FanficRecs antvasima's review
Well-written, and Lawson seems like a nice enough fellow, but Ranma as gay or bisexual never worked for me personally, as he definitely isn't in the original continuity.
The way I (possibly mis)remember the author himself stating it at the ffml, he personally saw Ranma as a gay in denial, and the story was about working through his conditioning to realise that, which means that Ranma started out homosexual and burrowed down to the core. This is a sympathetic, and allegedly very personal, story in itself, but the problem is that Ranma is only interested in attractive women, hence he is straight as a male, and a lesbian as a female. However, given that he does various generally perceived as very unmanly things in his female form, I can understand the "straight man supressing his inner lesbian" notion I heard a few years back.
For those who don't mind that very OOC premise and don't mind the lack of comedy it is very solid writing however. Basically there is absolutely nothing wrong with the story itself, it simply felt too off to me on this one crucial point.
FanficRecs LooneyToons' review
Although Lawson is best known for his work in the middle to late 1990s, he has been writing almost continuously in this and other fandoms for the past fifteen years. He has of late penned several new installments for Thy Outward Part, proving that his Ranma period is far from behind him. If you find his work to your taste, try also his Nuku-Nuku cycle as well.
Two-thirds of Thy Outward Part is Ranma growing and changing through the circumstances of her life until she reaches the point where she can think of a man in a romantic way. Even then, Ranma is by no measure bisexual — it's just that Ranma's definition of acceptable sexuality eventually expands to include Kentaro, and that not because of desire but from friendship and (at first platonic) love. The story is about how Ranma reaches that point, and where it takes her; it doesn't happen because Ranma starts off with a different sexual orientation.
I've been on the FFML since approximately 1996, and I don't recall ever seeing Lawson post anything along those lines. Which doesn't mean he hasn't; it just means I have to archive-dive.
FanficRecs Highly recommend Rose of Shadows
On one hand, it's a character study of what could have driven the Kunos to become what they are. On the other hand, I feel it also works well as an example of Ranma's inner nobility once he actually start recognizing Kodachi as a fellow human being rather than just a crazy annoyance in his life. Once he sees her, really sees her and not the persona she adopts, he cannot help but care for her and try to help. Very, very highly recommended.