#like none of my health issues are fatal or life threatening in any way

[hikeyzz]

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[ofmidsummernights]

Hold! Who goes there? Why, is that Elphame Glaerun, the Governor of the Vailsteppes? They do look beguiling for a person of 4500 years. Don’t they call them the wise and visionary thaumaturge? I’ve heard they’re also devious and capricious though. Don’t take my word for it but they do look an awful lot like Michelle Hurd.

Basic Info

NAME: Elphame Glaerun

PRONUNCIATION: El-fame Glay-rune

TITLE: Governor || The Thaumaturge

AGE: 4500, looks around 50 in human years

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Rodarwen

FAMILY MEMBERS: None alive 

Physical Description

HEIGHT: 6′7

HAIR COLOR: Golden

EYE COLOR: Hazel

GENDER: Non-binary, They/Them

BUILD: Willowy

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES?: Exaggerated pixie-esque features due to Vailsteppe lineage. Long and sharply pointed ears, with gangly thin limbs and gnarled digits adorned with sharp nails. Their teeth are razor-like.

ANY HEALTH RELATED ISSUES?: None, as far as the eye can tell. 

The Vailsteppe Folk have a unique appearance when compared to other Vailar, owing to the distanced evolution invoked in their community through their dedicated worship of nature as well as the forbidden corners of the arcane.

They are hollow-cheeked and gaunt, their eyes and ears both larger as well as sharper in appearance than those of their kin; more adapted to sensing the delicacies in the sounds and sights of their surroundings, especially within the evening gloom of their canopy-shrouded forest. 

Their steps are feather-light, allowing them to move with nary any betrayal as to their doing so. They have long earned a reputation as shades of the forests, and are often referred to in the bedtime stories of human children in the form of skeletal specters that haunt the woods at night - the spirits of those who perished upon recklessly venturing there alone. 

Personality

Elphame carries the weight of their years with immense dignity and grace, moving with the fluid confidence of one who is effortlessly certain of their own intentions and affairs. They are prone to inviting lines of questioning into the means of others upon idle whim however, to invoke uncertainty even if only to watch the other party wrestle with newfound doubt and trepidation all for the sport of it.

They are predisposed towards fostering an intimidating presence when around others, and will rapidly move in subtle ways to establish their own perceived dominance within a public space - in such a way so as to ensure that all eyes are on them. To that end there is a degree of vanity within their manner, working in concert with an arrogance of self-conviction to forge a sense of cultivated superiority.

Within Elphame’s personality also lies the innate paradox that comes with the meld created between centuries of wisdom and and an insatiable appetite for mischief. They are at once insightful and playful, mature and petty, authoritative and rebellious - in essence their manner is an unpredictable collective of contradictions, which is most likely just how they would like it to be. 

Above all else Elphame loathes the notion of becoming known, or predictable - the moment they feel someone is perhaps getting too comfortable with them, or certain of their actions, they like to shake things up a little. Keeps things fresh, and fun.

Additional Info

THE NATURAL MANNER OF THINGS

Elphame is ardent in the belief that the natural manner of the world is to be governed not by governments and walls but rather solely through its own natural forces – nature and magic in tandem. They view the affairs and politics of other nations as entirely petty and irrelevant, believing that the only meaningful fate is for Vailar to be once again be freed into the whims of nature and the arcane.

As a result they are an available ally to dragons and fellow unorthodox mages, and a natural enemy to any organized institutions, governing bodies or state infrastructures promoting any form of social order.

INTRODUCE A LITTLE ANARCHY

Further to their macrocosmic perspective of the world and its functions, Elphame has a petty nature that can very much hinge upon and shift axis on a whim. To this end, there’s an innate delight they experience in invoking chaos in organized settings and provoking turbulence in otherwise staid or “boring” domains.

Due to this, they are a covert supporter and resource-laden backer available to members of the rebellion. They delight in the thought of the rebels making a resurgence, due to the absolutely sublime mess of things they provoked in communities all over the last time the movement rose to prominence.

