Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears

[DakotaJustice]

48 minutes ago, RazzleberryPie said:

I know LLR sellers don't get 100% control over choosing each item. No surprise to me that Meri seemed to gravitate toward the really pricey items and the ones slightly off trend. 

People want leggings. She hasn't had a single pair when I've tried to muster through her deadpan sales. Typical Meri to focus on the higher priced items and expect people to be as loose with their money as she is, and pay $75 for a 90s print, off brand t-shirt dress.

People want albums to scroll through and not back to back live shows of really boring sales people. I know she loves to exclude the other wives and has to 'one up' them to be top dog of the shit pile, but she needs Christine or somebody peppy to help her sell.

she clearly states her seller page any she's there to sell clothes, not talk to fans about her family. If that's the case, she needs to do the work and post albums, not have live sales. You can't have the fame/notoriety and then never address what made you famous. 

She had ONE PAIR of leggings which were snapped up within a few seconds. 

From what I read after the first $5k order the consultant can order what styles they want - its the fabric and patterns they have no control over. 

I thought the prices were exorbitant (typical for MLM merchandise), the styles dowdy (fringe?!?) and the patterns childish or matronly. 

Christine would have been great - hell even Mariah would have drummed up interest. Especially with the season premiere this Sunday. At one point during the day when I was watching, commenters were asking about leggings and she finally acknowledged she had none on hand - the number of viewers dropped immediately. 

And yup - I'd rather look through albums of photos of goods for sale and choose rather than a FB Live feed where only half the item can be seen. 

Since the prices are the same for each style and she wasn't offering any discount, Meri should put a sign on the wall with the style name and price because commenters kept asking how much. 

Edited November 26, 2016 by DakotaJustice

[RazzleberryPie]

@DakotaJustice I totally agree with everything. 99% of Lularoe is dowdy and looks like something a pregnant lady would wear in 1994.

I do like the leggings. I can get a long enough inseam to be comfortable and I wear them to Yoga and Pilates. 

Typical for Meri to find the most expensive things that nobody wasn't then pout that people aren't rushing to buy. 

Also - Black Friday sales = no deep discount, no sale. You can't just call a regular showing Black Friday and expect anyone to be interested without some incentive. 

Edited November 26, 2016 by RazzleberryPie

[Lsk02]

I took my daughter to a LLR open house yesterday because she wanted to try things on before committing. There were a couple styles that looked great on her, and she was thrilled because she's normally a small/medium, but fit in XXS/XS there. 

The 2 consultants had very few leggings also, and told me the entire company is backordered on the "tall & curvy" size. I'm guessing that explains Meri's lack of legging inventory. 

Thr groups I belong to do more weekly posts than the live feed sales. Watching them holding up clothes for hours sounds terrible to me. I still don't understand how this business monetarily worthwhile. They seem do hours and hours of work. Oh well, whatever floats your boat I guess. 

Just saw the post above, these consultants had $5 off purchase, plus attendances prizes and goody bags, so they definitely had better Black Friday incentives than Meri seemed to! 

Edited November 26, 2016 by Lsk02

[Celia Rubenstein]

... 

1 hour ago, RazzleberryPie said:

@DakotaJustice I totally agree with everything. 99% of Lularoe is dowdy and looks like something a pregnant lady would wear in 1994.

I was pregnant in 1994 and I wouldn't have been caught dead in those hideous rags, I assure you.

Maybe in 1984 .... I did wear a lot of really ugly clothes in the 80s, I admit LOL

Seriously, I wouldn't want to wear that stuff even as pajamas. There might be a fire and I would have to run out of my house into the street and people might see me. 

[DakotaJustice]

4 hours ago, RazzleberryPie said:

@DakotaJustice I totally agree with everything. 99% of Lularoe is dowdy and looks like something a pregnant lady would wear in 1994.

I do like the leggings. I can get a long enough inseam to be comfortable and I wear them to Yoga and Pilates. 

Typical for Meri to find the most expensive things that nobody wasn't then pout that people aren't rushing to buy. 

Also - Black Friday sales = no deep discount, no sale. You can't just call a regular showing Black Friday and expect anyone to be interested without some incentive. 

