#bottom blitzo core

[lifea16]

Blitz: i'm a real sick freak, a real fucked up kinda puppy, i'm into all kinds of problematic shit. yeah, i'll surrender to your loving embrace. yeah i'll curl up in your arms. yeah, that's right slut, stroke my hair and tell me you love me for who i've become. i-ignore the sobbing, it's all part of my twisted psychosexual game

[cherryrainn]

begging u for some fem reader blitzø smut 🙏 we need more blitzø content in this world

━━ ✧ 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

─ ✩ 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ; blitzø + fem!reader

─ ✩ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ; i'm proud of this. and YEAH SO TRUE

─ ✩ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ; sexual content, smut, oral sex, penetrative sex, rough sex, dirty talk,

you push open the heavy door to i.m.p headquarters, expecting to hear the usual cacophony of voices and the shenanigans that often accompany a typical workday. instead, you're met with an unsettling silence. the absence of moxxie's chatter, millie's boisterous laughter, and even loona's sarcastic remarks leaves the place feeling eerily still.

raising an eyebrow, you shrug off the unusual quietude and decide to head straight to blitzo's office. the walls adorned with contracts and pictures of past assignments close in on you as you make your way down the corridor.

you've always sensed a strange, electric tension between you and blitzo. the stolen glances, the lingering touches — yet, neither of you has dared to cross that unspoken boundary.

as you approach blitzo's office, you can't help but feel a flutter in your chest. was he even in there?

you've had your eyes on each other for what feels like forever, but circumstances, or maybe just sheer cowardice, have kept things between you strictly professional.

you knock lightly on blitzo's door, already half-expecting it to swing open without a response. to your surprise, the door creaks open almost immediately, revealing blitzo leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk cluttered with paperwork and empty whiskey bottles. was he waiting for you? classic.

"ah, if it isn't the most fuckable employee walkin' through that door," blitzo drawls, his red eyes lighting up with mischief as he takes in your appearance. "took ya long enough."

rolling your eyes but unable to hide the smirk tugging at your lips, you step into the room, closing the door behind you. "looks like everyone decided to play hooky today. even loona?"

blitzo chuckles, lowering his feet to the ground as he leans forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "yeah, somethin' like that. mox and mil.. more like a 'family day out,' or some sappy shit like that. loona.. i dunno. left me here all alone, can you believe it?"

you say nothing. you move closer to the desk.

it's just you and him.

blitzo breaks the silence first, his voice husky and laced with an unfamiliar vulnerability. "y'know, for all the shit we've been through, all the near-death experiences and fucked-up assignments, there's somethin' i've been meanin' to tell you."

your heart pounds in your chest as you lean in, captivated by the intensity in his eyes. "oh? and what's that?"

he smirks, a devilish glint in his gaze as he reaches across the desk, his fingers lightly grazing yours. "fuck the paperwork."

before you can process what's happening, blitzo is standing before you, his arms wrapping around you, pulling you into a rough kiss.

your lips crash against his as he tightens his grip on you, his hands roaming over your body, desperate and hungry. he bites your bottom lip, earning a moan from you, and your tongues dance together as you deepen the kiss.

heat pools in your core as blitzo's hand slips under your top, his claws raking down your back. he pushes you onto the desk, and you find yourself trapped beneath him, his frame pressing you against the wooden surface.

the sound of ripping fabric fills the room as blitzo tears off your top, exposing your bare chest. he lowers his mouth to your breasts, his tongue teasing your nipples before sucking on them. you writhe beneath him, your breath hitching as his fingers trail down your stomach and under the waistband of your jeans.

"tell me you want this," blitzo murmurs, his voice hoarse with desire as his fingers brush against your clit.

"yes, please, i want you," you whisper, your own voice trembling as you cling to him.

that's all the encouragement he needs. in a blur of movement, blitzo yanks off your pants (or whatever you're wearing) and underwear, tossing them aside as he kneels between your legs.

his tongue flicks against your folds, causing you to buck your hips against him. he chuckles, his breath hot against your sensitive skin, before pushing his tongue inside of you.

you let out a moan as he begins to lick and suck at your entrance, his fingers massaging your clit. the heat inside you is unbearable, and you arch your back, trying to pull him deeper inside of you.

blitzo pulls away, his eyes burning with lust as he looks up at you. "god, you taste so fuckin' good."

you reach down, grabbing his horn, guiding his head back down to your dripping cunt. he groans against you, his tongue plunging inside of you once more, sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body.

the wet sounds of his mouth against your pussy echo throughout the room, mingling with the sounds of your whimpers and moans. you feel yourself growing closer and closer to climax, your grip on his horn tightening.