THE HOUSE OF WONDERS

Elphame is a powerful mage with a widely famed – if ominously shrouded – reputation as a thaumaturge; a maker of miracles. As part of curating their own image as well as enhancing the perceived power lurking within House Glaerun, Elphame is always open to opportunities to further cement this impression of the depths of their magical aptitude.

They therefore run something of a personal business of granting such “miracles” for others – but always at a price. Whether it be a request for wealth, love, a chance for extended life, or a fatal curse upon an enemy they have no qualms; however one must be prepared to pay in tribute something of equal worth.

History

THE VAILSTEPPE FOLK

The Vailsteppe Folk have evolved over many thousands of years to become genetically distanced from their Vae kin, having become “pixie”-like in their features due to growing too close to nature in their highly involved magical practices. Having taken those practices too far for too long, they somewhat lost themselves to the intoxication of the very force they worship.

Gradually they became almost one with the forest and magic therein themselves, growing increasingly capricious, disinterested in the delicacies of national and international politics - as well as the will and word of the Council itself, even. Uniquely their sexual dimorphism has nigh on disappeared through this same process, and as a culture they have come to identify themselves as a nonbinary community. The Vailsteppe population is small, as the norm in their society is for children to only be conceived once or twice late in their 5000 year lives in order to secure inheritance upon their forebears’ passing.

KINGDOM

The Vailsteppe Folk’s love for the forest in which they dwell is reflected in their sigil. From their ancestral seat in Rodarwen do they govern the surrounding woodland out to the open steppe beyond. Their forests are dark, labyrinthine and tangled; their greatest defense being that one must intimately know the way to the city, lest they otherwise be lost forever in the shrouded gloom of the forest which otherwise threatens to lead even the most wary travellers astray. Their realm has long held a secluded, mysterious and removed reputation due to their location – and the fact that its denizens guard the secret of their veiled paths and hidden trails with utmost jealousy. They believe that their forest is that which had first sprung from Vailanwiel’s sacrifice those many eons ago.

FAMILY

House Glaerun is an old “family” that has been suspicious of centralized power and reclusive where it comes to outside affairs for as long as the records at Rodarwen can remember. Due to the way the Vailsteppe community now operates and perceives themselves, family has taken on an unorthodox form compared to other societies in Vailar.

A partner is merely one’s chosen to produce an heir with when twilight years at last approach, and surnames are now little more than indicators of those inheritances. One’s loyalty to the community and neighbours as a whole far outweighs that to those who share your surname.

Despite being mature in years, Elphame has shown no interest in considering a partner in order to produce an heir to secure their hereditary governorship with. Mysteriously, the Vailsteppe Folk appear neither concerned nor curious as to the reasons why.

MAGIC

Elphame is a practitioner of “low magic” with thousands of years in experience; their specialty has been in Divination magic, wherein they have particular affinity for oneiromancy, geomancy and astromancy. The hedge witch that started Elphame on their journey into the arcane is long deceased, and though in their youth Elphame once had ties to the Magaesterium these were likewise severed in the distant past – the reason for this being concerns and objections over Elphame’s experimental forays into forbidden, darker magics in their increasingly unsettling apathy for collateral consequences. Elphame is a proficient practitioner of blood magic – it is the source of their “wonders”, and a method they are more than happy to use in pursuit of both their long-term goal of returning Vailar to nature, and to have a little fun on the way there.

[hardyalise92]

Cat Spraying Reddit Easy And Cheap Tricks

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Cat Peeing Not Spraying

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Cat Peeing On Wall

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[azveille]

New treatments for peanut allergies sound promising, but questions remain

Whenever I see a report touting possible new peanut allergy treatments, I devour it. I can’t help it. It’s an occupational hazard for any health journalist whose reporting specialty and medical history intertwine.

I write about the business of health care, focusing on how consumers interact with the system — what we pay, what we get and why American care costs so much. But in this particular instance, I have another kind of authority: 26 years of life-threatening allergies to nuts and peanuts.

So when Brisbane, Calif.-based Aimmune Therapeutics recently sparked optimistic headlines after releasing clinical trial results that its allergy product, AR101, would reduce the risks linked to an accidental exposure to peanuts, I received the usual wave of questions from friends, co-workers and my parents: Would you try it? Could this help?

