happy to just give them the basics, but it's clear getting to share who he was as Lou Jitsu... is just nice. He won't actually tell them due to his own issues, but it's clear getting to share his techniques with them is great. It's also telling given his strained issues with the rest of his clan that he teaches the boys HIS techniques: specifically using fish and ladders as weapons... which is situational as fuck, but is a valid lesson: use what you can grab and don't rely just on your weapons. It is something the boys needed to learn: they have great power with their mystic weapons, but using something else isn't bad. Granted this being the show it is it's SPECIFICALLY just fish and ladders, but it's a ncie point snuck in there.

Sadly the boys.. dont' get the point, mock splinter and are genuinely dicks wanting to get to the good part without getting what all training in martial arts fantasy and reality is: hard work that takes time. THey have to work up but assume SPlinter doing this is just him. It's an old cliche.. but it works here because the boys are both that impulsive and Splinter take sit personally, taking their weapons and being understandably hurt.. yet still not able ot tell them why. By spitting on lou jitsus' techniques.. their rejecting what HE made for himself after leaving his past as Hamato Yoshi behind. Who HE is and given how little the poor man has left outside of his boys it's heartbreaking.

The boys have bigger issues though as we find out WHERE the sandos were sent.. a raddison hotel.

Their mysterious backer has also kidnapped a buffet of previous foes and for those of you who haven't seen rise, or need a refresher we have: Meatsweats: My favorite out of the Rogue's Gallery, an angry gordon ramsey style chef turned deranged pig mutant who wants to eat his fellow mutants. Hypnopotomus: A hypnotist turned hypo. What I like about this guy besides being voiced by Rhys Darby, which will always be a plus, is that while they do do the "supervillian has a stage magician gimmick" they go for a diffrent flavor with him being a hypnotist: he has a turban and instead of using the usual gimmicks as his main attacks uses that simple connecting ring trick as controllable glaives. It's really cool visually and a nice change of pace.

Repo Mantis: A... we don't really know his origins, just that he' sa repo man whose also a mantis. He employed MIkey and Donnie breifly but that broke down after they tried to make him repo Todd: Truly nice guiena pig mutant. Rescues puppies. Not actually evil. Only here because he makes good lemonade.

And crashing the meeting

Warren Stone: An egotistical anchorman turned earthworm who thinks he's the turtles greatest enemy and stole a guaantlet, later turns out to be a piece of the shredder long story that, that gives him one musicalr arm he has to drag around

Todd accidntly throws on the light revealing who brought them here: Baron Draxum. He wants revenge on the turtles for turning on him which.. might've gone better had he not thrown leo off a roof once, something he brings up this episode. Also probably not helping he's calling his new band the league of evil mutants. I mean I get Magneto retconned it as an ironic thing or a "let me be evil situation" but I don't get why Draxum does it given he thinks h'es righetious, wanting yokai and mutants to rebel against humanity.

So the rest of them understandably wonder "Hey why should we listen to you" .. and also keep interuptting with lemonade. This episode has a LOT of good jokes and Draxum's increasing irritation is great as is his own delighted expression when having some later. John Cena is great comedically even in a more dramatic role. I also like the voice Cena used for Draxum, something diffrent from his normal register, a bit lower and more authorative. A shame he coudln't of stuck around

So Draxum's gargoyle minons hugin and munin decide to hype him up, one voiced by sam richardson of I think you should leave fame. Not really necessary to note that but it's important to me. I love him. Hope he gets a better scooby doo role some day.

So they sing the episodes centerpiece, warring warrior scientest, a parody of Modern Major General from HMS peneafore. Why did the crew do this? Because they could. Was it worth it.. yes. This is one of the shows best moments. It has a crack or two: the chorus is kinda distracting as it's clear none of the voice actors for these characters are actually singing it. But it's just so enjoyable, not only breaking down a tone of fresh lore but also nicely setting things up, and I love the lighting on this, using bright pink to show off the crowd. And of course it climaxes with Draxum himself singing the song, proudly as he uses his plant powers, rivals his new team and says he'll need all their skills including anchorman.

