u/Forsaken_Earth944

I've tried searching the CQC website with what little info I can remember - but all I can remember is that the manager's name was Kathryn, though she went by Kate, and that I think it was pretty central, I remember being shown a photo of where it was and I think it was in the middle of town, but not too far from the coast. 

I couldn't find any care homes in WSM with a manager called Kathryn or Kate, so it could be that she's moved on. I remember when they came to see me she was with another woman whose name I think was Vicky (though I'm not 100% certain about that). 

They gave me the details, but I've lost the piece of paper they wrote them on, which is why I'm posting here. 

Let me give you some info on why I'm trying to locate it - thing is I'm not sure I can do that without turning this post into an essay. 

Almost seven years ago, I contacted the NDVH after I fled my violent, controlling, alcoholic ex, hoping for a place in a refuge; when I left him - he almost killed me by bombing his van down the A66(M) after downing a bottle of gin, and then shoving me out in Stafford while the van was still moving - I had no choice but to return to my parents, who had been complicit in SA when I was a child, so obviously I really didn't want to return there. 

That didn't happen - what did happen was that two social workers pitched up and I was sectioned, I've spent the last almost seven years (since 05/12/2019) being dumped in ever more inappropriate places:

🔴ATU (Aylesbury): 05/12/2019 - 22/03/2021 (474 days) - I was stuck in that particular hell for so long because they couldn’t find anywhere else to dump me

🟠Care home for people with severe learning disabilities and complex needs (Leicester): 22/03/2021 - 08/02/2023 (689 days)

🟡Bucks flat: 08/02/2023 - 08/08/2023 (182 days) - I fled there because the manager started chucking my food away almost as soon as I'd bought it, she also told the Court of Protection that I liked to "eat rancid raw meat" and that I would "take mouldy food out of the bin and eat it", which is why I'm not allowed to have any control over my food now. 

🟢Bristol Royal Infirmary: 12/08/2023 - 28/11/2023 (109 days)

🔵Here: 28/11/2023 - ? (Today’s date: 28/09/2026) (1,036 days - and counting)

That's 2.490 days (6 years, 9 months, 24 days)

They came to see me while I was in BRI (I collapsed in the city centre, so my freedom was short-lived) and, I didn't go there because I'd spent 18 months in a care home, where I'd had to endure another resident constantly slamming his bedroom door and pushing me down the stairs while staff did nothing. 

I'm now in a shitty flat in the arse end of Bristol and my current captors are basically just working to rule and ticking boxes, and I'm now severely chronically ill and malnourished because I'm not given enough food per day for a single decent meal. I've also been given food which has been covered in fly eggs and maggots. I've been given raw chicken and cremated bacon. 

I've had a lifetime of abuse, and I now realise that I'm probably severely traumatised and that I likely have PTSD - every single day I'm in here I suffer further trauma; they're abusive, not only do they restrict my food, but I've been held in the bedroom for hours until I've become so traumatised that I've voided my bladder. I've been thrown against walls and furniture and held on the floor prone so that I could barely lift my head to breathe.

I've tried to make my abusers understand what effect their behaviour is having on me - their response...? "We understand that, but we have to do what our manager tells us to do" - so you don't understand then, do you...? Their jobs are more important than my wellbeing (but, then, they are Nigerian). 

They've taken my phone; they've also taken all of the clothes that still fitted me bar this one t-shirt I've been stuck in for the past almost three years. I'm TERRIFIED because they can barge into the flat whenever they feel like it - I used to have things which I'd use to help me cope but it's now been decided that it's in my "best interests" to be denied them now, so I've nothing to control the anxiety. 

It wasn't until the end of last year, when I was given a sealed order by my solicitor (she's useless, all she does is relay what the CoP has decided to me, she's doing nothing to fight my corner), that I learnt that I was 'atypically autistic' - I've never had any form of autism assessment, nor have I ever had a capacity assessment, everything which has happened - and is happening - to me has been done on assumptions. I had to look the criteria for a diagnosis of 'atypical autism' up - and, from what I've found out, I can well understand why I'm being treated as though I'm a complete imbecile. 

I don't know who the person described in the sealed order is, she's not me, the only thing we have in common is our initials, I feel like I've been forced to live someone else's life for the last seven years. 

