Visual Novel / Dear Devere

Post Box Address: Under the rock at the edge of Ardmore Forest.

"I suppose I should start with a short summary of my life. I don't really feel like doing that, so I shall skip to the present."

— Angela Bard

The year is 1935. It all started with a single letter. But from that point on, nothing would remain the same for Angela Bard—a quiet, solitary woman living in the Scottish isles.

Much to her surprise, she receives a mysterious and strangely esoteric reply from an unexpected source...

Who is Devere? And how can he be sending letters from the forest at the edge of Angela's town?

Dear Devere is a mystery romance Visual Novel told through a letter correspondence. It's written and illustrated by Katy133 and made in the engine Ren'Py.

The game is available for free on itch.io here. Dear Devere has also be given a release on Steam.

Compare with Katy133's earlier work, Three Guys That Paint and [redacted] Life.

Being a mystery visual novel, spoilers will be contained in the tropes. It's recommended that you play Dear Devere before reading on. You Have Been Warned.

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Dear Devere provides examples of:

• Act Break: The three acts in the visual novel are separated with segments of the player talking to the Captain on the telephone.
• Agent Mulder / Agent Scully: The Captain asks the Player Character if they believe Devere was really supernatural or not. The player can be either an Agent Mulder or an Agent Scully, depending on their answer.
• Alpha Bitch: Eliza Frame, a popular and insufferable member of Angela's book club.
• Ambiguously Human: Devere describes himself as "not human," but never fully explains exactly what he is.
• Anachronic Order: The story jumps between present day (1937) and the past (1935-1936).
• Asshole Victim: Cailin. He stalks Angela, threatens Angela and Devere, and then tries to have Devere arrested for being an enemy spy. He ends up being murdered by something large and doglike.
• Badass Bookworm: Devere. He enjoys reading (his home is filled with books) and has supernatural powers, including being able to transform into a wolf.
• Bad Liar: Conversed.
  Devere: So what you're saying is, I'm a terrible liar?
  Angela: Yes.
• Bookworm: Angela. She's well-read (quoting various authors on her letters' envelopes), likes visiting the town's library and runs a book club.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Angela describes the first kiss she shared with Devere in one of her letters.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: After Cailin continues to threaten them, Devere lies to Angela to try and get her to leave him. She doesn't believe him.
• Bullying a Dragon: Cailin tries to intimidate Devere, who may or may not be a literal demon.
• Cassandra Truth: Angela notes that she can only talk to Devere about the supernatural, as anyone else in the town would think she was mad.
• Collector of the Strange: Devere likes to collect things that humans have left in the forest he lives in. His cave is filled with these objects, including piles of books and a phonograph.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Cailin Calwood.
• Da Chief: The Captain. He repeatedly calls the Inspector, asking for updates on the case.
• "Dear John" Letter: Devere does this twice. The first time is a lie to clue Angela in on a hidden message in one of his letters, while the second is to try and protect her.
• Destroy the Evidence: The player does this in one of the endings to protect Angela and Devere.
• Dream Weaver: Devere has the ability to enter and manipulate people's dreams.
• Easter Egg: The visual novel contains one in the game's files, providing a message from the developer.
• Epistolary Novel: In a visual novel format.
• Everyone Knows Morse: Nearly all the heroic characters know Morse code. It's implied that Cailin, the antagonist doesn't know Morse code.
• The Fair Folk: Possibly Devere. He is able to manipulate people's dreams, says that he's not human, lives in the forest, and implies that others of his kind can live several centuries long.
• Fair-Play Whodunnit: It's possible for the player to figure out who was murdered and who was the murderer before The Reveal.
• Fallen Angel: Devere is possibly this. Angela compares his human form to an angel from a Renaissance painting.
• Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue: Much of the visual novel's narration appears in a black void.
• Featureless Protagonist: The Player Character is not given a gender, a name (it appears smudged on the envelope that is addressed to them) or a physical description.
• Fiery Cover-Up: In one of the endings, the player sets Devere's list on fire, destroying the evidence needed to track him down.
  • Angela also does this with one of Devere's letters when he instructs her to do so.
• First-Name Basis: Before their Relationship Upgrade, Angela and Devere address each other as "Mr Devere" and "Miss Angela Bard," respectively. Afterwards, they use each other's first names.
• Folk Music: The visual novel uses Scottish/Celtic folk music.
• Genius Book Club: Both Angela and Devere enjoy reading and are seen to use quotes from classic literature on their envelope designs.
• Genteel Interbellum Setting: The visual novel is set in the 1930s and Angela mentions that there is talk of another war possibly happening in the future, possibly referencing World War II.
• Government Agency of Fiction: The Anti-War Operations Bureau is a fictional agency filled with operatives who monitor the Isle of Mull for enemy agents.
• Great Detective: The Player Character has a reputation for being able to solve any mystery thrown at them.
• The Hermit: Both Angela and Devere live isolated lives (Angela is shunned by the community, while Devere lives in a cave), though Angela says that she enjoys the solitude.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: None of the characters are ever seen by the player.
• Historical Fiction: The story is set in the 1930s.
• Howl of Sorrow: In one of the endings, the player character hears a sorrowful howl in the distance, which haunts them for the rest of their life.
• Identifying the Body: The police try to identify a body they find in the woods, but are unable to, leading to them to decide that the body is Devere's.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Angela's first letter explains that she doesn't have friends, but is trying to make friendships by starting a book club.
• Implied Death Threat: Cailin does this to both Devere (telling him that he owns a rifle) and Angela (telling her that he has two large dogs).
• Inspector Lestrade: The Captain. He is able to collect clues regarding the body found in the forest, but comes to the wrong conclusion of who the murder victim was.
