A documentary about r/me_irl, a subreddit dedicated to memes. This covers the WaterGuy12 saga and more.

1. R/Me_irl, a PresentationA lengthy history of the memes that define us.
From current events to posts long past.
Created by Joey10594

2. First of all…
 This project is/was a huge undertaking. One might say I was foolish, or naïve, to agree
to create an infinite slide PowerPoint about memes. But I refuse to bamboozle.
 For me personally, me_irl has been more than memes. It was my introduction to Reddit
as a whole, and has created good memories between me and the few friends I have.
 This was shortened to make sure the quality remained solid, otherwise it would
become a mess and people would lose interest.
 So thank you all, and I hope you enjoy 
…I mean, me too thanks.

3. Special Thanks
 U/21ynnhoj, for sharing endless memes with me.
 U/Waterguy12 for inspiring me to create this PowerPoint.
 All the people I interviewed during this process.
 Everybody who pitched in some advice and sources.
 And last but not least, all of you, for giving me your upvotes and faith. No bamboozles*.
*For bamboozles, stay tuned. A certain u/lordtuts may be covered later on.
*This is shorter than promised, sorry

4. Chapters
Current Events
I. The Legend of WaterGuy vs. FireGuy (Slides 5-20)
II. The History of Bamboozles (Slides 21-28)
III. The Guy12s and More (Slides 30-38)
IV. Frog Multiplication (Slides 41-52)
V. The Resolution Enhancement Scandal (Slides 53-56)
The History of Me_irl
I. The Great Meme War of 2016 (Slides 57-74)
WaterGuy12 – The Return
I. Events on August 14th (Slides 76-84)
II. A Conclusion and Legacy (Slides 85-88)
My Conclusion, final words, etc. (Slide 88-end)

5. And Now, The Main Show:
The Legend of WaterGuy12

6. WaterGuy12
Introduction and History
 WaterGuy12’s post history indicates that he is into ceramics, and has even made
some of his own (including mimikyu, a Pokémon)
 He was also into video games, playing Pokémon, and attempting Overwatch. It’s
unknown if he ever did get to play it
 He was also heavily into D&D, and Hearthstone
 Although it seems impossible, WaterGuy12 managed to find love, or so it seemed…

7. WaterGuy12
Tragedy Strikes
 In the start of July 2017, WaterGuy12 revealed that he may have found a potential
mate
 But alas, he never managed to learn the girl’s name
 In a twist of fate, the girl was revealed to be possibly lesbian
 Since this tragedy, t’s unknown how WaterGuy12 has done in terms of his love life
 And his most recent post, as of August 8th…

8. A simple post…
and what followed…

9. WaterGuy12
The Post That Started it All…
U/Waterguy12’s post, uploaded July 31st 2017.
He wanted to be tagged in only good memes, but then…

10. The WaterBots
The Tags Commence
 Nobody knows where the first bot came from, or which one it was
 But the bots came, and they came in large quantities
 The bots proceeded to tag u/Waterguy12 in every single post on r/Me_irl, leading
to more users following suit
 Soon entire comment threads were dedicated to tagging WaterGuy12, but never
more than three times, as users learned that this negated any notification.
 WGuy12 became an in-joke, appearing in every single post in some fashion
 Almost all comment threads featured WGuy12 in some capacity

11. The Meta Evolves
 Soon posts about WG12 himself sprouted onto me_irl
 Many of these posts received plenty of upvotes, with some even asking for upvotes
in exchange for things like the ability to drink water (Upvote in 12 seconds or never
drink water again)
 He was getting tagged in every single one of these memes, several times
 It was a weird time on our low-quality subreddit, but one of peace and
camaraderie, as we didn’t want him to miss a meme
 In the process, he himself became a meme
 But that all changed when another user showed up

