Dsrtnomad@AOL.COM wrote:

Hey, the other day, I was babysitting, and the kids were playing LoZ.  They
beat the game, so we ended up watching all the credits.  Strangely enough,
the two cinema animation designers were named, oh yes, Hiroshi and Daisuke.
I don't know if these are really common Japanese names, but it just seemed a
little odd to see the both of them together.  Actually, it was pretty funny,
and it got me thinking about H and D from Ranma trying to make a video
game...  I don't know if this inspires anyone towards any fanfic, but if it
does... more power to ya.

Err...you *do* know about the Ranma video games, no?

******

It was quiet in the apartment.  Not a whisper could be heard, the air
was a bit stiller than usual, and the rooms themselves seemed to have
been put in stasis, awaiting their owners' return.  Although no actual
stasis field was in effect, this metaphor was almost literally
accurate nonetheless.

In fact, at this moment, the residents were out on a job.  Theirs was a
rather unique job: travel from video game world to video game world,
taking pictures that could quickly (and cheaply) be translated into
computer graphics; a process that Hollywood had invented for its
movies - but, while Hollywood's images only had a single, director-
defined viewpoint, game graphics usually had to be from all sides these
days, in order to support the increasingly popular player-directed
camera's viewpoint.  Nintendo was their main employer, but they had done
odd jobs for other companies in the past.

Two portals opened, almost but not quite simultaneously, the other
sides masked by a sheen of energy - one reminiscent of a mushroom, and
the other sporting a stylized S that looked like it was made of stained
glass.  Each portal disgorged a human being, then dissapeared.

"And that's that, eh, Daisuke?"

Daisuke shot Hiroshi a look.

"What?"

"Lucky bastard..."

"Eh?"

"*I* get the grunt work, while *you* get the babe!"

"Hey, it was a fair flip of the coin."

"Yeah, right..."

"Daisuke..."

"What?"

Hiroshi held up two fingers.

"No way...ick."  One of the benefits of being originally from a video
game world, and the main reason Hiroshi and Daisuke had little worries
about competition for their job from this world: they could, under the
right circumstances, spontaneously come back from any form of death, no
matter how gruesome or thorough.

"Yes way.  Samus shot me both times, deliberately."

"Geez!  What'd you do to tick her off?"

"Tried to get her to pose outside her armor."

"So?  She's done that before."

"No, no...*all* of her armor.  Even her...ahh...inner layer."

Daisuke stifled a snicker.  "That bikini's rather small to count as
armor."

Hiroshi shrugged.  "It protects her modesty."

"So, what happened the second time?"

"I was too stupid to take the first hint."

"Ahh.  Oh, well, at least you got the pics, right?"

"Hey, it *hurt*.  How about a little sympathy?"

Daisuke nonchalantly held up seven fingers.

Hiroshi blinked.  "Uhh...wha?"

"Kirby was visiting Yoshi, and they got into an eating contest.  Guess
who became the main dish, over and over and over again?"

"Yee..."

"I only got Luigi to break them up when I promised him a slot."

"Oh, well, we *were* looking for another character."

"Still, one good thing about being Kirby's lunch: I got an assistant
photographer.  And I needed it, with all the stuff I was already
scheduled to shoot..."

"Yeah, well, I've heard some of the senior programmers like that world
as a vacation spot."

Daisuke shot Hiroshi another look.  "Yeah, right.  *Them*, get into
*our* worlds?"

"We're here, aren't we?"

"A rare exception..."

Sudden knocking at the door interrupted their conversation.

Daisuke opened the door, looked up, and saw a floating cloud with a
fishing line hanging from it, at the end of which was a basket.  "Oh,
hi.  We just got finished."  Pulling a roll of film from his camera, and
accepting another from his roommate, Daisuke tossed the results of their
labors into the basket, then watched as the cloud floated away.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, come on.  He's just a little eccentric...what?  You're not
suggesting he's one of us?"

"Daisuke...you *did* get pictures of Lakitu just now, didn't you?  He
was on your list."

"Well...no, he wasn't around.  I don't think I've ever seen him.  Why?"

Hiroshi's facefault lasted a full minute.