Leggings comparable to LLR are available on Amazon at half the price and free two day shipping for Prime members, in a myriad of patterns and colors. 

I bought a pair in basic black - $11.99. There are a couple different brands that sell "butter" leggings in different patterns. The ones I bought had over 1800 reviews, many of which compared these very favorably to LLR. 

High Quality Printed Leggings (River Blaze) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FTG9UBK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_xtGoybM1854QY

[DakotaJustice]

5 hours ago, RazzleberryPie said:

@DakotaJustice I totally agree with everything. 99% of Lularoe is dowdy and looks like something a pregnant lady would wear in 1994.

I do like the leggings. I can get a long enough inseam to be comfortable and I wear them to Yoga and Pilates. 

Typical for Meri to find the most expensive things that nobody wasn't then pout that people aren't rushing to buy. 

Also - Black Friday sales = no deep discount, no sale. You can't just call a regular showing Black Friday and expect anyone to be interested without some incentive. 

Quite right - Black Friday to me means discounts. She was offering free shipping though, but EVERYONE offers free shipping. 

If she didn't have leggings she should have waited until they came in, she might have had more sales. I'm betting LLR gets their leggings from the same suppliers as the folks on Amazon, and they shipped mine in 2 days.

[Awfarmington]

Has there been a discussion regarding Robin not letting Meri take Solomon on vaca with her? If so, would someone be so kind as to tell me which page? I binge read the main discussion and only saw one comment barely touching on it. Something about Meri and her sneaky shifty eyes when she asked Cody and Robin lol. 

[DakotaJustice]

5 minutes ago, Awfarmington said:

Has there been a discussion regarding Robin not letting Meri take Solomon on vaca with her? If so, would someone be so kind as to tell me which page? I binge read the main discussion and only saw one comment barely touching on it. Something about Meri and her sneaky shifty eyes when she asked Cody and Robin lol. 

Wasn't that part of an episode last season? I haven't watched the sHow in years. 

I always just assume that 99 percent of what's on the show is manufactured drama anyway. 

[Awfarmington]

15 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Wasn't that part of an episode last season? I haven't watched the sHow in years. 

I always just assume that 99 percent of what's on the show is manufactured drama anyway. 

Yes, it was an older episode. Back when I saw that particular show, I wasn't a member here (just stumbled upon this site ?). I'm sure in the grand scheme of all their drama, it's insignificant. But it stuck in my mind because my impression was that Robin was lying like a rug and Kody awkwardly half agreed with her. 

[toodles]

If you have direct tv, the episode is available in on demand.  I watched a couple the other day and the Robyn and king sol episode was one of them.  The catfish talk set against the hasta la vista Alaska talk is really pretty funny.  Talk about shifty eyes.  Meri' s eyes were working overtime.

Edited November 27, 2016 by toodles

[RazzleberryPie]

2 hours ago, Awfarmington said:

Has there been a discussion regarding Robin not letting Meri take Solomon on vaca with her? If so, would someone be so kind as to tell me which page? I binge read the main discussion and only saw one comment barely touching on it. Something about Meri and her sneaky shifty eyes when she asked Cody and Robin lol. 

If I remember correctly, Meri suggested taking Sol on vacation with her right about the time the whole "one day you might look for me and I won't be here" and catfishing stuff was happening. I seriously think Meri was totally messing with Robyn by putting out the thought that she might snatch her baby, but asking to take him somewhere in public so Robyn would look like the bad guy if she gave a big HELL NO. Quite impressive on Meri's part, considering how bad Stealth Bitch Robyn played her.

[Galloway Cave]

I think Meri wanted to take Sol with her to Utah when she wanted to talk to Mariah about the Catfish Situation. She wanted to use him as a buffer or distraction during that discussion. Robyn's reasons for not wanting him to go were bullshit (he wouldn't sleep or something stupid) but I think she correctly suspected Meri's true motivation in wanting to take him. And as it turned out, it was a good call not taking him. Mariah was quite a pill during that visit.