• Inspired by…: The credits list the Griffin and Sabine trilogy by Nick Bantock as inspiration behind the visual novel.
• Leitmotif: Devere's theme.
• Let Off by the Detective: The player can choose to do this.
• Liar Revealed: Devere telling Angela that he was never supernatural.
  • This turns out to be a lie, which Angela calls him out on in one of the endings.
• Long-Distance Relationship: Angela and Devere fall in love as they write letters to each other.
• Love Before First Sight: Angela and Devere fall in love through their letters, before meeting each other in-person.
• Love Letter: Angela sends one to Devere, while Devere sends one in return.
• Love Theme: The track Honesty.
• Love Triangle: Angela, Devere and Cailin. Both Devere and Angela love each other, while Cailin is in love with Angela.
• Meaningful Name: Angela and Devere sound similar to angel and devil, respectively.
  • Also Cailin, which sounds like Cain, the first murderer .
  • The characters follow an ABC motif: Angela Bard, Cailin Calwood, Devere and Eliza Frame.
• Multiple Endings: The story branches off into two different endings: A happy ending and a Downer Ending.
• Mundane Solution: Devere's powers don't extend to talking to people through dreams, so he instead sends letters by dropping them off at the post office (located outside of Angela's town) when no one is looking.
• Not What It Looks Like: Cailin sees Angela spend the night in the woods and comes to the conclusion that Devere seduced her.
• Older Than They Look: Zig Zagged. Devere explains that beings of his kind can live for a long time (implying that some can be centuries old). However, Devere mentions that he's on the young side compared to the other members of his kind. But he never makes it clear exactly how old he is, leaving his age unclear.
• Only One Name: Devere.
• Our Demons Are Different: Devere is given a winged wolf visual association. He is also described by Angela, who sees him in both human and animal forms.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Devere might be some sort of entity inspired by werewolves. However, it appears that he can shapeshift into a wolf voluntarily.
• Police Are Useless: Angela describes the police as being ineffectual, as they are made up of volunteers, some of whom are friends of the antagonist.
• Public Secret Message: Devere hiding Morse code on the front of one of his envelopes to Angela.
• Ransacked Room: Angela comes home to find her home broken into and searched, believing that someone was looking for her letters from Devere.
• Reclusive Artist: Devere lives in a cave and is able to create beautifully-illustrated envelopes.
• Romance Game: Dear Devere is an otome visual novel.
• Rule of Symbolism: Devere's envelope designs all have an esoteric art style to them. He later says that all his paintings are self portraits.
• Scrapbook Story: The visual novel includes various letters, postcards, notes and transcripts.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Player Character can choose to lie to the police they are working with to help Angela and Devere escape.
• Selkies and Wereseals: Devere might be this. Angela describes seeing Devere putting on a fur coat and transforming into a wolf.
• Shapeshifting: Devere has this ability.
• Shapeshifting Lover: Devere towards Angela.
• Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Devere's first letter to Cailin is a quotation from Shakespeare.
  Shakespeare: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
• Something They Would Never Say: Done multiple times. The first letter (claiming to be from Angela) in Act 2 is uncharacteristically typed instead of hand-written. Devere notices, sending a reply to the real author.
  Devere: Angela never uses that style of paper!
  • Devere also does this himself in the form of a "Dear John" Letter when he needs to send a hidden message to Angela.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Devere.
  Devere: He made a pathetic attempt at trying to impersonate you in a letter. Against my better temperament, I sent him a reply to go to Hell.
• Spy Speak: The Bureau discovers Angela and Devere's Morse code conversation and wonders if they are using code phrases.
• Stalker with a Crush: Cailin breaks into Angela's home while she isn't there to try and steal her correpondance with Devere. Cailin also repeatedly follows her in and around the town.
• Story Branching: Near the end of the visual novel, the story branches off into Multiple Endings.
• Supernatural Repellent: Devere tells Angela that he can't enter the town of New Sorne because of "an old magic" preventing him from doing so.
• Super-Senses: Devere can determine the origin of an object (such as the address of a letter) by holding it in his hands and concentrating on it.
• Sympathetic Murderer: The player can come to the conclusion that Devere killed Cailin, making Devere this, since Devere is a benevolent character and Cailin is not.
• Talking to Themself: Well, writing to herself. Angela writes the first letter to vent out her frustrations, not intending for anyone else to read it.
• That Was the Last Entry: The letter correspondence leads to this ominous narration:
  These letters were found inside a jewelled casket and a locked cupboard, within a furnished cave in Ardmore Forest.
  They were discovered and collected by the Bureau of Anti-War Operations, along with several documents related to the missing persons case of Angela Bard and Cailin Calwood.
  The Bureau has no official papers for a Mr Devere.
• Tomato Surprise: The Player Character is revealed to be the inspector: An agent of the Anti-War Operations Bureau.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Cailin is friends with the police.
• Voiceover Letter: Angela and Devere's letters have full voice acting.
• Wham Line: Devere telling Angela that he was never supernatural.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: One of the endings includes an epilogue with Devere and Angela together.
• Wild Wilderness: The forest outside Angela's town. Devere (a supernatural being) lives there, but the town doesn't know.
• Wrongfully Accused: Cailin tries to convince the police that Devere is an enemy spy. Then The police come to the deduction that Angela was kidnapped by Devere.
• Yandere: Cailin Calwood, when he starts threatening to kill Devere.
• You Can't Go Home Again: In the Epilogue, Angela decides that she never plans on returning to the Isle of Mull because there's nothing for her there. Considering that the police are looking for them, it may not be a wise idea for her or Devere to ever return.

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