Aimmune is just one company eyeing the prize. Childhood peanut allergy diagnoses increased more than 20 percent in the United States from 2010 to 2017. The global market for relief is worth as much as $2 billion. The French drugmaker DBV Technologies is also working to commercialize a peanut allergy patch. Other companies, including industry giant Sanofi, are following their lead.

If any one of them succeeds, it could change my life.

My friends call nuts “Shefali poison.” My allergies to peanuts first surfaced when, as a 15-month-old, I picked Thai noodles off an aunt’s plate and developed hives on my face. A few months later, I ended up in the hospital after I tasted my mom’s kaju barfi — an Indian dessert with cashews (to which I am also allergic). Nobody in my family had ever heard of peanut allergies.

Writer Shefali Luthra, second from right, as a seventh-grader. She says she has carried epinephrine for her allergies to nuts and peanuts since she was 7 years old. (Courtesy of the Luthra Family)

I’ve carried epinephrine since I was 7 years old. My friends are trained to inject it in my leg, the standard procedure for an emergency allergen exposure, although I luckily haven’t had to take a shot of it since I was 4. (Another child in my Montessori class had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.) My mom also recalls another incident when she had to pick me up early from day care because the class was making peanut butter bird feeders. And I spent too many years of pre-adolescence eating lunch at the designated “peanut-free table.” Now, I can only dream of flying to visit my parents for Christmas without worrying about whether my seatmate’s snacks might induce anaphylaxis. And yes, kissing someone who has just eaten peanut butter would put my life in danger.

But are these pills and patches a true breakthrough for people like me?

I approached the question as I would any other assignment. I read the research, called immunologists, and spoke with economists and drug pricing experts about whether these treatments offer meaningful benefit.

One of the first things I heard: “We are still in the infancy of these treatments,” said Corinne Keet, a pediatric allergist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Medically, there’s a lot we don’t know about the risks, how much these drugs could help and how long any effects would last. “None of these treatments have been shown to prevent fatal reaction,” Keet said.

The idea behind them is to desensitize people. Aimmune’s “peanut pill” is modeled on the oral therapies some specialists use to slowly wean allergic kids back on to nuts. This approach has gained popularity in recent years, especially for children with multiple allergies, or when it’s a substance particularly hard to avoid.

A colleague’s young daughter, who was born with multiple allergies, used that very treatment, as did a younger cousin of mine who, for the first several years of her life, was allergic to — not joking — almost everything but fruits and vegetables. In my case, this therapy came into vogue after I was too old to have a good chance of it weakening my sensitivities.

How it works: Kids ingest tiny, escalating doses of peanut protein. They then stay on peanut protein — Aimmune recommends the pill, although other doctors I spoke to suggested a little bit of peanut — as a maintenance drug.

But it’s unclear how much the new therapies would improve upon that ad hoc oral immunotherapy that are already being offered by allergists. Instead of drugs, they use store-bought peanut protein, usually defatted peanut flour available online for as little as $1 a pound. This method isn’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and often isn’t covered by insurance — although doctors’ visits can be billed as “food challenges” or other visits that are typically covered.

In contrast, Aimmune’s product is expected to cost between $5,000 and $10,000 for the first six months of use, and $300 to $400 per month after, although the company declined to confirm these, or provide other, pricing estimates. DBV, Aimmune’s chief rival, has come up with a wearable skin patch that would transmit tiny, desensitizing protein doses. Analysts predict DBV’s will cost more than $6,000 for a year’s supply. The company says it has not yet determined a price. ­Joseph Becker, a company spokesman, said it does not view oral immunotherapy as a competitor.

“There’s excitement, there’s caution and a lot of unanswered questions,” warned Erwin Gelfand, a pediatrics and immunology professor at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine.

According to Aimmune’s results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, two-thirds of allergic children could ingest 600 milligrams of peanut without harm after going through treatment.

To be clear, even with Aimmune’s help, someone like me still couldn’t safely eat PB&J. But it would desensitize me enough that I could taste a friend’s wine if he recently ate peanut-topped pad thai.