Every aspect of my life is out of my control, according to the terms of the MCA order, I lack the capacity to:

🔴Decide where I live

🟠Decide my care and support needs

🟡Represent myself to the Court of Protection 

🟢Decide where I live

🔵Control my own finances (I have to beg my social worker for money and, to date, I’ve not been allowed a single penny)

🟣Have anyone come to the flat 

I can’t leave the flat without my abusers, not that I'm in any fit state to but, if I was to do so, they'd call the police and follow me (my ex used to stalk me if I left the house without his consent)

They control my internet access (which is extremely slow and unreliable, there are parental controls on the router)

The flat isn’t fit for human habitation and I'm now so weak that I don't think I'm going to survive another winter here, there's no central heating, just three inefficient electric heaters that don't work. The windows don't close properly, and there's damp, mould and rats, oh and the bed is broken. I also can’t deal with the noise from either my abusers or the road. I just need to be somewhere where I can close my front door and feel safe. I'm not safe here. I need urgent medical care but, because I'm now so traumatised, if anyone comes here I automatically demand they leave because I don't feel safe. I'm losing my sight, and my skin is now so thin it just tears, I'm extremely weak, I don't know how much longer I can survive like this but, frankly, death would be a relief. 

I don't want to die, though, which is why I'm trying to find this care home to see if they know anyone who can help me (they said I could contact them whenever I wanted, and I've been wanting to do that for a while, but I've lost the contact details). I'm desperate, if I can’t find anyone to help me, then I'll be exiting this shitehole via the bedroom window (somehow, I think I've a key somewhere). 

I'm beyond desperate now, I've contacted just about everywhere I can think of, and nobody will help me, I even contacted a journalist at the BBC, but he won’t help me because I don't have a social worker or solicitor I'd want anyone speaking to because they're not acting in my best interests and, he was to contact them, they'd simply parrot what they've been told by the CoP, I need someone to listen to me because the only person who understands me is me.

I just don't see the point of continuing to exist if all I'm ever going to see are the walls of this shitty flat. What kind of existence is that...? 

So, if anyone knows anywhere in WSM that might match the description, please tell me.

Thank you

I've tried searching the CQC website with what little info I can remember - but all I can remember is that the manager's name was Kathryn, though she went by Kate, and that I think it was pretty central, I remember being shown a photo of where it was and I think it was in the middle of town, but not too far from the coast.

I couldn't find any care homes in WSM with a manager called Kathryn or Kate, so it could be that she's moved on. I remember when they came to see me she was with another woman whose name I think was Vicky (though I'm not 100% certain about that).

They gave me the details, but I've lost the piece of paper they wrote them on, which is why I'm posting here.

Let me give you some info on why I'm trying to locate it - thing is I'm not sure I can do that without turning this post into an essay.

Almost seven years ago, I contacted the NDVH after I fled my violent, controlling, alcoholic ex, hoping for a place in a refuge; when I left him - he almost killed me by bombing his van down the A66(M) after downing a bottle of gin, and then shoving me out in Stafford while the van was still moving - I had no choice but to return to my parents, who had been complicit in SA when I was a child, so obviously I really didn't want to return there.

That didn't happen - what did happen was that two social workers pitched up and I was sectioned, I've spent the last almost seven years (since 05/12/2019) being dumped in ever more inappropriate places:

🔴ATU (Aylesbury): 05/12/2019 - 22/03/2021 (474 days) - I was stuck in that particular hell for so long because they couldn’t find anywhere else to dump me

🟠Care home for people with severe learning disabilities and complex needs (Leicester): 22/03/2021 - 08/02/2023 (689 days)

🟡Bucks flat: 08/02/2023 - 08/08/2023 (182 days) - I fled there because the manager started chucking my food away almost as soon as I'd bought it, she also told the Court of Protection that I liked to "eat rancid raw meat" and that I would "take mouldy food out of the bin and eat it", which is why I'm not allowed to have any control over my food now.

🟢Bristol Royal Infirmary: 12/08/2023 - 28/11/2023 (109 days)

🔵Here: 28/11/2023 - ? (Today’s date: 28/09/2026) (1,036 days - and counting)

That's 2.490 days (6 years, 9 months, 24 days)

They came to see me while I was in BRI (I collapsed in the city centre, so my freedom was short-lived) and, I didn't go there because I'd spent 18 months in a care home, where I'd had to endure another resident constantly slamming his bedroom door and pushing me down the stairs while staff did nothing.

I'm now in a shitty flat in the arse end of Bristol and my current captors are basically just working to rule and ticking boxes, and I'm now severely chronically ill and malnourished because I'm not given enough food per day for a single decent meal. I've also been given food which has been covered in fly eggs and maggots. I've been given raw chicken and cremated bacon.