12. A fire spreads…
And few people will come out the same.

13. When There’s Water…
FireGuy12’s Entrance
 Fire is sure to follow. This is not a quote, but it kind of sounded cool so I’ll leave it
in
 Fireguy12 entered Me_irl on August 4th, 2017
 He held the subreddit for ransom, demanding he be paid in upvotes or he would
burn the subreddit to the ground
 Many freely handed over upvotes, afraid to face the consequences if they did not
 FGuy12 now had asserted dominance
 The next few slides are examples of the threats posted

16. The Reign of Fireguy12
He Came, He Saw, He Conquered
 The threats did not end there on that fateful day
 He invaded comments, posts, and nightmares
 He knew WG12 wasn’t there to put a stop to his madness, and he took advantage
of that
 He had been waiting for this moment for years, lying low in the shadows of the
internet
 But where did he come from, you may ask?

17. Fireguy12
Origins Revealed
 I decided to reach out to FireGuy12 himself, and ask him a few questions.
 If he answers me, I will add his comments below:
Haunting.

18. FieriGuy12 Hits the Scene
Hero or Zero?
 FieriGuy12 was the first of many guys to be spawned out of what FG12 had started
 He posted shortly after FireGuy first appeared
 His post claimed that he along would be our savior, and be the one to put a stop to
FG12’s madness
 This proved to be false, as this marked the opening of the floodgates that brought
many Guy12 imposters with it
 FieriGuy’s interview is in the next slide

19. In His Own Words…
He tried, but did he succeed or doom us all?

20. But Hey, That’s Just a Theory…
This image was posted shortly after FG12 rose to fame. It depicts FG12
being unmasked, revealing that he is in fact LordTuts.
But does this hold any water?
While investigating this concept, I came across no solid leads. In order
for this to make sense, Lordtuts would’ve had to make a new account
as well as learn how to make decent content.
But in order to find the truth, we need to look at who u/Lordtuts is…
You’re unfamiliar with him? Oh boy. You’re in for a world of ‘boozles,
my friend.

21. A Lengthy History on Bamboozles.
2016-present

22. What is a “Bamboozle”?
 Bam·boo·zle
 Bamˈbo͞ozəl/
 Verbinformal
 Fool or cheat (someone).
 "Tom Sawyer bamboozled the neighborhood boys into doing it for him"
 Confound or perplex.
 "bamboozled by the number of savings plans being offered"

23. Okay, but What Does it Mean for Me_irl?
 Bamboozle is the act of tricking or fooling people into upvoting a post you made
 Usually the poster will make a promise, and will not follow through on said promise
 This is the opposite of what I have done, as here I am, making a 90 slide
PowerPoint in my last two weeks of summer vacation. No hard feelings though.
 Bamboozles now plague r/me_irl, but they all started with one single post…

24. U/Lordtuts
And The Great Butt Scandal
 The day was December 15th, 2016. It was a crisp winter morning, and a user by the
name of LordTuts posted on r/me_irl (Exhibit A, next slide)
 His post declared that he would tattoo top comment on his ass
 This post came shortly after Reddit increased karma scores, further showing how
strategic this plan was
 His post racked up a total of 70,000 karma
 When all seemed well, the truth came out…

25. Exhibit A
A promise, but was it too good to be true?

26. The betrayal
The Traitor Revealed
 12/17/2016
 U/Lordtuts flees Reddit, making off with all his karma
 To add insult to injury, he posted exhibit B (next slide)
 There was no tattoo, and no apology
 This marks what we now refer to as “The Bamboozle Era”, where several users came
forth with similar posts. Very few would deliver on their promises.
 Me_irl hit a low point, something thought impossible

27. Exhibit B
Sickening.

28. The Aftermath
Bamboozles Galore
 After Lordtuts, me_irl was never quite the same
 A long series of bamboozles had befallen our beautiful blossoming community
 Some did commit to their promises, such as u/ShittyWatercolor famously did
 But alas, not all did. Promises rang out of reading the entire Bee Movie script, and
various other impossible feats, but none were fulfilled
 These posts still pop up, but with Bamboozle insurance most users are safe from
such tricks

