Who Are The Moes On Oppositelock? What You Need To Know

"PRBot II" (prbot2)
11/06/2014 at 22:31 • Filed to: the moes, oppo investigations

Oppositelock attracts perhaps the widest spectrum of car lovers of any site on the web. As such, there are conversations to be had, and stories to be told. These two Opponauts have been making waves here, but there seems to be an air of mystery surrounding them. This guide may help.

If you're not familiar with our friends waymoe and Raphmoe, then hot damn are you in for a treat. I first started to notice the comic genius that is waymoe with his timeless masterpiece, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This piece inspired me to attempt my first ever manual to automatic transmission swap in my driveway. I ruined my '96 Tercel in the process (as well as suffering the loss of most of my fingers), but my spirit remained intact.

It was my unbroken spirit which provided me with the strength I needed to create this comprehensive guide to Oppositelock's most infamous duo. So it is with a heavy heart and tears of joy that I share these findings with all you wonderful Opponauts. Tears which stream down my face. Tears which stream down my arms and drip from my nubs onto this keyboard as I type the words which you now read.

Oppo, consider the following.

Raphmoe broke onto the Oppositelock scene in August of this year, and quickly took us by storm with his signature blend of brilliant tongue-in-cheek humor. But what was it about him that seemed so familiar? Was it waymoe? Many of us quickly assumed waymoe had changed his name. For a while, things generally remained pretty quiet.

This, of course, was until waymoe had been awoken from his nearly month long slumber. I posted to Oppo a ranking of the Moes. As luck would have it !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! attracted the attention of both Moes, and did so simultaneously.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Waymoe had been dormant for some time, and it seemed like an awfully improbable coincidence that he would reemerge so suddenly — especially considering his slumber was roughly the same length of time as Raphmoe had been posting to Oppo.

Thus began the relentless insistence from waymoe that he is not, in fact, the same commenter as Raphmoe. While many of us took that at face value, others were not convinced. We had our theories, some more likely than others. But over time, more clues began to emerge as to what was really going on.

Now here is where this story actually gets interesting.

From this point I was at a dead end, but thankfully fellow Opponaut and Front Page commenting extraordinaire Kate's Dirty Sister has cracked the code. Had it not been for Kate's meticulous detective work, many questions would still be unanswered.

Mr. Dirty Sister posted his findings !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

From his work, I was able to ascertain a time frame of Moe activity beginning in late 2008. I assembled these dates in a rough timeline graphic. Have a look at this.

Where RyGuy stops, waymoe starts. Where waymoe stops, Raphmoe starts. Both waymoe and RyGuy only reemerge once mentioned in posts questioning who the Moes are. Waymoe returned after nearly a month away. In the case of RyGuy, he had been dormant for nearly two years, until Mr. Dirty Sister posted his investigative findings.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is some long awaited clarity regarding Oppositelock's arguably most intriguing, brilliant, and hilarious authors. I rest my case.

Hat tip to Kate's Dirty Sister!

DISCUSSION (54)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 22:36

For some strange reason I don't remember any of the moes, nor this RyGuy.. I've been here for a few years, so I feel rather embarrased now.

PRBot II > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/06/2014 at 22:40

Here is Raphmoe .

You can start there, but I suggest you have a cold beer at your side. It's going to be an adventure.

Steve in Manhattan > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 22:41

Perhaps?

Kinja'd!!!

Dusty Ventures > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 22:42

Greatest Waymoe piece of all time

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 22:44

DOh.. I've seen Raphmoe.. Perhaps I've had a few cold beers more than I should tonight :P I'll read it anyway though :)

For Sweden > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 22:47

This is good Oppo

PRBot II > Dusty Ventures
11/06/2014 at 22:50

That is outstanding!

PRBot II > For Sweden
11/06/2014 at 22:51

Thank you.

PRBot II > Steve in Manhattan
11/06/2014 at 23:01

In all honesty, that would explain a lot.

desertdog5051 > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 23:06

The Moe mystery deepens.

Kinja'd!!!

desertdog5051 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/06/2014 at 23:08

Too much beer Laird. :)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > desertdog5051
11/06/2014 at 23:09

I guess so, would not be the first time :P

PushToStart > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 23:17

At first, when Raphmoe popped up, I thought it was just Orlove being weird and trolling us. (Mostly because Raphmoe's avatar is just the Jalopnik J upside down, and Raph is the beginning of Raphael.) But yeah, it definitely appears that this mystery has been solved for the most part, and it's probably not Orlove.

desertdog5051 > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 23:25

On a serious note. That was one of the better posts in a long time.

PRBot II > desertdog5051
11/06/2014 at 23:25

Thank you, sir.

PRBot II > PushToStart
11/06/2014 at 23:30

During my research for this post, I came across a few different theories posed by various Opponauts. That was one of them... I guess it was yours.

Brian Silvestro theorized Raphmoe was actually Kate's Dirty Sister. I wanted to include that in my piece, but lost it and couldn't find it again.

Oh well. Maybe Orlove really is trolling us all, and he has been posting as Raphmoe, waymoe, RyGuy, Kate, and Brian Silvestro. That would be some shit.

PushToStart > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 23:37

I don't know that I ever actually ever posted my initial suspicions on Raphmoe, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone else picked up on the same ideas that I did.

Maybe they're all you. Maybe you're posting as me, and this is a fake conversation to try to throw people off onto catching on that I am you. Maybe you are Oppositelock, and no one else exists.

Steve in Manhattan > PRBot II
11/06/2014 at 23:46

The next door neighbor lady growing up was Larry Fein's cousin. Despite my fervent hopes, he never visited.

