The Portrait of Zool

Clear, and beautiful. ~Zool~ Hell NO I don't want competition - I want something I can win!

LOL! You kill me Wyv, you really do. ~Zool~ Hell NO I don't want competition - I want something I can win!

ROFL!! I can see where this is going... LotG, I do think it would be worth your time to edit it a little and clean it up - it's a great story and well worth the extra effort. This is the kind of stuff I like to show off to people from other sites. Keep it up! ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Welcome! A wonderful story, well told. I am confident Elder Wyvern will agree you have found a home. Till we meet again, ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

It does have kind of a backwards genius. ;D ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

I agree with Rev, an Nyyark. It is ultimately up to Elder Wyvern, though in the past quality has counted as much as quantity. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Wow! That is scary. Thank God you're safe! You are very lucky. Yeah, people drive WAY too carelessly. If you think about it the only thing protecting any of us on a two way street is a thin line of paint - you were incredibly lucky.

(In moving boards, a post jumped. Go down to Yui-chan's post, THEN come back to this post and Peredhil's immediately following post.) "Yeah," said Zool, his eyes focusing on some far horizon. "That's true, isn't it? Within the simple period is perfection, encompassing all works ever and all works yet to be - it could be the perfect literary work!" He stood tall as Yui slipped back into the shadows, grand notions of literary transcendance buzzing in his head. He smiled broadly, hands on hips, his long red cape billowing heroically behind him, his tall red boots and blue leotard with a large red 'W' emblazoned across his chest proud symbols of truth, justice, and Weenie status. "What the..." Realizing something was amiss, Zool looked down at his portraiture and took in the bold state of his costume. "Blob! What are you doing?" The scene suddenly shimmered and oozed, the mountaintop set and bright costume flowing down into a blob of irregular shape and color in the foreground, a distinct chuckle burbling up from it. Zool was about to further reprimand the strange creature when he noticed his surroundings had indeed changed. The portrait of Zool no longer showed his regal form in front of the ruins of an ancient keep in a quiet forest glade, now he appeared to be in a deep underground cavern. Fire spewed from fissures in the rock, and a thin haze of smoke hung in the air around him. "What the... heck?" he exclaimed, sitting down in bewilderment on a nearby stone. "What's this?" Just then Peredhil walked around the corner in front of Zool's painting. He was dressed impeccably as always, this time in a suit bright red to match the scene. Also, he was sporting a rather sharp goatee and thin black mustache, a combination with the suit that made him look not quite but sort of... well, inmistakably really... demonic. "Zool, my friend," began Peredhil with a polite smile, "This is what you wanted. You have asked, and we have obliged." Zool's mouth was slack, but his eyes pointedly explored the roof of his strange new habitat. "Interesting, isn't it?" said Peredhil, looking up into the oil paint rendered scene. "We've never put someone of your... err, condition, in Weenie status before. There simply was no telling what the side effects would be on any other enchantments you might currently be under, if we had thought to ask. Sorry. Rather fascinating though, how your portrait reacted, don't you think?" Zool still said nothing, simply looked at Peredhil "Oh, you'll get used to it," said Peredhil, this time grinning. "Besides, I'm sure you will be out of here in no time." "Uh, no time is like, NO time. Just this time is some time..." "Now, Zool, calm down. Surely you realized what you were asking for when you asked for Weenie status?" "I'm in hell, Peredhil. I'M IN HELL!" "Now now," clucked Peredhil in sympathy. "Get hold of yourself! You're not in hell, you're under the enchantment of the Weenie - and you ASKED for it!" Zool slapped his hand onto his forhead. "I KNEW there was a reason no one else wanted Weenie status..." Zool rushed up to the foreground of his painting until his face filled the entire 3 meter tall frame, his giant eyes flashing from side to side. "Yui! Where are you Yui! Anybody, GET ME OUTTA HERRRE!" "Tsk tsk," said Peredhil simply at Zool's panic. Yui raises a very good point - I would simply LOVE to involve her in FARS - however I'm afraid it's too late. The decision has already been made, the status, conferred." Zool collected himself, slowly walking back until he was his normal size. Then his face brightened. "I can get Blob to mask the scene - I don't have to do anything - it's all just appearences anyway!" "Hm... well, yes and no," said Peredhil with regret in his voice. "I supose IF you could talk Blob into masking the effect of the Weenie 24 hours a day... But there are other things to consider, and you simply cannot mask the fact that you are Weenie status. Even if you could make it appear you weren't, you would - it is a matter of Pen record and common knowledge. Also, there are other effects of the Weenie enchantment..." Zool stopped smiling. "Like what?" "Well, I'm afraid you can only eat weenies, for one. On the plus side though, you can eat all the condiments you want and you'll still stay thin!" Zool groaned. Things were not looking good... "Listen," said Peredhil, "As I said, all you have to do is tell us a tale with "Weenie" in the title - that's not so hard, is it?" "Augh! But writing is so hard! It's WORK!" A tear made it's way down his face and his lower lip quivered. "Buck up man. You can do it," said Peredhil firmly. "Do you think so?" "Of course." Zool sat down heavily on his rock again, not noticing as Peredhil slipped away, to some other proctoring task no doubt. Zool thought long and hard, and as he did so he put a Weenie on a stick and held it over a nearby flame. "How was he going to do it?" he wondered. It all seemed so huge. He knew now that he must embark on a quest, a quest to write a story with "Weenie" in the title, and to rid himself of the Weenie enchantment forever. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Go here, my good man; A Picture of Zool for a description of my odd 'condition' - and you're closer than you realise with your accusation. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Zool quickly reads through the list of 2002 roll call participants presented by Elder Gwaihir, then gasps as an unexpected realization hits him. Closing his eyes he smacks his painted hand onto his painted head in exasperation. The sound, like most of Zool's manifestations, is quite dry. "I CAN'T believe it!" he says. Opening his eyes again he turns to the curious Gwai. "You have marked me as a participant! Do you realize the sum total of my participation is one period! That's outrageous! You can't let me do that. I demand weenie status right now!" Gwai regards the outraged painting with a good measure of bewilderment. "You... what?" she asks again, not quite sure if she heard him right. "Weenie status, of course!" he says. "The rule is to continue the story. I hardly think one period counts as 'continuing the story' now, do you?" ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Exactly Rev! There is no creativity in a vacume. At least, not for us mundane divinities... And yes, you are unique, just like everyone else - a little play on words here, as obviously uniqueness demands difference, and everyone being different makes us the same - yeah. Or, on a deeper level, a paradox. Being all the same, we are different. Being all different, there is no better or worse, only different. So, creativity isn't defined entirely by the end product, nor entirely defined by the source. It is moving to a 'new' place - and perhaps that is how we exist. The sum of many, many disparate sources, atomic, molecular, chemical, dimensional, metaphysical, a synergistc bonfire of cosmic and physical forces, a knife thin lagrange of balanced creation, energy and entropy, consuming a host of like phenomena and spewing out in addition to that a plume of vectors and everchanging local circumstance. Or maybe not. But were that the case, such an entity trying to find 'objective proof' of it's own existance outside and independant of it's own subjective perceptions could vey well find itself in quite a quandary, similar to trying to stack BBs while standing on your head and wearing boxing gloves in a gale wind. Don'cha think? ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that. Edited by: Zool47 at: 10/13/02 3:50:25 pm