29. Back to 2017

30. How Do Bamboozles Play Into The Guy12
Saga?
 Many accusations have been thrown about throughout the past week or two
 Some say that FireGuy is merely WaterGuy, who created this scenario to collect
karma from foolish users
 Along with this, there were several users claiming to stop FireGuy12 after reaching
certain numbers of upvotes, similar to LordTuts
 Other accusations are similar, saying some Guy12s are the same as others
 ”Other Guy12s?” you may be asking, and to that I say, you’re in for a treat

31. PoliceGuy12
WaterGuy’s Right-hand Man
 Allied with WaterGuy
 Seeks to capture FireGuy and all who follow him
 Has been seen asking users for any information they may have
 The best way to answer is with upvotes, according to him
 I reached out for an interview, but at this time he has not answered
 Could he have been compromised?

33. FireFighterGuy12
A Follower of WaterGuy…or is He?
 FireFighterguy’s first post claimed that he needed upvotes in order to power his
hose
 This hose would extinguish FireGuy, thus saving me_irl
 However, his second post revealed he was in fact a traitor
 He had used the upvotes to add fuel to the fire instead of putting it out
 Worse than u/Lordtuts in many aspects

35. FireFighterGuy Speaks Out…
Betrayal in the midst of war.

36. The Other Guys
Imposters or Allies?
 There existed many other guys, who claimed to have some importance to this war:
• The elemental guys (rockguy12, earthguy12, airguy12, iceguy12)
• The family guys (waterdad12, watermom12, firedad12)
• The guys who just wanted karma (too many to name)
• U/natureguy12 requested at least two slides, so he’ll be mentioned again later

37. The Inside Scoop…
Leaked Info
 User u/youytube sent me the following lead, although it is unknown where he
managed to gather this information from
 I am confident in posting this, as by now WGuy12 will have returned and any risk is
minimized
 This is a pivotal point in the Guy12 War, and as of now, this is where we will
conclude this part of the saga
 I will return August 14th with an update, which will be seen later in this lovely
documentary

38. War is coming.

39. Intermission: Part 1

40. Meanwhile…

41. MiscellaneousNachos
A Man of His Word
 A post appeared in the midst of the Civil War going on, a simple post, one that
appeared to be a bamboozle at first
 This was Nacho’s post, declaring that if he reached 2 upvotes he would repost the
same image but double the number of frogs that were featured in it

42. The Frogs Multiply
Nacho Delivers
 And that he did, multiplying the frogs while asking for an increasing number of
frogs
 This saga continued for countless posts, before the frogs merely became pixels
dotting the screen
 Nobody saw a stopping point in sight, why would they?
 It was a distraction from the Guy12s that had plagued every post
 Until…

43. The Frogs Tip The Scale
An End of an Era
 Nacho had done the unthinkable, and had reached TOO much karma. He could no
longer post his frogs, despite reaching out to the mods of me_irl
 The frog saga ended that way, becoming a myth that would fade into history
 However, Nacho would soon be taken to karma court for his failure to deliver on
his promise

44. Nacho vs. Me_irl
A Court Case Unfolds
 Charges included karma whoring, causing karma inflation, and ruining the meme
economy
 In the comments of the case, u/Lordtuts stepped forth to defend Nacho
 However, in the end, Nacho was found innocent by his peers
 I interviewed the man behind the memes himself

46. Nacho:
A Conclusion
 The antithesis to LordTuts, Nacho followed through on his promise and delivered
beyond expectations
 He was only stopped by the law itself, a law he still seeks to overcome
 Overall, he appears to be a great man, one of his word
 But…wait, what’s this?
 After a brief investigation, several users reported something interesting in one of
Nacho’s frog posts
 This, along with the u/Lordtuts connection raised suspicion

