#laraboot

[positivelyamazonian]

I don't know what the current state of TR games is, but I hope the second reboot movie won't ignite a new slate of games. I know I can simply ignore their existence and let other enjoy them in peace but I'd be happier knowing this games are (finally) done for good. Classic Lara deserves peace

I’m afraid I can’t do predictions myself, so all I have to provide is my personal opinion. 

I don’t think the second reboot movie will ignite anything. As far as I know - and I have not researched on it - it’s an adaptation of the second reboot game as the first one did with the first installment. As movie, the first reboot one looked pretty forgettable and boring, as the game is - I didn’t manage to watch more than 10 minutes of it, and it weren’t even the first 10 minutes, but when she was already in Yamatai. The sequence I watched was literally copy-pasted from the game. The only difference was that Vikander’s acting is way more less infuriating than Luddington’s voice acting, with all those forced gasps and pants.

I can hardly see how a second movie with more of the same can ignite new games, since those games already exist, and the movie will be based on them, not the all way around. At most it will ignite more sales of the already existent games, and that’s all.

Of course this is my opinion because I don’t like the reboot myself, probably others will see it differently. But from my point of view the reboot timeline is more than exhausted. The three games starring Laraboot are more of the same one and the other and the other. Spawning more games of the same will eventually - more soon than later - degrade the franchise and make the developers quit for good. Nowadays what prompts a franchise to stand are the sales, not the quality of the content, and even critics and score you can’t trust, for all the videogame media is bought and sold to the best bidder.

I personally wish there were no more “Tomb Raider” games - or whatever that thing is - so they leave this franchise and Lara Croft’s names rest in peace; but what I wish doesn’t matter because they will do whatever suits their pockets. If they see a market chance, they will grab it, if not, they will leave the corpse rot until it’s time to awaken it again. Whatever mother market dictates.

What I disagree you with is that anything of this has something to do with Classic Lara. It doesn’t. The real Lara Croft was seen last time in 2003. So from this moment anything happening to the franchise that has stolen and exploited her name has nothing to do with her.

[i-m-not-a-penguin]

Reboot rant

I’ll never understand how the reboot tomb raider games are generally considered “enjoyable” games or good games. What’s enjoyable abt cutscenes or scripted events every two minutes, bland (often greyish) environments, Laraboot constantly falling on her ass or shooting dudes (fighting mechanics are not even that good). Boring puzzles, optional tombs, lack of traps (the ones present are easily avoidable). It’s a shooter game and an average one at that. These games are average at best. I don’t understand the “don’t get me wrong I think the reboots are good games” statements from classic TR fans. Even if you take them as their own game outside of the classic they’re terrible. I want to erase their existence from this world and from my mind.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinions but regardless of what you think of the reboots the fact of the matter is that they have no legitimate reason to have been called tomb raider (and the protag lara croft). Greediness at its best

[anentireamazon]

What? Did you just put AoD Lara in the Reboot games and expect her to be the same? Some things should’ve been fixed.

[adayka]

Sry xD... i entered this darkhorse coloring book contest🙈...

[luluvonv]

You know what's ironic in TR fandom...

People bash Core Design Lara to be merciless, soulless, brutal, emotionless, careless about others and killing everyone who stands in her way... and that current "Lara" is more real and has feelings blah blah blah...

And then you read articles and posts how Lara(boot) in Shadow of TR is the deadliest than ever before, and see videos of her killing more men in one moment than Core Lara in all six games together..

Uuuuuuhm...

[positivelyamazonian]

like, man, as a latina woman who spent my entire childhood being bombarded by disney princesses and barbie dolls with those cherubic faces seeing a woman like lara and her large mouth, her strong jawline and piercing eyes made me feel so much better about my own strong features. it was disheartening to see her being redesigned into a doll-faced baby-looking young woman for the 2013 reboot, even her eyes went from dark brown to light amber because brown women can't have anything apparently.

To be extremely honest I have nothing against Laraboot’s physical appearance, in fact, despite she looked kinda cringy in the first game (2013), she grew more and more attractive as the trilogy progressed and in SOTTR she even looks beautiful to me. 

My problem with her, as everyone is tired of hearing me say, is that she’s not Lara Croft. The badassery and fierceness of Classic/TRAOD Lara was something that come from her inside, her wild and unbent spirit, not her physical appearance. There’s nothing remarkable about her body apart  from the athletic features and feminine forms; her pale skin, brown eyes and reddish brown hair is quite common. It was her spirit, her wits and her sense of humor, together with her education in formation and her politeness when it came to interact, that made her something else. 

I know male nerd crowd from the 90s that enjoyed sexualizing her won’t surely understand what I mean but I hope true fans and, over all, females, will get it, right?