As for the lore.. it's a lot as this reveals Draxum CREATED the turtles in this continuity, planning as part of his revolution to create an army of mutants and modeling them off the strongest fighter he could find, king of the battle nexus and movie star.. Lou Jitsu. Lou didn't exactly ike the plan, something a later flashback in season 2 elaborates on, and rebelled with the turtles and lou seemingly pershing... instead.. Lou became splinter. Draxum dosen't know it, the turtles don't know it, but we do.

Since this has been common knowldge for a while you have to understand when this was revealed.. it instantly made Splinter a deeper character. He went from an obnoxious asshole to a tragic figure... who was still a bit of a dick, but you understood WHY he was so lazy and hands off training, evne more as more backstory got layered on.

So with the team assembled they just need to lure the turtles who have snuck out. I love the gag of Donnie having left very obvious dummies behind banking on Splitner's lack of awarness.. and it works. The turtles get a suspicious invite to a dinosaur dj in jersey. Raph is against it because.. jersey. I mean come on man ther'es some really neat people in jersey

Naturally it's a trap and we do get some more good gags with Mikey somehow thining Draxum dj's on the side which no.. but he did used to rap so tha'ts something. And their shock at TOdd being there.

The fight begins and the turtles.. naturally get beaten pretty badly.. until they land, lamenting that splinter was right. They shoudl've listned etc etc heart of the cards, and then notice their in a fish and ladder festival being set up.

The following fight.. is gorgeous. Rise is awesome at action scenes and it's something that really helped it stand out: most shows going for an action comedy tone kinda focused more on the comedy part, like Teen Titans go. In contrast, the action here is fluid, smooth as butter and the fight is exciting as hell, with us seeing why this strategy works so well: it's not about the fish and ladders, even if the boys think that because they share one brain cell, it's about the improvisation, not leaning on thei rpowers but on their skills and dominating.

This.. rattles Draxum who reocgnizes the techniques realizing Lou taught them.. and revealing to the turtles who their dna daddy is. And their actual father but they don't connect those dots. They fanboy out and Draxum, with his forces decimated, decides to just kill the boys himself.. until HE gets yanked away. Our heroes have won and go back to splitner.. who apolgoizes, and they do in kind, not only revealing they know who their mutant dad is.. but that they don't care. Splitner raised them, they love hima nd they respect them. And Splitner.. decides to keep the lou jitsu thing to himself. For now.

Draxum wakes up pissed to find the foot clan, in this series reprsented by a smaller wrinkly guy and his brute muscle/sidekick/best friend. They happen to have a shared enemy... and could use someone like Draxum. He agrees and that's something to be covered anothe rday.

For now.. this episode is solid. IT's not the series peak just yet, it'd blend action and comedy better and better as it goes, but it's the start of things taking a slightly more serious tone, while still keeping the comedy, slapstick and goofiness of our heroes in tact. But the jokes are pitch perfect, making me mad at my past self as I wanted the series to sober up a bit.. when really.. it was good at that and unlike the 2012 series righ tbefore it it ballanced the tones better. 2012 is a solid enough series, woudln't mind covering some of it someday... but it's decline was in part because it's penchant for wacky nonsense like the sasquatch what fell in love with donnie or the nightmare on elm street beavers clashed with the esclating stakes. It was fine to have a one off about mikey fighting a pizza monster when new york wasn't being occupied by alien invaders ya know? Rise knows when to fold that, but keeps the stakes in the background, the villians to the shadows so our heroes dont' tend to jackass around when bad stuff's going on. It strikes a perfec tballance of comedy and action and still holds up as one of the franchises gold standard, one I need to watch more of. This ep may not be it's best.. but it's still so good it reminds me why I miss this show and it's characters so much. Thanks for reading and remember: i'm pulling for you we're all in this together.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #leonardo #michaelangelo #donetello #rottmnt rapheal #rise donnie #rise raph #rise leo #rise mikey #splinter #john cena #baron draxum #animation #nickelodeon'#tmnt month #teenage mutant ninja turtles

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aliciarecette · 19 days ago

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Recette quiche lorraine : le secret d’une quiche réussie

Tu crois connaître la quiche lorraine ? Attends un peu. Ce plat iconique cache bien plus que de simples œufs et une pâte. Il y a une vraie magie derrière chaque bouchée croustillante et fondante. Et si tu veux transformer ta quiche en véritable chef-d'œuvre, tout commence par la qualité des ingrédients… et un soupçon de technique.