Still, the treatment comes with caveats.

While 496 children started the trial, only 372 completed it. Of the 20 percent who backed out, half did so because of adverse events. About 14 percent of children getting treatment still had to take epinephrine, and one experienced anaphylaxis, a severe reaction that can involve rashes, vomiting, a tightening throat and difficulty breathing. (For an allergic kid, even the possibility is maybe one of the most terrifying things you can imagine.)

Children who completed the regimen still had to take small doses of peanut protein daily, either the Aimmune drug or a controlled peanut serving. Statistically significant benefits were clear only in patients through age 17, although Daniel Adelman, the company’s chief medical officer, said Aimmune plans to do a follow-up trial for adults.

And the results don’t indicate who would probably benefit, or how long improvements would last. That’s impossible to know, Adelman said. He said, however, accidental peanut exposure is scary enough — and pure avoidance ineffective enough — that the treatment is still worth it.

But all this means that anyone who has gone through Aimmune’s regimen would still want to carry epinephrine, and try to avoid peanuts.

“Not everybody responds well,” Gelfand said. When you factor in those details, the results are “not all that impressive.”

Tina Sindher, a pediatric allergist at Stanford University, pointed out that the Aimmune pill is a repackaged, clinically tested version of that homegrown oral therapy many allergists have been using. DBV’s peanut patch, Viaskin, to a lesser extent, is the same — more convenient, perhaps, and more regulated, but still a variation on the existing medical approach.

“This concept has been around for a long time,” she said.

What’s new is the addition of labor, standardization and federal oversight — which companies then say demonstrates increased value.

It highlights a pattern I’ve noticed from my reporting: Drugmakers develop medication that refines a low-tech remedy, run a clinical trial to secure FDA approval and then sell it at a higher price.

For pharma, it’s a logical way to profit. But it puts patients in a bind.

“The hard outcome is we have these new products and they’re just about as good or slightly better than what we have,” said Nicholson Price, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan Law School, who studies drug pricing. “And they’re a lot more expensive.” He noted: “That’s when the choices get hard, and we’re not good at making hard choices.”

Also skeptical? The closest authority I know: my mother, who raised me with peanut allergies when they were more or less unheard of, and is now doing it all over again for my 10-year-old brother. (Another brother, my twin, was allergy-free until about a year ago. Adult onset peanut allergy isn’t that uncommon)

“It’s not worth it,” my mom told me. Her concern? Getting any of us to maintain a peanut dose — without knowing how long that reduced sensitivity would last — could induce what she called “a false sense of security.”

This thinking isn’t out of line, Sindher said. The way these studies are touted, she said, often “gloss over the fact that there’s a lot we don’t know.”

So for now, I’ll have to maintain my distance from the newsroom stash of Reese’s Pieces. My epinephrine and I aren’t parting ways anytime soon.

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

[sunshinea12]

So I needed to vent or write my feeling out or something

Hi Tumblr universe. No one knows me here which is exactly what i need. I couldn't write this on facebook or twitter and most definitely not a text.... and most importantly nobody will read this which is okay by me.

Today i had an appointment at the eye doctor. I've been having these headaches for a little while now, a few month. I was thinking that maybe it was my glasses because it happens mostly as my day goes on and on as i stare at my computer for work. I think it started when i was stressing about my program ending at work and the load just continually increasing at a rapid pace. I was stressed as hell and i was a little overwhelmed. My program ended and then i had time at home to do whatever i wanted,3 weeks of a potential vacation before i started my new job. As the first week came to a close, the headaches came on really strong. Like i couldn't move my head without getting these pains, like sharp pains right above my left eye. I researched online and thought it might have been my sinuses. I also thought that i was really really dehydrated as i seriously don’t drink enough of anything, another reason i didn't want this to go out to anyone i know because then i would totally be a hypocrite because i am always on everyone else about taking good care of themselves but who am i? honestly I really don’t care I think.Anyway, the headaches remained through all of the time i was out of work. So my assumption was maybe it was because i went from having this crazy ass schedule to like doing nothing, I mean I left my house at 325 am and came home after 7 pm and then come home to work OT for a few more hours, unless one of my shows came on or I passed out. Some nights I couldn’t even find the time to eat dinner and this was every day during the week for about 3 or 4 years. I started working my new job and my schedule has changed once again but it was not as crazy as it once was. I am now looking at a computer screen from 9 in the morning until 630 at night which is a hell of a lot better than the before times so so long ago. So now by 3 in the afternoon my head starts throbbing and my eyes start twitching at work. this is starting to happened everyday now. I don’t get any of the sharp pains anymore, but my eyes feel tired and my head just hurts. Which is what leads me to want to go get my eyes checked for possibly get a new prescription for my glasses.

