Art By @elgrajaz Of His Precious Oc Creepy Guy. Clearly He's Completely Normal And Is Full Of Only Happy

Art by @elgrajaz of his precious oc creepy guy. Clearly he's completely normal and is full of only happy sunshiny memories. Ch 7 of Overcome on Ao3.

“Don’t tie me down,” Trouble whined, reaching up. He stroked his captor’s neck and cheek with trembling fingers.

“If you keep still for me, I won’t have to.”

Trouble’s eyes filled in relief and he nodded against the stranger. It was too dark for him to make out where they were, which room he was being brought into. He yelped when he felt the man bend to lower him and tried to cling with an arm around his neck.

“I need to get some supplies for you.”

“Why?”

“You’re hurt. I can’t tend to you if you’re going to resist.”

A shudder ran through Trouble, but he obediently lowered his hand to his own chest, letting whatever was about to happen, happen. He gasped in surprise as the stranger settled him on a soft surface.

“Stay here.”

“Okay,” he whispered, eyes wide though he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face. Trouble felt around with his hands, brow furrowed. “Is this a couch?”

Art by @elgrajaz of his oc creepy guy checking in on a certain precious, blue-haired captive. You get one guess for which of them actually wears eyeglasses. At least one of creepy guy's captives seems easy to wrangle. Ch 8 of Overcome is up on Ao3.

“I could help you to sleep,” the other man replied calmly, slowly peeling off bandage tape.

“Pass.” Trouble rolled his eyes, managing not to wince as the tape came away. “I’m not tired anyway.”

“Your body must be. You took a beatin’ when you went down that hill.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Trouble watched the other man’s face since looking at his wound made him feel squirmy. “Can I come with you?”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“No, I mean, when you go see whatshisname. The guy in the duct tape with blue hair. Ow.” Trouble flinched. F was pressing down too hard placing the fresh bandage. “Ow! Eff, stop,” he whimpered.

“What?” Instantly the pressure let up. F seemed to give himself a mental shake and his gaze refocused on Trouble. “No. Sorry.”

“But why?”

“You’re a mess. You shouldn’t go anywhere for a while.”

“Can’t I watch?” Trouble’s ears pricked forward. “You can carry me there and I’ll be quiet.”

“Not a chance.”

“That’s not fair,” he pouted, setting a hand on F’s wrist.

In the aftermath of my big post about censorship, multiple people have left comments that boil down to, "it's okay to show heavy topics in fiction as long as they're portrayed as bad."

Let's take a quick look at an excerpt from the full ext of the Hays Code, shall we?

No picture should lower the moral standards of those who see it. This is done: (a) When evil is made to appear attractive, and good is made to appear unattractive. (b) When the sympathy of the audience is thrown on the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil, sin.The same thing is true of a film that would throw sympathy against goodness, honor, innocence, purity, honesty. note: Sympathy with a person who sins, is not the same as sympathy with the sin or crime of which he is guilty. We may feel sorry for the plight of the murderer or even understand the circumstances which led him to his crime; we may not feel sympathy with the wrong which he has done. The presentation of evil is often essential for art, or fiction, or drama. This in itself is not wrong, provided: (a) That evil is not presented alluringly. Even if later on the evil is condemned or punished, it must not be allowed to appear so attractive that the emotions are drawn to desire or approve so strongly that later they forget the condemnation and remember only the apparent joy of the sin. (b) That thruout the presentation, evil and good are never confused and that evil is always recognized clearly as evil. (c) That in the end the audience feels that evil is wrong and good is right

This is the same Hays Code that supported Nazis. This is the same Hays Code that forced Jewish artists out of Hollywood. This is the same Hays Code that targeted artists of color, queer artists, female artists, any artist who deviated from the white American Catholic ideal. And it was explicitly Catholic, which I explained in further depth here.

The idea that art has to have a clear moral, which lines up with the dominant morals of white American Christianity, is foundational to the Hays Code. If you sound like the Hays Code, you need to re-evaluate.

Censorship and moral codes enforced on art are never used for anything other than oppression. The second you try to dictate what is and isn't allowable in art, you side with people who will enforce those rules on marginalized people with no mercy and no hesitation.

Censorship does not create healthy relationships with media, even the censorship you might be tempted to think of as "good censorship."

(And, as usual, being an independent censorship researcher does very little to pay my bills. Kick me a tip on Ko-Fi or pledge to me on Patreon if you want to support my work! <3)

Another piece by @elgrajaz of his creepy oc, seen here with a captive other than my oc Trouble. Clearly creepy guy has excellent taste, right? I can't think of a single person or cryptid who would resent being taped up in his basement...

The next chapter of Overcome, co-starring creepy guy, is up on Ao3. Here's an excerpt:

Trouble limped faster and tried two more doors. The second one opened and he practically fell inside. He held his breath as he tried to close it soundlessly, then felt around in the dark for a way to lock it. Nothing. Fuck. Trouble clutched the bag tighter as he backed away from the door. He gasped as a furious yell echoed down the hallway. The sound of a door slamming made him jump and back up another step, right into something low and hard against his calves.

“Where are you?!”

His heart picked up speed at the way the words were almost howled.

“You’ll never outrun me.”

The voice sounded closer with every word. Trouble gulped and dug his hand into the bag while he hurried around whatever he’d banged into, only to knock into something else with his hip, right near his wound. For a few precious seconds he saw white stars flash before his eyes. The light grew brighter after that as the door banged open.

“You.” The venom in the stranger’s voice sent shivers crawling up the back of Trouble’s neck. “I knew I should’ve used chains.”

A picture by @elgrajaz of his oc creepy guy being cautiously comforted by my oc Trouble. Chapter 6 of Overcome is up on Ao3.

Excerpt:

“YOU UNGRATEF--”

“Careful,” Trouble interrupted, meeting the stranger’s gaze. He rested his claws against the captive’s throat. “I wouldn’t want my hand to slip.”

“Mm, mmph...”

“S-stop!”

“Someone could get hurt,” Trouble added, struggling to control his breathing. He tilted his head, resting his temple against the young man’s cheek. “I can’t believe I didn’t smell him on you. He’s very sweet.” He smirked as his captor’s eyes bulged. He made a show of burying his nose in blue hair and inhaling deeply.

“Let go of him.”

“I told you I could find my own meal.”

“He’s not for you.”

“Oh?” Trouble raised an eyebrow. “You’ve returned so quickly and I don’t see anyone else with you. Did you even mean what you said about taking care of me?” he demanded, pressing in with his fingertips so the captive’s skin dimpled around his claws.

Art by @elgrajaz of my oc Trouble having to cooperate yet again. For more tips and tricks on how to train your cryptid, go read Ch 12 of Overcome.

“So you don’t have to kill in order to eat?”

“What?” Trouble blinked, startled. “Yeah I do. It’s not like I can let them go after. They’d call the cops or something. I’d get hunted down like a rabid dog.”

“But it’s possible for you. You can eat and leave them still alive.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” He frowned up at F, starting to feel irked. “Eff, I have to.”

“Maybe before you had to, but you’re here now.” F’s eyes looked brighter as he smiled. “I could store someone for you.”

“Like Paul, you mean?” Trouble scoffed. “I’m not trying to find a pet. Whoever you bring me won’t be a friend or an experiment either, Eff. They’ll be food, that’s all.”

“Hmm.” F was gentle as he smoothed down tape to hold the fresh bandage in place. “Let me worry about that.”