I've had a lifetime of abuse, and I now realise that I'm probably severely traumatised and that I likely have PTSD - every single day I'm in here I suffer further trauma; they're abusive, not only do they restrict my food, but I've been held in the bedroom for hours until I've become so traumatised that I've voided my bladder. I've been thrown against walls and furniture and held on the floor prone so that I could barely lift my head to breathe.

I've tried to make my abusers understand what effect their behaviour is having on me - their response...? "We understand that, but we have to do what our manager tells us to do" - so you don't understand then, do you...? Their jobs are more important than my wellbeing (but, then, they are Nigerian).

They've taken my phone; they've also taken all of the clothes that still fitted me bar this one t-shirt I've been stuck in for the past almost three years. I'm TERRIFIED because they can barge into the flat whenever they feel like it - I used to have things which I'd use to help me cope but it's now been decided that it's in my "best interests" to be denied them now, so I've nothing to control the anxiety.

It wasn't until the end of last year, when I was given a sealed order by my solicitor (she's useless, all she does is relay what the CoP has decided to me, she's doing nothing to fight my corner), that I learnt that I was 'atypically autistic' - I've never had any form of autism assessment, nor have I ever had a capacity assessment, everything which has happened - and is happening - to me has been done on assumptions. I had to look the criteria for a diagnosis of 'atypical autism' up - and, from what I've found out, I can well understand why I'm being treated as though I'm a complete imbecile.

I don't know who the person described in the sealed order is, she's not me, the only thing we have in common is our initials, I feel like I've been forced to live someone else's life for the last seven years.

Every aspect of my life is out of my control, according to the terms of the MCA order, I lack the capacity to:

🔴Decide where I live

🟠Decide my care and support needs

🟡Represent myself to the Court of Protection 

🟢Decide where I live

🔵Control my own finances (I have to beg my social worker for money and, to date, I’ve not been allowed a single penny)

🟣Have anyone come to the flat 

I can’t leave the flat without my abusers, not that I'm in any fit state to but, if I was to do so, they'd call the police and follow me (my ex used to stalk me if I left the house without his consent)

They control my internet access (which is extremely slow and unreliable, there are parental controls on the router)

The flat isn’t fit for human habitation and I'm now so weak that I don't think I'm going to survive another winter here, there's no central heating, just three inefficient electric heaters that don't work. The windows don't close properly, and there's damp, mould and rats, oh and the bed is broken. I also can’t deal with the noise from either my abusers or the road. I just need to be somewhere where I can close my front door and feel safe. I'm not safe here. I need urgent medical care but, because I'm now so traumatised, if anyone comes here I automatically demand they leave because I don't feel safe. I'm losing my sight, and my skin is now so thin it just tears, I'm extremely weak, I don't know how much longer I can survive like this but, frankly, death would be a relief.

I don't want to die, though, which is why I'm trying to find this care home to see if they know anyone who can help me (they said I could contact them whenever I wanted, and I've been wanting to do that for a while, but I've lost the contact details). I'm desperate, if I can’t find anyone to help me, then I'll be exiting this shitehole via the bedroom window (somehow, I think I've a key somewhere).

I'm beyond desperate now, I've contacted just about everywhere I can think of, and nobody will help me, I even contacted a journalist at the BBC, but he won’t help me because I don't have a social worker or solicitor I'd want anyone speaking to because they're not acting in my best interests and, he was to contact them, they'd simply parrot what they've been told by the CoP, I need someone to listen to me because the only person who understands me is me.

I just don't see the point of continuing to exist if all I'm ever going to see are the walls of this shitty flat. What kind of existence is that...?

So, if anyone knows anywhere in WSM that might match the description, please tell me.

Thank you

I don’t usually take gambles on games and buy them on the day of release because, the few times I‘ve done so, I’ve been disappointed, but I was bored and thought “what the fuck…”. It’s currently bundled with The Drifter which is a game you absolutely MUST play if you haven’t, the ‘complete my bundle‘ price was cheaper than Theropods by itself.

My Mac isn’t anything special (M2 Max MBP, running 15.7.3) but, as Theropods has graphics reminiscent of games such as Curse of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and other early ‘90s classics, it should run on a potato.

I was about halfway through the first chapter when it hard-locked; I left it for a couple of minutes, to see if it would resolve itself - it didn’t and I had to force-quit via Activity Monitor.

Worse, when I restarted, I found that I was forced to start from the beginning again because, despite the ‘saving’ icon appearing on the screen twice during my brief time playing, the game hadn’t been saving (this is why I hate games without a manual save system).

