New to fanfiction, hoping to write in Girls und Panzer-verse

I've been writing for years, but never really have delved into fan fiction outside of a few forum R Ps. But after watching Girls und Panzer I've been weirdly inspired to try my hand at it. Because of how much I've enjoyed the series, however, I don't want to screw it up irreparably. So any help/suggestions I can get from more experienced authors or other people familiar with Gu P would be greatly appreciated.

So what I've thought up so far is a story centering mostly around an OC tank crew, set after the events of the anime. Specifically a girl who transfers from Pravda High School; there'd be rumors circulating about her that were varying degrees of scandalous, but in reality her parents just relocated. I'm not sure which school she should transfer to, however - Oarai seems logical, but maybe a different school would be just as interesting.

I've also thought of the idea that she easily develops crushes on other girls, though she never really acts on them and moves on quickly from one to another. So maybe a bit of yuri that's nearly entirely in her mind. That and I could see her being part of a T-34 crew, having been involved in sensha-do at Pravda. Other than that I'm still coming up with details - like the rest of her crew, etc.

Anyone who might have thoughts on how to develop this into a better rounded idea, please share your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

Well, I have good news!

You're getting in at the ground floor so there's not much expectation on you yet. There's literally under ten such works currently up on ff.net.

Also bad news: God knows whether the fandom can handle an OC story. This isn't Battle Tech where they've been conditioned to live with a universe with many stories, all the work put out for this has been Miho-centric.

I suggest a solid break with Oarai, making it clearer that you're exploring the wider setting rather than doing one of FF.net's innumerable 'hey these are like the original cast but better' OC-fics. Plus, it should give you a bit more freedom in your school's approach to the sport. Are they casual? Uptight? Big-money? Little-money? Performance comics like the Harlem Globetrotters? There's any number of ways you could take this.

The more I've thought about it, the more that suggestion seems like a really good idea. I don't want to detract from the canon and there's plenty with Oarai in the series as is. This has quickly led me to deciding to come up with a new school that competes in tankery - I'd think they might have more than 16 nationally. Also it occurred to me that none of the ones that are at least named in Gu P sound as if they'd use Polish tanks. So my imagination being what it is, the school is taking shape as something like 'St. Casamir's Girls Academy' which uses mainly Polish but also other eastern European tanks and influence. So thanks for the advice!

... So should we make an "All-Purpose Girls und Panzer Fanfiction Thread" and get it over with?

edited 15th Jun '13 7:06:57 PM by MarqFJA

Its fandom is most likely still too small to substain a whole fanfiction thread.

Well, I'll just be posting this scene that I can't seem to get out of my head for whoever is interested.

Setting: The World Tankery Championship, final round. Ooarai is up against the school that broke the previous world champion's winning streak in a Curb-Stomp Battle that elicited a lot of controversy over the winner's usage of very-dirty-but-technically-not-illegal tactics, including employment of cruel psychological warfare and isolating individual units to force them into cat-and-mouse games while pinning down the rest of their comrades with suppressive maneuvers, so that they are forced to listen to their hapless friends' panicked voices. There are even rumours that they only keep getting away with it due to their sponsors having connections with the organization running the Tankery tournament.

Long story short, Ooarai suffers badly when subjected to the same treatment, and then the enemy leader has the gall to offer them reprieve if they supplicate themselves outside their tanks and forfeit the match (since she believes her victory is a Foregone Conclusion).

Miho's replay? She defiantly sings and dances the Anglerfish Dance on her tank, quickly followed by the rest of her team... and, in gradual succession, every single one of the teams that she had befriended over the course of the Nationals and the World Tournament (plus some of the Ooarai members' relatives), in a show of solidarity and a subtle finger-flipping. Yes, that includes an otherwise stoic-faced Maho (poor Shiho gets an eye twitch at that). Let's just say that describing the enemy team's leader's reaction with "blown their top like a volcano" would be somewhat of an understatement.

I wonder if anyone wrote a fic that depicts the Tankery battles from the eyes of the tanks themselves — as in, "upgrading" them from mere Companion Cubes to something like them being as "alive" as Toy Story's toys. I'd guess that their awareness during battle would be effectively tied to their own crews (i.e. Anglerfish would not know that an enemy tank is aiming at Mallard until one of the Anglerfish crew notices and radios the Mallard crew about it).

Maybe. If you're going to do something like that, though, I recommend reading The Puddlejumper Diaries before you try for a similar concept.

Been readingup on ISOT scenarios lately, and have the urge to write one for GUP. Basic premise is: a whole Academy Carrier (or possibly several) is teleported by Alien Space Bats to some point in the past (or in another dimension/universe). With no way of going back, they have to find away to thrive and grow in their new surroundings. For example, Ourai is sent back to the Age of Exploration in the general vicinity of the New World...

edited 13th Aug '14 10:36:35 PM by SCMof2814

One plot bunnies inside my head: How if tankery is developed with addition of support infantries... consisted of boys. They do things like repairing half-dead tanks , clean other infantries, using anti-tank weapons , and the worst of them: sappers.

While other teams will have gimmick just like their tanks' countries, Oarai teams will consist of bunches of inexperienced people, ranging from Co D addicts, coward who got drafted for additional credits, delinquents, and an unassuming nerd. Which has the luck of having once living in backyard Finland in his grade school days, and is acquitanted with The White Death.

There are two types of infantries: rifleman and engineer. Riflemen can bring rifles and anti-tank weapons, while engineers can bring repair tools and explosives. Everyone can bring small arms to defend himself, and radios. The catch: radio, repair tools and anti-tank weapons are heavy, and there are limited numbers of anti-tank weapons available, depending on number of enemies tanks. Infantries work in 3-5 man groups, each group can only bring one radio. Oh, and explosives can be deactivated by engineers, or shot to blow up by any weapons. Even the inactivated ones. Joy.

EDIT: Oh yeah, repairing tanks is depending on the extent of damage and number of repairman (engineers with repair tools) available. Add more when I figured it out.

edited 22nd Nov '14 11:11:02 PM by RBomber

But that would take the essence of Tankery out of the sport: A tank competing against another tank to prove which is the better tank and/or has the better crew. It's like if you want to modify knightly jousting by adding on-foot spearmen to defend each rider.