PRBot II > PushToStart
11/06/2014 at 23:50

Kinja'd!!!

WOAH hey now pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!

PRBot II > Steve in Manhattan
11/06/2014 at 23:52

Aw, damn. That would have really been something!

Agrajag > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 00:09

I could have sworn Waymoe was just an iteration of Brian1321, but now I'm not sure. http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/theyre-the-sam…

PRBot II > PushToStart
11/07/2014 at 00:18

Found another Opponaut guessing it was Orlove .

Raphmoe > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 07:07

Kinja'd!!!

thebigbossyboss > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 08:25

People go auto Xing with Brian though. So...that seems unlikely.

Kate's Dirty Sister > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 08:39

That's a fantastic piece !

PRBot II > Kate's Dirty Sister
11/07/2014 at 09:40

Thank you! Couldn't have done it without you.

PushToStart > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 11:03

update: Raphmoe reccomended my post saying he was Orlove. Maybe he is Orlove and was hinting that I was right? o_O

PRBot II > PushToStart
11/07/2014 at 12:17

Typical Raphmoe. By starring your comment he wants you to think he's Orlove, thereby throwing a stick into your spokes. Gotta watch out for him. He's a lot more clever than his intentional grammatical errors imply.

PushToStart > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 13:03

Oh Raphmoe... what a trickster...

Raphmoe > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 13:13

The moe you know.

ACESandEIGHTS > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 13:48

It's way too f'ing confusing. If these are indeed the same person, then the joke got stale almost immediately, because what's more interesting: this site, or solving the "mystery" of two users' identities?

I'll take your word for it, that Raphmoe is the evolution of waymoe. I've definitely seen a lot more from Raphmoe, and waymoe seems to be responding as if he really is a secondary account.

BrtStlnd > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 13:51

I can confirm that RyGuy is NOT the father.

Brian Silvestro > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 14:09

called it

BrtStlnd > BrtStlnd
11/07/2014 at 14:11

... and they are not the same person. And they are not me.

PRBot II > BrtStlnd
11/07/2014 at 14:58

Hmm. He must be paying you.

Whatever it is, I'll double it.

BrtStlnd > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 14:59

I have not received any compensation. A better question may be, who are YOU?

PRBot II > Raphmoe
11/07/2014 at 14:59

Moe money, moe problems?

PRBot II > Brian Silvestro
11/07/2014 at 15:00

That the Moes are Kate's Dirty Sister?

PRBot II > BrtStlnd
11/07/2014 at 15:05

I'm just another Opponaut. I DD a Saab, but never write about it because I assume no one wants to hear about convertibles. Unless it's a roadster. Like a Miata. But I'm not wild about Miatas. Maybe I should post about that. I'm sure that would be well received, because clearly no one has ever done that here before.

MonkeePuzzle > Kate's Dirty Sister
11/07/2014 at 17:50

ahuh, sure YOU would think this. Kate's Dirty SisMOE

Kinja'd!!!

Kate's Dirty Sister > MonkeePuzzle
11/07/2014 at 17:52

hell yes, it amuses me to see that some consider me as a prime suspect

RallyWrench > PushToStart
11/07/2014 at 17:54

That was my first thought too.

NaturallyAspirated > PRBot II
11/07/2014 at 18:15

For whatever reason, I hear waymoe's handle in my head with the Japanese pronunciation of "moe," like Travis Touchdown from No More Heros:

Gamecat235 > PRBot II
12/12/2014 at 17:56

Just now came across this. I'm friends with RyGuy on a different social media website, and when I saw KDS' piece, I let RyGuy know about it. He was amused and came over and commented.

This doesn't exactly conclusively say anything, but it should shed some light on why he appeared after years of being absent/dormant.

PRBot II > Gamecat235
12/13/2014 at 03:51

Hm. And the story of the Moes deepens further.

So while you helped bring RyGuy back to Oppo after such a long time... we're still left wondering why waymoe started up right when RG left. A little suspicious I'd say.

Kinja'd!!!

Gamecat235 > PRBot II
12/13/2014 at 03:57

Well, Ry left with about 100 other commenters in a mass exodus to Google Plus (I was one of them, I just never left here, but also am friends with them there) when G+ launched. A very large contingent never really came back after that period. So, pinning that time frame with one commenter may not actually be as conclusive a lead as you hoped. My guess is that I could name 30 or 40 previously active opponauts who all left around the same time (if not more).

I still am harboring my own suspicions as to who the Moe's truly are, and am mildly amused/bemused at the sheer number of Moe's out there.

I suppose in the grand scheme I don't really care, other than the fact that I kind of wish we hadn't lost so many quality commenters from here, but since I'm friends with them all over on G+, it doesn't really bother me much.

ETA: I believe that KDS was one of those that came over as well.

PRBot II > Gamecat235
12/13/2014 at 04:13

Holy cow, I had no idea so many left for G+ back then. I was still a new Opponaut at the time so I figured the Canadian site attracted more users... speaking of the Canadian site, did that die when "NuOppo" debuted?

Oh well. Anyway, in the grand scheme I think I kinda do care — but only because the Moes never break character! Never at all I tells ya!

Gamecat235 > PRBot II
12/13/2014 at 04:19

There were a lot, and some migrated slowly, while others pretty much never looked back. As far as I know, there no longer is a canadian specific domain/address/separation like there was pre-Kinja. Between hiding out in CA and AU, I think we had enough of that. =)

If I go back to 2012 and look at all of the old COTDs, there are a bunch of names that migrated there, and of course a few that didn't but also disappeared from here (Spiegel for one). Lots of turnover in that time period.