In fact, no matter what Sleepy says about Evelyn's evil nature, she still evokes far more emotion than V. And it's not just that in FV we were shown that she is capable of doubting her actions and still possesses some kind of conscience, but also that if you don't take into account TBAT and a few poll winners, which are largely non-canon in relation to the main story, compared to the completely unrecorded sadist Violet, Evelyn has never shown much cruelty (at least in the early stories), which makes her a very cunning and well-thought-out character. Yes, Evie is certainly a villain and a master of manipulation (it would be foolish to deny that), but to me, she's quite smart and cunning, and simply not as reckless and sadistic as Vi. To be convinced of this, it is enough to take a close look at the comics.
- Who seduces and drugs the girl at Roofie Colada? - Violet (Evelina, while involved, hardly shows any initiative or dominance).
- Who sets up and gets Johnson drunk in code? - Violet
- Who bullies Selena in "Mystery of the Vanished Heires"? - Violet (Evelina, on the other hand, says it's time to end it).
- Who rapes Nancy in "In Trouble Again"? - Violet
- Who rapes Nancy in "Nancy Mysteries"? - Violet
- Who kidnaps and holds Nancy captive in "Like a Thief in the Night"? - Violet (Trixie rapes her)
- Who rapes and rather brutally fists Nancy in "Day Off"? - Violet
- Who initiates CG's kidnapping and brutally abuses her in "Meanwhile in Violet's Dungeon"? - Violet
- Who is obsessed with having her own slaves? - Violet
- Who seduces, rapes, and deprives Kayla of her home, using a stun gun on her to boot? - Violet
- Who strangles and abuses Freddy in FV3? - Violet
- Who quite brutally rapes and strangles Evie in FV6 and Valentine's Day Surprise? - Violet
- Who strangles Kayla in Valentine's Day Selfies? - Violet
- Who rapes Freddy in FV7? - Violet (mostly)
- Who rapes Nancy in TCAT? - Violet
- Who continues to remotely harass Trixie in TBAT? - Violet
- And most importantly! Who ruins PAM's life just because she parked in someone else's spot? - Violet
And this only applies to the main comic-book storyline. If you look at one-shots and old poll winners, you'll find plenty of similar situations there, too. What, in these stories, could be said to be as commensurately cruel on Evie's part?
- In Brood of Evil, she gasses and locks in a dungeon a nameless robber about whom we know nothing and will never know again.
- In Fled and FV1, she rapes CG, though not as brutally as Violet.
- In FV6, we learn (but don't see) that she's abusing Leopold. His fate is perhaps more horrific than the CG version, although we don't know and never will.
- In FV7, she drugs and rapes Freddy.
- In Seduced Barista, she gets Kayla drunk and fucks her, though not as brutally as Violet.
- She rapes Nancy during Last Christmas.
- She kidnaps and begins training Josie, including in a gas chamber.
- She kidnaps Miss Park and brainwashes her.
- She creates Chemical Cupid, the Domination Station, and apparently perfects Brainwasher.
- And most importantly! She brutally tortures Trixie during TBAT and, like Vee, brutally breaks Pam.
I don't deny that Evie is also apparently not quite right in the head, but she is at least a member of the coven, and has been under the influence of her aunt for a long time, which at least explains something about her behavior and actions. It gives her at least some dimension and texture, although we also know nothing about her early years, or what happened to Vi before Back to Rehab. So, this raises another important question: what exactly connects Vi and Evie? What is their friendship like? If you look at it that way, Sleepy hasn't really addressed it in over 10 years. Not how they met, nor how they became friends. We're simply told they're friends, but if you look deeper, it seems they don't even have any particular common interests other than lesbian sex. And yet, judging by everything, one gets the impression that if Evelina had a normal, regular sex partner, she wouldn't have gotten into all this. At least, unlike Vi, she's clearly not against penises. Quite the opposite, in fact. So what, then, could possibly connect these two, essentially completely different personalities?
They vacation together, travel, go to the spa, drink. And... that's all? I've never seen Vi enjoy video games, understand chemistry or programming, or even read books. They don't even watch TV shows together, not to mention they apparently like completely different food. So what's the basis for their interaction and such close connection? Is it that they seduce Nancy time to time and get a thrill out of it? Or is it that they're both so strange and disconnected to the other world that they have no other "friends" besides each other? (Although who's stranger is a big question.) Are they friends, lovers, or do they have some kind of perverted combination of mistress-slave positions?
If, in addition to her sadism, Vi was also a talented manipulator or hypnotist, I could believe that Evie fell under her influence a long time ago and has since been somehow psychologically attached to her (after all, she still experiences their quarrel very strongly, judging by FV3 and FV6) but Vi is such an empty, flat, and mostly generic character that it's hard to believe. It feels like her entire life is endless, even routine, sex with slaves. No friends, no hobbies, no inner demons, no philosophy, not even an ultimate goal. The character's entire essence boils down to the ironic, "Why not?" And the most frustrating thing is that the deeper you delve into this story, the more questions arise and the fewer answers we get, because it's much easier to draw beautiful and passionate but completely unrelated pictures than to construct a coherent and thoughtful story.
On the other hand, even in such "routine" approach, we can find some sort of pattern. A growing level of permissiveness. First, the usual alcohol, then chloroform, then drugs, then the first slave, followed by several more. Unhealthy sadism with electric shocks, strangulation, brainwashing, gas chambers, crypt cages, and, ultimately, an entire auction selling not just slaves, but essentially morally and physically broken girls with no will or memory, some of whom no one will even look for. And with such a development, the logical outcome is essentially self-evident — the death of one of the characters, something Sleepy, for obvious reasons, won't agree to. The conclusion is stagnation, where the bar can't be lowered, but the emotional intensity can't be raised either. And how Sleepy plans to get out of this is unclear. Apparently, he doesn't have one. Therefore, we're likely in for an extremely strange and controversial ending to the saga. Of course, I'd be very, very wrong, and I hope that despite the crisis, Sleepy will still add depth, nuance, and explanation to this story, since he did eventually undertake to build a coherent universe from these puzzle pieces. I'd like to believe he has a clear plan for how it all should ultimately play out. The question is whether we will live to see this finale or Sleepy will go on vacation once again and never return.