25 Early-Internet Mysteries That Have Never Been Solved

Of all the notorious fanfic of the last couple of decades — the One Direction “Larry” fanfiction featured on Euphoria, the shockingly large breadth of Conclave fanfiction shared to Archive of Our Own, and of course, 50 Shades of Grey — none have been quite as impactful as My Immortal. 

First hitting the internet in 2006, this deeply unofficial Harry Potter story horrified fans, smut-lovers and anyone with eyes throughout its 44 chapters, boasting unhinged lines like “I MAY BE A HOGWARTS STUDENT…. BUT I AM ALSO A SATANIST,” “kan I plz burrow sum condemns,” and, unforgettably, Dumbledore’s infamously off-character interjection of “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU MOTHERFUKERS!" 

But despite My Immortal’s wide reach and deserved reputation for being the worst fanfic of all time, internet sleuths are still working to uncover the unknown identity of XXXbloodyrists666XXX/Tara Gilesbie, as well as what Rose Christo had to do with the whole ordeal. Frustratingly, this is far from the only lingering mystery of the early internet. 

So, courtesy of Reddit’s most curious minds, here are the early-internet mysteries that we still need solved ASAP — especially the one about the time traveler.