Usually I only ask for advice on fashion, or I post things that I think are interesting questions but about which I'm not actively seeking advice... Let's call this topic an exception to the rule, because it's not a strictly fact-based thing about a subject I know nothing about, but neither am I disinterested in the results. Did that intro ramble too much? I want to know how people feel about the situation I describe here. There. That's shorter. Everything my character does winds up under a microscope, and I get wildly different feedback from different people on different days about the exact same sequence of events and actions, so I want to kind of lay out the broad arc for her relationships over the course of this story and ask what people think about her on that basis. Anyway, here is her story as I see it right now. 1. She experiences what she perceives as a major career setback. She is vulnerable and gets caught up in looking for some other way to feel valuable, and so she has a fling with an eligible guy who has some genuine interest in her, although there are some hints they aren't quite cut out for one another. 2. With her career mostly back on track, she forgets about the first guy, possibly also because she meets a second. There is (literally) magic involved in this relationship, and maybe a touch of fate, but they really don't hit it off that well; the relationship could be described as abusive, from both sides. After a little bit of life-and-limb danger and a disturbing revelation from her new beau, she takes a step back to reevaluate. 3. While attempting to regain some sense of normalcy, she bumps into Mr. Normal again--the guy from point 1. This time he is exactly what she's looking for: she just wants to feel grounded again, and he's a very grounded kind of guy. Their relationship is not abusive from either direction, unless you consider that she isn't attracted to him, per se, but rather just the idea of being ordinary. 4. This part isn't written yet, but in the story's climax she will almost certainly choose guy #2. It will probably start off as a sort of forced alliance as a result of other aspects of the plot, but I think there's a little more to it than that. All right, give it to me straight. How evil (or not evil) is she for doing these things? Or maybe she's just "wishy washy"? I heard that one a lot on Thursday night.
Evil is a loaded word and an odd construct. Is she at the whim of common human behaviour? Yes. Is that a bad thing? You would have to be overwhelmingly arrogant to consider it as such. I do not have a problem with this character arc at all. And, if I do not like her, does it matter? She can still be compelling.
I agree. Some of the most aggravating characters, the ones who make horrible decisions, are the most compelling. We never forget these characters. And I'm not even saying your character makes horrible decisions. Who knows, if I read the story I might really like her.
Evil? She seems...normally evil. As evil as any of the rest of us. She seems...human. Not egregiously evil or saintly, but human. Flawed and emotional.
I'm not seeing why she would be regarded as the least bit evil here. She left a relationship. She started another one. She left that one. She went back to the first one. Is the evilness about the idea that a relationship isn't always for a lifetime? Or, did she not end the relationships--did she just cheat on the current one with the new one? I may say that going back to mutually-abusive guy is pretty stupid, but that's a different question.
Less the magic, this sounds like the life of more than one person I'm friends with on Facebook. She doesn't sound evil at all to me, just someone who has a bit of drama going on.
Not evil, but self-centred and something of a drama queen, which - if handled entertainingly - can make for a perfectly wonderful protagonist, but you'll need to work on why either of the men stick around for her after being dumped the first time.
She doesn't sound evil and having her wind up with mutually abusive guy would be much more entertaining from a reader's perspective than watching her settle for something safe.