I really should’ve asked for a refund at that point, but I decided to give it another shot, this time I got as far as the beginning of chapter three before it hard-locked again and, again, when I restarted, I was right back at the beginning again.

When it locked the second time, I was right on the 2-hour refund deadline, and Steam is refusing to give me a refund.

The precise points where it locked were: picking up the wooden stake halfway through chapter one, and switching between the girl and the alien on the mountain in chapter three.

I also found the gameplay pretty “meh”; the ‘puzzles’, such as they are, consist of either getting someone to help you get something you can’t reach or figuring out how to get past someone - or something - who/which is impeding your progress, and the complete lack of dialogue (there’s no text in the game at all) often leaves you guessing as to what NPCs want, using pictographs à la Amanita Design, would have saved a lot of confusion, and I did have to resort to a walkthrough video several times - I was surprised that there was one on the day of release).

This is developer Lost Token’s first game and, as the adage goes, you only get a single chance to make a first impression and, on the basis of my experience with Theropods, I‘d be reluctant to play any future releases.

If you want to try it, wait until it’s on a deep sale (£10 or less)

Picked this up for cheap off GOG and I was more than slightly aggrieved to find, after it taking me more than two hours to download (it was over 14GB), that it’s broken. Now, I read many reviews before purchasing, and none mentioned that I would get about halfway through and not be able to continue. 

It’s been a very long time since I’ve played a Syberia game; I played the first and second games when they were released, but never bothered with the third because all the reviews said it was shite. Now, before I get into the point of this post, I want to say a little about the UI/UX which, frankly, is horrible, this isn’t a game for people with any kind of disability which causes problems with their hands - it took me ages to realise that you had to DRAG to select dialogue - that’s a new one on me, I actually restated the game twice because I thought it was broken before o realised - what’s wrong with the traditional clicking to select, eh Microids…? 

Now let’s talk about the voice acting - why do we have people who are supposed to be German speaking with RP British accents…? What kind of a German name is Dana Rose, anyway…?! Also, Vaghen should be spelt with a ‘w’ there are no German place names which begin with a ‘v’, and very few words in German which do (and those which there are the ‘v’ is pronounced more like an ‘f’ unless it’s a loanword).

I was then rather bemused by the fact that Kate now seems to be bi - wasn’t she engaged/married to Dan…? Whatever happened to him…? Now she’s shacked up in a gulag with some Russian bird…? Ooookkkkaaaayyy then… 

Anyway, I was endeavouring to keep this brief; up until the point past which I can’t proceed, I didn’t have to consult a walkthrough, and I don’t usually need to use walkthroughs when I play games, so I feel that’s a failing on Microids part. I can’t get past the bit where you have to repair the automatons in Vagen town square - the one that looks a bit like a clarinet or an oboe won’t accept that I’ve solved it (according to every written walkthrough and video I’ve watched) and the ‘CGDA’ (the one with the four pins) because, in my game, the pins are switched on the right side making solving it impossible (the longer pin is at the top when it ought to be at the bottom).

Looking at the discussions on Steam, I note that I’m not the only person who’s had this issue, and people are being told to “check the game’s integrity” whatever that means, but o bought it on GOG, so I wouldn’t even know how to do that. 

I’ve emailed Microids but, at the time of writing this post, I’ve heard nothing (perhaps they expect you to email them in French…? If so, why release your games internationally…?). I only paid £5.25, but it’s the principle, if I buy a game I expect to be able to finish it and, obviously, I can’t.

I’m just wondering if anyone else had this issue and, if you did, did you ever manage to fix it…? If you did, what did you do…? The weird thing is that it doesn’t appear to affect every game, only some (for the record I’m playing on a MBP via Crossover) but it’s still an issue which, after more than four years Microids should have addressed. 

My game

Every other game I’ve seen

The game is broken and I’m rather pissed off that I’ve spent actual money on it. I’ve just finished The Mermaid’s Mask (highly recommended by the way, despite all my annoyances with it) and now I’ve fuck all to do. I‘m a completionist, I HATE leaving games unfinished but, in this case, I’ll have to (unless anyone knows a way round this).

I now need to find something else to play, the only game on my wishlist with a known release date is Rusty Lake’s Servant of the Lake, and that’s not out for another three weeks. I’m also rather skint, I don’t usually drop full price on games (The Mermaid’s Mask was £15.97 at a discount) so, unless anyone can suggest anything, TWB‘s all I’ve got.

Unfortunately, I’ve probably played any game anyone’s likely to suggest - if it’s rated ‘very’ or ‘overwhelmingly’ positive on Steam then I’ve likely played it.