The dilated my eyes and looked into them with that super bright light. The doctor wanted me to have another test, which i never had to do before. After the screenings were complete she brings me back into the room and tells me that she wants me to go see a specialist for my eyes. She said i have a bulging nerve that is raised. It is showing fuzzy around where the nerve is supposed to lay flat. With me asking questions she was not clear in the things that she told me. Just that i need a second opinion because she is not sure what it is. She said there was diffidently something wrong with the nerve but it could be borderline something emergency or something that medication could fix. When i asked her if i could go blind or even die she told me that the specialist would have to determine that. It could cause blindness or be fatal to my health. She gave me a bunch of numbers to call as well as advice for what to do but i don’t even know. But like do I even call those numbers? What is the point of paying way too much for my premium to be told i have something threatening. What are my chances, what will happen if i don’t, does it make a difference if i do something to begin with? Do i even fucking care enough about myself to look further into this. I am 32, I have absolutely nothing going for me. Terrible job, no one to love or that loves me, friends that aren’t the best kind, family that don’t talk about ANYTHING except the bar that is owned by my father or the latest gossip going around. I wanted so much for myself in my life but i know that none of it will be a reality. SO once again do i fucking care enough to look further into this.

I cried for 10 minutes when i got home and i went to call my “like” mother. My mom passed away 12 years and her birthday is coming up in 2 weeks, So i am super blue. I am always super blue around this time of year. All i do is cry around this time of year. Christmas is coming, and as i said her birthday is coming. it is a very lonely time of year for me. I like have no family or friends to be with that i am really close to. I have some people around me but i can’t/don’t really rely on them. Whenever i feel the need to talk i don’t get a response. The people in my life tend to make my issue more about themselves than what it is that i am talking about. My “Like Mom” is classically known for this. since i was a child this has been something that has gone on in my life. I struggled with depression since i was 13 and her and my mom would sit me down to talk and sometimes it just seemed like i wasn’t allowed to talk. Like how I was feeling wasn’t the subject. They cared for me, i know this in my mind and in my heart, but i never got to communicate the feelings I had been feeling way back when. Maybe it was because they couldn’t understand. Maybe it was because they could not believe someone so young could be so hurt, feel so low and lost that they tried to turn me into the opposite. And it worked, kind of.... On the outside, i am not sad, low, lost, insecure. I am bubbly, happy, fun loving, confident like always. This is the skin i wear when i leave my home, when i’m walking down the street, at work, a bar, and hanging out with friends. But when i am in my room I am still sad, lonely as fuck, scared,depressed. it gets to the point where i ignore my phone, turn off my tv and computer and just stare at the ceiling thinking about what if things could be different. I was in a very toxic relationship with a person who i had no business with. I think we poisoned each other. He has been the only person besides those related to me whether by blood or time to tell me that they loved me. He love ME, i would think. How could someone love something like me, shit most days i can’t even find a single thing about me to love. But he told me every day. He also hit me most of those days too. I guess it was tough love that we had. Now sadly i can’t look at anybody without thinking that they will be like that, they will love like that so i don’t/refuse to get close to anybody, including those i have none ALL my life. Now i am just a shell of a person walking around, being there for anybody but screaming inside of my own head. I have felt this way for quite some time but last time i brought it up I was told my period must be coming and i will be over it once my hormones balance out. Funny that was well over a year ago and here we are in November and it is the start of the worst time of year for me because nothing says sad and lonely than spending Christmas with your cat and not getting a call or a text from a soul. Everybody has lives to live and families and their own things they are trying to get past. I just wish that this one time I could have someone there for me. To not brush away my feelings, to let me cry or vent or be sad, to let me tell the whole damn story before you bring in what is up with themselves or how they would do things. I’ve said it to plenty of people in the past and i guess it is my own turn to hear it. People are not always going to love you the way that you love them and they are also not always going to love you the way you want to be loved or think you deserve to be loved. Especially if you don’t tell them and I for one am not a speak up kind of person. I am most definitely the I am all ears, tell me whats wrong because I don’t want you to be sad kind of person. I will come to you if all you need is a hug and some kind words. I am the one who will listen to you cry and maybe even cry with you, but i will also keep checking on you to make sure you are alright, even though the storm has passed. I am what they call the strong friend. The one who is always in good spirits who wants everyone to feel good or be good sometimes even if I have to make an ass out of myself to do it. I am searching for someone like that for me right now. Someone who will know what to say or what to do to just be there. I just really need a hug, I haven’t had a hug since 2016 when i randomly met one of my twitter followers when I flew from Philly to San Francisco for 36 hours to see Darren Criss as Hedwig and she told me she was there as well. Unless we can say hugging means loving my cat, because I hug him everyday. He is my world, my Knight(that is his name). He saved me. He gave me something to do, I get out of bed every morning because of him, granted he is screaming at me to feed him but still. I love him more than I could ever even think to explain. I am not saying that i wouldn't be here if it weren't for Mr Knight, I am just saying he helps me get threw my nights and for that i am thankful.