Dans cet article, on ne va pas t’écrire une recette (tu peux la retrouver un peu plus bas 👇), mais on va t’expliquer pourquoi ta quiche peut passer de “pas mal” à “waouh” en deux ou trois ajustements.

Le vrai goût passe par de bons ingrédients

Une recette quiche lorraine, ce n’est pas juste une liste d’aliments mélangés à la va-vite. Chaque élément a son rôle à jouer pour atteindre l'équilibre parfait.

Voici ce qu’il ne faut surtout pas négliger :

La crème fraîche : choisis-la épaisse et entière. Elle apportera ce fondant typique qu’on attend.

Les œufs : de préférence bio et bien frais. Ils lient tout sans alourdir.

La pâte brisée : si tu peux, fais-la maison. Sinon, opte pour une pâte pur beurre, bien ferme.

La garniture fumée : du jambon de qualité ou de la dinde fumée, rien d’industriel.

Le fromage râpé (si tu choisis d’en mettre) : un bon gruyère ou de l’emmental fraîchement râpé, pas celui sous plastique.

Un ingrédient bas de gamme peut ruiner la texture ou le goût. À l’inverse, de bons produits font toute la différence, même sans grande technique. 😉

👉 Tu veux connaître tous les détails de la version maison ? Voici la recette complète : Découvrir la recette ici

Texture parfaite : ni trop sèche, ni trempée

Rien de pire qu’une quiche détrempée ou, à l’inverse, sèche comme du carton. Et pourtant, ça arrive. Souvent. Heureusement, il suffit de quelques astuces pour maîtriser la texture comme un pro.

Voici ce qui peut tout changer :

Précuire la pâte à blanc pour éviter qu’elle ne ramollisse

Dosage précis des liquides : trop de lait ou de crème, et l’appareil devient instable

Cuisson à température modérée (180°C) pour cuire à cœur sans brûler

Repos après cuisson : 10 minutes suffisent pour que la quiche “se tienne”

La texture, c’est vraiment ce qui va faire dire à tes invités “Wow, elle est dingue ta quiche !”. Et ça, ça vaut bien un petit effort supplémentaire.

Petite histoire d’un grand classique

Avant de devenir une star des brunchs et des pique-niques, la quiche lorraine était un plat rustique venu tout droit de l’Est de la France. Plus précisément, du duché de Lorraine, bien avant la Révolution.

À l’origine, la recette était simple :

Une pâte à pain

Une garniture de crème et d’œufs

Et parfois quelques morceaux de viande fumée

Le mot “quiche” vient d’ailleurs de l’allemand “kuchen”, qui veut dire gâteau. Rien de chic, juste bon, simple et nourrissant.

Avec le temps, la recette a évolué. On y a ajouté du fromage, des herbes, parfois même des légumes. Mais la base reste la même : crème, œufs, pâte. Et du cœur.

Pourquoi elle reste indétrônable

La quiche lorraine, c’est un peu le plat caméléon par excellence. Elle est :

Facile à faire (même sans être expert en cuisine)

Adaptable à toutes les saisons

Transportable pour les repas à emporter

Économique et anti-gaspi si tu l’accompagnes d'une salade ou de restes de légumes

Et puis, soyons honnêtes, elle plaît à tout le monde. Chaude, tiède ou froide, c’est le genre de recette qu’on refait sans jamais s’en lasser.

👉 Tu veux voir comment réaliser la version qui croustille et fond parfaitement ? Clique ici pour la recette complète

En conclusion

La recette quiche lorraine, ce n’est pas juste une recette. C’est un équilibre de saveurs, de textures, et une petite part de patrimoine culinaire français. En prenant soin de tes ingrédients et de ta cuisson, tu transformes un plat tout simple en un vrai moment de plaisir.

