For a very large variety of reasons, My Immortal has been suspected of being a very elaborate trollfic (see more information at Tara Gilesbie). The most notable reason for this is the very large amount of textual and story elements that might be references to works that the author's "goff" persona presumably wouldn't show interest in. The references range from complex literature to extremely obscure movies and media factoids.
Some of these seem to suggest that Tara, or whoever is behind her persona, is either an actual literature and gothic subculture fan messing around, or someone smart enough to dig up said facts. Or both.
Some of these have been taken to be rather lucky misspellings (see: Tom Bombadil), and that they are entirely accidental. If this is the case, however, then some spectacular coincidences are at work here.
| References | Mentioned | Excerpt | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-life location | Chapter 26 | I fought about it. Then all of a sudden….. "Longdon.” I said. I told him which street. | Though it could easily be a misspelling of "London", Longdon is an actual name for multiple villages in the UK. |
| Star Trek | Chapter 28 | He put his spock in my you-know-what and passively we did it. | In one scene, Ebony mentions Draco putting his "spock" into her "you-know-what" during sex. Spock is also the name of Captain Kirk's next-in-command in Star Trek: The Original Series. If this is an intentional reference, then Tara is likely a troll, since Star Trek contains a lot of deep ethical and philosophical plot points (which would be above Tara's alleged intellectual level) and is generally uplifting and utopian (clashing with her alleged cynicism). On the other hand, it might also be a bizarre misspelling of "cock". |
| The Lord of the Rings | Chapter 31 | It was…………………….Tom Bombodil!1111 | In chapter 31, a young Voldemort is introduced as "Tom Bombodil". Tom Bombadil is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not only is he a minor (but very memorable) character, but he's also absent from the movie adaptations. Therefore, this means that Tara must have read the books (or have done some research on them); as such, this is often used as foremost evidence that she is in fact a well-read troll. Notably, in the next chapter she dismisses the name, calling it "a mistak". This is probably to throw off suspicions of her being a troll. Another possibility is that it's Raven who's the troll, and told Tara that Tom's last name was Bombadil as a prank. Of course, there's also the possibility that Tara and Raven are both trolls, and Raven came up with the joke but Tara was in on it. That is, if they both actually exist and are not simply two slightly different personas adopted by the same troll. |
| The Matrix | Chapter 33 | “Hel no!” she said. “Lizzen Egogy, I need ur help. Nex tim u go bak in tim, do u fink u kod ask Tom Andorson 4 sum help?” | Similarly, young!Voldemort is also refered to as "Tom Anderson" or some variation thereof by Proffesor Sinister. Tom Anderson, better known as Neo, is the main protagonist of the The Matrix trilogy, which is a deeply philosophical film series. However, because many goth and emo teenagers appreciated these movies for shallow aesthetics (read: all the leather), this would be in character for Tara's ditzy, edgy persona. If this isn't just another random typo. |
| The Ring | Chapter 35 | “Snap plays the boss. And Jamez plays the guitar to even fo we call him Samaro, after Samara in da ring.” | James Potter's gothic name is Samaro, which Tara says is an homage to The Ring. There is an actual town in Pakistan called Samaro, which was originally called Jamesabad (literally, "Jamestown"). |
| Cornelia Funke | Chapter 36 | But Snap wasn’t there. Instead there was…………………………………………Cornelio F*ck!11111 | Cornelia F*ck, presumably a misspelling of the canon character Cornelius Fudge, could also be a reference to German children's fantasy author Cornelia Funke, who is sometimes referred to as the "German J. K. Rowling". The last name could also be a joke on the fact that "fudge" is often a euphemism for "f*ck". |
| Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Chapter 41 | Suddeni I saw a totally sexi goffik bi guy!!!!!11 He had bleched blond hair wiv blak streaks up 2 his ears and he wuz wearing goffik blak iliner [...] “Dis is…Hedwig!!!!!!!!!11” Sed Volximort. | My Immortal's description of Hedwig may be a reference to this play/movie. Instead of a snowy owl, Hedwig is a blonde "goffik bi guy!!!!!11" with an interest in music. Combined with his presence in the eighties, it seems to uncannily match the titular Hedwig of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (though the character undergoes sex surgery and is female for most of the play/movie). Hedwig and the Angry Inch, dealing with rather uncomfortable subject matters and generally being a more niche work at the time of My Immortal's creation, would be a fairly large red flag for Tara being a troll. |
| Clerks | Chapter 43 | [...] this job would be great if not for the f**king students [...] | In chapter 43, Mr. Norris says "this job would be great if not for the f**king students". This line is taken almost ad verbatim from Kevin Smith's Clerks, the only difference being that the character saying it (Randal Graves) is referring to customers and not students. As far as references go this is arguably the most explicit. That said, cynicism and profanity are very common in My Immortal, so this could be a coincidence, but again, the wording is very similar. |
| Bret Easton Ellis | N/A | N/A | Although possibly not a reference to any single work in particular, similarities in the writing style of My Immortal to the novels by American author Bret Easton Ellis (most famous for Less Than Zero and American Psycho) have occasionally been noted. Similarities include but are not limited to:
If Tara is a troll, then she could possibly been writing an homage to Ellis's style given the heavy satirical nature of the novels and its commentary about conforming to bad societal norms. |