This bit isn't really essential and including it at the beginning of 06 makes an irritatingly talky part of the ep even talkier, but what the hell, I wrote it, so you might as well have it...

---

	"You ask me," said Gramp after a few moments' consideration,
"I'd say she's better off without a father like that."
	"I suppose so," I replied, "but it leaves me in an odd
situation, to say the least."
	"Mm," Gramp agreed.  "The world's not as simple a place as it
was once.  You may have problems - legal ones, y'know - because of
your age.  You're not too much older than she is, the government might
think there was something kind of squirrelly going on."
	"Yeah," I sighed.  "That's my main concern."
	"Well, I don't see there's much you can do about it."
	"No... I suppose not."
	"Is she willing to stay?"
	"Yes.  Well, she is now.  We sort of bonded over blackjack and
gunfire in Transbelvia.  She's... "  I considered my words.  "... our 
kind of weird."
	"Well, whatever floats her boat, I suppose."  Gramp chuckled.
"So you figure everybody else is better off if she's with you."
	"Yeah, pretty much."
	"Well, I hope you can work it out," Gramp said.  "It's a hell
of a mess, but I think you're doing a good thing helping her out the
way you're doing.  A lot of people in this day and age would have
looked the other way."
	I smiled.  "Thanks, Gramp."
	"No trouble.  Well, look, I don't want to run your phone bill
up... you take care, OK, and come up and see us soon."
	"I will.  Love you... love to Gram, too.  Bye."
	"Bye now."
	I studied the phone for a moment, then dialed another number.
	"Ken Masters!" Ken answered brightly.
	"Hey Ken, it's Gryph."
	"Hey Gryph!" said Ken.  "How's your head?"
	"Not bad, thanks.  Hey, is Eliza around?"
	"Sure, hang on."  A clatter, and then Eliza Masters came on
the line.
	Eliza was originally Eliza Stern, of the Beacon Hill Sterns -
one of the richest families in Boston.  She would never have had to
work in her life even if she hadn't married Ken Masters of the Marin
County Masterses.  It came as something of a surprise to... well,
everyone who paid any attention to Boston's high society,
anyway... that she'd bothered to go to school in a field that was
actually challenging, let alone follow it up with a low-paying,
stressful, but important job.  Eliza Masters, MD, Psy.D, is... 
something important, I forget exactly what - at the Massachusetts 
Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the bit dealing 
with the welfare of children.
	This had always been more or less window dressing for me -
what mattered to me was not what Eliza did but rather who she was,
which was a fabulous-looking, smart, friendly woman who's married to
an old pal of mine.  Now, though, her job and our friendship might
bail me out of a -massively- awkward legal situation.
	"Hi, Ben," she said.  "What's up?"
	"Um well... "
	I explained the situation.
	"That's a problem, all right," she agreed.  "Well... I can dig
around and see, I'm sure there's some precedent in international law
that can prevent Kasugano from just dumping her like that."
	"No, that's not what I'm looking at here," I said.  "She
doesn't want to go back, and c'mon, do you really want her going back
to a man who'd do this to her?  There must be some way we can arrange
it so she can stay here."
	"'Here' as in the US, or were you speaking more specifically?"
	"'Here' as in at 540 Cedar Street."
	"Benjamin, you have any -idea- what terrible adoption prospects 
you and Zoner are?  -Particularly- for a teenage girl?  Two single men in
their twenties, specific occupation unknown, means of support hard to
identify?  It raises questions about your motives.  Wait, hear me out, 