[Awfarmington]

1 hour ago, Galloway Cave said:

I think Meri wanted to take Sol with her to Utah when she wanted to talk to Mariah about the Catfish Situation. She wanted to use him as a buffer or distraction during that discussion. Robyn's reasons for not wanting him to go were bullshit (he wouldn't sleep or something stupid) but I think she correctly suspected Meri's true motivation in wanting to take him. And as it turned out, it was a good call not taking him. Mariah was quite a pill during that visit.

Robin was very obviously lying which Meri I'm sure saw through. Watching Kody trying to half way agree with the phony excuse was almost painful. I think you're right on about why she wanted to take him. But I doubt Meri bringing him would make things any less awkward with her pissed off daughter. 

[RazzleberryPie]

I don't think for a second Meri really wanted to snatch that kid. She likes her freedom too much to be tied down with a baby AND wasn't going to be a babysitter while her husband boinks the replacement wife. 

She was just being manipulative. Again. It is all quite entertaining how they all hate each other so much. 

[ginger90]

The idea of taking him wben she was going to talk to Maiah was dumbass nonsense. A child (any of them) going with her was insane.

[SongbirdHollow]

16 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

High Quality Printed Leggings (River Blaze) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FTG9UBK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_xtGoybM1854QY

Those patterns! My eyes!

avenue (plus size shop) sells butter denim and it's niiiiiice. 

[DakotaJustice]

23 minutes ago, SongbirdHollow said:

Those patterns! My eyes!

avenue (plus size shop) sells butter denim and it's niiiiiice. 

Haha yup and the LLR ones are just as gaudy. I'll stick to solids! 

[DakotaJustice]

8 hours ago, RazzleberryPie said:

I don't think for a second Meri really wanted to snatch that kid. She likes her freedom too much to be tied down with a baby AND wasn't going to be a babysitter while her husband boinks the replacement wife. 

She was just being manipulative. Again. It is all quite entertaining how they all hate each other so much. 

It was just a setup for the show. I adore my nephew and babysat him pretty much every weekend for 12 years, but when he was that age I wouldn't have even considered asking my sis if I could take him on some silly ass road trip. Too young!!!

[RazzleberryPie]

1 hour ago, DakotaJustice said:

It was just a setup for the show. I adore my nephew and babysat him pretty much every weekend for 12 years, but when he was that age I wouldn't have even considered asking my sis if I could take him on some silly ass road trip. Too young!!!

Especially when Robyn already knew about Meri's affair, and her veiled threats of leaving. I think Robyn was set up, and it was entertaining. 

[VedaPierce]

On November 26, 2016 at 7:37 PM, Awfarmington said:

Has there been a discussion regarding Robin not letting Meri take Solomon on vaca with her? If so, would someone be so kind as to tell me which page? I binge read the main discussion and only saw one comment barely touching on it. Something about Meri and her sneaky shifty eyes when she asked Cody and Robin lol. 

Yes! Lots of discussions, actually...you can find most of it in this thread: S07.E04: Unforgiven

[RazzleberryPie]

Meri is offering a free charm Bracelet with purchase for her cyber Monday Lularoe sale. Please tell me it's one of those janky charms from the joory collecshun Robyn designed.

[DakotaJustice]

23 minutes ago, RazzleberryPie said:

Meri is offering a free charm Bracelet with purchase for her cyber Monday Lularoe sale. Please tell me it's one of those janky charms from the joory collecshun Robyn designed.

I saw that as well and envisioned the 2013 "iconic" ornament attached to a wristband. 

[islandgal140]

I guess I've been blessed because I have never heard of Lularoe until reading this thread. It took me about a minute to realize it wasn't a new company that the sister wives starter.  Seems to be your average run of the mill pyramid scheme.  Explains a lot of the ugly clothing I have been seeing of late out here on these streets.  I swear the Brown approach to every new shifty business plan reminds me of this Homer Simpson quote:

Quote

After years of disappointment with get-rich-quick schemes, I know I'm gonna get rich with this scheme...and ...QUICK!!

