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Rob Haines

@robhainescreative.space

190 followers 97 following 420 posts

Creative writer, statistical programmer, photographer, pianist and unrepentant catdad. he/him Microfiction, essays and visual art at https://robhainescreative.space Cannot view DMs on Bluesky.

robhainescreative.space

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · Mar 17

"We are not gods, but tinder.

We turn the world, but in doing so, we burn."

These Hearts, Who Once Held Up the Sky, my latest short story, about burnout, managed collapse and finding a road forward together.

Read it here:
factorfourmag.com/these-hearts...

#Fiction #ShortStory #Fantasy #Burnout

These Hearts, Who Once Held Up the Sky by Rob Haines

We find each other on the road towards the failing Span. The sky is still golden here, every star, every path and confluence a part of the greater whole. We each recall, together and apart, when ou…

factorfourmag.com

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 2d

Through the cursed Bonny Village, to Manus Metyr Cathedral and the horrors that sleep beneath

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

A pale blue-grey night time sky, with a large crescent moon over dark silhouettes of ceramic pots hung from rope strung between wooden poles. On the ground, larger pots sit on the grass, and in the background, a jagged peak pierces into the cloudless sky.

An atmospheric cathedral, misty with blue light. A shard of Grace sits beside wooden pews and small metal cages in the bottom-right corner, and at the far end of the cathedral a series of open archways lead up to an ornate circular window. Chains dangle from the vaulting high above, carrying black iron cages.

The altar-end of a cathedral, wreathed in blue-green mist. Instead of an altar, a serious-looking priest sits on a wooden throne; he has a golden hat and a golden ruff of feather-like fingers. The pews in the foreground are askew and surrounded by planks and other debris, and white candles mark the central aisle.

An underground cavern, drenched in blue mist. An uneven winding path leads through a series of finger-like pillars to a shrine in the distance, lit with shafts of light from above. The shrine itself is three steepled fingers, and a finger-like bell dangles from where they meet.

Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 3d

To descend to the root of the world, where Saint Trina sleeps eternal

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

A view from a clifftop in a purple-infused underground cavern. Scruffy grass in the foreground descends to a procession of stone grave-ships descending into the mist. To the left, graves can be seen atop the deck of a ship protruding from the cavern wall.

A golden cross-and-crescent standing in a patch of dirt on the shore of an underground lake. The rocky ceiling above is heavy with sharp-pointed stalactites, and the chasm wends its way into the distant purple fog beyond.

Gille kneels before Saint Trina, who slumbers amidst her purple robes, her head laid upon her arms in rest. Her hair is a sea of vivid purple, flowing around her and behind her. Gille reaches out with one gloved hand to the sleeping demigod.

Gille lies dead on the floor at Saint Trina's feet, having supped from the saintly poison. A circle of pale purple flowers arcs across the floor, while both Saint and supplicant dream the eternal dream.

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 5d

We walk cerulean shores; we delve into ruins and memorials long-forgotten

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

Gille the Confessor sits at Graceside, clad in rough-carved armour and wearing a metal circlet. Beyond the golden light, a field of cerulean blue recedes into the distance, where stone grave-ships emerge from the hillside at obtuse angles.

A shard of Grace overlooking a rolling landscape of shining blue flowers, beneath a clouded sky. Pine-trees line grey cliffs, and in the distance, ship-like tombs jut at unsettling angles beneath piercring blue petals on the wind.

A wide open hillside, awash with blue flowers and grey gravestones, beneath a dark-grey clouded sky. Glowing blue petals float on the wind above dark pine trees.

A view across the finger ruins, cloaked in vivid purple fog and speckled with blue sparks. A cluster of finger spires stands in the bottom-right, around a finger-shaped bell, and high above, the setting sun shines golden on the jagged cliff-tops. The Scadutree weeps gold in the distance.

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 5d

Happy birthday buddy! Hope you have a great time 🎉

Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 5d

We've had breakfast-time visitations from multiple species of tits at our bird feeder this week!

#Birds #Photography

A long-tailed tit, with pale-brown and black feathers and a white chest, perched on a branch rising from bottom-right to top-left. There's a cluster of green leaves further up the branch.

A pair of bluetits with yellow underbellies perched on a green bird feeder. The left one is in the process of eating a bite of peanut, and the right one is looking out across the garden. At the very bottom of the image, a third bluetit can be seen mid-flight.

Two blue-its in flight, approaching a green bird feeder dotted with raindrops. The upper one has wings flared for landing, and the lower one is facing the camera with wings at the lowest point of a down-beat.

A small bluetit perched on a green bird-feeder stocked with peanuts, in the rain. They are standing sideways to the feeding hole, their beak open.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 5d

Currently at:
— only buy tech too old to have AI built in
— painstakingly disable AI every time they add it to something that used to work perfectly well
— if it can't be switched off, abandon the platform or tool
— if there are no good alternatives, avoid the AI parts
— patiently wait for the crash

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d

🫡

How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More - Consumer Reports

AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.

www.consumerreports.org

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Nadinne Neira (commissions open!) @nadneira.bsky.social · 5d

The Athrathrao Myth - Concept Art. Finally done with these, some lore, from the myth itself, and some hints to my own project below. I redacted some stuff because I don't have names for places yet and other stuff.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Jenny Haines @snarkylamassu.bsky.social · 6d

It turns out that this morning's visitors were a flock of blue tits! (photo by @robhainescreative.space)

(the marsh tits had been definitely visiting our feeder prior, as we have photos of them, so we assumed as much until Rob checked his camera this afternoon and saw the colors up close!)

