WoW: Further Folami Character Ruminations

Time to think about Folami's personality and general character (pardon the pun).

• Folami is immature and childish at times. As I said, her life has not been a happy one, and given her father's well-intentioned cruelty, her mother's fall to addiction, and several other events in her life, she's developed a sense of entitlement. In her mind, she's paid her dues ten fold and the world at large owes her and owes her big. Yes, believing that life is a fair exchange of bad events for good is a childish sort of belief, but remember, Folami is only 63, which is just considered adulthood for Blood Elves. She's like a college student who has left home for the first time and is learning the real definition of self-support. She'll get hit with the universe's version of a clue-by-four soon enough.

• Folami is NOT a good person. I said yesterday Folami is not given to acts of altruism, and this is true. She's an extremely selfish person and nearly always puts herself first (one of the exceptions being when Keldris was having his throat sliced open right in front of her). I believe, if pushed really hard that at this moment, she could potentially be encouraged to do things that would put everyone else in jeopardy. (Not saying she would, mind, it depends on a few things, mostly including what package whatever damaging factor is wrapped in and also depends somewhat on the status of her relationships with her new friends.) However, "not good" doesn't equal evil. Though a fair number of her ideas and beliefs may have fundamental flaws, she ultimately does believe in healing Azeroth and she does want to see her fellow Sin'dorei restored to their former glory, albeit with quite a bit more humility and a whole lot less snobbery. (Look, laugh all you want, I already said she was naive and childish.)

( I'm fond of bullet points. )

Consent, how does it work?

Melissa McEwan posted about why consent matters in regard to Representative Anthony Weiner after it's come to light via a Times article that Ms. Genette Cordova neither consented or solicited for pictures of Weiner's genitalia.

Listen, there is no one (who doesn't know Weiner personally) who did not want to find out more than me that Congressman Anthony Weiner was sexually harassing women by sending them unsolicited pictures of his genitals. It grieves me. But just because I don't want to be true doesn't mean I get to pretend it isn't; and pretending it isn't doesn't make it so.

It matters that he sent unsolicited sexual images to women, because consent matters.

And the lack of consent matters.

To repeat what I said in a comment at Shakesville, this was not Anthony Weiner, random dude who likes to send naughty pictures to women on Twitter. This was Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) sending pictures to women from his professional account. These women all started following and communicating with Mr. Weiner in his capacity as a member of Congress. They did not initiate contact for the purposes of flirting or sending nude pictures, and even if few of them might have found this a pleasant surprise, at least one woman has said she didn't want pictures, that she only wanted to deal with Mr. Weiner in a professional manner. And he sent pictures to her anyway.

That is what's so skeevy about all of this. That is why I will not condone Mr. Weiner's behavior, nor will I defend him to any degree. Women went to him because he was an ally and in turn he used them to get his rocks off, and now I'm supposed to be okay with that because he's a supposed progressive who made a few good speeches about women's rights? No, it doesn't work like that.