"fuck, blitz," you whimper, your thighs quivering as you teeter on the edge of release.

suddenly, blitzo stops, pulling away from you. you whimper, the loss of his touch leaving you feeling cold and empty.

"why'd you stop?" you pant, your eyes pleading for him to continue.

"i think you can do better than that," blitzo smirks, his gaze never leaving yours as he slowly rises to his feet, unfastening his pants.

your eyes widen as his cock springs free, already hard and throbbing. his hands grip your thighs, spreading your legs open as he positions himself between them.

you bite your lip as he enters you, your walls stretching to accommodate his size. he grunts, his hands digging into your flesh as he begins to thrust into you.

the sensation of him filling you, his cock hitting every right spot, is almost too much to bear. you cry out, arching your back as he pounds into you, his movements frantic and desperate.

"oh, fuck, blitz!" you moan, your hands grasping his shoulders, holding on for dear life.

"that's better," he growls, his voice ragged and full of need.

his fingers dig into your thighs, the pain mixing with the pleasure, sending you spiraling towards your release. your muscles tense, your body tingling with the delicious friction of him moving inside of you.

"are you gonna cum for me, baby?" he whispers, his eyes locked with yours.

"yes!" you moan, the heat building inside you reaching a breaking point.

blitzo smirks, his thrusts becoming more erratic, more frenzied. "go ahead then, cum for me."

you cry out, the coil of pleasure inside you snapping as you reach your peak. your body shakes with the force of your orgasm, the waves of pleasure crashing over you, leaving you breathless and spent.

blitzo lets out a guttural groan, his cock pulsing inside of you as he comes undone. his hips slam against yours, the wet slap of skin on skin filling the room as he empties himself into you.

you collapse onto the desk, sweaty and panting, the euphoric afterglow of your orgasm washing over you. blitzo leans over you, his face inches from yours, his red eyes gazing into yours.

"shiiit," he says, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "i think i love you."

you smile, a warmth spreading through your chest as you wrap your arms around him, pulling him closer. "i think i love you too."

[fizzie-frog]

Blitzø: core self, trauma and healing

This will be a post going into Blitz’s character starting from his childhood to present. His teen self, his adult self and the present. As someone who relates so much to him, his arc was amazing to watch and went from a character I kinda disliked to a character I absolutely love today.

I apologize if this is all over the place - I don’t write long posts everyday and in the last years I’ve been so busy, tired and just unmotivated that it’s almost like my brain can’t cooperate, but I wanted to make this post.

Also, of course, this will be long… So if you want to read - under the cut. This will be split into parts (thanks to Tumblr's limitations).

PART TWO

In the latest episode we’ve seen Blitz being so much more supportive, patient - Stolas’s cheerleader. It feels like he’s returning to his roots. Let me explain…

“I think… I think if anyone’s gonna be the new clown face on everything… It’ll be you, Fizz!”

Clearly, this is a trait Blitz (back then going by Blitzo) always had at his core. He loved his dear ones and he showed it. He encouraged them, supported them in their dreams and also made sure they’re safe, as it shows with Fizzarolli in his teens. Growing up in Greed (arguably one of the most dangerous rings of Hell), Blitz had to toughen up. Fizz on the other hand had no clue how to fight and he was anxious.

So, Blitz was the protector.

When he sees Fizz made uncomfortable by a creepy fan, he’s quick to jump in.

He makes sure Fizz is safe, pushes the creep away and goes right back to his so-called “cheerleader self”. Fizz is made to feel insecure by the cruel words spat at him, so Blitz supports him, telling him he is in fact good enough and not to listen to the words of some idiot.

It’s all so natural for Blitz. This was him at his core. And while I’m sure growing up in Greed does a number on someone no matter what, he still had some innocence within him before everything went wrong.

Let’s see more of his childhood.

