KimL

Here in South East Asia, being a fan crazy enough to dress up as Lara is just like the way Lara lives most of her life - solitary. Where I live, what is considered the normal lifestyle is study, work, and, during the weekends, shopping downtown. Outrageous things or hobbies are always met with a raised eyebrow, because it simply just isn't what everyone else does. Here a person is expected to go to the best schools, then on to university, followed by a successful career and a family. I consider myself to be the Asian version of Lara because while everyone else around me was getting a degree, I chose to study in an art academy. I also don't fall into the "in" crowd in my country, preferring to dress in my own style, and believe my own beliefs. I have my own philosophy in life. And because I grew up with my nose buried in Enid Blyton books and any English novel I could get my hands on, the way I think and speak is very much like a Westerner even though I am Chinese. I know more about the Western world than I do about the East.

Besides drawing and reading, my innate interest in martial arts has me fascinated with anything that combines power, strength and grace. Currently I am a student of the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu, and before that I also learnt a few basics of tae-kwon-do as part of my curriculum in college. I attribute this interest to my maternal grandfather, who was a master in Chinese kung-fu. While I am no martial arts expert, I enjoy physical exertion and am pretty good at sprinting. I also love playing computer games and going to the gym.

I'm not a movie fanatic, but I love the flamboyance and exaggeration of the cinema. Combine this with my love for computer games, and it would be the reason why I am now a student of 3D Animation. I hope to be able to work for Disney or Dreamworks someday and create beautiful cartoons, or special effects for movies, or a computer game.

I also love guns and archery, as I find marksmanship a very exhilarating hobby. Unfortunately, guns are banned and illegal where I live, so the only places to "practice" marksmanship are in a couple of amusement-park-shooting-ranges here where you can rent air guns for a fee, and shoot arrows at an indoor shooting-range filled with foam bits (to catch the fallen arrows), instead of a real outdoor one, all for yet another sum of money.

Just like her, I am able to sprint over quite a distance and even up flights of stairs, and am a pretty good shot with a gun (an air gun, at least). I also love ancient history, particularly Ancient Egypt, and have a good grasp of geography. I like traveling and exploring places that people don't normally want to go to. I don't cut corners when situation demands it, although basically I'm a sweet-natured person and hate to utter unpleasantries to anyone, but I can be very cutting and at my harshest to those who try to hurt me. Like Lara, I also can't sit still for long and will act upon my decision at once. I also demand perfection in whatever I do, just like Lara does, although I admit she tends to achieve it more often than I do (EVERY flying-leap lands her on every ledge, for heaven's sake!). I have also been told that I look exactly like the in-game Lara (especially in TR1, 2 & 3).

Lara is the reason why I am what I am today. She is first and foremost the reason why I chose to study 3D Animation at an art academy, because the Tomb Raider games inspired me so much I decided I wanted to be able to make something like this for a career. Before I met Lara, I was in the worst stage of my teens - really skinny and gangly and ugly, all arms and legs. After my uncle lent me his copy of Tomb Raider 1, my desire to be that strong character running around in the freezing cold Peruvian tombs surfaced. Since then I have changed not just physically, but mentally as well. If there was a place where I could show before-and-after pictures of myself (like you see in those diet magazines!), you too would wonder what happened to that awkward, skinny girl with the too-large glasses.

People say that she's not real, just a computer game character or a bunch of pixels, but the way I see it, Lara is as real as you and me. People can paint portraits of God and say that he is real, so why not Lara? She is not a god, and she can't perform miracles, but just like Him, he is very real to those that believe in Him (in this case, her).

Sexy comes with being deadly, the ability to hold yourself so that others won't step all over you. That is what I see Lara to be. Despite what other people say, I think that Lara is not perfect. Where she is perfect in her physical abilities, Lara has a rebellious nature which denotes a strong will. No perfect person would flout societal rules, or suffer disownment by her father. In that way, and many more ways to come, I believe (especially with Angel of Darkness coming up) Lara is not perfect. Tomb Raider Next Generation would be the perfect way to reveal Lara's flaws, and therefore, make her more real and perfect as any real human being is.