Latest Posts by deaddmoth - Page 8

thats why I think people shouldnt be scared to like, reblog or comment on posts. Like, if you liked something, is there harm showing it? It makes both parties happy, and Im sure close to no one would find it annoying.

May this world never have need for a D̶̛̛͉͎̋͒̈́̓̈́̓͊̾̎͐̿͐̃ē̴̛̼̥̤̠͍̝͑̊͝l̵̥̺͎̯̼̺̏̍̒̉͗͋͂̍̂͛̍̒̏͝ͅi̶̲̞̖̝̣̍̔̔̏̐̐̎̓̾̊̕̚v̸̨̘͚̹͇̦̠̣͓̑̋̈́̆̀́̇̎̅ȩ̵̛̥̣̱̥̥̖̣̪͕́̈̾̿̓̈́̅̂̍̚ȑ̴̨͈̜̝͍̗̺̯͌̌̀̈́̊̀̕͝ȩ̷̟̱͙͉̝̮̫͕͉̭̰̻́̈́̍̊̐̔̎͛̓ͅř̵̡̈́́͠.̵̧̞͈͉͈̘̻̭̩̞̦̳̪͚̗̈̋͑

Is this a safe place to share my hsr oc

When they catch you dancing by yourself...

Phainon joins you right in, rather smoothly as well. As much as he'd like just ogling at how happy you looked in the moment, he cannot risk you seeing it as something embarrassing. Though nowhere near a practitioner, the Chrysos Heir does an impressive job at keeping your mind off of spiralling into overthinking by taking the lead. To top, he'll always pick you up and spin you around until laughter is coaxed out of your lips, mixed with the sounds of his own glee.

Mydei's usual habit is to knock before entering your room, as such, him walking in you in a state of vulnerability is rare. But in the off-chance it does happen, he swears to Gorgo that he was equally as unprepared as you. If you're not too busy wishing that the ground would swallow you whole, take a look at the Prince ; petrified, flushed from head to toe and mind buffering — please remind him to breathe. He's just experienced falling in love a hundred times in a hundred different ways within a few seconds.

Anaxa is a master at this, in his own way. His instincts are quick enough to duck behind the nearest wall the moment his brain processes the scene, his movements are always muted enough for you to not notice. You'll never know of how fond he becomes of the music afterwards, how the memory alone is enough to make him smile even at death's door. It's debatable whether he'll ever slip up and give you the clue to realize that he's seen you dance to your heart's content many times. The scholar has no intention of ever interfering either, simply watching you twirl and smile revives him.

oh how I love her…

then there is the blue jester idk/j

It can be both tbh I use it in “matching my level of insanity” too so..

I cannot begin to explain to you the disappointment I felt on finding out that “match my freak” was a sexual thing and not a level of how insane you are with your friends

if they cant match my freak I dont want them

if the op doesnt mind it, cant someone write some kind of oneshot about this💔

Dating Castorice except she doesn't want to hurt you, so you can never touch each other. Moments together are always spent shopping, going on dates, and going to a restaurant, but she never lets you step close to her. She doesn't want you to be hurt by her abilities. She hopes that one day she could touch you for real, holding your hand, anything.

oh wind archer cookie the man you are

Hello! I know you usually do ancient/ beast stuff, but if your okay with it I'd love some stuff for my love wind archer cookie!

"Borrow it, I'll be fine."

I need more wind archer x yn bro He deserves to be popular 😭😭😭😭 look at him😭😭😭😭

If it’s not too much to do, can u draw wind archer cookie with y/n cookie please?

I'm brain rotting over deceit legendarys atm

bruh hsr players really cant handle characters that dont act like lifelong friends with us😭😭 hating on Aglaea and ruan mei is diabolical

this fandom gotta read more books and then the lore istg

I love you for making anaxa crazy like he really is, like girl, i get angry when people write him normal, or 'soft for you' or just plain lovesick yandere. These are not defining this man this man has already some shit going on in his head and that shit would get worse if he was in love

We love crazy anaxa with no reedemable things🥰😍😍🥰

Awhh 😭

Each to their own, I suppose. My brain kind of just connected it as —

He neither reveres nor fears the “Gods” of Amphoreus.

He doesn't hesitate even a little bit in literally selling his soul for his crazy experiments. Even talks about it casually (and very proudly).

