#12: Welcome To The World, Now Can I Go Home?

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: drained

Well, I am writing this from within the World of Arda. I suppose I should be thrilled -- instead I am tired and confused.

I would say about a third of the Hosts of the Ainur volunteered to enter Eä, the World That Is. Most wanted to go; but some went out of service or friendship to someone else. Huan made a big deal out of the fact he was coming for my sake. I mean, I'm glad, but I didn't ask him to come. I don't need him. Truthfully, he's really not on my level. I plan to make new friends in Arda.

Lots and lots of Ainur went because Melkor was going. Most of the fire spirits, a whole bunch of darkness spirits, and many spirits of craft like myself. But lots of air, earth, and water spirits too.

Especially water spirits. Ulmo is their leader -- I guess he's a friend of that stupid air spirit, Manwë. But Ossë came too, and he's pretty cool, in small doses.

Who else went? Melian. I've always had a crush on her -- she is smoking hot. She's with the forest spirits, who I think went into Arda just so they could find out what the hell a "forest" is. Oh Eru, and speaking of women -- just as we were preparing to enter the World, Ungoliant came slithering up. You should have seen the look on Melkor's face -- he was definitely hoping to ditch her.

And Manwë tried to give a speech before we descended. What a despicable prick. But Melkor just cut him off. There's no love lost there.

Melkor was the first to descend, of course. He didn't even look back at Eru. We're not going to be needing Him anymore.

And guess who was second? Manwë tried to cut in front of me, but I just stomped on his instep and jumped ahead. After Melkor, I, Sauron, was first into the World of Arda.

It was horrible.

As I passed from the immaterial and noncorporeal to the material and corporeal, I felt myself stretched beyond breaking, and yet crushed into nothing, as wide as the World and yet small as a speck of dust. I felt myself forced through an impenetrable barrier, my very being fractured and demolished, then reassembled and made whole.

The pain was unbearable.

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a tiny realm of unbearable cold and total darkness. At first I panicked, certain that something had gone wrong. Was it all a trick? Had Eru fashioned a prison for all who denied Him, who desired time and contingency and sensation over an eternity of singing praises?

Then I heard Melkor calling my name, followed soon by the mingled shouts and protestations of the other Ainur.

We had arrived, passing into Eä, the World That Is, and at its center, Arda, the World of the Vision of the Ainulindalë.

So far, it really sucks.

#11: I Don't Care About Your Stupid Rules

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: impatient

Well, after my blog post yesterday, you're probably wondering what why I'm still here in the Timeless Halls of Ilúvatar, and not down in Eä, the "World That Is" that Eru created with the help of Melkor and the rest of us Ainur.

I was ready to go at once, as was Melkor. But you know Eru; He loves to talk. Almost as much as He loves to hear His praises sung.

Turns out there are a few "Terms and Conditions" for entering the World.

First of all, anyone can go. This is bad news. It means total losers like Manwë will get to go -- and just looking at that stupid fuck, I can tell he's planning to.

Second, if you go into Eä, you become a permanent part of it -- bound the the fate of the world, whatever that means. Anyway, once we go in, we can't come out -- not until the End of the World. I'm okay with that. I mean, I'm immortal, right? Even if we're in there ten thousand centuries, that's nothing to an immortal person.

Third, the Song of the Ainur, the music that Melkor and Eru made together along with the rest of us (and which has been the cause of so much tsuris) shall be as fate to those of us who dwell in the World. That's okay -- Melkor and I devised and sang most of the music.

And fourth, Eru is pulling rank AGAIN, and inserting something into the World that we didn't sing -- the "Children of Ilúvatar." Apparently this is a pair of strange races he wants us to incorporate into the World.

Now, excuse me if I'm wrong, but I thought WE, the Ainur, were the Children of Ilúvatar. We're not going to need these weird little "Elves" and "Men" running around, screwing things up. Well, whatever. As long as these "Children" know who's in charge.

#10: Eä! Let Things Not Suck So Hard From Now On!

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: ecstatic

The day started terribly. I was already depressed; then Aulë announced his schedule for today, which involved two hours of singing Eru's praises, followed by four hours of choir practice, an hour-long discussion of how great Eru is, then another two hours of singing.

With no lunch.

So we're busy singing when I hear Huan mention my name. He's saying, "Sauron? Haven't seen him. Try over by the Outer Airs." Well, Huan knew perfectly well I was right there. So I left my position in the choir to see what was going on. I knew Aulë would have my ass over it, but you know what? I don't care.

Huan was talking to Melkor! Lying to him! That little prick! I was soooo pissed. Huan is really beginning to piss me off.

Melkor didn't care though, he was just glad he found me. He said Eru had another big announcement, but one we would really like, and I had to come with him at once! Can you believe that, Melkor came to find ME! We're definitely, totally friends now.