I'm not saying you two would do anything like that - but on paper it 
looks bad.  Looks... -opportunistic-.  Maybe even predatory."
	I sighed.  "Believe me, Lize, I know.  I've been thinking
about it all afternoon.  That's why I called you - to see if you had
any suggestions, or if you could do anything on our behalf."
	"Well... "  She pondered.  "You're in a better position than I
am, thanks to your and Zoner's contacts at the State Department, to
handle the whole Immigration thing.  But if you take care of that...
I'd need to interview the girl and make sure she really wants to stay
with you and feels secure there.  You'd be required to disclose your
financial situation, and you and Zoner would have to submit to an
interview process and psychological screenings of your own - probably
fairly rigorous ones given the risk factors involved.  Then there's
the whole matter of what your -job- is, although we might be able to
downplay that if we're quick enough.  And there'd have to be a hearing
before a family-court judge... I imagine you can both dredge up
literal hordes of character witnesses for that, so that would most
likely work in your favor if you can rein in your sarcasm."
	"I think I can manage that."
	"OK, well... no promises, but I'll do everything I can.  If
you have any other strings to pull, now's the time.  But Ben... before
I start, are you really sure you want to do this?  It would be a hell
of a lot simpler, if the girl's family doesn't want her back, for her
to go back to Japan and be placed in foster care there."
	"No," I said immediately, surprised at my own forcefulness.
"She needs to be with people who can understand her.  She's one of us - 
you've been with Ken long enough to know what I mean."
	"Hmm... I understand," she said.  "OK.  I'll get right on it.
My office will be in touch concerning the disclosures we'll need, and
to schedule the hearing and interviews."
	"Thanks a million, Eliza."
	"Don't thank me until it's over, Ben," she cautioned me.
"I'll do what I can, but you're still a bad risk.  The Department may
turn you down despite all of our best efforts.  And even if you get it 
cleared at State, we don't know what the Japanese government will think."
	"If not for your help, we wouldn't even get that far."
	"Still, it'll be a hard road," she warned.  "Save your energy,
you're going to need it.  Something tells me you'll have to fight for
this."
	"That's what I do best," I said with a grin.
        We finished the conversation, and then I hung up and went into
the den, where Zoner and Sakura were watching TV, to report.
	"Eliza's going to get Child Welfare to open a case file.  We're
going to get interviewed, investigated, scrutinized, psychoanalyzed...
there'll be a hearing, and all that kind of crap.  The INS stuff is up
to us, as expected.  She can't give us any guarantees and warns me that
on paper I'm the state's second worst adoption prospect."  I pointed at
Zoner.  "After you."
        "Yeah, that figures," he said.
        I sighed.  "Anyway, we've got a long road ahead of us."
	"You said there's a hearing?" Zoner asked.  "That can't do us 
anything but good.  We can rake up so many character witnesses it'll 
take them all day to sort out what great guys we are."
	"I just hope it's enough.  If not... "  I shrugged.  "Let's
not think about that.  Like she said, we'll have to fight for it, and
when I fight I try not to think about losing."
	"You guys are going to all that trouble for me?" Sakura asked, a
note of something midway between skepticism and surprise in her voice. 
	I turned to her and nodded.
	"Why?" she asked.
	"Because it's the way we are," Zoner told her.  "We like to help
people.  It's not very fashionable, but it's us."

