To talk about the era that was peak MySpace—roughly 2006-2008—is to date oneself egregiously. And yet it must be spoken about: in a pre-social media age, it gave us to much to talk about and think about. Who was in your top 8? What 30-second blast of emo music would greet visitors upon entering your page? Was your profile picture taken from an extreme angle, or did you use an avatar? These were the complex questions we had to grapple with as youths. And it taught us so much, so very much.

But there’s something even more important about Myspace: it coincided with the brief, important era of Tom Hardy having sex with men. And we’ve got pics to prove it.

Make no mistake: during this glorious moment in time, Tom Hardy had not yet reached peak fame, which meant he was free to unleash the full messiness of his personality on Myspace. The wigs were wigging, and the tush was tushing.

There are so many thoughts and feelings that this series of images brings up. And yet at the same time we have no questions, because it was Myspace. It was the social media Wild West, and there was a tacit understanding that what happened on Myspace stayed on Myspace. The only problem is that we’re living in the present, where nothing that happens ever stays under wraps for long.

Obviously there’s one pic in particular we’re all intrigued by: it tells a full story. A story we already knew, but it always bears retelling.

There’s just something so uninhibited about this era of pre-social media social media.

All men want what he has naturally…it’s called swag, people!

I guess it just goes to show: you can’t stop the sun from rising in the sky, you can’t stop the icecaps from melting, and you can’t stop a star from shining.