You mean like 'Out of the blue' originality Rhaps? ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Getting back to topic - And so we create ourselves. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

One thing about the above definition of creative is that it refers back to itself. Unfortunate. So where do things come from when we 'create'? Often people have asked me where I get my ideas from (Back when I used to write. ). The answer always disapointed them - Always. The reply would then be "Oh, well, I could have done that." I learned that if I wanted someone to retain a sense of wonder or mystery about something I wrote (rare, but it has happened) I should simply not explain where I got it, but rather say it came to me out of the blue. They were always very satisfied with that answer - it sounds so... creative. And now that I've explained it, please don't look at me like that. But they didn't write it, getting back to my example. They didn't because creativity is really no more than an expression of imagination - the individual imagination. They could no more have written it than I could have written something of theirs. I think this is a very key definition - expression of imagination - because it illustrates the two ingredients of the three step process of manifesting creativity - thought, action, and finally deed. So, what is imagination? I think imagination is a smattering of things, a soup of our individual and collective life experiences that stretches without time scale through a mental space of infinite dimension. From this comes the synthesis of disparate 'things' into something new - a creative thought. Expression is also key, for without it one would not be able to have 'done the deed', as it were. Expression is not only the creative act of producing the creation but also the skill and knowledge that makes it possible. With expression alone one may be creative by simply taking a common ordinary thing and lifting it up to a new level. So you see Master P, you most undoubtedly are creative, for your life experiences, knowledge, and skill are all quite extraordinary, so in point of fact you would be hard pressed to not be creative. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

I love that! OMG! I created love! And a reply! And validation! WOW!! (This is fun!) ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Very true words, Mster P. Very true words. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Yeah - hope to see many more from ya. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Scorn and OME the same person - oh, I'm glad she's not around to hear that! ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

It might be safe from a distance... maybe... ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

(This message was left blank) Edited by: Zool47 at: 10/7/02 7:59:11 am

. Edited by: Zool47 at: 10/7/02 7:35:17 am

I don't see anything strange either... ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

A poem that speaks well of trust and faith Gwai. Well done. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Excellent! Well seen with a Poet's eye. ~Zool~ King of Nothing, Lord of Nobody, but thoroughly in charge of how I feel about that.

Even tamaranis, Vampire extraordinaire, had to raise an eyebrow as the regal figure depicted in the full sized ornate gilt framed oil painting bowed deeply, the paint swirling and reforming, every brush stroke and every fold of cloth perfectly detailed. "We meet again," said the painting after his bow. "It has been a long, long time - aeons, in Terran time." "I do not remember you," said Tamaranis to the curious painting. "I would certainly remember having talked to a portrait - though the rubber chicken over your arm does seem familiar... When is it you say we met?" "Well, first allow me to introduce myself, as I don't believe we ever were properly introduced," said the painting with a smile. "I am Zool, at your service." This time he gave a short but respectful bow. "Ah, Zool. The name is vaguely familiar. You left the old conservartory long ago..." "Yes, which landed me in this painted prison - but that's not important now. The important thing is that you know that when the flying grapes descended upon the mages of old, I was there. When mages were falling to their doom from the top of Mount Tyrant, I was there. When the five mages joined forces to Quell the Heart a'Blaze Eradication Ultimate spell, I was there. "Why is that important?" asked Tamaranis. For a moment the portrait appeared to darken, and an unusual crease aged Zool's painted brow as he spoke again. "It is important because it appears that the cronicles of the conservatory have been scattered to the five directions by the dark wizardry of Mari." The mood quickly passed, and Zool spoke again. "It is important so that you know you are amoung friends - so that you know that you are welcome." (OOC Sorry for taking some liberties - feel free to straighten me out. Indeed, Welcome! Make yourself to home. In order to be a member you do need to post something as an application. It's up to Wyvern if he will accept this or not, being it is outside of the Recruiter's office. As it was written to introduce yourself here, I am hoping he will accept it... But please go there and post something ( even a reference to this post (he gets so bent when he feels ignored. )). )