---

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-10 AT 05:17 PM (EST)
 
I must say, this feels very WL-ish, and while I understand that it might not be a good fit as part of ep6, I'm glad you released it since I think it's probably going to be more important than any of us realize (that's something I've noticed about your "it doesn't quite fit, but it's too good to just toss completely" fragments).

I'm also happy to hear you're working on more WL - it might be a bit campy, but it's definitely a fun read, and has more depth to it than you'd think at first glance.

Looking forward to whatever comes down the pipe whenever it gets here :)

Offsides

<...> in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
-- David Ben Gurion
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

Interesting.

“They planned their campaigns just as you might make a splendid piece of harness. It looks very well; and answers very well; until it gets broken; and then you are done for. Now I made my campaigns of ropes. If anything went wrong, I tied a knot; and went on.”
-- Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington

>She can't give us any guarantees and warns me that
>on paper I'm the state's second worst adoption prospect." I pointed
>at Zoner. "After you."

HA! I loved this. Having watched family friends go through a god-awful out-of-country adoption process, and their being exceptional adoption prospects, this looks like one hell of a fight.

And one hell of a hearing to watch the playbacks for. :)

>>She can't give us any guarantees and warns me that
>>on paper I'm the state's second worst adoption prospect." I pointed
>>at Zoner. "After you."
>
>HA! I loved this. Having watched family friends go through a god-awful
>out-of-country adoption process, and their being exceptional adoption
>prospects, this looks like one hell of a fight.
>
>And one hell of a hearing to watch the playbacks for. :)

See! Street fighters in suits!

--G.
"Blanka say: Gryphon good man!"
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>>She can't give us any guarantees and warns me that
>>>on paper I'm the state's second worst adoption prospect." I pointed
>>>at Zoner. "After you."
>>
>>HA! I loved this. Having watched family friends go through a god-awful
>>out-of-country adoption process, and their being exceptional adoption
>>prospects, this looks like one hell of a fight.
>>
>>And one hell of a hearing to watch the playbacks for. :)
>
>See! Street fighters in suits!
>
>--G.
>"Blanka say: Gryphon good man!"

Zangief: "In Soviet Russia, Children adopts parents!"

>Zangief: "In Soviet Russia, Children adopts parents!"

I knew there was an "in Soviet Russia" joke lurking in this setup somewhere. :)

Man, Zangief in a suit, that'd be even more worth-it than Ryu in a suit. I mean, Chun-Li, you expect to see her all dressed up, she's an Interpol officer. And then there's Eddie Honda.

I hadn't actually planned on writing the courtroom scene, because there's really just nothing exciting (to an outside observer, I mean) about a family court proceeding, but thinking about that witness list, maybe we ought to at least have a photo album for later.

--G.
"State your full name for the record, please." "I am Dhalsim."
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>I hadn't actually planned on writing the courtroom scene,
>because there's really just nothing exciting (to an outside observer,
>I mean) about a family court proceeding, but thinking about that
>witness list, maybe we ought to at least have a photo album for later.
>
The courtroom scene itself isn't necessary - just have Gryphon & co. sitting around after it's all over talking about all the people who showed up (probably several unexpectedly!) and what they were wearing to make them "presentable" to the judge... There doesn't even need to be testimony beyond one-liners like the ones posted above :) Although, I can just about picture a brief "flashback" to one of the lawyers asking for a conference with the judge, and having an argument about whether or not one of the more "extreme" witnesses should be allowed - with the judge getting in some choice words of their own...

Offsides

[...] in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
-- David Ben Gurion
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

> I can just about picture a brief "flashback" to one of the
>lawyers asking for a conference with the judge, and having an argument
>about whether or not one of the more "extreme" witnesses should be
>allowed - with the judge getting in some choice words of their own...
>
>Offsides
>
><...> in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
> -- David Ben Gurion
>EPU RCW #π

I just imagined Gryphon facepalming as Phoenix Wright objects to something. Fortunately, this isn't his specialty by a long shot, and he's probably never passed the bar exam in either Massachusetts or Maine.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>Man, Zangief in a suit, that'd be even more worth-it than Ryu in a
>suit.

I don't have the quote in front of me, but I remember Douglas Adams talking about a rather large fellow (bouncer?) in a suit that seemed specifically designed to show just how impossible it was to put a man that size in a suit.

--rR

I like this. Maybe if you can find time, you could work out something as a lead-in to this, and release it as a cut scene between Battle 05 and Battle 06?

(...and maybe while I'm at it, I should ask Santa for a pony...)

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>I like this. Maybe if you can find time, you could work out something
>as a lead-in to this, and release it as a cut scene between Battle 05
>and Battle 06?

Battle 05.5: Sign Here, Here and Here

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>
>Battle 05.5: Sign Here, Here and Here
>

More like "Cut Scene: Sign Here, Here, and Here." The things that make it wrong for a Battle are exactly why they have cut scenes in games.

The whole courtroom thing (if it ever happens) would logically be another cut scene three or four Battles down the line.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>More like "Cut Scene: Sign Here, Here, and Here." The things that
>make it wrong for a Battle are exactly why they have cut scenes in
>games.
>
>The whole courtroom thing (if it ever happens) would logically be
>another cut scene three or four Battles down the line.