Blitz was a circus performer, much like Fizz. He was the ringleader’s son, but he was definitely not the star of the show. We’re not shown much of his circus performance, but as storytelling goes, this scene serves to tell us that he wasn’t quite the fan favorite…

Despite this, he pushed on. Even when he felt discouraged, he had drive (and that drive pushed him to achieve what he has today). Born in a discriminatory world where he’s the bottom of the barrel, drive and perseveration are his biggest qualities.

He clearly saw the discrepancy between him and Fizz. His best friend and crush, he was the fan favorite and Blitz’s own dad favoured him over his own son. And Fizz is incredibly talented, that’s why he made it so big (even with the help of deadly sins, he couldn’t have been liked if he just wasn’t good enough), but that didn’t make Cash’s treatment of them better.

I doubt Cash was all that good towards Fizz either, just that he abused him in different ways than Blitz, but that’s for another story.

Despite this, he was still in good spirits with Fizz. His dad’s treatment of them didn’t make Blitz wanna do bad things to Fizzarolli. He loved him as his best friend and I think it shows that Blitz could separate the two.

Even if he did end up hurting Fizz in an emotional moment… In a complete, tragic accident where everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It wasn’t Blitz’s fault, but he caused it.

Of course though, the situation is much more complicated than that. The tent was flammable, there were lit candles being brought inside and also fireworks stored inside. It was a recipe for disaster. But Blitz, in an emotional moment, didn’t stop to look around himself or think before pushing the first person in front of him.

Feelings of inadequacy, I assume, both to be more to Fizz and also to be his dad’s son. Someone like Fizz couldn’t love him. And also, his dad loved Fizz more than him (or rather his potential). He is useless, he’ll never amount to it. Not to Fizz’s love, not to his dad’s love.

Who really knows what happened in Blitz’s head in that moment, but it was a mix of very bad emotions and his insecurities slowly became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But before we go into the fateful day that changed his life completely, let’s talk a bit more about him in the past.

Even though his dad has always been a neglectful, bad parent (as far as we’ve seen), Blitz was a bit of a rebel even from a young age. He held his ground as much as someone his age could, questioned his dad and despite his difference in treatment, Cash knew he could count on Blitz to do the heist mission he’s put him up to.

Blitz was scared. Of course, he was a child. But he wanted to help his dad, and especially his mom. Cash clearly knew it and used it to manipulate him into doing it.

We don’t know much about his mom, but she was shown as someone that Blitz clearly loved. And Blitz does anything for the people he loves.

So… He agreed to it - he would go to prince Stolas’s place and steal off him. Even from a young age, he’s been set up to dangerous missions, cause if Blitz was clumsier or more obvious or he was caught in any way, it could’ve been horrible for him. Cash probably knew that, but still decided it was worth risking his son. (When I catch you, Cash…)

As soon as he got to his place, we’ve seen even more of his core. He is smart and inventive (granted, Stolas was also pretty sheltered and didn’t know much). He came up with a way to steal right in front of the prince and get away with it.

And he’s always had big dreams. He will have his own business, a big office, horses with good name, he will be a good boss… Despite his circumstances, he had an image of what he wanted to be.

So how could we describe Blitz at his core? I would use the following:

Brave

Rebellious

Smart

Determined

Kind

Playful

Supportive

Protective

The “cheerleader” of his loved ones

But also impulsive, which was his downfall that day and continued to be after.

This is Blitz at his core, before everything went wrong and trauma started to plague his inner self.

The day everything went wrong.

(Btw; not all hellfire is green. The fire is green cause they’re in Greed.)

His impulsivity got the better of him - in his distress, he pushed someone over holding a cake with lit up candles. Fire hazards aside, it was definitely a domino effect and it happened right on Fizz’s birthday.

Blitz himself was injured in this accident and in that moment, he had to make a decision… He was gonna save Fizz that was crawling in agony right in front of him, or save his mother.

(Side note: So, did Blitz actually see Fizz crawling up to him? Cause there was a thought that he just managed not to see him, but in Ghostfuckers we can see Fizz from his perspective. So I’m going with that it was a split decision he had to make.)