Well, Aulë came over to bust me for leaving the choir. But Melkor said, "Aulë, Lord of the Cthonic Spirits, you and your host must come as well. For Ilúvatar hath summoned us forth."

Well, Aulë just grumbled, and we all went up to the Empyrean Airs, where well nigh all of the Ainur were assembling.

"I have spoken to Ilúvatar," Melkor whispered to me, "and He hath harkened, for the Ainur have become restless. Now much we have desired shall come to pass."

Cool!

Then Eru came upon us, and He said, "I know the desire of your minds that what ye have seen should verily be, not only in your thought, but even as ye yourselves are, and yet other."

No shit, Sherlock.

"Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be!"

And suddenly the Void was filled with light! It was awesome. "Eä." I gotta remember that trick.

Then Eru said, "And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go down into it. "

Yes!! We get a world, we get the Flame Imperishable, and best of all, we have a ticket out of this metaphysical hellhole of singing and praising!

I was jumping up and down, I was so excited. I think I hugged Melkor, which is kind of embarassing.

I am ready. I want to go down into that World. NOW.

#9: Melkor Is Really A Sensitive Guy

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: righteously indignant

I had a chance to talk to Melkor today. He's really down about how Eru reacted to our music. I thought it was because Melkor was afraid of being punished -- but really, he's just afraid he might have lost Eru as his best friend.

Turns out that now Eru is spending all His time with that little weasel, Manwë. I mean, who was this guy two days ago? Nobody! Now he's palling around with Ilúvatar?

I just can't believe that Eru is so flighty, so changeable. Doesn't He have any loyalty? After everything Melkor has done for Him, after all their history together?

Melkor just wants to let it go, and try to get back in Eru's good graces. I said I wanted to complain, but Melkor forbade it.

I can't believe all our plans are going to end like this.

#8: Manwë Is Such a Dick

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: dejected

So all anybody can talk about now is The World that Eru showed us. I'll bet if we had the Flame Imperishable, we could create the World without Eru. Maybe I should go out to the Void and look for it -- but if Melkor had no luck, what chance do I have?

Speaking of Melkor, I think he's avoiding me. I haven't spoken to him since Eru called him out after the big concert. I think he's genuinely ashamed, and wants to regain his position as Eru's favorite. I guess I can't blame him -- he's been Ilúvatar's best buddy since forever. But is this the end of our plan to get Eru to adopt our changes?

Everyone who sang with Melkor is laying pretty low right now; and Aulë, that fat fuck, is all over me like ugly on an orc. Whatever an orc is. He seems to think I embarassed him during the concert. Now he has me working all the time, to "keep me out of trouble."

Screw him. Screw him right in the ear.

Oh, and Manwë! Did I mention him before? Some pissant little air spirit who showed up to our meeting? He was one of the loudest singing for Melkor during the concert.

Well, now he's all over the place, talking about how VERY SORRY he is, and how Melkor led him astray, and he'll never defy Eru again. Dammit, he pisses me off so much!

First of all, we didn't defy Eru. We did exactly what Eru asked: we adorned His music with our "own thoughts and devices."

Second, Melkor did not mislead anyone. We all knew what we were doing. And you don't see Gothmog or any of the fire spirits going around apologizing.

And now Manwë, this whiny little loser, is trying to pass himself off as so pious and so repentant. Ugh, I could kill him.

Whatever killing is.

#7: Eru's Big Joke

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: grousing

Alright, let me finish my story. So Eru embarassed Melkor, which just seemed gratuitous and unnecessary to me. Melkor didn't do anything he wasn't asked to do.

Then Eru called us all over the the Edge of the Void. I was afraid the big guy was going to do something rash, like throw Meklor into the Void or something. I have to admit, I was kind of hiding behind Huan at that point -- I was one of the instigators of the trouble, after all.

But Eru gestured into the Void, and called out "Behold your Music!"

Then a world appeared. An entire freakin' world!

It was absolutely amazing. All the colors -- color had never even existed before! And sound -- no, the Music of the Ainur is not "sound," what would the sound travel through? Air doesn't exist! The sounds of the world were mesmerizing. And the smells, and the feelings -- the heat and cold and the wind.

There is never ANYTHING this cool in the Heavenly Spheres, ever. Who wants to spend eternity praising Eru and singing songs, when we could go down into all that beauty?

I looked at Melkor, and could tell he was thinking the exact same thing.

Eru says, "This is your minstrelsy," which is Eru's two-dollar word for "singing," "and each of you shall find contained herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself devised or added."

And He turns to Melkor and says, "And thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt perceive that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory."

Yeah sure, Eru. It's ALL you. What an egomaniac.