Heh, it's either a cutscene or a really rubbish mini-game. :)

--G.
OBJECTION
-><-
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I now have the image of Gryphon and Zoner getting a visit from Mr. Bubbles from Lilo and Stitch.

Polychrome

"...and you. Model citizen."

LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-10 AT 07:41 PM (EST)
 
What I've really loved over the years, is the ongoing maturity of your writing and the subjects. A serious discussion of what it takes to adopt someone? Awesome. Cut it down to the essentials (maybe skipping the expository bits about who Liz is) and use it as a springboard. I've always preferred it when the author doesn't spend a zillion years explaining the back story. Maybe up the the terror of becoming a parent thing plus the Real-Adult-Responsibility bit (these guys are in their early twenties) and I think you're good.

t.
Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

>What I've really loved over the years, is the ongoing maturity of your
>writing and the subjects. A serious discussion of what it takes to
>adopt someone? Awesome.

Well, I'd be hindered slightly in examining the matter much more closely, I think, by the fact that I don't actually know what it takes to adopt someone, apart from a general idea that lawyers and some branch of the court system must be involved. It's not a process in which I have, in real life, ever had even a passing interest, apart from my odd fondness for the old television program The Judge when I was a kid. (Anybody else remember that show? Starred the late Bob Shield as the Hon. Robert J. Franklin. "... and always to temper justice with mercy.")

In an actual Street Fighter product they would almost certainly deal with this question by just ignoring it, which would probably have been my best course of action too, but for some reason that I can't really name, I feel obligated to at least take a swing at making it all legal.

The problem, of course, is that the whole concept is absurd. In anything even approaching real life, the scenario presented here would be absolutely out of the question. A real family court wouldn't send a teenage girl to live with somebody living Gryphon's lifestyle if he was a blood relative. Mind you, in anything approaching real life, the Street Fighters would all be in prison, in nursing homes with dementia pugilistica, or dead by now, so... (shrug) I guess it's a question of how much suspension of disbelief is too much to ask for. The Zangief and Blanka images are wacky and fun, but how much can you play something like this for laughs before it kind of falls apart?

I mean, think about the strategy they're discussing at the end of the fragment there. Who are their army of character witnesses? Other street fighters! The only ones who'd be likely to show up, that I can think of off the top of my head, who even have real grown-up jobs are Chun-Li and Charlie Nash. Ken doesn't do anything but be rich and famous. By the standards of the American judicial system, Ryu's a hobo. I've got a whole little speech kicking around in my head for Zangief to deliver, solemnly and with many dogged hunts for what is word in English, but it's the sort of thing that no even-moderately-realistic jurist would ever take seriously. :)

Beyond all that, there's this: Whatever process takes place, it would certainly take a lot longer than the ~six-week window that exists between Battles 05 and 06. I suppose I could deal with that by making it a plot arc that takes several episodes to complete, with some kind of temporary order in place - keeping our heroes on edge because they know that while their crazy life unfolds around them, the other shoe could drop at any time, very possibly with word of something like the Transbelvian adventure getting back to somebody at CPS. But I don't know, that doesn't sound that entertaining to me. More like the overly belabored premise for some screwball comedy manga, the type that goes on for 450 years and never resolves anything.

So I don't know. All of the above is kind of a stream of unresolved consciousness, I'm kind of jotting it down as it comes rather than trying to make a coherent narrative out of it. What it illustrates is that I really don't know what happens in that junction point between "Sakura agrees to join the regular cast" and Sakura actually being a member of the regular cast, and WL has evolved such that I'm no longer sure exactly what the appropriate tone to strike in developing it would be.