That proved to be yet another unfortunate decision in the chain of tragedy, cause he made his choice, abandoning Fizz right in front of him to run over to help his mother… Who, ultimately, didn’t survive. Fizz did, and they ended up not speaking for 15 (!!) years.

After the tragedy, his pos of a dad struck his freshly burnt son (!!) and forbid him from seeing his best friend, telling him he didn’t wanna see him (what he’d find later that it was a complete lie).

That resulted in a pointless grudge that lasted for 15 years. There is the question of why Blitz didn’t try to contact him after his hospital say, but there could be so many reasons. Further external interference, the inability to (after all, he was abandoned with nothing and injured), Fizz being unreachable, etc. But that could’ve been prevented if Cash just allowed Blitz to see Fizz in the hospital.

So what were the consequences?

His dad hates him. (Trash took itself out imo)

His sister hates him.

His best friend hates him.

He has no home. No money. No family, no friends. He’s all on his own, and it was all his doing - accident or not. That would be hard on anyone.

What was he up to after that? Well…

We know he worked at Loo Loo Land for a while before he gave up performing altogether. He wasn’t happy, and being in the presence of a robotic replica of his now famous former best friend (that he burnt alive and disabled by accident) certainly couldn’t be a fun time.

And clearly he’s got a few issues with performing knowing his performance during those days and in the circus…

“I can’t do this, not again; I haven’t performed since…”

We know somewhere during his time he dated Verosika Mayday, whom she left and maxed out her credit card on shitty horse riding lessons, supposedly after she told Blitz she loves him.

He adopted Loona…

Seeing Loona in that shelter, Blitz saw himself. He saw himself and the love he never got and decided he was gonna give her that love. He was gonna be the dad he never had. A life changed without even realizing, too plagued by his trauma - he couldn’t see the good things he’s done.

“Oh, her? That’s just Loona… What a nightmare; serious attitude problems. She’ll be out of our hair next month when she ages out… Good riddance if you ask me, she’ll never amount to anything much.”

That might as well be said about Blitz, cause that’s how he feels about himself. Like a disaster, like he brings misfortune to everyone else. He chose to take on that tough job, the job to house and care for a daughter with “serious attitude problems” that show in their day to day. She lashes out, she is mean, she is avoidant, but he never holds it against her. Just like he needed someone to support him when he was all alone. He doesn’t even have his own bedroom, taking the couch while giving Loona the only bedroom available.

He sneaked into the place of the prince he once stole from and got his book, knowing it'd help his plan (thus starting the full moon deal)...

He made his own business, something imps don’t do. He made it. He hired Moxxie;

Changing another life.

He hired Millie;

Changing yet another life.

Yet he still couldn’t help think that everyone hated him and that he deserved it. Nobody really cares, it all amounts to his usefulness. Why would anyone love him? Why him?

Unhealthy beliefs hid his core self:

He’s unloveable

He brings tragedy to anyone he gets close to

You’re only as wanted as you are needed

Emotions complicate things and nobody cares anyway

He has never done a good thing in his life

He will die alone

He deserves it ^

PART TWO HERE (due to Tumblr limitations... Sorry)

[wcshedup]

@madefate asked: Blitz gently skates the tips of his claws around the base of Barbie's horns, carefully finding the spots where she knows she carries her tension - the same way he does, a small, merciful mirror they still share. When he can take her weight against him he does, pulling her in, leaning down so that when he hums (their mother always sang it better, but they can keep it alive like this) she can feel it in his chest.

barbie had so many preconceived notions and spiraling ruminations about how their reunion might go. it had never gone well before, and she could face up to the fact that she MIGHT shoulder most of that blame -- it would be different this time ! she was clean now. she had a steady job that didn't require any unsavory characters or close brushes with the vices she'd fought so hard to kick. that life felt so far away now, like it happened to someone else and barbie was simply an observer sat in a plush theatre seat, filled with compassion but growing exhausted with seeing the main character choke on her own vomit again.

guilt eats at her now that her feet are rooted in reality once more. the imp vaguely recalls the last scene involving blitzø in that film of her life -- fizz had signed those paper so easily, she'd felt, too easily, in fact. but blitzø would come and set it all right, he would RESCUE her from this horrible cesspit of losers and 'doctors' who didn't seem to understand that she was in PAIN -- she'd told them so, tears of rage cascading down her cheeks, but they had given that sensation another name. withdrawal.

