Vladisyl

I don't have exact numbers yet, but at least twenty users were terminated at the same exact time, recieving an "internally generated report" refusing to declare reason for the ban. I quote, "Upon review of your account we have determined that it does not align with our terms of service". No reason given, this was clearly a deliberate action by staff as they themselves claim

Imagine this: you are the servant of a blind noblewoman.

Your lady is a gentle, kind soul who, unfortunately, is of little interest to anyone. Her parents had long since lost hope of marrying her off. Men have no desire to become her suitors. Women avoid the poor girl as though congenital blindness were contagious. Everyone whispers behind her back - with either contempt or pity.

You are the only person truly close to her. And you adore her. You devote all your strength to serving her, become the friend she lacks behind closed doors, fiercely defend her even at the risk of punishment for your insolence.

This continues until one day, by a fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate) coincidence, your lady crosses paths with King Baldwin IV himself. He is kind-hearted, and so he does not leave her without attention.

It is, undeniably, good for your mistress. People close to the court begin interacting with her. Her parents seem to remember they have a daughter again. Under everyone’s attention, the young woman begins to bloom. You genuinely want to be happy for her, yet you know none of these people are sincere. It is only a matter of time before they lose interest. Before the king himself loses interest.

You watch everything unfold with quiet doubt, dreading the day you will have to gather the shattered pieces of your lady’s broken heart, while never daring to voice your thoughts aloud. Even in your boldest dreams, you would never dare accuse His Majesty of treating someone carelessly. Not unless you wished to be executed.

It seems to you that Baldwin is far too enthusiastic about his new companion for this to be mere courtly politeness. And yet he gives no sign of being seriously interested either. You cannot tell whether your lady truly appeals to him. Though you assume she probably does. There must be a reason he invites her to meet with him again and again. Patiently, you accompany your lady on every evening stroll.

While your mistress curiously explores the flowers with her fingertips, saying something to the King, you absentmindedly kick a pebble aside. A strange sense of unease sends a shiver through your body. You look up.

Your lady has crouched down to smell the peonies. Behind her stands the king. Beneath the mask, his expression is hidden, but his gaze is fixed on you.

"Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness."

David Thewlis as GOD*/Hospitaler KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (2005), dir. Ridley Scott

*David confirmed the 'God theory' on ig

The three primary uses of masks in film are entertainment, disguise and protection. From ancient Greek plays through Japanese Noh theater, masks are deeply intertwined in the universal language of entertainment and ritual, and its power as a transformative tool is so ritualized and timeworn that it is the unofficial logo for an entire artform. Since theater was an influence on early motion pictures (consider the framing and gestural acting of silent film), it figures that masks would be smuggled into movies, and some of the most enduring images from film history are now associated with masks. —Alex Vlahov

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

Civics class wouldn't help most people in this case because the AG will not take on all these cases and most people cannot afford an attorney in this instance or more importantly, the hit to their credit.

Were they going to get into a lawsuit over my $400 bill? No obviously not. But they printed up a letter on fancy letterhead to say to stop and it worked. They followed up with me the next day to be sure, and so ask how much money they had saved me.

They use dinky cases like mine to track habitual misbehavior of large scale companies to build cases they could actually go to court over.

And because people are shocked- I never spoke to the AG of my state directly. He operates mainly by overseeing a whole crew of people. And this is what those people do.

This didn’t happen because I’m special because of my tiny therapy practice.

This happened because this is what the AG office is for.

“The problem is systemic” doesn’t mean “and there’s nothing you can do”.

Then you've been trained well by "The System".

Yes, that System you say can't be fought? Where did you get that idea, huh? Who taught you that "small" acts of illegality don't matter? Who made you think that there's no point in fighting back because it will all come to nothing?

Might it be the same entities that benefit if you believe all that?

Gonna pause and let you ponder.

Never. Ever. EVER.

EVER.

Let companies or corporations or hospitals or organizations or any business big or small get away with screwing you over without a fight. Maybe you personally don't win every fight, but you lose 100% of the time you don't try. You'll win more often than you think you will. I know cuz I've done it.

So have others. Attorneys General offices bring lawsuits against businesses all the time. They do so because citizens contacted them to say "someone is doing a crime" and the crime doers did not stop when told and got into way more trouble than if they'd just stopped. FAFO. The Find Out can't happen if you don't even bother to report the Fucking Around.

On that note, as OP said, please know your rights! And, in a situation where you don't but suspect something is hinky, ask! The people of the internet can help! So can librarians! So can many others. Find out what is and is not okay for them to do. If it's not okay, report them! See something, say something.

Don't let the System win by default.

If you believe The System™️ is only for Them™️ and not you, it will only ever be so.