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Lily
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Name: Lilia
Stoilova
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Hobbies
& Fav Things
I'
ve got many hobbies. Some of them are :
Playing
Tomb Raider and working on my websites.
Drawing
is my hobby too. I even want to be a computer animator. I hope someday I' ll
make games like Tomb Raider. I' ll be proud if someone
likes my games as much as I and the other TR fans like Lara's
adventures.
Swimming,
shooting and training Tae- Kwon Do.
I have great interest in ancient mythology and culture & love reading
anything that has to do with these or paleontology I can
get my hands on. These interests I’ve had since I was very young and
it’s probably one of the reasons I’ve become such a huge fan of Lara.
Watching
adventure films. Except Tomb Raider the movie (which I loved) my fav films
are The Cell, 13th Floor & A Knight's Tale.
Taking
TR photos. It has become one of my hobbies. I really enjoy posing as Lara-
actually it's a lot of fun.
I
LOVE HIM's music but also enjoy the music from the TR games and other
soundtracks...
Being
Lara Croft
I've done some modeling as Lara Croft for "The Net" at BAIT Expo 2002.
Appeared as Lara on MM TV & Channel 1 (both are Bulgarian channels). Also got some photos shown in The TR Movie Special
Posed as Lara for PC Mania's 2001 Calendar.
Posed as Lara for the cover of In Smouth's single "Lara Croft"
My
photos as Lara Croft have been used by the Russian magazine "Igromania"
& the Bulgarian newspaper "168 Chasa".
I've
also won a few look-a-like competitions:
2nd
place at The Young Lara Croft Competition Fall 1999
1st
place at the Young Lara Croft Competition Winter 2000
1st
place in The Special Category- Composite Images at The Summer Competition
2000 with my submissions for the Young Lara Croft And Friends/Enemies
Categories
2nd
place in the Composites Category at the Summer 2001
Best TR arsenal for a 2001 competition
I’d like to thank all people who helped me make this possible.
Why Lara
Croft
I
like the TR games and they mean much to me. I simply cannot imagine the world
without them. I' ve played a lot of PC games but I like TR the most because it
is really different. It combines different styles of games. There is pretty good
history in it (like in a quest), interesting puzzles (I can' t compare them with
the puzzles in any other game), there is a lot of action etc. Also I like the
games because they are the only way for a human to really be Lara Croft. This
feeling is amazing. To be strong and capable of so many things, to be aware of
it and to know how to make it work for you. Since I was very young I’ve always
admired people like Lara.
I’ve
always liked strong and independent women. It’s also important that one has
strong will and is willing to go after his dreams whatever it costs him and no
matter how impossible they might seem. There’s a lot one can learn from Lara.
I think it’s also important that a girl is not only beautiful but also
intelligent. The aristocrat carriage Lara has also adds to this character
perfectly because a girl has to have her pride and manners.
I’ve
probably been looking for that someone for so long without even realizing it-
until I found Lara.
It
was almost surreal that a person who had the exact same features as the ones
I’ve always admired existed, even if it was in an imaginative world. You can
imagine how strange it was to find out the game was also based on ancient myths
and cultures which have interested me for such a long time.
Something
that also probably affected my decisions is that I’d just lost my best friend
at the time I found Lara. So in a way I guess she became a best friend for me.
It is a period I don’t want to remember- because at that time everything was
slowly slipping out of my fingers as sand is slipping through a timeless clock.
Then
Lara helped me to find the real me and become the person I’ve always wanted to
be. I realized how strong I am after all and now I not only am proud of myself
and chase my dreams but I understand myself better and am no longer confused
with the person I am.
I
think Lara is all a girl should be nowadays.
Back To
Business
Now let me
tell you more about the shooting of my photos…
Since
I’ve been a look-a-like since 1999 I’ve changed a lot of different outfits
and improved my old ones more than once.
The gun
belt is definitely the hardest part of my outfits to make. The one I currently
use is the best one I’ve had so far. I bought 2 holsters (there are only right
ones) and a belt to which they could be attached. One of them was ok but the
other one needed some work to be used as my left holster. The buckles I use were
specially made for the belt and can be changed.
The boots
are Lara Croft style New Rock boots, which were really hard to find in Bulgaria.
I also had
difficulties finding a back- pack I actually got one from Greece where I was
lucky enough to go last year. It was impossible to get one that looks anything
like Lara’s in Bulgaria.
Other parts
of my outfits are presents from dear friends of mine or simply things I’ve
bought.
I have
photos shoot on so many different locations that I no- longer can remember they
stories of taking all of them. But there are some I'll never forget...
I took some
amazingly good pix during Niels Berndsen's (LC's N 1 Fan) visit to me. Some of
the pix used in my submission are memories from the great time we had while he
was in Bulgaria for a week. We've visited places all over the country taking
pix- caves, mountains, monasteries, forests, waterfalls...
It was
qiute amazing when two other TR fans from Britain came to visit me too.
I'm also
looking forward to a close friend of mine's visit this summer. She's a great LC
look-a-like and a great friend of mine. You've most likely seen Anneke's
stunning pix more than once already but if u haven't make sure to do so!
Lily and Anneke's recent meeting photos from Bulgaria
It is
really great fun touring your country and taking pix with your friends...
