I've heard of children being raised by wolves, but arcade machines? That had to be rough.

what...?

Forever Love by SNK... Or how I'm relative to Robert Garcia

Any of us who were raised by arcade machines back in the good ol' days definitely remember the "Art Of Fighting" series of games (spoiled rich kids with Neo Geo AES systems need not apply). While I was more of a fan of "Fatal Fury" and "Samurai Shodown" than "Art Of Fighting", I still popped a quarter or two into that machine and gave it the attention it rightfully deserved. While I spent most of my playtime as Ryo Sakazaki (cuz he reminds me of Ryu from "Street Fighter" and Goku from "Dragon Ball Z"), I also spent some time playing as another character- when Ryo was already taken, of course. His name is Robert Garcia...

Robert Garcia is an Italian badass who is friends with Ryo and Yuri Sakazaki. His father Albert Garcia is friends with Takuma Sakazaki, the master of the particular fighting style used by my favorite character(s). Because of this, I quickly mastered both Ryo's and Robert's fighting styles and combo moves. Anyways, throughout the "Art Of Fighting" series, Robert starts to feel a romantic connection with Yuri Sakazaki- Ryo's younger sister. In the first game, Yuri is kidnapped by a villain known as Mr. Big, so Robert and Ryo embark on a skull-busting crusade to get her back. I'm not gonna spoil the ending of this game, so get a ROM if you want to see a twist...

Y'know, it's a labor of love like that that can really get you thinking about the relationship one has with another. For me, I would definitely risk my bio-technological life and cybernetic limbs to save my girlfriend from psycho criminals like Mr. Big, Mr. Karate, and let's not forget the infamous Geese Howard (he didn't really capture anyone as far as I can remember. I'm just stating the fact that he's one bad motherfucker)...

I love my girlfriend. She has been through a lot, and she is such an incredibly strong person. Every morning, I wake up with a smile on my face knowing that she loves the hell out of me and that I love the hell out of her. It's a special kind of romance that knows absolutely no roadblocks. Distance doesn't mean a thing to us, because we are open and honest with each other and let each other into our lives. We share our triumphs. We cry on each other's shoulders. We laugh and make jokes. Hell, we even love video games and other nerdy shit. NERDS, YOU CAN- AND WILL- FIND LOVE!!!! IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!

So does that make us the Robert Garcia/Yuri Sakazaki of the real world? Well... I'm not Italian, she's not Japanese, I only know Shotokan Karate instead of Kyokugen-Ryu, and my girlfriend prefers buster rifles to melee combat. However, the one thing I can say about both Robert and I is this: We will stop at nothing to protect the ones we love...