please mind the content warnings! anon is currently closed.
latest update: September 17th 2025
cog forum post
You are one of the most famous yet mysterious characters of the 21st century rock scene.
It all started when you discovered your love for singing during an extended stay at a psychiatric hospital as a teen. Music became your motivator, and from then on, you knew the stage was where you belonged. You and your friends formed a band, and after years of practice in a garage and cheap gigs at dingy bars, your journey to the top begins abruptly when you team up with a skilled manager.
It’s a meteoric rise— until it isn’t.
And now, a decade after your band has disappeared from the public eye, you’ve accepted an interview by the acclaimed Groove Magazine. You and your former band members have agreed to give them the truth, the whole truth; as ugly as that might be.
Follow the story of your band’s rise to fame (and eventual fall from grace)
Play as a pop-rock vocalist
Name your band and customize your music and image
Handle the media, interactions with pushy fans and your own repressed thoughts and fears
Romance your coolgirl-bassist, the childhood friend you cut out of your life, your absolutely insane guitarist, or your biggest fan/possibly stalker
Give one hell of an interview
Inspiration: Daisy Jones and The Six, Fleetwood Mac… and all sorts of music-related drama.
TW: themes of mental illness, unhealthy relationships, substance abuse, death, mentions of suicide, suicidal ideation, self-harm, SA-related trauma, disordered eating
ROs:
Stevie McLaughlin, bassist (f) — “I suppose I was the sanest one in that bunch.”
She’s one of your oldest friends, and if you follow the clanking chain of cause and effect all the way back to the beginning, it is her you have to thank for your entire career. The band was her idea, after all. She’s level-headed, composed, and always there to talk you down when you need her. Sometimes, she acts more as your retainer than anything else…
Stevie is tall and skinny with light brown skin and extremely long, curly black hair which she always wears in a wet look. She has big, dark brown eyes and a soft face.
Paul/Paulette Zima, lead singer & saxophonist (f/m selectable, trans) — “Trying to figure out where you know me from?”
Your band’s brand-new, second lead singer. Your manager says they’re going to give your music the kick it needs, that they’re the one missing ingredient to your success. You’re not entirely sure if you agree. Worse yet, you happen to know this person, and your time together didn’t end on a favorable note. They’re part of a past you would much rather forget.
Paul is very tall, broad-backed and thickly muscled with light skin, shoulder-length slicked back brown hair and bottle green eyes.
Paulette is of average height with an hourglass/slim thick figure. She has dark brown hair with parted bangs and light blonde strands dyed into it. Her eyes are bottle green.
Angel Monsanto, guitarist (m) — “I was always going to make it big, with or without those guys. Only, I… I really wanted it to be with them.”
Your crazy but good-hearted guitarist. His passion for music borders on obsession, and he will stop at nothing to make a name for your band. Sadly, he’s very much of the conviction that all publicity is good publicity, which has encouraged him to pull some very questionable stunts in the past.
Angel is of average height and build with a warm beige complexion and long black hair. He has a square jaw with an occasional five o’clock shadow and brown eyes.
Lincoln Saunders, groupie?? (f/m selectable) — “What can I say, I loved them.”
Calling Lincoln a fan would be an understatement. Fanatic is more like it. You remember seeing them at your very first show, and you’ve continued to spot them at every venue you’ve played at since. You don’t know anything about them, and perhaps changing that would be a very bad idea. But maybe you still want to.
Lincoln (m) is short and lean, with an angular face and wavy blond hair. His eyes are cobalt blue.
Lincoln (f) is petite and tan, with a youthful, round face and chin-length blond beach waves. Her eyes are cobalt blue.
Others:
Maddox Wells (m), drummer
Another one of your oldest friends. You don’t much like to talk about what happened with him.
Fatima Shah (f), drummer — “I’m pretty sure they used to try to make me disappear with their fog machine.”
After things didn’t work out with your original drummer, Fatima saved the day. She’s a sweetheart to you, but from what you’ve heard, she can be kind of a terrible person. Maybe it’s best to stay a little wary of her.
Kalena Graham (f), manager — “The first time I saw them… well, they kind of sucked. But I knew, I just knew, that they had what it takes to suck on an international level.”
Your band’s manager. You can’t believe how lucky you were to have caught her attention. She’s experienced, driven, well-regarded in the industry and… kind of mean, to be honest.
Simon Young (m), reporter — “Start at the beginning. And then, don’t stop.”
The guy conducting the interview for Groove Magazine. He’s nice enough, if a little starstruck. It seems he has been waiting a long time for this.
I hope you feel better! No rush for any updates, that's very understandable.
You're sweet <3
Another IF author whom I'm friends with and I have now decided to support each other and try and get updates for our respective projects out before the end of June. It's a lofty goal, but also somewhat realistic, so I want to try. This is my aspiration, but I can't make any promises, given how much writing Press Play seems to have taken out of me lately. But yeah, just something to maybe give you guys a little hope :)
I hope you feel better! No rush for any updates, that's very understandable.