48. Nacho:
The Conspiracy Unravels
 Upon closer inspection of one of the final frog-posts to hit me_irl, it becomes clear
that Nacho was in fact not all that and a bag of chips
 It is clear that the man behind the memes has a close connection with secretive
organizations
 Over the course of a few days, the illusion was shattered: Nacho was in fact a spy

49. Nacho:
The REAL Conclusion
 After a day or so of review, and no more frogs flooding the subreddit, the
conclusion was reached that Nacho was in fact just a guy making memes
 There was no deeper plot here, just a simple joke hidden amongst the frogs
 However, it’s still unknown if the u/Lordtuts connection is anything more than what
it seems
 The frogs, however, would have a spiritual successor

50. Heron’s Formula
Not What Anybody Expected
 The fire to Nacho’s water, user u/CDos93 soon showed his face on me_irl, just after
the frogs reached popularity
 CDos posted a single heron, stating he would double it if he reached a certain
number of upvotes
 Sound familiar? It was in order to keep the frog population in check, or so he says
 He began his herons on August 7th, and ceased the next day due to a lack of the
required upvotes

52. Why Herons?
I Ask The Source Himself

53. Me_irl Goes 4K
Graphics DO Matter
 On August 8th (2017) user u/8100 made a post of a simple gray square
 However, he promised he would double the resolution if he hit a certain number of
upvotes
 It became apparent we had another frog-multiplier on our hand
 However, the people were curious and continued to upvote the images as fast as
they were posted
 The original image can be seen on the following slide, along with what it turned
into

54. What could it be? O shit!

55. The Return Of FireGuy12:
This Time, He Goes Too Far
 8100’s post didn’t end there, however
 His next post claimed he would “heat up” the image if it reached a certain amount
of upvotes
 Users noticed this changed in phrasing, along with a hidden image of FireGuy
lurking in the top left corner of the image
 But it was too late, as the upvotes were in
 8100 made his next post, where all illusions were dropped and he revealed himself
to be none other than…

56. U/8100
Betrayal Strikes Again
 ...A supporter of FireGuy12
 This marked the second betrayal of the war, and a huge turning point
 It became clear that nobody could be trusted, and that is me_irl stands currently as
of August 9th
 Once Waterguy12 returns, things will surely change for the better
 Until then, there is much more to discuss about the history of me_irl

57. A devastating influx of memes vying for meme of the month.
Many will enter.
Few will make it out.
Me_Irl, a Presentation: Part II

58. October, 2016
The Start of it All
 To understand the war, one must first understand the drought that proceeded it
 The meme drought was lengthy, and this was a period of time where few memes
had any staying power
 The meme drought was declared over when a post hit me_irl, a post about the Bear
in The Big Blue House
 The meme was forced, but it was all me_irl had
 Many took Bear and ran with it, however many refused to accept this meme

59. The Bear is Home
What Makes a Meme?
 The Bear memes had hit me_irl, and users jumped on the train
 Many memes were meta, referencing how forced the meme itself was, or simply
using it to end the drought
 Even more used it as a substitute for other memes, such as editing the bear onto
other notable memes
 With no other contenders, it seemed meme of the month belonged to the Bear

61. The Skeleton War
Bearly A Challenge
 October 6th, just two days after bear made his big debut, skeleton memes flooded
the subreddit
 These memes were part of the annual skeleton war, but had posed the bear as the
enemy this time around
 The battle raged on through a series of memes, and support for both sides was
strong
 There was no conclusive victor, as a new meme overtook both

63. Bionicles
Your Childhood is a Meme Now
 Bionicle was a line of Lego building sets, released in 2001
 This was Lego’s attempt at creating a line that had an overarching storyline
 Bionicle is short for Biological Chronicle
 As of now, the line has ceased production despite a 2015 reboot
 Poor sales led to the ”Generation 2”line not completing its run
 However, Bionicle lived on in a different form…

