Once We Were Gods

Horror / Queer / Mystery / Folklore / Adventure / Irreverent humor / Visual novel

The image displays a bipedal anthropomorphic bear named the Barghest. The Barghest stands against a dark and foggy background, with bubbles floating next to him. A tentacle is wrapped around his belly, with another on his head.

Temporary cover design

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW...

Taking place in the not-so-distant future, Once We Were Gods is a work in progress queer sci-fi horror visual novel with a demonic/paranormal twist on human morality and politics. It follows the journey of an outcast Hellborn grizzly bear called the Barghest, as he gathers a team to stop the followers of the Right Hand of the Bug, a fanatical religious cult, from escaping Hell. The team consists of Camio — the Barghest's old eagle friend — and four humans: Astrid, Derek, Alonso, and Hudson, who claim to be outcasts themselves. Maybe there's still some hope left for him with these people, but how long will that hope last in the face of an ancient horror as old as the civilization he wants to protect? Time is not on this unlikely group's side as they encounter ghosts, angels, the many demons of Hell, and discover secrets more threatening than even Satan himself.

I've been writing the script for this project for over two years now, and although I have the entire story planned out, I still have quite a lot to fill in, let alone draw. It's my most ambitious project yet, and I'm very proud of the story. I have absolutely no idea when it'll be finished, but I plan to keep making concept art for it even while I'm writing the script, so you'll get to know the characters a little!

Meet the Cast:

The Barghest

(he/him) [Hellborn grizzly bear]
💚💚🤍🩵💙

Astrid Breyer

(she/her) [Human]
🩷💛💙

Camio

(she/they) [Hellborn Steller's sea eagle]
🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵
🧡💛🤍🩵💙
One of many presidents of Hell. Also impeached, and a bird.

Derek

(he/him) [Human]
💚💚🤍🩵💙
🤎🧡💛🤍🩶🖤

Alonso

(he/him) [Human]
💚💚🤍🩵💙
🤎🧡💛🤍🩶🖤

Hudson

(he/him) [Human]

CURRENT VN PROGRESS:
Nine titled chapters are being worked on at the moment, with more planned for the future.Word count as of November 30, 2025:
WORDS: 51,833The average amount of words for a 200 page book is around 50,000. As this is a WIP visual novel, there's definitely going to be more words added (I wouldn't even say that I'm halfway finished yet).OWWG will remain a solo project until I'm done with the script and have gotten familiar with a visual novel engine, where I may then decide to look for a composer to make the soundtrack, and an artist to make the backgrounds.

I'll update this page soon (definitely adding more to the bios, of course)!