Alors, la prochaine fois que tu veux faire plaisir (ou te faire plaisir), pense-y. Prends des œufs de qualité, une bonne crème, une pâte maison si tu peux… et laisse parler la gourmandise. Tu verras, la différence est folle.

Bon appétit et bonne quiche !

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sous-le-saule · 2 years ago

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Au revoir

(Le musicien fantôme, épisode 8 et fin – parce que, contre toute attente et à ma grande surprise, j’ai réussi à terminer ce truc. Joie bonheur.)

C’est le moment de vérité. Jamais je ne me suis senti aussi nerveux de présenter une de mes compositions au public. Mais jamais non plus n’ai-je eu affaire à un auditoire si difficile. Une dizaine de sirènes se sont regroupées à bâbord, le visage fermé, après avoir calmé la tempête. Elles attendent sans un mot, dans la lumière de la lune montante, que l’équipage du Musicien fantôme entame son chant. Je sens les spectres fébriles, et même mon impassible grand-père montre des signes de nervosité. Je leur ai donné l’espoir que cette fois serait la bonne, et je n’ose imaginer ce qui se passerait en cas d’échec.

Je chasse cette éventualité de mon esprit. J’ai fait de mon mieux. Sans fausse modestie, cette pièce est mon chef-d’œuvre. Elle arracherait des larmes à une pierre. Quant aux paroles, si j’y ai ajouté une touche poétique, je suis resté le plus fidèle possible aux regrets exprimés par les spectres lors de nos conversations – je ne pouvais formuler d’authentiques excuses à leur place. Mon grand-père a écrit lui-même de longs passages dépeignant la grâce des sirènes, la beauté de leur chant et l’effroyable crime d’y avoir mis fin. Je dois dire qu’il n’a pas une mauvaise plume – et qu’il semblait sincère.

Je suis même parvenu à transformer cette bande de marins en un chœur plus qu’acceptable qui, à force de répétitions exigeantes, est capable d’une interprétation poignante, à défaut d’être toujours juste. Je ne pense pas que nous arriverions à un meilleur résultat avec plus de temps.

Alors, alea jacta est.

D’un geste, je donne le départ. Les premières notes montent dans l’air du soir, un peu tremblantes. Puis elles s’affirment, s’enchainent d’une façon si naturelle que c’en est presque magique et je ne peux m’empêcher, une fois de plus, de m’émerveiller face à cette transformation, quasi alchimique, des notes abstraitement agencées par mon cerveau en une émotion palpable. Concentré sur la direction du chœur, emporté par la musique, j’en oublie l’étrangeté de mes interprètes et la présence, en retrait, de l’équipage de l’Icare. J’en oublie même de me retourner pour scruter les réactions, pourtant capitales, de l’auditoire.

Ce n’est que lorsque le silence retombe, encore porteur de l’écho des dernières notes, que je me soucie enfin du verdict des sirènes.

Est-ce un rayon de lune qui fait briller leurs yeux, ou avons-nous réussi à les émouvoir ? Comme en réponse à ma question, une larme unique coule sur la joue d’une sirène au maintien solennel. Se tournant face à mon grand-père, elle incline lentement la tête dans un geste grave. A ce signal, toutes les sirènes disparaissent d’un même mouvement dans les profondeurs de l’océan, me laissant avec une douloureuse sensation de perte et l’impression de m’éveiller d’un rêve.

Les spectres poussent un long soupir, presque un gémissement, qui n’est pas sans évoquer le souffle glacé qui accompagne l’ouverture d’un tombeau. Je les vois pâlir et perdre leur consistance, ressemblant de plus en plus aux formes éthérées des récits de fantômes. La main sur le cœur, mon grand-père incline le buste vers moi, s’évaporant peu à peu dans la clarté lunaire, jusqu’à ce qu’il ne reste rien de lui.

Je reste planté là, à regarder longuement l’endroit où il se trouvait, jusqu’à ce qu’une main sur mon épaule me tire de mon engourdissement.

« Je ne connais pas grand-chose en matière de musique mais c’était quelque chose. » Esteban a les yeux rougis et, derrière lui, les membres de son équipage essuient furtivement des larmes. Je mentirais si je disais que je n’en retire pas une immense fierté.