You're sweet <3
Another IF author whom I'm friends with and I have now decided to support each other and try and get updates for our respective projects out before the end of June. It's a lofty goal, but also somewhat realistic, so I want to try. This is my aspiration, but I can't make any promises, given how much writing Press Play seems to have taken out of me lately. But yeah, just something to maybe give you guys a little hope :)
FLESH REVIVAL is a narrative-driven paranormal and found footage horror game featuring themes of witchcraft and mythology, psychological distress, and mature, disturbing subject matter intended for 18+ audiences.
a self-built website with a youtube channel, created by you and your two best friends, where people online can submit requests involving paranormal activity in hopes of it being handled by you three investigators. provided with filmed footages.
most clients don’t ask too many personal questions, which is a good thing… for now.
anyway, want to communicate with ghosts? sure. need them banished from your home or business? a little difficult but not impossible.
when a new request comes in all the way from north dakota, there’s no way you’d turn it down. because this isn’t a case of one ghost. or even a family of them. it’s an entire location filled with unidentified entities.
camp hillbird in halvrest.
submitted by spitkisser00 (who is this person?), the request goes into detail about the town but focuses on camp hillbird, known as a hotel and camping resort. tourists and locals alike have reported seeing "specters" wandering the land.
the county police don’t bother with anything supernatural (they do not believe. not surprising.) so spitkisser00 turns to flesh revival instead.
they made the right call. after all, the resort and town would be in the hands of a ghost-hunting tech expert, an occult specialist, and you. the clairvoyant who can see the otherworldly with a membrane filter under your eyelids.
inspiration derives from franchises such as supernatural, silent hill, the ritual, the blair witch project, phasmophobia, and ghost files.
WHO ARE YOU ? fully customize yourself. choose your gender, pronouns, appearance, clothing style, personality, the skills you specialize in, and level up your clairvoyant ability.
GEAR UP FOR THE UNKNOWN. test out advanced ghost-hunting equipment, including new ones aided by the ahlstrand family.
DOCUMENTATION. own a detailed journal of everything you encounter. record evidence and their patterns, determine what kind of entities you’re dealing with. you will also get to read your self-entries.
TRUST NO ONE (OR DO ?) interview the residents of camp hillbird and the beyond with a voice recorder. there are open books, others are not as their secrets run deeper into the truth.
LEARN THE OLD WAYS. study protection and warding practices under crane, and collect items, incantations from “eccentric” individuals. you will have an inventory log of what you keep.
INVESTIGATE HOTSPOTS. search every corner thoroughly for hidden clues, strange markings and objects. the more you find, the better.
TEAM UP OR GET CLOSE. partner with others to unlock new paths. along the way, relationships can grow from platonic to something more if you can manage them.
ROMANCE OPTIONS. RESIDENTS OF CAMP HILLBIRD
AKSEL / ALEKSA HAUSTEIN [M or F] The Reckless Lagomorph. the one who sent your team to camp hillbird in the first place. yes, they are spitkisser00. A works as a tattoo artist and is an avid fan of your paranormal youtube channel, fascinated by every strange thing flesh revival manages to uncover. with a reckless appetite for adventure and a talent for making bad ideas look fun, they insist on joining the investigation as your self-appointed guide.
PERCY / PIERCE DILLANE [F or M] The Bleeding Hound. a traveler returning to halvrest to help at their uncle’s auto shop, while also taking on fishing work around camp hillbird to keep their family afloat. unfortunately, they also happen to be someone from your past. as one of the people tied to the ugly history you and your friends would rather forget. even if they are almost impossible to ignore, the sharp-tongued P wants nothing to do with your investigation or with you. though somehow, bad luck keeps forcing the two of you into each other’s orbit.
TAKANE / TAKERU MEGURO [F or M] The Hillbird. the owner of camp hillbird and the architect responsible for much of its design, making them the person standing closest to every secret buried beneath it. however, for someone so elegant and frustratingly unreadable, T is being haunted. if anyone holds the truth about camp hillbird, it's them. you just have to be persistent enough to get close.
MAVERICK WARDWELL [NB] The Crooked Stag. a well-known regular at camp hillbird with a jack of all trades reputation. hunter, horse rider, professional bargainer, you name it. charming to a dangerous degree, maverick trades secrets for favors. whether they are helping you or simply entertained by you remains unclear.
SALEM ABERNATHY [trans M] The Sentient Vulture. a park ranger assigned to oversee camp hillbird, meaning he also has to deal with you and your friends. salem spends most of his time patrolling the grounds and making sure no one gets themselves in trouble chasing ghosts in places they absolutely should not be (aka you guys). he's armed with too little sleep and the patience of a man being tested by the universe.
I just submitted When Life Gives You Lemons to Hosted Games. Here are some FAQs:
1: When will the game come out?
