Tomb Raider: The Gift of Brahmā (Fanfic)

[Amunet]

Hey guys!

So I finally finished the fanfic I've been writing since god knows when about the plane crash in the Himalayas.

It's a short story and I'm not very confident about my writing (particularly dialogues ) but it's a story I've been wanting to write for a long time and in the end I think I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I decided to share it on AO3. Here's a link if you want to give it a read:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43...ters/108690115

It's divided in seven small "chapters" (it's actually a prologue + 5 chapters + epilogue). The Prologue is set in the 18th century and it's the backstory of what Lara later encounters on the mountains (like the Classics' Intro FMVs with the flashback about the artifacts). Then the next 5 chapters are the actual story of the crash. The Epilogue is set some time after Lara returns home and it's about the falling out with her parents.

[HarleyCroft]

I liked it, the vividly visual style made it flow nicely with no wasted words The relationship dynamic with George was also interesting

[Rai]

I enjoyed it. I would have liked a little more on Lara's survival on the mountain ranges, rather than jumping ahead, but I enjoyed the action and descriptions in the temple.

[Amunet]

Thank you so much for reading and for your comments! I really appreciate the feedback and I'm so pleased to hear you liked it.

@Rai - yeah, I did cheat a little on that section by jumping forward. I did struggle a little with that choice but the truth is that I didn't really know how to write it properly

[.snake.]

Finally got around to reading this and I must say I really loved it. You did an amazing job, and so much of what you wrote totally spoke to my own head-canon that I have of Lara's plane crash story (like finding a lost monastery and confronting a yeti for the first time). You really gave this story life.

I loved the Prologue, and how you mirrored the classic TR intro FMVs. It particularly reminded me of TR2's intro with the door slamming and the monk being trapped inside. I even heard the same music that plays during that FMV playing in my head.

I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed description you went into during the section in the temple, the puzzle solving, and Lara battling the yeti. I also liked your take on her relationship with George (the Earl of Farrington?) and that Lara was involved with him briefly which shows her as being more than a feelingless ice queen as she is often conceptualized. It also helped strengthen her resolve to live for herself by breaking off the relationship. (I also enjoyed the Downton Abbey easter eggs...).

My only critique would be (like Rai already suggested), if you do ever decide to expand this story, then I would like to read more of the actual crash experience, and definitely a more drawn-out narrative of her post-crash and striving to survive. If we experience a bit more of her struggle, I feel it would carry more weight later on when she declares she could have died in those mountains, but didn't, so now she will not waste a minute of her precious life and live it for herself. Perhaps also a parallel could be made of the oppressive hostile snowy storm surrounding her to the oppressive upper-class upbringing?

All that aside, it was a wonderful story and I hope we get to read more someday.

[Amunet]

^Thank you, snake! As someone who is really insecure it really means the world to read such positive feedback!

When I started this fic, I did conceptualize it as something that could work as a game (maybe not a full game, but maybe as a DLC), like how would I have done Lara's origin story and in my head it needed to start like the Classics, with a flashback to the past. It was really fun coming up with the backstory for the myth and the Yeti.

About George, I was a bit unsure how my take on the relationship was going to be received, since it breaks from the prevalent head-canon within the fandom, so I'm really glad you and Harley liked it. And yes, he's supposed to be the Earl of Farrington from the Classic bio, but I needed to give him a first name! XD

And I knew you would catch the Downton Abbey reference!

I have another story that has been shelved for ages which I would like to pick up again, but if I ever decide to return to this one, I'll be sure to take Rai's and your feedback in consideration and try to expand on the post-crash survival experience.

[Pelagius]

If we're going to be referencing Downton Abbey and an 'oppressive' upper-class upbringing, I'd recommend setting the story in the 1920s or 1930s. It makes the whole cultural milieu feel a lot more organic (and also more likely that the plane would crash, given that aviation was a lot less reliable at the time.)

I guess that would make it harder to work in Sam, but hey, Lara's a globetrotter, maybe she can visit Japan pre-WW2, or something.

[Amunet]

Originally Posted by Pelagius

If we're going to be referencing Downton Abbey and an 'oppressive' upper-class upbringing, I'd recommend setting the story in the 1920s or 1930s. It makes the whole cultural milieu feel a lot more organic (and also more likely that the plane would crash, given that aviation was a lot less reliable at the time.)

I guess that would make it harder to work in Sam, but hey, Lara's a globetrotter, maybe she can visit Japan pre-WW2, or something.

I don't agree the story needs to be set in the 1920's or 30's. Young people rebel against their parents/family even nowadays.

Also, I don't really go into Lara's upbringing in my fic, only that her relationship with her father is tumultuous.

I don't think it's so out there that a father would be against his only daughter going about risking her life on dangerous adventures. And as a head of a prestigious family, possibly even a member of the House of Lords, he would be also concerned about reputation and what the tabloids might write about his daughter and how that reflects on the family. But from Lara's perspective, she just sees someone trying to control her and smother her passions. I don't see how any of this needs to be set in the 20's to work?

Also, if my fic gave the idea of "an 'oppressive' upper-class upbringing", that was definitely not my intention. When I write "the mere thought of returning to her previous life felt suffocating" (which is in fact a reference to the original bio), it's not because she had an "oppressive" life, but a boring one by Lara's standards. She wants adventure, she needs the adrenaline rush. So once she got a real taste of it, she can't go back.

In any case, thanks for commenting on my fic.

[Pelagius]

I don't agree the story needs to be set in the 1920's or 30's. Young people rebel against their parents/family even nowadays.

Yes, but there's nothing particularly unusual or difficult or socially-unacceptable about it, so it doesn't really speak to any great sacrifice on Lara's part. If Croft Senior tried to kick his adventurous star-athlete daughter out of the house and cut off any inheritance because she refused to honour a betrothal at the age of 25, he'd be the one smeared in the tabloids for it, not Lara. British aristocrats who would even attempt it barely exist in the year of our lord 2020. It feels... anachronistic.

Lara trying to get by without family connections in 1920, on the other hand, would be legitimately difficult, and the overwhelming bulk of public opinion would support Lord Croft. There'd actually be something scandalous about Lara taking up an independent career and flipping the bird to the patriarchy.

.

[Amunet]

Originally Posted by Pelagius

Yes, but there's nothing particularly unusual or difficult or socially-unacceptable about it, so it doesn't really speak to any great sacrifice on Lara's part. If Croft Senior tried to kick his adventurous star-athlete daughter out of the house and cut off any inheritance because she refused to honour a betrothal at the age of 25, he'd be the one smeared in the tabloids for it, not Lara. British aristocrats who would even attempt it barely exist in the year of our lord 2020. It feels... anachronistic.

Lara trying to get by without family connections in 1920, on the other hand, would be legitimately difficult.

I'm not sure if your commenting on TR as a whole or on my fic in particular, but in the case of my fic, her father didn't kick Lara out of the house, she chose to leave. Also, it's not just because she broke of the engagement, that was just the last straw that provoked this last argument.

Also, Lara isn't left without any family connections. She has family members who take her side, namely her great aunt from who she eventually inherits her manor.

In any case, it's fiction, some things can be exaggerated for dramatic effect. But I still disagree.