Two blue tit birds competing to land at a bird feeder

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Reposted by Rob Haines

James Bennett @jamesbennett.bsky.social · 13d

Mostly I'm angry because all this back and forth about fascism and bigotry is a massive waste of time. We should be evolving and saving the planet. We haven't even learnt that everyone on earth is a fucking equal being and inherently deserving of empathy.

It's embarrassing.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Lia @liasae.bsky.social · 14d

ICYMI, I wrote a (spoilers-packed, I cannot stress this enough) about why I deeply believe it’s actually about joy lia-sae.net/articles/202...

Lia's blog - No, really, Returnal is about joy

Major spoilers for Returnal. Content warnings are themselves spoilers, and there are loads. This fucked-up psych horror shooter roguelite is about joy and I'll prove it.

lia-sae.net

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 14d

Continuing my Elden Ring DLC photography tour with a stroll along the scenic Cerulean Coast

www.robhainescreative.space/visual-art/i...

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

Elden Ring (DLC) - On Cerulean Shores

2025

www.robhainescreative.space

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 14d

Continuing my Elden Ring DLC photography tour with a stroll along the scenic Cerulean Coast

www.robhainescreative.space/visual-art/i...

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

Elden Ring (DLC) - On Cerulean Shores

2025

www.robhainescreative.space

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 15d

I really love the stylisation on this one; great work!

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Reposted by Rob Haines

GriffeyBlue @griffeyblue.bsky.social · 15d

#birdwhisperer #bird #watercolor European Green Woodpecker; Bird Whisperer Project September 2025

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Reposted by Rob Haines

LunaruXZ @lunaruxz.bsky.social · 15d

I have been looking forward to today to finally post my piece for #BirdWhisperer Project! I took the chance to not only study the photo but to try to stylize it a bit! Let me know what you think!
Photograph by @kritzelich.bsky.social

#bird #art #commsopen

Slightly stylized art of a green woodpecker on a tree.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Jenny Haines @snarkylamassu.bsky.social · 15d

I painted a study of a European Green Woodpecker for this month's #BirdWhisperer! What a pretty bird, with so much going on!

A digital painting study of a European green woodpecker clinging to a tree. The bird has a beige tummy, brownish-green wings, a black eye mask and a pop of red on her cap.

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 15d

Thank you! 💖

Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 15d

My monthly bird study for #BirdWhisperer, a European Green Woodpecker!

I'm having a lot of fun playing around with the stylisation of these studies!

#Bird #Woodpecker

A woodpecker with a green wing, white belly and a black-and-white face with a red crest, clinging to the side of an abstract tree of various shades of green and brown.

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 17d

Big "so tell me again why you had a mouthful of pebbles?" energy

Reposted by Rob Haines

kaio ✦ NärCon Expo @kaiotisk.bsky.social · 17d

waiting for my time
to lie down in the forest
and peacefully rot

#art

Digital illustration painting of a human skeleton lying down flat on the ground. It is surrounded by plants like grass, ferns and leaves. Surrounding the skull there is a halo of mushrooms. The skeleton has their hands resting on their ribcage. The colors are warm and dark with green and brown reminiscent of autumn.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Princess Laura @princesslaura.bsky.social · 19d

I firmly am at the point where I will outright refuse to vote for anyone who does not loudly and explicitly support trans rights. I don't give a fuck anymore. You either support trans people, or you can fuck off.

There is no Grey area, there is no nuance. You are for is, or you are our enemy.

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Reposted by Rob Haines

PRBG_Aesthetics @prbgaesthetics.bsky.social · 19d

Lindblum's Air Cab Station in the Theater District, from sketch to pre-rendered background in Final Fantasy IX (2000)

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Reposted by Rob Haines

ghostcatte | Emote Comms Open! @ghostcatte.bsky.social · 20d

silksong pupy <3

digital illustration of silksong characters. hornet, very off-model. her cloak looks more like a t-shirt and says "I <3 my dog" on it. next to her, the bell beast is semi-submerged in a pile of bells and wagging its tail furiously

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Reposted by Rob Haines

Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 22d

Released the next installment of my Elden Ring DLC photography tour: a ride across the Scadu Altus plateau, visiting the forges and keeps which dot its tortured landscape.

www.robhainescreative.space/visual-art/i...

#EldenRing #EldenRingDLC #PhotoTour

Elden Ring (DLC) - War-Torn Scadu Altus

2025

www.robhainescreative.space

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Rob Haines @robhainescreative.space · 21d

Looking through my bird photos, the Venn diagram between #cute and "weird l'il guys" approaches a circle, but here's a real cutie that posed for me recently, for #BirdOfTheDay 😅

#Photography

A pigeon sitting in a tree, curving its body to peer at the photographer. It has a purple-brown chest, and lines of black and white feathers along the bottom edge of its grey back.

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