One of the better episodes was when they went trolling for money from outside investors and got smacked down after that elementary school business presentation. Their surprise over being asked in depth probing business plan questions like why so many site visitors/views fail to amount to purchases was embarrassing and hilarious. 

And to continue with notable quotable the best thing I ever read about get rich quick schemes is:

Quote

"Get-rich-quick schemes are for the lazy & unambitious. Respect your dreams enough to pay the full price for them.'

Sums up the Browns perfectly! 

[DakotaJustice]

islandgal, i hadn't heard of LLR either before Meri got involved, but have done a buttload of research online since then.  Right now it's still fairly new and in the honeymoon stages where the consultants are almost in a religious fervor about it, although there's plenty of evidence of former consultants getting out with high debt. 

Leggings with whales?  Sasquatch?  at twice the price of regular leggings which are also butter-soft?  I got those $12 leggings on Amazon, and other than the waistband (who cares about that anyway, leggings are meant to be worn with an oversized top so who's going to see the waistband?) they appear to be exactly.the.same.   The only thing that keeps me from buying another pair is having to hand-wash them.  bleagh.

[MrSmith]

1 hour ago, DakotaJustice said:

islandgal, i hadn't heard of LLR either before Meri got involved, but have done a buttload of research online since then.  Right now it's still fairly new and in the honeymoon stages where the consultants are almost in a religious fervor about it, although there's plenty of evidence of former consultants getting out with high debt. 

Leggings with whales?  Sasquatch?  at twice the price of regular leggings which are also butter-soft?  I got those $12 leggings on Amazon, and other than the waistband (who cares about that anyway, leggings are meant to be worn with an oversized top so who's going to see the waistband?) they appear to be exactly.the.same.   The only thing that keeps me from buying another pair is having to hand-wash them.  bleagh.

I checked out the leggings on that Amazon link someone else shared. My wife wouldn't be caught dead in any of those prints. Also, anyone else notice how they managed to get the flower right on the crotch on every one that has flowers?

[DakotaJustice]

30 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

I checked out the leggings on that Amazon link someone else shared. My wife wouldn't be caught dead in any of those prints. Also, anyone else notice how they managed to get the flower right on the crotch on every one that has flowers?

Oh that was me :) The default choice is the patterns, but I ordered solid black from that same link or at least from the same merchant for the same price.  I agree - I don't wear prints as a rule anyway but definitely not on the bottoms - my thighs and butt are big enough already.

speaking of crotch placement, these LLR leggings take the prize.  https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/5f0li2/lularoe_strikes_again_with_the_random_placement/

Edited November 29, 2016 by DakotaJustice
including link of ridculous leggings.

[ginger90]

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

[MrSmith]

6 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Oh that was me :) The default choice is the patterns, but I ordered solid black from that same link or at least from the same merchant for the same price.  I agree - I don't wear prints as a rule anyway but definitely not on the bottoms - my thighs and butt are big enough already.

speaking of crotch placement, these LLR leggings take the prize.  https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/5f0li2/lularoe_strikes_again_with_the_random_placement/

LOL! Those are awesome. Almost like a stamp with an upside-down plane on it. I almost feel the need to buy them for my wife as a gag Christmas present! She won't think it's funny ... at first.

2 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

LOL at this too! Way to showcase those leggings! Seriously, could she have a more "I'm disinterested in this, but I have to smile" kind of look on her face? I suppose she needs to prove to whatever fans that might buy these that she does in fact wear them. But that picture is definitely not going to boost her sales.

[Kohola3]

Who knew Santa was a lech?  Apparently  LLR.

[toodles]

37 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Oh that was me :) The default choice is the patterns, but I ordered solid black from that same link or at least from the same merchant for the same price.  I agree - I don't wear prints as a rule anyway but definitely not on the bottoms - my thighs and butt are big enough already.

speaking of crotch placement, these LLR leggings take the prize.  https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/5f0li2/lularoe_strikes_again_with_the_random_placement/

Oh hell no.

[DakotaJustice]

53 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

It beats her white-stitched too-tight jeans, but I think she's being too free and easy with the filter.  If you're actually trying to sell clothes, you want the color to be accurate to real life right?