Suspiciously chill all the time.

Understands the way humans tick very well and is quite emotionally intelligent himself. It'd seem like he prefers the logical course of action most of the time, but doesn't seem to stubbornly adhere to one extreme.

A very “the ends justify the means” type of guy.

Conclusion : he's scary, even more so than Phainon and Mydei combined.

begging hoyo to not soften him, let that lunatic loose please we need more characters like this in hsr, like they can do it in HI3 Why not in other games too?

hoyo.. hoyo let him be batshit crazy and my life is yours..

I love you for making anaxa crazy like he really is, like girl, i get angry when people write him normal, or 'soft for you' or just plain lovesick yandere. These are not defining this man this man has already some shit going on in his head and that shit would get worse if he was in love

We love crazy anaxa with no reedemable things🥰😍😍🥰

Awhh 😭

Each to their own, I suppose. My brain kind of just connected it as —

He neither reveres nor fears the “Gods” of Amphoreus.

He doesn't hesitate even a little bit in literally selling his soul for his crazy experiments. Even talks about it casually (and very proudly).

Suspiciously chill all the time.

Understands the way humans tick very well and is quite emotionally intelligent himself. It'd seem like he prefers the logical course of action most of the time, but doesn't seem to stubbornly adhere to one extreme.

A very “the ends justify the means” type of guy.

Conclusion : he's scary, even more so than Phainon and Mydei combined.

not my proudest work but honest work..

never stop writing for anaxa, you are giving me many delicious ideas

OMG??? Literal ART in my humble inbox??? 😭 The Chibi-naxa going “...”, the skrunkly looking one at the back giving a thumbs up (he's so stupid helppp), the SUS-NAXA??? And of course the man™️ in the middle. My heart actually skipped a beat, I loooooove the way you did his hair and how he's looking down??

I give this an Anaxagoras/10. Please take responsibility for the cuteness aggression you gave me D:

THIS.

this.

Thank you Harmony, we all say in unison

Ignoratio Elenchi

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Anaxa x Female!Reader

Synopsis : It's your wedding day. So, an old ‘acquaintance’ has come to wish you well on the trials ahead.

Content Warnings : Yandere Themes, Toxic Relationship Dynamics, Some Not-SFW Implications, Anaxa Plays 5D Chess With You, Attempt At Banter, Anaxa Still Needs To See A Therapist.

Note : Special thank you to @naraven for brainstorming with me until we hit the juncture that inspired this fic. The way Anaxa interacts with Aglaea just gave huge Ex vibes to me and I couldn't get the vision out of my head — hence, this small tribute. Get cozy!

「 Words : 3.3k 」

The devil has come for your soul.

You're woken up from your dew-soaked dreams with this exclamation blaring through your ears, demanding a course of action — well in response to an exchange where you will not be one of the benefactors.

He leers over your conscious mind ; drumming idle, purposeful trills of your demise. And you close your eyes, shut tight the blinds to your mind and let him play his tunes. If nothing else, then to at least, create a chance to strike.

“Why are you here?” you envision an arrow slicing through the air, past the light of the chandelier and halting the intruder mid-step into what was supposed to be your safe space.

He dodges the strike, “Not curious about how I got in, huh?” a scintilla of Kephale's light bounces off of the vanity mirror, before being pushed away by the closing door.

But even the thud of the brutal push pales in comparison to the click of his shoes, you force an inhale upon registering his approach.

“What else? You're frail enough to squeeze through the gaps between the guards, that's probably what happened.” you find interest in your nails.

A brief pause almost gives you hope that you successfully, finally got the Blasphemer speechless, “Interesting how the first thing you think of is my figure.”

As if by some cue, the icy composure you so endeavored to maintain gets replaced by a flood of exasperation. You catch yourself just at the brink of sinking, the roundabout response isn't far from your expectations, unfortunately. What does prick a muscle enough to twitch is the near atomic smile reeking of a puerility that should otherwise be unsuited on such a corpse of a man.

You cut the insufferable eye-contact with his reflection, suddenly regretting your purchase of the sheer veil. “You’re avoiding my first question. I merely… feel an alarming increase in my blood pressure when it comes to random and unsought guests. Not a good condition for a bride, I'm sure you're aware, sir.”