[dorukhaber06]

finds clues to teen's suicide in blue whale paintings.

he walls and décor of 16-year-old Nadia's room looked like that of any other high school teenager. Her real name is not Nadia; we are keeping her identity hidden at the request of her family, out of respect for her memory and their privacy.

A beautiful painting covered the wall along the length of her bed; the bookshelf was adorned with books, knickknacks and childhood photos. Near a full-length mirror, recent artwork showed a printed photo of a blue whale overlaying a hand-painted background. This girl was a gifted artist, sister, daughter and friend. Nobody who knew her suspected that she would take her own life one early morning in May. Nobody who knew her could have anticipated what they would find after her death. Almost immediately, her devastated older brother, Marty, started going through her things to look for signs. He noticed an unusual pattern among drawings and journal entries, including a small sketch of a girl with a name beneath it in Russian. An internet search of the name turned up the story of Rina Palenkova, a 17-year-old girl who posted a "goodbye" selfie moments before committing suicide in Russia in November 2015. The photo went viral on the Russian social media site VK.com, and the attention from her death led to the discovery of her supposed involvement with something online called Blue Whale.

Nadia's sketch of Rina Palenkova was the first clue her brother found. Continuing to research, Marty remembered the picture of the blue whale taped next to the mirror in his sister's room. He looked through her sketches and found pages of whale drawings and magazine cutouts with the words "I Am a Blue Whale" pasted over them, accompanied by drawings indicating self-harm, suicidal statements with words of goodbye and multiple entries written in Russian.

Entries with photos saying "I Am A Blue Whale" were found in Nadia's journal. Marty said the discovery startled him. "None of us knew about the Blue Whale game. I spend a lot of time online and hadn't come across it until it happened."