Then Eru waved His hand, and the Vision was gone! A bunch of us yelled out in dismay! Turns out Eru was just showing us what COULD be.

Great joke, Eru. You're a real peach. Show me something that finally gives meaning to my otherwise pointless existence, and then just take it away.

I'm beginning to think we need to do something about this guy.

#6: Eru's Arrogance Is Pissing Me Off

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: rueful

Okay, Aulë is off mooning over that bitch Yavanna – I can see to whom she wants to “give her fruits,” if you know what I mean. Anyway, I have time to work on my blog.

So Melkor and I showed Eru how much we could improve on His music, but the Big Guy just went ape-shit. This was after he invited us to improve on his theme – I know I keep harping on that, but what did he expect?

So Eru shuts everyone up, and then summons Melkor to come forward. I would have gone up there too, but Aulë was giving me this murderous look. I am so tired of that stupid lunkhead. I have ten times his talent. You know Quantum Chromodynamics? That was ALL ME.

Anyway, Melkor goes up before Eru, and I must say he looked pretty nervous. I was afraid Ilúvatar was going to punish Melkor in some really drastic way – uncreate him or something. It had never occurred to me before that Eru held such dreadful power over us.

I don’t like it.

Eru says, “Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor.”

That’s an encouraging start, I thought.

Then Eru went into spin control. Seems He has decided to take the music we all created – Eru’s theme and Melkor’s – and use it as a kind of blueprint to build a world in the Void!

So let me get this straight – He’s mad because we wrecked his song, but He’s going to use that song to create the Universe?

“And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me,” He says, “nor can any alter the music in My despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but Mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”

Let me translate that for you. “Thou, Melkor, have embarrassed Me by writing a better song. But everything you do is really all Me anyway. So suck it.”

Eru is being an arrogant prick. I know, I shouldn’t say things like that. But c’mon, I’m right, aren’t I?

I gotta say, Melkor did not look happy. But he just stood there and bit his tongue. Whatever a tongue is.

Oh, crap! Here comes Aulë. I’ll finish later.

#5: Oh Crap, We’re In Trouble Now

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: scared shitless

A lot happened today, so I’ll try to be brief.

Eru Ilúvatar summoned all the Ainur to a great conclave in the Empyrean Realm. We assumed it was going to be something really important; maybe Eru would show us the Flame Imperishable, or maybe he would tell us why we had been created.

But no. It was just more singing.

Eru wrote a new song; a “mighty theme,” He called it. A theme for what? I wanted to know. But He passed out the sheet music, and we all assembled into choirs, and prepared to sing.

Then Eru told us, “ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will.” Finally, a chance to do our own work, and create something, instead of just praising Eru all the time! I mean sure, Eru is praiseworthy, don’t get me wrong. But all the praising gets a bit tiresome after a while. To everyone except Eru, apparently.

Now Melkor saw this as the perfect chance to make his move, and present our new ideas to Eru. He told me to stay over with Aulë’s group, with the earth spirits; but to watch Melkor and follow his lead.

I was very excited.

So Eru starts singing, and everyone joined in. The music was okay, I guess; a bunch of soft, interwoven harmonies. Kind of flat and boring. But pretty! Very pretty.

After a while, something amazing happened. Melkor was singing a different song! I didn’t even notice at first, because Aulë is SO FRICKIN’ LOUD. Many of the Ainur close to Melkor were confused. After all, no one had tried this before.

But Eru TOLD us to “adorn the theme,” right? Those were His exact words!

So I listened carefully to Melkor’s theme, and then joined in. It was very cool, kind of low and percussive, but much faster and less ponderous than Eru’s. I liked it a lot.

Huan was gaping at me, waving his arms around to get me to stop. But I didn’t care. And soon, more Ainur joined in – lots of the people at the meeting, and most of the fire spirits, even the ones who weren’t part of our conspiracy. That Manwë guy was really loud, trying to keep up with Melkor, and compensating for his lack of singing talent with sheer volume.

But overall, the effect was great. Melkor’s new theme provided a percussive backing for Eru’s theme, and together, the music was really much improved.

Eru smiled – an excellent sign – raised his left hand, and changed his theme, making it more like Melkor’s. Terrific! Eru liked our work! So Melkor started on a new piece, with lots of deep bass notes and low strings and interwoven percussive noises. Those of us following Melkor hearkened to it, and joined in. And pretty soon, the song had changed again, and become a melding of the minds of Eru and Melkor.

Now I guess around this time Eru started to get pissed. I didn’t notice, I was too busy singing. What he was pissed about, I had no idea. But Eru changed his theme again, making it very soft and weak, no match for Melkor’s mighty singing. Following Melkor’s lead, we really just started rocking out. I’d say by that point, more than half the Ainur were following Melkor, and while the others were meekly chanting along with Eru, we were really belting it out. It was fantastic!