By now, he’s crossed half the distance to your seated figure with his leisurely gait, arms surely shielded behind his back in that poise you know signals he’s full on guard. 

“First of all, nothing in this universe is random, mathematically speaking — as I'm sure the Wise Lady is aware.” his foot crosses the line of your bed, you feel the faint sting of your nails digging into the skin of your forearms. 

“Second, the unsought guest you speak of has not once heard the phrase ‘get out’ in the last three minutes. Making the use of that adjective redundant.” you find moisture in your palms once you loosen them, the scholar’s figure almost engulfs your reflection in the mirror. 

“And last of all, if you're spirited enough to gift me such a sweet glare, I'm certain you can tolerate me for a while longer.” even though his left hand rests on the back of your chair, you can feel its weight awfully near.

This time, you don't bother applying icing over your rightfully held displeasure. The scholar steals a glance at the way your painted lips purse to hold back what he's sure aren't flattering palavers.

“Well then, answer me this, what exact conditions demanded the Great Sage’s mathematically determined presence to intrude on such an auspicious day?” your veil dances a step upon the tilt of your head, the visage of the intruder appears colored in amusement — though you don't dare to bet, on the validity of a performer’s emotions, that is.

“Oh, nothing too grand.” his free hand raises, index finger tracing the sparkling gold details of the garment draped over your head, “Merely curious about why the woman who always complained about extravagant parties taking place in this economy is going against her words.” 

You reject his unasked for inspection with a flick of your fingers, you see his frozen surprise in the mirror once you turn in pretense of fixing the drapery. “Because we can afford it. What about it?” your side-eye thaws the Sage’s shock away.

“We, huh…” it's your turn to be taken aback by the genuine venom in his words. To your dismay, the scholar is quick to notice, exhaling to gloss over the blunder.

Because you are so kind, you hold your tongue and give him the chance to shoot back with his typical biting responses. The man in question simply copies your previous stance and holds his arms as a shield against whatever threat he’s weaving curses against.

His visible eye fixates on a point you can't pinpoint on your person, as if to burn through the images reflecting from his head to that canvas. You answer his obvious dilemma with a shrug, focusing instead on lifting the golden veil to inspect any smudges on your makeup.

“They applied too much rouge. It's distracting the viewer from the other components.” he chimes in suddenly, like a ghost on duty, making you almost jump out of your skin.

Before replying to his sudden wisdom in the cosmetic field, you double-check yourself, finding the accused rouge to be innocent. Your mind buffers for a second ; blasphemer he might be, but you know he wouldn't just pose a complaint without a good reason. You search through the shelves of your memories, searching searching searching along a trail you recognize vaguely.

Your lips morph into an ‘O’ once it clicks, “That’s not the rouge, dummy. That's called the highlighter. Its purpose is to look shiny.” fragments of idyll glitter through your words upon realizing that the scholar still confuses the two.

(Just as quickly, you stomp down whatever vestige of nostalgia that dared to crawl through those dead memories.)

The Chrysos Heir — a title you couldn't find more ironic on him — marinates in your words for a few seconds, huffing as if exasperated once they make sense to his brain.

He opens his mouth for a moment, but bites back whatever he was going to say. You marvel at this display of restraint, you would've said you were charmed by his decency had you been a less sane person.

If only he’d been like this in the past.

You turn away from him towards the vanity again, eyes glossing over the myriad trinkets scattered around it. Forcing irritation in your voice again, “If all you wanted to do was poke fun at my appearance, I'm delighted to announce that you’ve succeeded. Please see the —”

“Wow,” he cuts off your tangent quite rudely, you brows furrow against your wishes. “You can't even stand my presence longer than seven minutes now. And to think there used to be a time when you’d trail behind me like a Chimera without its owner.”

“Are you seriously counting minutes — ugh, you know what, don't answer that.” you pinch the bridge of your nose, trying to soothe the flair in your temper.

The Chrysos Heir nods, all of a sudden obedient. You ignore the way life has started to bloom around the corners of his lips, “Let me make something clear, if you're here to reminisce, I have no patience nor interest in hearing it.”

The chain attached to his eye-patch bumps with the air as his head tilts, “You’ve changed.”

The genuine fascination in his tone almost stupefies you, almost makes you rethink yourself, almost distracts you from the way his eyes trail off further than what should be appropriate.