Lara is actually British so neither she’s a latina nor a brown woman, but it doesn’t matter because race is not playing any role when it comes to her, it’s her spirit what makes her special, unshakeable. It is true that Laraboot looks actually more bland and vulnerable but I would not blame her skin, eyes or hair on that, because in that she’s not that different from the original Lara. The thing is, she’s a completely different character, with no relation with the original one, who only happens to be using her name because of marketing purposes.

Laraboot can start braiding her hair, trying to shoot with dual pistols or replace her rags with tank top and shorts, that still won’t turn her into Lara Croft. It is a matter of characterization. And honestly, I will never understand how long time fans can live with this contradiction and call her the same character. 

Because at this point we can all agree, I guess, that thing of “the origin story” or “becoming what she’s meant to be” was mere bullshit to bait the classic fans, right? It wasn’t the origin of Classic Lara - we already had that in TR4-TR5 - and the thing she became to be - if she did at all, because I see no progression of her character in the three games - is anything, but Classic Lara.

[positivelyamazonian]

How would you compare classic Lara's body type compared to her other iterations?

Wait... what?

Maybe I’m not getting your ask, but why would I compare classic Lara’s body type with LAUra or Laraboot - if that’s indeed what you’re asking? How is that relevant in any way?

I think the closest I’ve been to touch this issue was when I wrote The Girl With The Big Breasts: On The Sexualization of Lara Croft. Where I basically say Classic Lara is not to be judged on her physical appearance because what really matters is her spirit and wits. And lament also about her being sexualized by Eidos first, then Crystal Dynamics, but the ones unjustly carrying the burnt being Core Design and nowadays fandom judging and blaming the classic character on it - which is incredibly misogynistic considering it comes from crowds that consider themselves “feminists”.

Apart from this I really have no desire to debate on Lara’s physical body. It never mattered to me. And I don’t know why should I compare her with LAUra or Laraboot - who are entirely different characters. Yes, the three of them have two arms and legs and a face, lol, but to compare their physical bodies for me is like comparing myself with my neighbour next door. 

If anything, the treatment their respective creators and developers have given to them is different. Classic Lara was extremely appealing and attractive physically speaking but her charming spirit and wits kinda over-exceeded this aspect; despite the sexist media won’t acknowledge it, of course. LAUra was made even more sensual and exuberant but the charm and wits of Core Lara were gone - her personal backstory and lines greatly suffering from it, turning her into a shallow and boring character. And finally, Laraboot is something else, her feminine features being mostly suppressed to appeal to pseudofeminist - actually, misogynistic - crowd who thinks being attractive or good looking is not empowering for a woman; but without giving her any special wits or charms, making her actually vulnerable and suffering-driven, thus turning her into a bland and even more boring character if possible.

As you can see, physical bodies practically play no role here. As far as I’m concerned, engaging in a debate comparing the bodies of the three characters would be as uninteresting and irrelevant as the time this fandom is wasting asking when the dual pistols will return. 

Remember that TRAOD teaser when Lara was asked which was her best weapon at her arsenal and she answered, “My mind, obviously”? Well. That’s all that matters when it comes to her. :)

[positivelyamazonian]

imagine feeling so little confidence on ur ship that you feel the need to attack a ship from a series that was cancelled 10 years ago lmao. s/alaras be mad that Lartis is Lara's only canon ship in the games while s/am is so useless even the reboot creators forgot she exists. sorry salaras, I'd prefer my Tomb Raider / Demon Hunter powercouple than a ship where Blandette#1 gets tossed around and captured like a hot potato while Blandette#2 has to save her yelling all the way.

Actually the ships are not even rivals or have to compete for anything since Laraboot is not Lara Croft, or, let’s say it more diplomatically, it’s not the same Lara Croft. They are different characters by different developers in different eras that have nothing in common. So actually Lartis makes no damage or has no reason to mess with SS Endurance at all.

Yet some of their shippers have acted like assholes since the beginning, making it a fight where Lara’s sexual orientation was the thing at stake. Ridiculous. For example that time when I submitted my Lartis fic to a contest and a SS Endurance shipper submitted a fic and started to pressure people into voting because a Lartis fic couldn’t win, or that despective comment saying “you know SS Endurance is sinking when you see all those Lartis fics popping around again”, as if it was a fucking competition, when actually, most of Lartis fics already existed from many years ago, the oldest coming from the very year of the release (2003). And the best is when you’re accused out of the blue of being homophobic, biphobic o directly a rape supporter because you ship Lartis. Because Kurtis is a rapist and Lara gets raped in the Louvre and other hallucinations of the sort.

Honestly, I wanted to accept/tolerate SS Endurance but some of their shippers have made it really difficult to me. The result is that to the day I roll my eyes everytime I see that ship popping out around the dash. It’s their attitude that makes you get sick of the ship. But of course everyone will say it’s because we’re homophobic/biphobic/we love rape. Sure.