Title:  Ranma's Husband?
Fandom:  Ranma 1/2
Pairings:  Ranma/OMC, Akane/Mousse, Kasumi/OMC, Nabiki/OFC
Categories:  angst, romance, genderswitch, family, marriage (or rather engagement) of in-convenience
Length:  Epic [~166,000 words]
Warnings:  possible character bashing of Nodoka, Shampoo and Ryouga (see review for details)


Author on LJ:  n/a
Website:  Their Fanfiction.net page

Summary:  Ranma has, yet again, another engagement popping out of the woodwork.  Except this time it's to a man; a man who already knows about Jusenkyo, and who is a martial artist himself.  In addition, he doesn't seem nearly as crazy as Ranma's other fiancees...

Review:  I have some mixed feelings about "Ranma's Husband?".  I'm recommending it anyway, but I will note the aspects I'm not wild about.

On the one hand: for "pros", I love the general plot of this story, and I wish that there was more slash/yaoi fic for this fandom.  (I mean, sure, there's some Ranma/Ryouga, but really, folks.)  I also think that the original characters are interesting and sympathetic, and that they don't seem out of place in Nerima.  A family of martial artists like the Tendos or Saotomes fits right in, and their relationship to those families is also believable.  Ranma's love interest is a kind boy, from said family, who loves Ranma no matter whether he's currently male or female.  I love that Kasumi even gets a love interest, and that she's depicted as having a libido that occasionally gets the better of her.  Her love interest is quite the character as well: a transgender individual who solved his identity issues by voluntarily cursing himself at Jusenkyo and locking his curse (hence my use of the genderswitch tag, which would otherwise be gratuitous for Ranma 1/2).  I adore that there is femslash, period, and it's a bonus that the pairing - Nabiki and a sweet classmate, who thaws out Nabiki's mercenary heart - is appealing.  Last but definitely not least, the het Akane/Mousse pairing completely won me over, to the point that it was my favorite match-up of the lot.  I applaud the author for thinking so hard about the structure of the Chinese Amazon society, and for depicting a couple that is far more comfortable not aligning to gender behavioral norms.  

On the other hand: for "cons", I noticed that the quality of writing begins much lower than it ends - a prime example of an author learning what works as they go along.  That's not necessarily bad, but it is uneven in terms of flow and typos.  The formatting is similarly wonky.  Next, the author has a ton of notes at the beginning of each chapter, which become irritating fast.  Finally, I flinched a tad at the depictions of Nodoka, Shampoo and Ryouga.  However, I'm not certain that their characterizations really fall under character bashing... at least, not for Nodoka and Ryouga, although Shampoo's portrayal may cross the line.  To me, bashing is when the actual characterization is stretched and warped, perhaps beginning with canon characteristics and then exaggerating them, so that the other characters and the reader can see just what an awful person the author thinks a particular character is.  It's usually sloppy, and comes across as highly OOC.  In this case, I think that characters are responding to the events of the story in plausible ways, but unfortunately their reactions are negative and hurtful to Ranma and his other friends & family.  The ending of the story is bittersweet and painful to re-read, for precisely that reason.

So, while your mileage may vary, I do think that "Ranma's Husband?" takes an interesting approach to arranged marriage in the Ranma 1/2 fandom, and is worth your giving it a try.

Ranma's Husband?