Iris in Rainbows

Hello world!

I guess there's no better cliché than the above to start this post after so much time. These past thirteen months have been atypical, to say the least. I've never spent so many days in the same place. Last year started amazingly after I danced and enjoyed a lot my beloved Brazilian Carnaval in February and was having a great start to the semester at the University until mid-March of 2020 arrived and with it, everything changed.

I've been able to focus more on some aspects of life that have always been important to me, but that unfortunately I wasn't cultivating enough: drawing, writing, and playing. So, since I've always been a little bit scared of sharing my art, I thought this was a great opportunity to make a post. Also, seems like a great way to practice my writing skills in English.

Creating my adventures has been a passion for me since I can remember. At first, while playing with my younger brother when we raided castles and drove through incredible cities without leaving our bedroom. But it really got me when I started using what would be my favorite thing in the world growing up: the desktop computer.

With it, I was able to run through the corridors of Hogwarts and battle alongside my favorite Jedis. Later, it enabled me to interact online through different characters, as a penguin on an interesting island or as a squared man in a square world. Without it, I'd never be here, writing and sharing this experience; for the obvious reasons, of course, but also because I wouldn't have played No Man's Sky.

"No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe", stated on the official Steam page of the game. The term "procedurally generated" means, in short words, that every planet you encounter in this space exploration-themed game is unique; not only in its shape and color but also in its flora and fauna. And this game is this post adventure's background.

Gaming with friends has always been a passion for me, but it has been even more special in these past few months because it is a more profound way to connect and have a special time with someone you care for. My companions in this space adventure are two dear friends called Gabriel and Giulia. It started in his native solar system when we looked at the enormous galaxy and the different possibilities of near stars to travel to. As life sometimes goes, we ended up choosing it by random.

When we arrived, the system had something like a "green fog" throughout, like some kind of toxic gas. Giulia was fast to comment that we clearly had made a bad choice of destination and that we should look elsewhere; however, I replied that she was being over pessimistic and that we should explore the planets. We spent some solid minutes burning our spaceship's fuel through the toxic environment, with only an enormous dark planet at sight that didn't seem like a good place to call home.

The shared optimism was coming to an end when we saw beautiful rings around a purple-bluish planet far away. Naturally, Gabriel turned on our pulse engine so we could go as fast as we could. Nearing the incredible discovery, we drifted through the rings, in an amazing psychedelic experience of shades and colors. And it was time to discover how this planet was.

My friend piloting the ship made sure to go at a steady pace so we could enjoy this first sight as much as possible. And as the temperature of the ship decreased, since it got pretty hot when we first entered the atmosphere, with Talking Head's "This Must Be The Place" as the soundtrack, we saw beautiful landscapes of paradisiac beaches and purple imponent mountains. The icing on the cake was the amazing rainbow that welcomed us exactly where our flight was descending to. Nearing the ground we found the perfect spot to land, and the sight we observed when we first exited our ship is the one I portrayed in the picture of this post that I made with Pentel's Oil Pastels.

In times so difficult as these we're in, I will always treasure this memory of an amazing adventure I had with two wonderful friends. Life has been a big challenge recently, but I've found my haven in the true love I have for my friends and family, even it being mostly online. So I hope you too have found your haven, and that you and the ones dear to you are well. Stay safe, maybe soon I'll be back with another adventure.