Nadia hid secrets in her paintings that her family discovered after her death What is Blue Whale? As Nadia's family researched the Blue Whale connection, they discovered what appeared to be an online suicide challenge that reportedly began in Russia two years ago. Since then, suicides suspected to have been inspired by Blue Whale have been reported in parts of central Asia, Europe and South America; Nadia's suicide appears to be the first in the United States influenced by the concept. The Washington Post reported about another teen suicide in Texas that occurred in early July and is suspected to be linked to Blue Whale. The "game" is said to be administered by an online curator and takes place over 50 days. The curator gives players daily tasks to accomplish and requires them to submit photographic evidence that they have completed each, keeping their communication private. One man who may be connected to Blue Whale is a 21-year-old psychology major named Philip Budeikin. According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, he was arrested in November. Authorities from the St Petersburg District Court confirmed in a press statement that there is an open investigation into his charge of "incitement to suicide." The Investigative Committee press release says that Budeikin has confessed to creating the game and used the VK.com social site to encourage 15 to 17 teenagers to commit suicide. While authorities investigate whether there are curators who directly communicate with teens or whether the game is simply internet folklore, the challenges are said to begin at 4:20 a.m. and vary in intensity. Some reportedly start with simple things like drawing a blue whale on a piece of paper. Demands may increase to watching horror movies all night or secretly cutting oneself. It is reported that the curator sends teens to scope out the location of their deaths in advance as one of the challenges. In some cases, they go to the top of a tall building, in others a train station. Each task becomes riskier, and on the 50th day, players are reportedly instructed to commit suicide. Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, a national nonprofit for suicide prevention, warns that parents need to be watching their children for any of those signs. He encourages asking kids whether they are playing Blue Whale or have friends who are playing. However, he reiterated that "there is no need to panic, because this is not yet a crisis, rather a caution to alert people in advance." The colonel of justice for the Investigation Committee Department of St. Petersburg, Anton Breydo, launched an investigation on Blue Whale in Russia and was working with a girl who had survived a suicide attempt, according to the news outlet Novaya Gazeta. She informed him that players are told that once they start playing, there is "no way back." And if they try to change their minds, they are threatened by the curator, who claims to have all their information and says he will come after them or their family. Russian officials did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. Novaya Gazeta reported that Palenkova's death exposed a community of suicide fans who turned her into an icon, writing messages such as "Rina, you're the best!" "You're my hero" and "I love you." After her death, Novaya Gazeta reported that in the span of six months, 130 teen suicides could be linked to the game, because almost all the victims were in the same internet group. However, it later said that only 80 of those could be proved and was criticized as exaggerating numbers that could not be definitively linked to the game. Warning signs Gathering evidence of such a game is difficult, and catching warning signs can be even harder for those unaware. In Nadia's case, her family said that in hindsight, the signs were everywhere. "She was an artist," Marty said. "She drew a lot of random stuff, so if I had come across the Blue Whale game online or heard about it from somewhere, maybe I could have pieced it together a little bit faster, just like I did when I found the sketch of Palenkova. It took me less than 20 minutes to figure that out." Nadia did an abstract painting of blue whale skeletons for a school project, and the school had it framed and displayed. The painting took on a new meaning in the aftermath of her death.

Nadia's paintings were framed and displayed at her high school. Along with the contents of her journal, the family recovered some of Nadia's social media posts from the days leading up to her death. A photo of her legs dangling over the roof of her house, pictures of self-inflicted cuts on her body and a final post of train tracks with the words "good bye," made the morning she died, all bore resemblance to the other reported accounts of Blue Whale victims.