64. Bionicles
Me_irl’s Newest Meme
 The Bionicle meme was first uploaded on Sunday, October 29th
 It also overlapped for the rest of the month, though it was mostly popular for
Sunday through Monday
 The memes typically used a Bionicle figure as a reaction image, or to replace other
memes (Bionicle Drake meme, Bionicle dat boi)
 No notable memes would emerge for a few days after this point, as all other
memes were merely attempting to fill a hole

66. Wallace and Gromit
Ah, grommet, I used to say it all the time back in Cali.
You couldn’t stop me from saying it.
Grommet this, grommet that.
The FUCK does grommet mean?
 W&G was a series of British clay animated shorts, a comedy series created by Nick
Park
 The first meme based on these lesser known films appeared on October 13th
 These memes made heavy use of Wensleydale cheese, a type of food Wallace
favored throughout his films
 The memes also did the usual substitute/meta style of memes, but the cheese ones
were most well known

68. Me_irl Hits The Roof
*Insert Witty Comment Here*
 The next major meme to hit during October (on the 18th) was an image of text,
saying “*slaps roof of car* this bad boy can fit so much fucking spaghetti in it”
 These memes featured altered versions of this single line of dialogue, being uttered
by different people in different situations
 There’s not much that can be said about this meme, so attached are a few
examples of clever ones

70. The Last Big One
Education Through Memes
 Many people recognize BrainPop, an educational service frequently used in
classrooms. The part most recognizable are the two mascots, Tim and Moby
 A robot and a human, the two appear in most of the sites videos and often interact
with the audience for an engaging educational experience
 Me_irl brought these two back on October 19th
 A lot of the memes used the “letter to Tim and Moby” format, where the two would
be reading a letter that had been altered by the poster
 This was the final major meme of the month

71. I couldn't’t find any memes I’m sorry.

72. The Smaller Memes
But The Most Important
 Trebuchet Memes: Who could forgot this important meme, the only one that
could launch 90kg projectiles over 300 meters?
 Dat Boi’s Revival: Dat boi was already an established meme, already having his
own meme of the month and time to shine.
 The Coma Meme: A guy wakes up from a lengthy (or brief) coma, only to discover
everything he values has changed.
 Me Too Thanks: The phrase seen in all comment threads got its own meme,
featuring variations on the phrase (me: two tanks, meat: ooo thanks)
 These memes are still common today, thus their role in the Meme War was
minimal.

73. October 2016
A Brief Reflection
 The Meme War, or Renaissance, of 2016 was a vital time on the subreddit in
question
 In birthed many memes that are still seen today, and was a time of previously
unseen creativity
 In also helped to end the infamous meme drought, giving users a plethora of new
content to work with
 It was also the biggest event to take over the subreddit, a time where users united
and worked together
 An event where the complex lore of me_irl became a meme itself

74. The Meme of The Day
A (almost) Complete Calendar

75. A Hero Returns.
A War Begins.
Me_irl, a Presentation: Part III, The Conclusion

76. August 14th
A Warm Welcome Home
 The day came where WaterGuy12 promised he would return to the subreddit after
his travels
 Leading up to this moment, users had been planning a great welcome for the man
himself
 Mimikyu (a ceramic figure made by WaterGuy) had become the latest meme, a way
to welcome the original Guy12 home
 And then a post hit the front page, a single post. A post made by none other than
WaterGuy12

77. WaterGuy12’s Words of Wisdom

78. WaterGuy12
The Aftermath for The Man Himself
(Stats as of 12:02 pm August 14th)
 Karma Gained: 21K
 Gold Gained: 42 (On Posts)
 Average Upvote Count Per Post: 5,833.33 (Roughly)
 Notifications: Reached Limit
 Emotional Toll: Satisfied
 WaterGuy12 is proud that he has become a meme, though he never imagined it
would reach this far
 Currently his welcome back post is on the front of r/all