And there you are. I'm throwing it to the floor. This is a discussion forum, let's discuss something. With the understanding that I promise nothing, of course. I might think of another angle tomorrow, or in the next 20 minutes. :)

--G.
-><-
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Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-10 AT 08:52 PM (EST)
 
Of course, I wrote all that mumbling, and then it occurred to me that you might not have meant "what it takes to adopt someone" in the sense of legal or governmental machinery, but rather as in what has to happen in the head of somebody like G or MZ to make it seem like an option, and/or what sort of adjustments it requires. Which I have gone into (a little) in 06 as it currently stands, but which certainly could stand more examination. I'm not quite as in the woods in that regard, though. It's just that the person G would be most likely to have a long conversation with about it told him to get stuffed at the end of 05 and then vanished off the face of his Earth, so he hasn't had the opportunity...

But hey, let's discuss the other thing anyway. It might be interesting, and who knows, we might get somewhere.

--G.
-><-
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Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I think there's a lot you can do, but it comes down to where you think the series as going. For this subplot, I see three or four obvious paths:

1. the serious but ultimately happy version: what you need to start with is Sakura being told by G and M to go to school and then hitting a roadblock when she tried to register. So go down the adoption path (with all heartbreak, the character building, the moments of doubt, but also all the comedy of trying to fill out paperwork "...zoner, what did you say our occupation was on our tax returns?") to find out it isn't going work. So Z. and G. play cat and mouse with the authorities and Sakura gets harassed by law enforcement. After all she is (a) an illegal immigrant, (b) a minor, and (c) a runaway. It would be interesting to see how G and Z negotiate all that (and all the allies who would suddenly not be their allies) while trying to raise her and solve whatever the mystery is these days

2. wacky, but semi-serious version. Same as above, but then Sakura either goes "underground" by taking on new disguises, the perils of fake ids, hiding out from the HSO, and all the well meaning friends of G and Z who think they're saving her by intervening against them, etc. It's takes the whole "fugitive from justice" thing and messes with it. Eventually it become background color as they all get used to hiding her and getting her in the school system...just like the parents of illegal immigrants do all the time.

3. the ninja version. (Because there must be ninjas). Give her rich grandparents (ala Irene Chen of Bubblegum crisis) who demand her dad gets her back.

4. the tragic version. In the words of Lois McMaster Bujold "“what’s the worst thing that could happen to Miles?” Have G and Z go through the struggle of making the mental adjustment to parents, and the right thing by adoption. Have it fail and Sakura forcibly repatriated to Japan. Then let's see what happens. The story gets more interesting with adversity, and really, what's more heroic than being the good guy who is painted as the bad guy?

5. the get of jail free card version. Sakura refuses to be adopted, and sues to become an independent minor. Then you can invent both a diplomatic crisis (japanese law, us law), and back burner it 'cause it's in the hands of the lawyers.

my thoughts,
t.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

>3. the ninja version. (Because there must be ninjas). Give her rich
>grandparents (ala Irene Chen of Bubblegum crisis) who demand her dad
>gets her back.

To be fair, this one is probably the most in keeping with the spirit of the Street Fighter universe. :)

--G.
"Ibuki, what are you doing here?"
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>"Ibuki, what are you doing here?"

Tempting. I was thinking more along the lines of "Lone Wolf and Cub" really. Hordes of dude without much character getting their asses kicked while our heroes try to find way out of her situation. I mean G. is kinda a samurai here, isn't he? He's got a lord (Rose) whom he's trying to revenge.

Or the Spanish Ninjas could return. Because, seriously, Spanish Ninjas are worth a laugh.

Clearly I'm regressing into a 14 year old boy: it would also be funny if Sakura's dad first tried by using "ASK A NINJA" (eventually he gets contacted by Bison, et al.)

t.
NINJA!

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

I think it's probably best for the moments of starting the ball rolling, but not dominating the tone of the episode...though I could see some of the "Uh, well, better not let that get out..." moments being played for comedy, maybe even with a side adventure of "Whoops, better steal that tape!"

As a general rule, I agree that the whole "adopting Sakura" think doesn't make for a good on-screen thing. That being said, it seems like the kind of thing that you can put a tidbit here or a small scene there over time as hits to the fact that it's going on in the background, but not making it the prime focus.

