Once upon a time in my youth

Be sure to start the linked track, Queen's hit song performed by Elaine Paige, because yes, it was "a kind of magic" to experience youth. 

The hero of my youth, Merwil, appeared in my dream on 23 January 2002, and it was my laughter that woke me up, as one after another absurd adventure happened to the handsome young man. 
I still search to this day for the inspiration for the dream, because usually our minds process experiences while we sleep, but from what I remember at the time, I had nothing to justify dreaming the absurd adventures of a charming guy. 2002 was a difficult time in my life. Could it be that my mind wanted to have fun? The story started in the living room of a lavish oceanfront house overlooking the ocean. I was immediately stumped as to how I had jumped from a drab and poor fringe existence to such a place, and even more amazed by the guy who entered room. I can count on one hand the number of times in my life I've dreamed of handsome men. I have such a dull life that I don't even think about love because I have no chance of a good kind of adventure. 
I now think that I gave myself the distilled essence of my childhood and youth at the age of twenty-four. I have summed up all the good things in a single hero and his adventures. I don't have to drink alcohol or push any drugs. I just have to think of my hero, and my heart will be light and my insides will warm up, my smile will light up. I am a lucky human to have a mind strong enough to perform such a spell. 

The opening scene had started before I could really get a look at the handsome, glamorous, ultra cool semigod when his doppelganger entered the room to kill him with a cocktail stick. Whereupon the gorgeous guy "jumped" into a futuristic bar to drink to his horror, but even here he had no peace of mind and he shrank to miniature size to hide and was nearly eaten by a dust mite. He jumped again and landed on a holiday planet, where he also could not rest because the "danger" followed him. When he kicked in a door with an abracadabra exclamation, because sometimes brute force is faster than magic, I was rolling with laughter. What do I see? I woke up with such a light heart. What did I see? I woke up with such a light heart. And the 'light in the heart' is an important comment about my hero. Merwil is a symbolic figure, a sum of many impressions, and yes, there is a Western Christ representation in him too, given my surprisingly absurd conception of who his mother is. I chuckle to myself as I twist the familiar love affairs.

My beloved hero owes his existence to a nocturnal adventure between a human and a cosmic being, much to the surprise of both parties. Part of the cosmic void, not expecting that a little fun with an organic nothingness would lead its to create, it suddenly gave birth to a sweet, cute baby, who of course it left on Earth to the father's utter horror. The hot blonde woman is not human, and later in the story, in a form very reminiscent of my beloved hero, it strives to win the cosmic game once and for all and save the universe. I won't go into details, but it's all chaotic bullshit. 
The serious man is president of humanity some twenty years after the birth of the 'miracle child' and has some of the most common traumas of all humans. While currently not a common trauma as an space explorer accidentally killing an entire species in a botched encounter. No space opera is really cool without mass death. But we see nothing of the tragedy, because 'Star City Roulette' is a comedy, a spoof of everything that was once sold to me as a serious story as a child. 
I was born in 1978 and my childhood and teenage years were in the 80s and 90s. I was influenced by many cultural influences, American films, British pop-rock music, Hungarian folk tales, fantasy and science fiction novels, and then comic books.

I have already chosen music from the recent past for this picture. I suggest you listen to the theme song from the film La La Land, 'City of stars'.

For 'Star City Roulette', my mind drew a lot from American films. It can also be seen as a kind of homage to cinema. It's a strong dilemma whether films were actually better in the past or whether it's just the magic of the novelty of being a child that tricks my memory. As a child, I was fascinated by the wide screen and the atmosphere of cinema. I had fantastic experiences in the cinema, and thanks to them my imagination became even better. I can't deny it, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed filmstars had quite an effect on the physique of my hero. Despite its inspiration from attractive men, my hero-story is not a romantic creation, even if there is a possibility of Merwil getting together with Barbara, love is merely part of the larger message, because despite all the foolishness and absurdity of the situation (and with a blatant disregard for politically correct writing), life, this little piece, is still more than infinite power, more than eternity. It's why Merwil's 'mom' changes the outcome of the game, which it wins by doing so, it's why Merwil resists the infinite power that tempts him, it's why the many races of the Milky Way unite, it's what drives Barbara to greater ends, and so on. 

Merwil's 'mom', the monster of the cosmic void. It calls its own kind cosmic assholes, and does not deny that it itself has committed gross misdeeds, destroying dozens of galaxies. One of them once ate up 1% of the universe in a bacchanal, and the others rushed at it to stop, to stop seducing them, because eventually they'd have nothing left to entertain themselves with, so stop eating their playground. The small game of these monsters is star city roulette. And only one of them has the guts to change the outcome of the game, to become the ultimate winner and leave the universe to its successor. 
The story is simple, the plot is complicated. All in all, a classic tale that aims to convey a bittersweet lesson that, despite all the futility and death, life is a miracle. 

Referring to a possible love affair between Merwil and Barbara, at the very end of the story Merwil returns to Earth after ten years. Barbara believed that Merwil had died in his "big trick". What happened to the two of them during this time could be a separate story. Merwil became master of the universe, but abdicated power, so he became master, but without power, while Barbara became president of humanity. But they both know what they owe each other and end up going to the movies. 

At the age of twenty, Barbara sold her personal traits at the prime of her life to a holo filmmaking company, which then began to churn out romantic films with the idealized female character. One of these was The Rose Red Bird of Love. One of Merwil's favourites. I chose Tara's theme music from Gone with the Wind as the soundtrack for this one. This is followed by Don't Stop Believin' by Journey, in a set of music selected for the story. This is the credit song in my imaginary story. 
All in all, I really did dream an adventure of a lifetime on the evening of January 23, 2002, from which I woke up laughing. 
'Star City Roulette' is my love letter to life.

And to end with a bit of irony about what I'm using 21st century technology for, I used four artificial intelligences to create a love song for the story.

P.S.: There is a scene outline for the novel on the blog that you can read.