“What, disheartened that I'm not as easy to manipulate anymore?” you mimic his earlier stance, the image of the embers that have flickered within you can be seen on his visible eye.

The accused man laughs, laughs — confusing you like he has so many times before. An uncountable number of days you’ve perused, reviewed and practiced to steel yourself for a confrontation like this. You’ve envisioned how coolly you’d face him, how you’d throw him off his orbit with stringent words.

“On second thought, it seems that my observation was a bit hasty.”

And you’d dreaded facing once more that cursed twinkle that seemed to color his soul whenever you’d try to maintain a backbone. It doesn't help that there is truth to his claims, an appalling realization for yourself.

You force a sharp bite on the inside of your cheek, eyes flitting to-and-fro around the emptiness of the room. A chill races down your spine.

The scholar notices your sudden quietude and decides he’s having none of it.

His step is muted this time, his half gloved hand brushes back a wayward strand of your hair, “You’re still that clueless girl trying to brave this world alone, that gets shoved with more duties than she can handle and then, you go and take on even more. Because you can't stand the emptiness anymore.”

Touched by his sudden consideration and enthralled by his acknowledgement, you honor him with a deadpan. “And your point is?”

You can't nibble away the tiny smirk that emerges on your face at the way his fake nostalgia morphs in displeasure, the miniscule triumph overrides your senses and dulls them enough to not register just how much the blasphemer has shrunken the distance.

“My point is that you're making a foolish decision by choosing to marry that man. Do you have any idea what kind of conditions he’s going to impose upon you after you say ‘I do’? The ways in which he’ll make your life a living hell? Haven't you heard what the rumors are saying?”

Now he's being honest, you realize as every new question increases the force of their bites. You throw a glance at the way his left hand grips onto the wood of your chair, “Why should I listen to rumors? I didn't expect you of all people to take baseless whisperings to heart.”

You feel his burdened exhale caress the side of your neck, gooseflesh emerges against your control across the skin. “And I didn't expect you of all people to be privy to the Ostrich Effect.” the last syllable skids with enough disappointment to make a vein pop on your forehead.

You decide that you're done being coy and toss the explosive right to his arms, “You speak so big, but who are you again to have a say in what I decide to do with my life?”

A neuron has surely fried in his head, if the way his rosy pupil widens is anything to go by — or, that's what you’ll believe in at least.

You keep your gaze steady against the forming helter-skelter that you're sure is oscillating in his mind, attempts at meeting that question with a resolution crumbling in regrets buried in the past.

“I know you,” you feel the shiver of his breath on your cheek, “I know that you're the type to dive head first into your grave if it'd mean you’ll succeed in spiting me. You’d rather gyrate in torture all your life instead of swallowing your pride for your own good and I… I can't allow that.”

So, he does understand the kernel of the matter, though you can't decide whether you're thankful or irritated by the fact. His proximity allows you to peer into the dying flickers of a grief that tugs down on his lips and eyelids.

Perhaps you would've believed it. Perhaps you would’ve nodded and embraced this rare show of care, perhaps you would've jumped in joy at having the man you so looked up to acknowledge such an insignificant detail about your soul — had this been in the past.

A snicker of disbelief gets lodged in your throat, you open your mouth to retort but he beats you to the race. “Don’t forget, if it weren't for me, you would not have come this far. I was the cloud that shielded you, guarded you, allowed you to bloom.”

A flinch seizes you as his palm meets the surface of the mirror, “And you repaid me so generously by running away, into the scorching sun that's burned you so miserably no less. Say, does your future husband know of what an ungrateful bride he’s inviting to his life?”

Malice drips down from his words and pools around his eye, it advances to engulf you through the tremors of his figure.

Before he can open the verse to curse you more, you slap a firm palm on his lips, a dizzied glare meeting his shocked ones.

“Enough, Anaxagoras. Leave.” you press, a plea withers beneath the ire. You find that your mind has ceased to think against the emotions the wretched man has stirred.

The Chrysos Heir does nothing but process the move, eyes glossing over for a split second. Then, painstakingly, he retreats his hand from the glass — only to cradle your hand that’d covered his mouth, the red gem lodged in his skin gleams.

“How can you expect me to just leave after calling me that name?” he drags your fingers to press further, his cold lips meeting the tips.