A: I don't know yet. Hosted Games will have someone read through the entire game, and they'll send me feedback on anything they want changed or removed. That process takes some time, so please hang in there. I'll share updates as soon as I know more.
2: How much will the game cost?
A: I don't know. As the author, I don't decide the price. Hosted Games does, and we'll only find out once the game is released.
3: How many words is the game?
A: Notepad says it's around 901,582 words (including code), but it could be a bit less. I was hoping to hit a million, but it is what it is.
4: How many chapters are there in total?
A: 12 chapters.
5: Who are the ROs?
A: There are 6 ROs in total: the teacher, the neighbor, the ex/childhood friend, the cop, the barista, and the boss/co-worker. All are gender-selectable.
6: So what now?
A: I need to finalize The Wedding for release in June on Steam and Itch.io. After that, I'll focus on Patreon content, (I've been neglecting Patreon for a while. 😭) then on finishing A Taste of Heat (formerly Spices of the Heart).
Please consider buying the game when it comes out. As the author, I will mostly receive about 25% of the revenue, while Hosted Games takes 75%. It sucks, but that's how it works.
The public demo on COGDemos will be taken down on May 15.
This game started as side content for Patreon and officially went live in July 2022. It's crazy to think that four years later, it's become something people love, and hopefully it'll get released. Thank you again to everyone for the love and support. 💕
I can die now, and you'll have this to remember me.
Pink you're far nicer than these people deserve 😭 they're just a weird subset of women haters
Nah you're just a feminist sexist. Imagine being a guy not wanting to play as a fucking chick🙄 Insane I know ffs
Imagine saying that an author wants to “trick people” by not tagging all their posts with the fact that it’s genderlocked. Like pink said maybe just block her blog or read the game post
The language you used clearly wasn’t said in a nice way. That’s why I called you a sexist. It’s one thing not wanting to play a gender locked mc (I usually don’t play IFs like that either) it’s another to go to the author and tell them they’re being duplicitous somehow
If I were a sexist against men I would not have gender selectable MCs I’ll tell you that much
I really like siblings ❤️ Too bad that mc with rich parents doesn't have any (I decided that that background 'works' best with my character). Of course, I understand why there's no sibling/s. These people are so unsuited to parenting role that it seems like miracle they even decided to have MC 🧐 I wonder why, instead of having a pet. Mother could carry it in her purse like the lady from Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie....
Anyway, I enjoyed the scene where MC gave a speech in front of the parents and their snobby friends, pointing out everything that was wrong in the family, but they did it in a very polite, charming way.
Are we sure having MC was an active decision and not an accident? Or maybe it was for purposes of style idk
I'm very glad you enjoyed that scene! I was so very happy with it hehe
The Lost Bride is a reimagining of Bram Stoker’s iconic novel Dracula, where you have full control over the story.
Play as Mina and shape her fate. Customize her name, sexuality, personality, and relationships with everyone you meet.
Patreon Update! Chapter 5 part 1 is now out for patreon! (Full demo at around 294K- April 15 /2026)
Huge thank you for all my patreon supporters as always. I wouldn't have been able to do it without of you. If you do like my work, then pls do consider supporting me, as it helps me with getting updates out faster.
Patreon Link (Currently part 1 is out and I'm now working on part 2)
Discord server.
Patreon demo (294k)
Get more from The Lost Bride IF on Patreon
Public Demo. (250k)
There will be four romance options for you to choose.
Lucy Westenra (F): Your once childhood best friend whom you share a past with. (Can be extremely jealous and clingy)
Jonathan Harker (M): Your sweet fiancé who is currently in a land far away from that of your own.
Van Helsing (M/F): An experienced and knowledgeable Dutch hunter with a wide range of expertise.
Dracula (M/F): A mysterious Transylvanian noble with dark secrets.
${PHeShe}'s wearing a red silk kimono that flows everywhich way about ${P_hisher} body with the movements of the water; bearing up, mermaid-like.
"This is Lincoln's," Zima says, following my gaze. "I [i]am[/i] wearing swim trunks but that wasn't really enough."
"You walked out onto the stage half naked at our concert but you're uncomfortable undressing to get in a pool?"
"That's different. People here would see me up close." ${Paul_ette} wipes a strand of wet hair, its brown color darkened by the water, out of ${P_hisher} face.
What genre is the band's music? I kind of get it was rock or something but I don't remember if it was explicitly stated and also what irl band are they most similar to in like music and stuff?
pop-rock :)
The main inspirations that are also listed in the intro post are Fleetwood Mac and Daisy Jones and The Six but I also get inspired a lot by Florence + The Machine. But there's a lot of other little inspirations, too.
the worst fictional deaths are actually the ones you see coming, where there is enough foreshadowing that you have time to hope, against all odds, that the character will survive, even as you realise that there’s no way out this time, they’re not going to make it, this was always how it was going to end