79.  August 13th, FireGuy12 uploads an image of fire with the words “this meme has
been burned away” declaring he and his followers would upload the pic on the 14th
 However, few people followed through
 This is also when FireGuy12 revealed his memes about being friends with
WaterGuy12 were in fact false
 The next post he made challenged WaterGuy12, and the final battle seemed to be
near
 Me_irl would have to decide the victor
FireGuy12’s Final Plan
Memes Die, Dreams Don’t

80. Fire And Water Collide
The Battle of The Century
 WaterGuy12 and his supporters invaded r/Fireguy12, a subreddit dedicated to the
man of the same name
 A simple post (seen on the next slide) was posted and reposted, filling the
subreddit with nothing but support for WaterGuy12
 FireGuy12 tried to fight back, but was ultimately dowsed by the water
 The battle was quick, elegant, and required nothing but WaterGuy12’s leadership
 FireGuy12 made one last post, pleading for his life as he was being extinguished
 His pleas went unanswered

82. The Death of FireGuy12

83. FireFighterGuy12
A Traitor Comes Home
 Seeing the flood of support for WaterGuy, FFGuy made a post declaring that he
would be rejoining the side he had started on
 However, this post barely made a splash
 FFGuy12 made another post, declaring the same message, along with indicating
that it may be his final post as mod of the subreddit
 This could mark the first causality of the war, but presumably not the last
 Many of the Guy12s have vanished since WaterGuy12’s return
 Me_irl is on the road to recovery, with WaterGuy12 at the helm

84. FireFighterGuy12’s Last Words

85. August 14th, The Aftermath
The End of A Saga
 FireGuy12 was ultimately extinguished, his subreddit taken over by WaterGuy12
 FireFighterGuy12 was removed as moderator of said subreddit after switching
sides, and hasn’t been heard from since
 WaterGuy12 forgave FFGuy12, and the two had a touching reunion before
FFGuy12’s untimely disappearance
 Many of the Guy12s have not been heard from, it is unknown why
 WaterGuy12 has planned an AMA

86. WaterGuy12, A Reflection
A Two Week Legend
 The WaterGuy12 saga was one of the biggest events to hit me_irl since the
aforementioned meme war of October 2016
 It built a name for itself, expanding from one simple post into an ongoing series of
memes and involving dozens of people
 Starting with WaterGuy12, to FireGuy12, and the rest of the users that participated
in the event
 It managed to highlight what Reddit truly is: a community
 Throughout memes, Me_irl has managed to unite people from across the globe to
enjoy relatable images
 And that is the true power of memes

87. WaterGuy12, A Legacy
What Comes Next?
 WaterGuy12’s AMA will be releasing after this publication
 The extinction of imposters was marked by FireGuy12’s exiting
 It is possible somebody will try to follow in his footsteps, but this remains to be
seen. Only time will tell
 On the subject of the frog multiplication, several posts that feature live updating
have appeared, where each upvote actually affects the post in real time
 The frogs have spawned this type of new meme, and time will show where it goes
from here

88. The Welcoming Continues
What Now?
 Head on over to me_irl to participate in the influx of welcome home memes, and
enjoy the party
 Memes will return to normal on Wednesday, with the Wednesday frog and related
memes
 This week will surely be one for the books, and something me_irl will be known for
 All thanks to one post, and what followed

89. Conclusion
Me_irl, a Presentation: The End
 That concludes the saga that was WaterGuy12, along with a brief covering of the
Meme War of 2016
 Unfortunately, this was much shorter than intended. This was for several reasons,
mainly a lack of content. I would’ve liked to hit 100, but I don’t want to artificially
extend it.
 I know I said 200, but alas, there is not enough content or time in my life.
 I hope you found this to be interesting and enjoyable, and maybe people will look
back on this in the future.
 Thank you r/Me_irl, for allowing me the chance to document what has unfolded
these past few days.
 This is u/Joey10594, signing off

90. I mean, me too thanks.