Suddenly, this enormous noise drowned out everything! I thought the heavenly spheres were collapsing! But it was just Eru, playing the omnipotence card. We all shut up right quick, and a good thing too.

Eru was really, really angry. We’d never seen him like that before. I mean, just LIVID. And I gotta tell you, I almost crapped my pants.

Whatever pants are.

I gotta go; I'm on the clock, and Aulë’s giving me the evil eye. I’ll finish the story as soon as I can.

#4: Melkor and I Have A Plan….

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: psyched!

Melkor held his meeting today, of Ainur who are dissatisfied with the current situation. He held it well-nigh to the Outer Dark, as far from Eru Ilúvatar as possible. I thought that was a little strange, but Melkor explained that he wants our little plan to be a surprise.

I dragged Huan along with me. He’s my best friend, but not too bright. He says he doesn’t see what’s wrong with the singing; that we should be happy doing whatever Eru wants. I said it’s not that Eru is wrong, which is impossible – it’s that Eru’s vision could be improved.

Makar and Meássë were also there, and they’re pretty cool. And Ossë, one of the water spirits, came, though I think he was there just to cause trouble. But other than that, it was a total loser’s convention. Draugluin and Carcharoth showed up; they seem to think they’re friends of mine, but they’re not. Glaurung was there, as usual, kissing Melkor’s ass. What a suck-up. I hate that guy.

There was a new guy I hadn’t met before, Manwë. He’s an air spirit; I don’t know any of them. He was really sucking up to Melkor as well. I think he covets Melkor’s position as Eru’s number two. As if.

Gothmog and a bunch of the fire spirits came to the meeting too. And then who do you think popped in, just as we were getting started? Ungoliant. I hate that bitch. She’s just weird, and obnoxious, and really brings down the room. I can’t stand her. Fortunately, Melkor doesn’t seem to like her very much either.

So Melkor talked for a while, about how we could suggest certain changes and improvements to Eru, and how grateful Eru will be when he sees that we’re right. Makar and Meássë wandered out while Melkor was talking, and it was all I could do to keep Huan from storming out. All the sycophants, like Glaurung and Manwë, were just eating it up.

After the meeting disbanded, Melkor and I talked for a long time. Manwë stayed too, for a while, but Melkor was not even giving him the time of day. Whatever “time” and “days” are.

Melkor has a really great plan, about how to present our suggestions to Eru. I am really super-psyched about this. Eru is going to love it! I can’t wait.

#3: Melkor Seems Like a Really Cool Guy

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: Elated

Today I was wandering around the Outer Airs, trying to find kindred Ainur, anyone who was annoyed as I was about all the singing. I mean, is this how we're going to spend eternity? Because I'm tired of it already.

Well, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and after a while I found myself in the Proximal Umbra, well nigh to Eru Ilúvatar Himself. Do you know what it means to be so close to the physical being of the All High Ruler of the Universe?

It means the music is LOUD.

So I was going to head back down into the Nether Orbs when I heard a voice say, "What dost thou seek in the lofty airs, o Sauron, spirit of Craft?"

This was Melkor. Melkor! Greatest of the Ainur, closest in the counsels of Eru. Talking to me! I mean, this guy is practically Assistant God.

So I started talking, and I wasn't going to confide in him about my issues, because I'm not stupid. But he was so charming and genuinely interested, that after a while I told him everything about the singing, and the waste of our talents, and the Secret Flame.

Get this -- Melkor feels exactly the same way!

I think he was actually relieved to find someone else who thinks along the same lines. He's even going to hold a meeting with some of the other Ainur to talk about it, and he wants me to come!

Hey, as long as there's no singing, I'll be there.

It was a good day. I really think great things might come out of this. I'm really glad I ran into Melkor.

#2: Aulë -- Dumb As a Sack of Hammers

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: Exasperated


Went to go see Aulë about the singing. Guess what he was doing? SINGING! Wouldn't shut up, either, even to hear what I had to say.

And let me tell you, Aulë can NOT sing. Sounds like someone strangling a sea lion. Whatever a "sea lion" is.

I'm sick of having to report to this dumb fuck. I need a new superior. I'm going to shop around. We can do that, can't we?

I'd ask, but everyone's too busy SINGING.

#1: I'm Really Getting Tired of Singing All the Time

Date: Before the Beginning of Time
My Mood Is: Annoyed

Eru has everyone singing again. What's up with that? We have the entire Void to deal with, plus the rumor mill says there's something called a "Secret Flame," that Ilúvatar is supposedly keeping all to Himself.

But we're just singing. Tra la dee da.

I'm going to complain.