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"I loved him for it better than I liked to express: and I took a secret delight in pressing those slender white fingers..."

Oh well, no one asked for it but I really like to dust off watercolors once in a while. Coloring is such a serene thing to do, even if I'm not all that happy with the result ( ఠ ͟ʖ ఠ)

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After ten long years, I've finally finished (and re-read) Boku No Hero Academia! \^o^/ I still like the first hundred chapters best, though. But there is a lot of lovely characters I'd like to spend more time with :'^) Here is a ten-years-after redraw as a celebration, ha. Kacchan is joining them now ✧✧

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Through the Night (April 2018)

Close your eyes, I am here And everything will be alright I am right here by your side As we go walking through the night —Mom's Song (Laura Shigihara)

An old fanart of the game Rakuen. Yami was my favorite, and I wanted to give him some more time with Mom :')

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Some art from my book Faraway Dreaming.

You can find it on Kickstarter – the campaign will run until June 24th, 2025. This was already funded early on, but the the higher the funding for the project goes, the more upgrades and surprises we'll be able to add to the rewards. ✨

www.kickstarter.com/projects/atthisarts/faraway-dreaming

Sharing this post or link is much appreciated. Thanks so much for all your support! 💙 💙 💙

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Turtles and Tea (May 2025)

Another fun drawing with colored pencils~ I think Leo, even pre-mutation, would definitely try to swim in tea, just to prove that he can. He's just that much of a brave (stupit) bean.

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sleeping on the job

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i have chronic pain. i am neurodivergent. i understand - deeply - the allure of a "quick fix" like AI. i also just grew up in a different time. we have been warned about this.

15 entire years ago i heard about this. in my forensics class in high school, we watched a documentary about how AI-based "crime solving" software was inevitably biased against people of color.

my teacher stressed that AI is like a book: when someone writes it, some part of the author will remain within the result. the internet existed but not as loudly at that point - we didn't know that AI would be able to teach itself off already-biased Reddit threads. i googled it: yes, this bias is still happening. yes, it's just as bad if not worse.

i can't actually stop you. if you wanna use ChatGPT to slide through your classes, that's on you. it's your money and it's your time. you will spend none of it thinking, you will learn nothing, and, in college, you will piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. you will stand at the podium having done nothing, accomplished nothing. a cold and bitter pyrrhic victory.

i'm not even sure students actually read the essays or summaries or emails they have ChatGPT pump out. i think it just flows over them and they use the first answer they get. my brother teaches engineering - he recently got fifty-three copies of almost-the-exact-same lab reports. no one had even changed the wording.

and yes: AI itself (as a concept and practice) isn't always evil. there's AI that can help detect cancer, for example. and yet: when i ask my students if they'd be okay with a doctor that learned from AI, many of them balk. it is one thing if they don't read their engineering textbook or if they don't write the critical-thinking essay. it's another when it starts to affect them. they know it's wrong for AI to broad-spectrum deny insurance claims, but they swear their use of AI is different.

there's a strange desire to sort of divorce real-world AI malpractice over "personal use". for example, is it moral to use AI to write your cover letters? cover letters are essentially only templates and besides, AI is going to be reading your job app, so isn't it kind of fair?

i recently found out that people use AI as a romantic or sexual partner. it seems like teenagers particularly enjoy this connection, and this is one of those "sticky" moments as a teacher. honestly - you can roast me for this - but if it was an actually-safe AI, i think teenagers exploring their sexuality with a fake partner is amazing. it prevents them from making permanent mistakes, it can teach them about their bodies and their desires, and it can help their confidence. but the problem is that it's not safe. there isn't a well-educated, sensitive AI specifically to help teens explore their hormones. it's just internet-fed cycle. who knows what they're learning. who knows what misinformation they're getting.

the most common pushback i get involves therapy. none of us have access to the therapist of our dreams - it's expensive, elusive, and involves an annoying amount of insurance claims. someone once asked me: are you going to be mad when AI saves someone's life?

therapists are not just trained on the book, they're trained on patient management and helping you see things you don't see yourself. part of it will involve discomfort. i don't know that AI is ever going to be able to analyze the words you feed it and answer with a mind towards the "whole person" writing those words. but also - if it keeps/kept you alive, i'm not a purist. i've done terrible things to myself when i was at rock bottom. in an emergency, we kind of forgive the seatbelt for leaving bruises. it's just that chat shouldn't be your only form of self-care and recovery.

and i worry that the influence chat has is expanding. more and more i see people use chat for the smallest, most easily-navigated situations. and i can't like, make you worry about that in your own life. i often think about how easy it was for social media to take over all my time - how i can't have a tiktok because i spend hours on it. i don't want that to happen with chat. i want to enjoy thinking. i want to enjoy writing. i want to be here. i've already really been struggling to put the phone down. this feels like another way to get you to pick the phone up.

the other day, i was frustrated by a book i was reading. it's far in the series and is about a character i resent. i googled if i had to read it, or if it was one of those "in between" books that don't actually affect the plot (you know, one of those ".5" books). someone said something that really stuck with me - theoretically you're reading this series for enjoyment, so while you don't actually have to read it, one would assume you want to read it.

i am watching a generation of people learn they don't have to read the thing in their hand. and it is kind of a strange sort of doom that comes over me: i read because it's genuinely fun. i learn because even though it's hard, it feels good. i try because it makes me happy to try. and i'm watching a generation of people all lay down and say: but i don't want to try.

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The Turtles' Storytime is now available as prints!

Use promo code 6OZZ4S to get a 15% discount of the prints in my shop, valid from today (May 17) until next week (May 24)!

Moreover, Inprnt is hosting a FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING FOR PURCHASE OVER USD 30$ only for 1 more day!! Go grab your favorite prints from your favorite artists!!

Come visit my shop! :D

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Once Upon a Day at Sea (2016)

No new drawing this week, so please have one of my old drawings that is still dear to me. This is Law and Rocinante from One Piece, and back then I drew this right after I read the chapters of Law's flashback, which got my heart in pieces – thanks, Oda. I just wanted them to live peacefully somewhere, like this, probably be pirates—or not. God knows being pirates was how the entire tragedy happened in the first place

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eggz, i have some news!! 🥺 i’m going to be a published author!! my book ‘Sweet Spaces : Learn to Doodle the Coziest Corners’ ( Quarto Books ) releases internationally on the 7th October and the 23rd October for UK and it is now available for pre-order here!📚🩷

🌷i am still processing that this is happening and i truly wouldn’t have ever thought id create my own book if it wasn’t for all of you eggz being here, supporting me and my doodles!!! 🖍️ I have created the sweetest, doodle style how to draw book, so you can create your own cozy doodle scenes with easy-to-follow instructions + so much more!! 📝 i can’t wait to share more of the behind the scenes!! 

🩷 as a first time author, your pre-orders count a lot so i am truly so grateful and appreciative to those of you who have already pre-ordered my book and constantly support me and my work!! ⭐️

🍎 love you lots! - erin x