Les privations de ces derniers jours, passés presque sans nourriture ni repos, ajoutées à la joie de retrouver Esteban après l’isolement que je me suis imposé pour conserver ma concentration, me laissent chancelant et je m’effondre lourdement dans ses bras. Il me guide précautionneusement jusqu’au bastingage où je m’appuie, pendant qu’il demande à l’un de ses hommes de me trouver quelque chose à manger.

- Tu devrais te reposer, dit Esteban en s’accoudant à mes côtés.

- Dans un moment.

Je veux admirer, aussi longtemps que je le peux, les flots sombres dans lesquels ont disparu les sirènes, les reflets de la lune sur les vagues maintenant apaisées, les étoiles qui brillent dans le firmament dégagé et pur. Nous restons un long moment dans un silence confortable, que je finis par briser :

- Je suis désolé pour ton bateau.

Il a un geste désabusé et semble s’absorber dans la contemplation de la voûte céleste, rétorquant d’un ton qui se veut léger :

- Je suppose qu’avec un nom pareil, il était destiné à se brûler les ailes tôt ou tard.

Ce n’est pas à moi qu’on peut cacher un tremblement dans la voix, si ténu soit-il. Je pose la main sur son avant-bras.

- Il semblerait que j’hérite de celui-ci et qu’il ait besoin d’un capitaine. Il est à toi. C’est le moins que je puisse faire, même si je sais qu’il ne remplacera pas l’Icare.

Il se tourne vers moi et cligne lentement des yeux, avant de me remercier d’un hochement de tête. Avec un léger haussement d’épaules, j’ajoute :

- Je ne sais même pas si c’est un bon navire. Je ne connais pas grand-chose en matière de bateaux.

Cela lui arrache un sourire en coin.

- J’ai eu plus que le temps de l’explorer ces derniers jours. C’est un bon bateau, oui. Même s’il a besoin d’un sérieux entretien. – Il s’étire. – Et d’un nouveau nom.

Il y réfléchit un moment avant de déclarer, catégorique :

- Il me semble qu’Orphée s’impose.

Je secoue la tête avec autant d’amusement que de tendresse. Il va falloir, sur le chemin du retour, que je l’interroge sur cette obsession pour la mythologie.

- Et tu ne crains pas que cela annonce une autre fin tragique ?

- Ah, il y a toujours une fin, plus ou moins tragique. Mais jusqu’à ce qu’elle survienne, ce nom me rappellera un autre musicien intrépide.

A son regard appuyé, je me sens rougir de plaisir.

- « Intrépide » ? Tu me prêtes beaucoup de crédit. Je n’ai cessé de trembler de terreur tout au long de cette aventure.

- Il n’y a pas de réelle aventure dont la peur serait absente, réplique-t-il simplement.

Je considère sa réponse un instant.

- Je ne sais pas si je suis taillé pour l’aventure, finis-je par soupirer. Regarde où ça a mené mon grand-père… et je t’ai fait perdre ton bateau…

Esteban me tapote l’épaule pour me rassurer.

- Je savais que je m’engageais dans une expédition risquée. Et tu as tenu ta part du marché. Je ne me suis pas ennuyé. Quant à moi, il me reste à respecter mon dernier engagement : te ramener à bon port. Je vais donner des ordres.

Il fait un pas vers l’arrière du navire et j’hésite à le retenir. Je voudrais lui dire… mais j’ai peur d’être ridicule. Peut-être a-t-il perçu mon hésitation car il se retourne, l’air incertain lui-même.

- Bien sûr… fait-il à mi-voix, comme s’il craignait de dire ces mots tout haut, si par hasard tu… enfin si tu voulais un peu plus de temps pour réfléchir à… hum… une éventuelle carrière d’aventurier… rien ne nous oblige à rentrer en droite ligne. On pourrait faire un détour…

Malgré l’obscurité, je pourrais jurer qu’il est en train de rougir. Adorable, définitivement adorable. Je souris.

- J’aimerais beaucoup.

#Ils vont me manquer ces deux idiots #30jourspourécrire #30jourspourecrire #french #français #écriture #my writing #sls's stuff

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