And I can't get tired of the Santa Leggings.  "It looks like her vagina has a question".  HAHAHAAAAA

[BradandJanet]

2 hours ago, ginger90 said:

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

"Oh, a knotted Lindsay." "I love the Lindsay!" 

Yuck. My clothes don't have names. My clothes aren't even friendly to me most of the time. 

[toodles]

2 hours ago, BradandJanet said:

"Oh, a knotted Lindsay." "I love the Lindsay!" 

Yuck. My clothes don't have names. My clothes aren't even friendly to me most of the time. 

You don't name your underware and jeans?  How very empty your life must be.  You probably don't say yes to the dress either.

 

Yeah.  I don't get naming and/or talking to your clothes at all.

Edited November 29, 2016 by toodles

[dianagerace]

3 hours ago, ginger90 said:

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

In all honesty that's probably the best she's ever looked. Everything fits her and she appears to be able to breathe for once.

[gonecrackers]

1 hour ago, dianagerace said:

In all honesty that's probably the best she's ever looked. Everything fits her and she appears to be able to breathe for once.

She looks like she's actually lost weight, as opposed to Janelle & Kody.

Meri really has no excuse to be stuck in this mess. She's an empty nester & could get a real job & dig her way out for a real future. I'm not holding my breath she will do that though. She seemed to me to be almost begging Kody to come back into her life, & he seems like he will make her beg.

Edited November 29, 2016 by gonecrackers

[BradandJanet]

Meri Brown will be pilloried for the rest of her life in the Brown family. Kody will never forgive or forget. His ego is too big. Josh Duggar, on the other hand, has been "forgiven" by God and everyone in the Duggar family, including the sisters he molested. As Tolstoy noted, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

[Tabbygirl521]

2 hours ago, BradandJanet said:

Meri Brown will be pilloried for the rest of her life in the Brown family. Kody will never forgive or forget. His ego is too big. Josh Duggar, on the other hand, has been "forgiven" by God and everyone in the Duggar family, including the sisters he molested. As Tolstoy noted, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

I think Meri cannot admit to wanting a monogamous marriage because they consider jealousy and "possessiveness" to be moral failings. For women, that is. Her inability to roll happily with plural marriage is basically a sin to them. What a mess. 

Janelle is the only wife who seems fine with the situation. 

[taragel]

I don't think Meri will ever attempt to leave again no matter how unhappy she is (short of some guy aggressively all out pursuing her the way catfish did, and let's face it, most real guys don't want to work that hard). I don't believe she actually wants the stagnant nothingness she had with Kody before back again either though. She's the very definition of being between a rock and a hard place. She wants a man to adore her and place her first--that's never gonna happen with Kody. Sad situation.

[Snarklepuss]

I think Meri would have left for the Catfish if he were real and not a woman, but having been deceived and shot down she lost her courage to try again.  You're right, she would want someone to sweep her off her feet and that's just not realistic.  Plus to be honest, who would want to deal with all the baggage she comes with?  She is emotionally married to the family as much or more as she is or was to her relationship with Kody and that's a bond that would very hard for her to disengage from enough to have a relationship with another man.  It's her own emotional attachment to and dependence on the family that makes her unable to make any moves so she stays between that rock and hard place.  Yes, very sad indeed.

[Wings]

And even sadder is the fact that I don't think that many in that family would miss her that much. However her leaving would create emotional chaos.  It would threaten the core of their beliefs on plural marriage. 

 She is the designated "bad"  wife so who, in time, would fill that slot? 

[laurakaye]

20 hours ago, ginger90 said:

This is supposed to make you want to purchase.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYT1HFDzRu/

To me, this looks exactly like what she's been wearing for the couch interviews for the past 5 years.  I'd never know it was Lularoe if she hadn't said so.

 

11 hours ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

I think Meri cannot admit to wanting a monogamous marriage because they consider jealousy and "possessiveness" to be moral failings. For women, that is. Her inability to roll happily with plural marriage is basically a sin to them. What a mess. 

Janelle is the only wife who seems fine with the situation. 