and when she'd called blitzø she felt SURE he would understand -- but when her brother would not sign the release, barbie's nervous jittering had turned into an all-out fit of rage; fists flying and legs kicking with intent to maim as the staff had fought to restrain her. ( " you said ! you said i could CALL you when i NEEDED you ! " ) and she realizes now that the sensation of betrayal had been misplaced, had been nothing more than a fabrication of her addiction. feet braced on either side of the doorway as they tried to force her back into the room, barbie had screamed it loud enough for even the heavens to hear her rage. ( " I'll NEVER forgive you for this, blitzo ! NEVER ! " )

how could he EVER forgive her ?

quite easily, it seemed.

there are no tense silences or awkward shuffles. being together again is like letting go of a breath barbie didn't know she'd been holding. meeting his employees and his daughter ? THAT had thrown her for a bit of loop at first, but barbie had warmed to the idea by the time the coffee was ready. everything went so. . . perfectly.

it didn't seem real.

of course it makes sense that she'd find a way to RUIN it at the finish line. they'd started so strong, uncorking a bottle of something strong and cheap between the pair of them at blitzø's apartment that night, trying and failing to smother their drunken laughter from disturbing the hellhound occupying the bedroom just a few feet away. the sort of giddiness that makes barbie reach out to shake his shoulder for stability, her core ACHING as she laughs like it's the first time in a long time. it is. she missed him.

but the turn in the conversation had come at the bottom of her third glass of wine, where barbie had found the grief long since mistaken for simple rage lying in wait. sometimes i wish i had. . . been with her. it feels like a mistake to speak out loud, barbie blames it on the lowering of her inhibitions -- she turns to shield her tears in the wake of her confession from blitzø, that familiar ache blossoming behind her sternum and it's her first instinct to shield the emotional wound from the proverbial salt that might fly. it had been so long since vulnerability had been rewarded with anything but the twist of a knife. " satan, I'm so SORRY, I'm just -- "

FUCKING EVERYTHING UP

" just give me a second -- " barbie can still reclaim the rapidly suffering vibe of the room, she knows, if she puts her mind to it -- pushes down the agony and steers the conversation back towards the lighthearted. but JUST as she opens her mouth to remind blitzø about the time they managed to switch places for a whole three days -- she catches sight of his expression.

there's no distaste for her tears, or rolling eyes that signal exhaustion with her emotional ineptitude -- barb uses her wrist to scrub at one bleary eye, the way blitzø opens his arms towards his sister might take her conscious mind aback, but her body knows exactly what to do. it's muscle memory to rush into his side, arms coming upward to cling to her brother's shoulders and bury her face there in turn. it's the first time barbie has felt SAFE in so long.

it's been even longer since she felt this loved.

" I'm so sorry, blitzø. "

[sirdust]

I saw someone going 'well why can't Stolitz be healthier like Charlie and Vaggie' but like. That's actually an interesting parallel to consider, I think. They're both royalty in Hell, they both have power political and probably literal(even if we've only seen glimpses of that latter), and unlike their family members(Stella, and presumably Lucifer and Lilith) they both have an interest in the lower castes of Hell, and they both probably have a lot to learn about how to treat those castes.

For Stolas, as we know, his interest is more in a singular member of that caste, he's very used to his status perhaps to the point he's not as aware of it as he should be, but he damn well knows how to use it and his power when properly motivated. He's unintentionally condescending to Blitzo and a bit bratty to Moxie and Millie when they save him instead of Blitzo. His efforts to cheer up his daughter end up accidentally making her mood worse, so a bit like I discuss with Charlie he IS well-intentioned and naive, but doesn't listen to Octavia until she runs off. When she does tho, he tries to explain thing, and does promise he'll never run away and leave her behind. He's well-intentioned I think, but unaware of the consequences of his actions and mannerisms, which he WILL need to unlearn.