And, it seems to me that she might just be old enough that it might not be needed for Gryphon to adopt Sakura, but just keep her out of the system long enough to reach the age of 18, at which point INS would be the only issue they'd have to deal with... So perhaps it's not a courtroom scene to adopt Sakura, but Gryphon on trial after CPS decides there's something inappropriate going on and tries to drag him to trial. That might not only be more "believable", but might work better on-screen...

Offsides

[...] in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
-- David Ben Gurion
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

>And, it seems to me that she might just be old enough that it might
>not be needed for Gryphon to adopt Sakura, but just keep her out of
>the system long enough to reach the age of 18, at which point INS
>would be the only issue they'd have to deal with...

"Oh, uh, she's our... houseguest. She'll only be here for a few more days. Well, about a thousand of them actually."

I considered that, but then there's the school system, and it's all interconnected these days. And passport control every time they all go abroad, which they tend to do rather a lot. Which reminds me, in turn, that she presumably entered the US on a tourist visa, which was probably only good for a couple of weeks. But really, given who Zoner knows and where, the State Department is the -simplest- part of the problem.

(I also thought of G getting someone he knows in Japan to pretend to be Mr. Kasugano for the purposes of filing amended paperwork with the relevant authorities there, but the only respectable Japanese person he knows is Edmond Honda, who would not be convincing in the role. :)

--G.
-><-
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>(I also thought of G getting someone he knows in Japan to pretend to
>be Mr. Kasugano for the purposes of filing amended paperwork with the
>relevant authorities there, but the only respectable Japanese person
>he knows is Edmond Honda, who would not be convincing in the role. :)

Well, depending on who you go by, before Sakura decided to emulate Ryu, she wanted to emulate Honda as a rikishi, so it would be an odd series of coincidental events right there.

But then again, it'd probably complicate his attempts to get on the Olympic Committee, so hey.

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here"

>Well, depending on who you go by, before Sakura decided to emulate
>Ryu, she wanted to emulate Honda as a rikishi

This image alone gives me the urge to emit one of those comedy screams where you have to draw breath in the middle.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>And, it seems to me that she might just be old enough that it might
>>not be needed for Gryphon to adopt Sakura, but just keep her out of
>>the system long enough to reach the age of 18, at which point INS
>>would be the only issue they'd have to deal with...
>
>"Oh, uh, she's our... houseguest. She'll only be here for a few more
>days. Well, about a thousand of them actually."
>
>I considered that, but then there's the school system, and it's all
>interconnected these days. And passport control every time they all
>go abroad, which they tend to do rather a lot. Which reminds me, in
>turn, that she presumably entered the US on a tourist visa, which was
>probably only good for a couple of weeks. But really, given who Zoner
>knows and where, the State Department is the -simplest- part of the
>problem.
>
Actually, that might make things easier - have her registered as an exchange student on a student visa for the time being - that should give you a LOT of wiggle room for the school system...

Offsides

[...] in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
-- David Ben Gurion
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

>I mean, think about the strategy they're discussing at the end of the
>fragment there. Who are their army of character witnesses?
>Other street fighters! The only ones who'd be likely to show up, that
>I can think of off the top of my head, who even have real grown-up
>jobs are Chun-Li and Charlie Nash. Ken doesn't do anything but be
>rich and famous. By the standards of the American judicial system,
>Ryu's a hobo. I've got a whole little speech kicking around in
>my head for Zangief to deliver, solemnly and with many dogged hunts
>for what is word in English, but it's the sort of thing that no
>even-moderately-realistic jurist would ever take seriously. :)

IIRC there's a police officer who acts as judge for G's fights at home so that's one non-streetfighter with a reputable job.

I'm just thinking out loud at the moment and haven't reread WL in a long time but exactly how legal and respected is the Street Fighter tourney in the WL universe? Are the warriors awarded a small amount of money for qualifying or participating or maintaining ranking in the organization?

I mean if its got all the background and organization for people to beat each other up in a sanctioned tourney with rules and regulations, with a cash prize and title at the end, why would that be so different from a normal job in an adoption case? Sure it might look a little more flakey in the income but if the amount is serviceable enough it could possibly pass a judge or jury's muster? Actually I've another question now, would a bank account be admissable as evidence that you're able to comfortably support a child?