The family believes this photo was one of the "challenges" Nadia completed. Nadia's mother, just as confused and upset as Marty, said her daughter never showed interest in computers. "She never had Facebook, never posted pictures. Most of the time, she only wanted to draw. I never thought she would go and try to find a site or a way to chat with people and believe them." Nadia's family also found letters in Russian among her things. Some appeared to be love letters, while others showed signs of correspondence with someone. They don't know who the letters are directed to or whether that person was involved in Blue Whale. These writings surprised Nadia's family the most, since she had never spoken about learning Russian or even being interested in it. The family continues to ask questions that might never be answered. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has opened a Child Fatality Review of Nadia's suicide and is aware that the drawings and Russian writings may have a connection to Blue Whale. Special Agent Trebor Randle confirmed that this is the first case in Georgia potentially related to Blue Whale. "Obviously, doing nothing about it has seen a rise," Randle said. "Kids know about it and may already be doing it. Parents and educators are the ones who don't know." Why tell these stories? Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among Americans age 10 to 14 and the second among people 15 to 34, according to 2015 statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Randle says people have been nervous to talk about suicide and very sensitive to the topic, leading the issue to be under-reported. "We are doing a disservice if we're not working with parents and educators about how to prevent it." According to Randle, Nadia was the 20th reported teen to commit suicide in Georgia this year, and since her death in May, there has been one more. Marty warns that the signs might be hiding in plain sight. Some of Nadia's drawings were done in class: "She wrote some of this stuff right in front of her teachers. Right around her friends. This is a thing that is happening, so people should know, especially parents that have kids that could potentially be subjected to the same thing and also to ask for help." "I never had problems with my teenage girl," her mother said, "and I never thought that this was something that could happen to us." Google data show that online searches for Blue Whale in the United States began in late February, with interest spiking across the country in mid-May. They may be linked to media coverage in the UK around that time. US investigators are looking into the details of what the game is -- if anything -- and it's important to note that it has remained relatively unknown. Meanwhile, authorities say that Nadia's death provides enough evidence to issue a warning to parents and educators that the ideas spread by something called Blue Whale pose a threat to vulnerable teens. One way to address the topic is head-on. Jane Pearson, chairwoman of the National Institute for Mental Health Suicide Research Consortium, advised, "It's important to provide opportunities for people to say 'if you're feeling this way, here's what you can do about it.' " Pearson says there is good information available for parents to help children and teenagers recognize dangers online. Reidenberg echoed that sentiment: "Kids don't often know about predators online who will lure them into these tragedies. We want to encourage parents to talk to their kids about online safety." 'Always an opportunity to intervene' Reidenberg warns that in some instances, there's a contagion surrounding suicide. "Youth are particularly sensitive to the topic of contagion. There are kids that, when someone dies by suicide or there's media coverage or an overwhelming amount of attention, other kids may see and attempt suicide because of the same thing." Reidenberg also warns that sensationalizing a topic can lead to more harm than help, but he hopes that telling the story of Nadia and her family can ensure awareness. "There's always an opportunity to intervene," he said. "Always a chance to give a message of hope, always a way to tell them it can get better." Pearson says social media can influence the mental health of teens, though she questions whether it causes suicidal behavior or serves as a vehicle to move it along. "You could argue that kids who are troubled will seek out other troubled kids, and we actually know that from looking at social network patterns. They might actually get online and look for other troubled kids, versus finding someone who is helpful or therapeutic." Preventive measures Even Nadia's family says they don't know exactly how big of a role Blue Whale played in her suicide. "Based on the stuff I found, it seems like she was talking to somebody," Marty said. "How much that person had influence over what happened, that we don't know." Steps are being taken nonetheless. The social media site Instagram issues an automatic warning to users who search hashtags relating to the game, possibly the first cyber security step of many to come.

Instagram issues a warning whenever hashtags related to Blue Whale are searched. "Instead of chasing down every trend, a better approach might be to improve social media literacy, to help kids understand how to manage it," Pearson advised. Law enforcement and school faculties in some areas have started issuing warnings that Blue Whale may be trending in schools. The Miami Police Department created an awareness video, and school administrators in Alabama, California and elsewhere have posted parent alerts on their Facebook pages. Internationally, police and schools in the UK and New Zealand issued warnings last month. In this Social Media 101 installment, we address a new sinister game or challenge that is starting to trend on social media and our schools. This challenge encourages young teens to commit suicide. Please watch the video and share with all your friends and family. Nadia's family is trying to uncover conversations she may have had with someone online. They're working with the GBI's Child Fatality Review Unit, which says its goal is to "promote more accurate identification of child fatalities and monitor the implementation of a statewide injury prevention plan to reduce incidents." On a national level, the FBI says it would open an investigation if a teen has been extorted and if the extortion is coming from outside the country. Until then, it must be invited into an investigation by state and local authorities. While the search is ongoing, Nadia's family is left with pieces of a puzzle and a message they want to share, hoping that others won't have to experience their pain. "It's a real thing. I lost my sister to it, or at least part of it," Marty said. "There needs to be awareness. People need to know; parents need to know, to look for signs, to monitor their kids a little better." Holding her daughter's favorite stuffed animal, Nadia's mother said, "I still don't believe it. I still think that it's a bigger dream. Some bad dream, and I will wake up, and she will text me." Wiping tears from her eyes, she urged, "parents need to know that it's true, that it's not some story that is coming from somebody to get attention. It's true." Click to Post