Meanwhile comparing that to Charlie, she recognizes the people of Hell suffering and wants there to be a better way, and does have a healthy relationship with Vaggie... but from the Pilot she's also very idealistic, very naive and sheltered, and can't throw her weight around as Princess of Hell effectively, lacking resources and staff for her project, being made a fool of on television, and Alastair feeling pretty comfortable telling Hell's princess 'yeah I'm here because I wanna see you fail horribly'. Not to mention I'm not sure has a lot of knowledge about effective ways to help people, expecting all her 'patients' to go totally clean from drugs and alcohol and fights without weaning them off. In her song she ripped syringes out of a demon's hand and destroyed them, and later on she or Vaggie was irritated at a drink bar in their hotel. It may not be the same for demons and sinners, but something like that would probably send a human into withdrawal. Not to mention she's gambling all this on the hope that Heaven WILL let in a redeemed soul, if Heaven goes 'yeah, no, sorry, but no' then that shuts down her idea (unless she decides 'fuck it, restructure BOTH Heaven and Hell' which honestly I really wanna see)

So like. I dunno, Stolitz isn't healthy NOW, but Stolas is probably going to grow, and Charlie's hotel project strikes me as dangerously naive NOW, but that was just the pilot so she'll ALSO probably grow. And I'm disappointed people can't seem to realize that like... okay different show but my favorite character ever took two seasons and hitting rock bottom in a show I like to even start trying to do better, and even then he still fucked up and made some of the same mistakes until he realized and tried to do better yet, and Charlie may be a good person but can still have dangerous attitudes even as a good person, there's still a HELL of a lot of time for both to grow. (pun not intended :P) Endgame ship means end of THE SERIES, not the season.

(it was vaggie who didn’t want the bar!)

yeah i think this is an astute parallel to make. if charlie and stolas both have arcs that focus on learning to empathize with the lower class, it makes sense there would be similarities.

also, regarding the heaven thing, people act like that’s spoilers, but we were already operating under the assumption heaven wouldn’t want redeemed sinners anyways. alastor’s answer to charlie’s project is “they had their shot on earth and this is the eternal consequence”; it’s about seeing if the system can be changed, less working directly within it.

but yeah getting back to the main point, the parallels between the two are interesting, and while i tend to balk at comparing the two shows too heavily i do think there are interesting connections (they’re made by the same creator anyways). regarding charlie and vaggie’s relationship too, it’s funny because people in the crit side of the fandom tend to waffle back and forth on whether or not that relationship is “good”. canon has shown us it’s a healthy long-term partnership, but at the same time no relationship is perfect and there are seeds of conflict being planted within that dynamic already, so people who think conflict is not the core part of any story are looking at that and going “SEE. SEE. UNHEALTHY.” it’s wild.

[mcwscollective]

Stolas how can you be jealous and possessive with blitzo when you're literally married?

The real answer wasn’t one he felt like disclosing to just anyone. Personal family matters were best left at just that — the family — and even that felt like too much when considering his daughter’s welfare. The easiest way to leave the details buried in the dirt where they belonged was to apply the smallest touch of manipulation. After all, he wasn’t in the mood to feel the need to explain himself (especially not to a stranger.)

Talons stretched and curled, flexing to make himself as comfortable as possible before inspecting the tips of each one. Nonchalance was the mask such a question called for, and he was far too eager to wear it to pave the quickest way out of the conversation. It was the least he could give to someone that had thought to darken his doorway with their judgement.

“You see,” he cooed. One wrist turned to wave off the idea of why it shouldn’t have been that way. One leg crossed over the other. No one needed to know his personal details unless he chose to provide them. “There is a social hierarchy that we deem mandatory to follow in Hell, and my beloved Blitzy happens to be waaay down... at the bottom.” He shivered to his core as sharp claws drew an invisible map of where the imp belonged; stopping just below his waist then clasping his hands together again for a place to nuzzle into.

Stolas offered a subtle clicking of his tongue against the inside of his beak. Of course his precious little lover meant more than simply dangling from the lowest wrung of society, but that was something for himself, rather than the public. He drummed out a few lines against one hand with the other, smoothed down his feathers with a mental note to preen a bit later. He needed to look his best if he were to attempt to appease the masses, didn’t he?

“No family is complete without a playful someone to spend those long, lonely hours with when everyone else is busy,” Stolas continued, lips turning up in a smug, calculative, smile. “I should not have to remind you that plants aren’t the only things meant to be kept.”