A dumbfounded blink is what he gets, your mind stutters at the sudden turn in his tone. Instincts prob you to yank your hand away from his grasp, but a warning squeeze halts your attempt against your desire.

The chill from his lips melts into your skin and ignites there a fire. The fulsome heat confuses you, why can't you push him afar?

“I… came to wish you goodluck,” Anaxa finally mutters, saving you from sinking into a headspace you’d rather avoid.

You must've looked pitiful with puzzlement, as he rushes to add, “And to bid you farewell. Well, not that this had been my first goal, but seeing as you’re clearly not going to listen to reason, I have no choice.”

He burrows as much of his face as possible in the palm of your hand instantly afterwards — by the tug of a bygone habit — you realize. Tactfully he’s hidden away the visible cues that you normally use to read his unsaid words.

You feel something weighing down on you, whether in your gut or, your heart you can't deduce. But you decide to stay alert.

“Really? Is that all?” you poke, knowing full-well it is not. You know this cunning of his, monopolizing your intuition to speak just enough for you to catch on and do the heavy-lifting.

He answers you with silence, testing further what remains of your patience. You don't bother to control your frown this time, the beginning of a sharp ‘get out then!’ bubbling in your throat stopped just in time as he rounded your seat, bending his knee to a kneel.

You're sure not even the equations you had to solve back at the Grove had confused you as much, “And… what is this now?” you accuse flatly.

The Chrysos Heir finally lets go of your hand in favor of getting comfortable at your feet, literally. “Why are you so baffled? It's not your first time seeing me kneel.”

“Huh,” you heave, thoroughly speechless at the way he never stops talking as if nothing is wrong, as if nothing has changed since the time you spent sacrificing your time at the Grove for him. At the way he seems so happy to pretend that he's innocent, that he has nothing up his sleeve.

You cross your arms and hold your chin up, peering down at the eerie suppliance of the man notorious for bowing before none.

“This was the real deal, huh? You couldn't let the person who’d finally known about how pathetic you actually are go around and spread the news, right? That's why you had to latch onto me, that's why you were so desperate to keep me under your control —”

“No,” his admission is unnervingly soft, like it always is after he’s done stirring a storm within you. You find yourself out of breath from the near-outburst, his hunched figure appearing dewy.

“I have never been afraid of how much power you have over me,” he tilts his head, locks of lime green rustling as it meets your lap.

“You want to go around telling everyone how weak you make me? I will happily allow it — no, I will even help you spread the word myself. Go on, do it. I dare you.” he peers through his lashes, specters of mania swirls in his eye.

A startled yelp from Anaxa snaps you from the daze as well, he looks down for a second before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Seriously, has your aim gotten bad as well?” his fingers encircle your left ankle, you push the heel of your shoe further in his chest in retaliation — he smiles.

“If you want it to hurt,” he ducks down to press a kiss on the dorsum, looking up to make sure you saw it.

You try to wrench your foot out of his grasp but he angles it towards the left using your momentum, “Then, you should always aim for the heart, tormentor.”

You feel your jaw slacken at the sheer audacity of this man — can he even be called one, at this point?

“Something is deeply wrong with you.” you blurt out, a shudder creeping down your spine at the way he pulls your heel towards his ribcage so that it may dig into his clothes even more.

The shiver sobers you, the compromising situation you've found yourself in finally registering in your head. You would've kicked him hard enoug to run a good pace away — had it not been for the death grip he had on your leg.

“And you like me like this, don't you? Just as you did two years ago, just as you can't pull away from me even now — you're as screwed in the head as me. Which is why we're perfect for each other, you can't escape this fact, not by running away to Okhema and definitely not by marrying some bimbo with a lot of money.”

There's that placid, snooty tone that's already decided what is correct and what is not, you feel an ache forming in your head as memories of its usage flare up in your mind.

Rage seizes your senses, filling your arteries with a strength you feel too drunk on to control.

It grasps onto his collar, pulling him to his feet with an abrupt jerk. “You cursed man! You came to ruin the one day where I thought I could be happy! Don't you know that the reason I am like this is because of you? You always play with my feelings, making me angry and and… and then…”

“Ah, my beloved flower.” you feel his finger brush away a tear that’d rolled down your cheek, frustration swelling over at last.

He gently pries your nails from the collar of his robe and swings your arm over his shoulder, shifting closer towards your ear, “Save your tears, I’ll rescue you from that cruel monster and whisk you to a place where none of these vermins will be able to find us.”