I used to think that too...however, she does have a pretty extreme weight problem.  She simply eats her feelings and appears checked out much of the time.  Those could be her coping mechanisms...although I think there's something kind of twisted within Janelle's psyche anyway, seeing as how she married her ex sister-in-law's husband.  There's no amount of reasoning that can get me over that icky, icky fact.

[Fosca]

18 hours ago, dianagerace said:

In all honesty that's probably the best she's ever looked. Everything fits her and she appears to be able to breathe for once.

The problem I have is the picture is so murky that I can't really see the clothing.  She's wearing some kind of jacket-shirt over another shirt over, um, leggings? All in some swampish color or black?  Not appealing.

[MonicaM]

14 hours ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

I think Meri cannot admit to wanting a monogamous marriage because they consider jealousy and "possessiveness" to be moral failings. For women, that is. Her inability to roll happily with plural marriage is basically a sin to them. What a mess. 

Janelle is the only wife who seems fine with the situation. 

Janelle is so checked out I sometimes wonder if she has feelings about anything.  Meri's perpetual crying gets old real fast, but I actually kind of prefer that to Janelle's almost reptilian reaction to everything that happens.  

[laurakaye]

1 hour ago, Fosca said:

The problem I have is the picture is so murky that I can't really see the clothing.  She's wearing some kind of jacket-shirt over another shirt over, um, leggings? All in some swampish color or black?  Not appealing.

"Swamp" is the new "teal." :)

[MrSmith]

57 minutes ago, MonicaM said:

Janelle is so checked out I sometimes wonder if she has feelings about anything.  Meri's perpetual crying gets old real fast, but I actually kind of prefer that to Janelle's almost reptilian reaction to everything that happens.  

Now, the way my wife and I perceive Janelle's reactions is simply this: She's an even-keeled person who thinks and plans rather than simply reacts, and she's got a life she's generally happy with. We know from what she's said on previous seasons she doesn't want a full-time husband and that's one reason she likes polygamy. Not sure that our perception is correct, of course, because we could be wrong. That's just how we see her.

[Absolom]

Janelle reminds me of when I visited my in-laws.  It's a floor show to be watched not something I want to get involved with or in the middle of what's going on.  If it directly affects her she probably does something.  She thinks about things and seldom says or does anything impetuous.  It's her nature and she also might emphasize it for TV and think it's better to be thought emotionless than to put on a display to be dissected by the viewers.

[ginger90]

Meri's tree

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNjA9AujygZ/

[RazzleberryPie]

On 11/30/2016 at 8:38 AM, wings707 said:

And even sadder is the fact that I don't think that many in that family would miss her that much. However her leaving would create emotional chaos.  It would threaten the core of their beliefs on plural marriage. 

 She is the designated "bad"  wife so who, in time, would fill that slot? 

I think they flip flop over the years on who is the 'bad wife'. Meri was queen bee until Stealth Bitch Robyn dethroned her.

i agree that no one would miss her much, but that's her own fault. She isolated herself and Meriah even when they lived in that same compound house. They ate separately and had a bigger budget per person, so they had better food, clothing, more space, everything in excess and at the expense of the others and all because Meri wanted it that way. Janelle and Christine were sensible enough to cooperate and help each other with their kids, meals, etc. out of necessity, but Meri chose to be seperate from that. She flaunted her trips with Kody and was stubborn on having her way with just about everything, and if anyone attempted to call her out, she played the 'I should have all this because I wanted more kids but couldn't have any' as if it were the other women's fault. 

Meri only wanted to cooperate and be included if she could have things her way. She is only happy if she thinks she has the 'best' and 'more' over the other members of her own family. Nobody wants to constantly have another family member look down on them with glee. Meri dug her own grave. If nobody misses her, she's the one to blame.

[Galloway Cave]

Meri's tree looks GREAT in front of those sub-standard, grubby aluminum, contractor-grade mini-blinds. Way to invest your money, Mer!

Edited December 3, 2016 by Galloway Cave

[riverblue22]

16 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Meri's tree

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNjA9AujygZ/

Meri should get a job decorating department stores.  She's great at copying the current trends.

Edited December 4, 2016 by riverblue22