Hmm, we also have real world boxing tourneys or Kung Fu exhibitions or even entertainment shows like the WWE which must have at some point had an adoption situation pop up that would be like this one. Would writing down 'entertainer' or 'martial arts instructor' in the job description be considered a viable and good job to raise a teenager?

>I'm just thinking out loud at the moment and haven't reread WL in a
>long time but exactly how legal and respected is the Street Fighter
>tourney in the WL universe? Are the warriors awarded a small amount of
>money for qualifying or participating or maintaining ranking in the
>organization?

It's my understanding that there isn't any money in it, at least not directly. Some of the fighters are involved because they hope to get rich and famous, but it's sort of in the same way that, e.g., baseball players used to get rich, if they were prominent enough, off endorsements and stuff rather than the actual pay they were getting to play the game. The World Championship Authority itself doesn't pay them to fight.

I'm pretty sure the Street Fighter Tournament itself isn't legal in all the countries it happens in, and that the US is one of the ones where it isn't. Sometimes the local authorities look the other way, but the law regards it as the same as bare-knuckle brawling in a bar parking lot. It's just really sophisticated bare-knuckle brawling in a bar parking lot. :) In "civilized" countries it tends to be a sort of underground thing, like warehouse parties - not legal, but usually ignored as long as they don't do it out in the street and scare the horses.

>I mean if its got all the background and organization for people to
>beat each other up in a sanctioned tourney with rules and regulations,
>with a cash prize and title at the end, why would that be so different
>from a normal job in an adoption case?

Well, it might not under those conditions, but I'm not sure. I mean, to the judicial system, these guys are probably considered a cut below those cage fighter people who clobber each other on pay-per-view. (Why a cut below? Because the Street Fighters don't even have a pay-per-view deal. :)

>Actually I've another
>question now, would a bank account be admissable as evidence that
>you're able to comfortably support a child?

Probably, yeah, if it's big enough. I don't think G's is quite at that level yet, but Zoner's might well be. (Someone in the house has probably made the joke by now that they'd have been better off getting married, which they could actually do in Massachusetts. :)

>Would
>writing down 'entertainer' or 'martial arts instructor' in the job
>description be considered a viable and good job to raise a teenager?

Possibly, but like I say, the Street Fighter community isn't really held in high esteem like Real Professional Athletes. It's a very iffy sort of grey area. G would probably be better off claiming that he's a courier, and that, for example, he just happened to be making a delivery to the floor manager at Siberian Steel Company Mill #538 (a Mr. S.P. Zangief) when an incident occurred.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>Probably, yeah, if it's big enough. I don't think G's is quite at that level
>yet, but Zoner's might well be. (Someone in the house has probably made the joke
>by now that they'd have been better off getting married, which they could
>actually do in Massachusetts. :)

My understanding is that over a certain level of income it's better to file your taxes separately or not be married because there is a marriage tax. Assuming the laws are the same in that universe as they are currently in the US.

queen of random bits of useless information,
t.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

Who are their army of character witnesses? Other street fighters!

"Et tu, Mr. I-have-Jim-Greer-on-speed-dial?"

Their army is only mostly street fighters. I have no idea who they can actually call on, given that a fair chunk of the people that might be useful character witnesses are also from No Such Agency or similar locations, but there's probably a few more useful character witnesses somewhere in the pile.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>Their army is only mostly street fighters. I have no idea who
>they can actually call on, given that a fair chunk of the people that
>might be useful character witnesses are also from No Such Agency or
>similar locations, but there's probably a few more useful character
>witnesses somewhere in the pile.

True, there is that. I mean, G knows Benton Quest, who has, if nothing else, gotten away with wildly endangering a foreign-born foster child for quite a while. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

*snrk*

("I owe Dr. Quest very much bigtime!")

LAST EDITED ON Dec-22-10 AT 02:48 PM (EST)
 
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