You feel another tear roll down your cheek and sink into his clothes, the cogs in your mind turn and twist as he holds you close — your stupor being broken as a flash goes off.

More follow the first, blinding you almost. Stringent noises connect as murmurs, you feel your knees buckle once you whip aside to face the commotion.

“So what they said was true…”

“The Lady was indeed in an affair.”

“I can't believe even the notorious Anaxa has a heart for romance!”

“Should we... do something?”

“What are you waiting for? Record! Record! This will go viral!”

“Anyone! Inform the groom!”

The golden veil glimmers as it touches the ground. Anaxa catches you before you can fall, shielding you from the paparazzi, “Come, let us run away.”

As the voices ricochet and the crowd draws nearer, you crane your neck to shoot one cautious glance at the Blasphemer. Through the fog of tears and disbelief, a brief flash of someone's camera illuminates a smile that makes your soul churn.

The devil had never come for your soul, he merely allowed you to dream that it belonged to you, for a while.

Thank you for reading!

TAGLIST : @yandere-romanticaa @kamananuionalani @pinksandss @hana-no-seiiki @deaddmoth @ladymothbeth @imcheshire @remyra @meigalahadovna @chopid @francisnyx @paboratti

KELLALSLSLDLLDLFPSŞXPSPSPSPPZLALXLALZŞSLSŞZLSPS

please tag me too..

My fellow simps... Anaxa fic will be dropping soon

Since this is a sizable amount of bickering (about 3k) I've decided to make a taglist. Please reply to this post if you'd like to be notified!

DELICIPUS

thank you for the food🙏

let's take ibuprofen together

sorry i need thisc rop i need to see him closer *sniiiiiffs the screen* okay thanks for watching me do that guys haha

also if this happens to look like a sketch, thats just my style sos😓my attention span cant do lineart💔💔also i suck at rendering so everything is a guessing game for me. bruh i just suck.

He should come inside so I can tell him everything about my lore

Im gonna touch him

Anaxa : Stalking? I was just... educating myself on your lore.

he’s such a hear me out idc I want him

VALENCRINGE

Lazy rushed entry for the Valencringe contest!! I need those rainbow cubes... STAT!!! Truthless Recluse and matching Shadow Milk costume when I get you. Ohh when I get you WHEN I

i changed my mind guys whatever's wrong with me really is special and there is no true diagnosis for it. and also im gonna live forever

sorry for bitching and whining. unfortunately i have to or else ill start killing and eating people instead

masallah Phrank and meymey🤲 covering up like good boys 🙏🙏

next month is ramadhan. please cover up 👐

I wanna put him on my pocket

or put him in glass and keep him in my shelf

i can feel it in my bones. anaxa will be mind electric coded

DOJT ELT EM RNEMWAR THIS MAN.

Im gnawing at the bars of enclosure

(hsr gameplay leaks!)

slldsşşsşdsşdşşdlfsşşfşslfşdlfğslfsğlfşslfsşgksşldlflsşdşşdşfğsşd.

✨Furina Cookie✨

I feel honored🙏🙏

So, the meal situations of the Yandere Amphoreus Men are basically —

Mydei : Balanced and nutritious diet, rich with protein and flavor. Keeps things like food allergies in mind, will remember your favorite flavors and tries to cook every meal himself (unless he's extremely busy). You are NOT starving under this man's watch.

Phainon : Has the food ordered from the best restaurants in the city. Maybe he knows a certain dish from his home that he cooks occasionally? Other than that, don't let him come near the kitchen.

Anaxa : The tears of your past lovers and enemies who he keeps in his basement.

Anaxa can feed me burnt tree branches and I would eat it without questioning

Im not mentally well about this man

So, the meal situations of the Yandere Amphoreus Men are basically —

Mydei : Balanced and nutritious diet, rich with protein and flavor. Keeps things like food allergies in mind, will remember your favorite flavors and tries to cook every meal himself (unless he's extremely busy). You are NOT starving under this man's watch.

Phainon : Has the food ordered from the best restaurants in the city. Maybe he knows a certain dish from his home that he cooks occasionally? Other than that, don't let him come near the kitchen.

Anaxa : The tears of your past lovers and enemies who he keeps in his basement.