MEAGAN MARIE: These two don’t have any questions for me, but I just wanted to get them on the podcast, because they’re awesome. So will you guys introduce yourselves, and say what website you’re from?
JANINA: Yeah. I’m Janina from Lara’s Generation, a German fansite. But people also may know me as Minerva.
MARTIN: I’m MARTIN from Lara’s Generation too.
MEAGAN MARIE: You guys recently came out to E3, which was an awesome experience, I think.
JANINA: Yeah, absolutely.
MEAGAN MARIE: And I learned a very funny story over dinner with you guys. So! How did you two meet?
MARTIN: Well… Okay. [Awkward laughter all round] That’s a story which I think is quite romantic. My wife was quite angry when I told her the truth. We met when we both lived in Marburg, in Hessen, which is the middle of Germany, and we were both studying archaeology. I saw my now-wife in a seminar at the university, and at the moment I saw her, I knew I wanted to get to know her somehow. So when I got back home, I googled her. [laughter] And I found her Tomb Raider website. Just by coincidence, I had bought one of the Tomb Raider games a few weeks before, but I hadn’t played it, actually.
MEAGAN MARIE: So you found your motivation to play.
MARTIN: Yes, I did. [laughs] And I used the forum on the website to contact her, and I pretended that I had some problems playing Tomb Raider and needed help with that.
MEAGAN MARIE: I love it.
MARTIN: I used that to chat her up, and then I pretended… “Oh, you study archaeology too? Well, what a coincidence… And you live in Marburg too? Well, we should probably meet up some time.”
MEAGAN MARIE: “Are you that person on the other side of the hall that I can see during class?” So had you guys never run into each other before that?
MARTIN: No, we only had that seminar together. But I never chatted her up there. I used the website to get to know her, and…yeah. I have to admit, it worked.
MEAGAN MARIE: Yeah, obviously. How long have you guys been married now?
JANINA: One year.
MARTIN: Yes, we’ve just had our first wedding anniversary last Monday.
MEAGAN MARIE: That’s wonderful. So I have to ask, obviously… If you didn’t, it’s no big deal, but did you have anything Tomb Raider-related in your wedding because of how you met?
JANINA: Ah… In the wedding? No. I guess not. Or, yeah! My mother had a kind of photo show with memories from our childhood and so on. There was actually a picture for Lara Croft in there.
MEAGAN MARIE: Awesome. Just a little Lara presence at the wedding. That’s great. So! You had been running the fansite, and you had just played Tomb Raider. How long ago was this, and how many Tomb Raiders has she made you play since? Have you caught up?
MARTIN: Yes, I did. I think I have to admit one other thing, though. I haven’t played all of the Tomb Raider games yet.
MEAGAN MARIE: Well, you have something to look forward to.
MARTIN: That’s true. When we got together, that was seven years ago. We spent some nights playing Tomb Raider together.
JANINA: Yeah, I forced him to play.
MEAGAN MARIE: Was he any good? Did he get the puzzles?
JANINA: : Yeah, we played Tomb Raider III.
MARTIN: I think I wasn’t too bad. Otherwise she wouldn’t have married me, probably…
MEAGAN MARIE: She’d have gotten angry. “It’s so obvious! This puzzle is so simple!” Okay. Well, this may be one of my favorite Tomb Raider stories in existence. Were you legitimately mad at him? I guess I might have been slightly mad for a while…
MARTIN: Well… She thought it was all fate. [big laughs]
MEAGAN MARIE: Oh, okay, I can see that.
MARTIN: And when I told her she got so angry and called me a stalker…
MEAGAN MARIE: Okay. It’s still adorable. I think that’s great, and it’s awesome to see you guys at events all the time. What did you think of the evening? I know you obviously saw the game at E3, because Lara’s Generation is…how old? 12 years?
JANINA: Well…just a moment.
MEAGAN MARIE: Calculating. Counting the years back. There’s so many.
JANINA: Yeah, 12 years.