Fanfiction – The Wild Horse Thesis

The Wild Horse Thesis by Calamity-Queen of Cordite

Length: 18 Chapters, Complete
Sources: Ranma ½, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Rating: 5/5

And now for the story which is without a doubt the best of the fun Neon Genesis Evangelion fics I’ve read. Yes, it’s time for “The Wild Horse Thesis” by Calamity-Queen of Cordite.

This is a definite 5/5 and, if you ignore the “apples and oranges” problem inherent in comparing fun/funny/WAFFy fanfiction with realistic/serious fanfiction, then this is the best Evangelion fic I’ve ever found. (Normally I wouldn’t be so hasty to make such a statement, but this is the only work of fiction (fanfiction or original) which I’ve re-read 6 times.)

For those who don’t already know, It’s a Ranma-Evangelion crossover. The basic plot is that, thanks to some outside help, Gosunkugi actually gets some functional magic to use against Ranma and manages to use it without Murphy’s law kicking in. The next thing Ranma knows, he’s been banished into a set of Evangelion tapes.

Thankfully, he isn’t going into things blind. With the only anime character (at the time) to have a crappier life than he does, it’s Ranma’s favorite anime. On that note, the story takes advantage of a rather interesting presentational construct to follow two storylines at once: Ranma’s adventures in Evangelion-land take place as the rest of the Nerima crew watch the “Neon Genesis Evangelion ¼” tapes which arrived in the mail… complete with a thought-revealing 3rd-persion omniscient viewpoint. Prepare to see preconceptions erode. The big reason I like this is that it feels like a “[character names] read their own story” fic without all the boring repetition of the canonical plot. Best of both worlds.

As for “both worlds”, “Neon Genesis Evangelion ½” is no ordinary alternate universe. First, there’s the inherent fun from keeping Ranma’s curse intact… made even better by a skilled author with a creative mind. However, on a more general level, the story relies heavily on character interaction, which makes for a very unique mix of the familiar and the new. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that if anyone can prevent third impact, it’s Ranma Saotome.

The “outer story” back in Nerima does have a bit of a problem with Akane-bashing and other fanon clichés, but it’s tempered by the rest of the story and, as with “Chaotic Future”, it’s part of a successful effort by a skilled author to intentionally draw on certain “fanon Ranma” elements for their utility or humor value. Given how well the overall effect works, I have no problem with it.

Anyway, this is really one of those stories where the whole is far greater than the sum of it’s parts, but I can at least leave you with a couple more humorous snippets.

“Shampoo no like Airen living with purple-haired slut.”

This caused nearly everyone at the table to sweat-drop and someone

muttered something about pots and kettles being black.

“Hiya, Pop,” Ranma said cheerfully as he entered Gendo’s office.

“What do you want, Third Child,” Gendo said coolly. “I’m very busy.”

“Yeah, you look it too, sitting there lookin’ all diabolical with your hands steepled in front of your face,” Ranma observed with a smirk, while walking around Gendo’s desk. “I bet you were in here busy practicing that all day, weren’t ya? Well, I think you need some exercise and I got some frustrations to work off.” Ranma reached out and snagged his ‘father’ by the lapels, hoisting him up out of his seat. “So we’re goin’ down to the gym and havin’ a father-son bonding session while we beat the crap outta each other. Sounds fun, huh?”

“So that was the 17th angel?” Misato asked as she and Ritsuko walked up.
“Yeah,” Ranma said. “One more to go, well, maybe two more if you count Gendo.”
Ritsuko snickered.
“I wonder what he’d think if he heard his own son calling him an angel,” Ritsuko asked.
“The bastard would probably be flattered,” Misato answered.

Enjoy. 🙂

Fanfiction – The Wild Horse Thesis by Stephan Sokolow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.