Fandom Specific Plot / Camp Camp

• First and foremost, there's "Dadvid", a section of fanfic where David (often with Gwen at least somewhat involved) adopts one or more of the campers. Max is by far the most popular one, but pretty much every camper is a candidate. The circumstances that result in David gaining custody of one of the campers varies depending both on the story in question and which camper is being discussed; for example, Dadvid with Max generally involves the latter having been thrown into foster care or running away from an abusive home. Dadvid can and has been combined with all the AUs below.
• And then we have "Momwen", which loosely follows the same formula as Dadvid, just with Gwen as the lead. This almost always involves David at least eventually but can and has involved an OC friend or roommate of Gwen's who acts as a babysitter (they're usually nothing more than a babysitter or Honorary Aunt unless they're David).
• "Dadvid" has a popular variant where teen David and Gwen come in contact with and take in an abandoned baby or toddler Max; these typically feature a mix of tooth-rotting adorableness and heartbreak and like the main version, can be mixed with most AUs. This can be done with Momwen but it's less common for Gwen to take the lead in the Teen Parent scenario.
• Less popular but still liked are "The Millers adopt X", with Max continuing to be the most popular option (especially if he was adopted pre-canon).
• AUs where Max is Gwen's biological kid are fairly popular. Most have David as the biological father but there are several where the biological father is an asshole who ran out on them. In the latter case. David often (but not always) ends up winning both Gwen and Max over.
• Max's parents are total Fanfic Fuel since we don't know anything except that he doesn't think they care about him. They can range from wanting to care but not knowing how, being distant and not around much but not uncaring, merely emotionally and verbally abusive or actively causing him physical harm with all kinds of variance to why they're whatever they are. It's also become popular that Max's neglectful parents are not his biological parents because of the Unfortunate Implications of POC parents being neglectful/abusive enough to require their child's removal and adoption by a white man (David) or white couple (the Millers).
• "Jasper lived!", which is common with Jasper/David shipping (and sometimes Gwen thrown into the mix). "Adopted Max" also frequently features in this type of AU.
• "Daniel returns for revenge on Max, David or both!" This usually ends up with the target/s of Daniel's rage being put through the wringer emotionally and frequently physically; they can also end awful or bittersweet.
• Daniel is granted a chance to redeem himself. Frequently features Daniel/David.
• "Evil!Daniel tries to break [Character] into a loyal cultist." Max or David are the most popular, but anyone is fair game.
• "Werewolf David" is a popular AU, and is almost always tied in with David/Gwen shipping due to the latter's fetish for monster men. May or may not involve the campers and Gwen herself being supernatural creatures as well.
• "Nonhuman David" is a pretty popular AU concept, with "Monster Under The Bed" and "Dragon" being other ideas the fans love.
• Medieval AUs are popular and feature a variety of central characters.
• Reverse AUs are popular and come in the following types.
  • Gender Swap: Characters are the opposite gender. Can be as desired but most AUs have the entire cast flipped around.
  • Age Swap: Max, Neil and Nikki are the counselors while David and Gwen are the campers. Other characters can be placed in roles as needed or desired.
  • Personality Swap: Characters' personalities get swapped around and/or flipped. This can be as desired though the general consensus is that David's personality would go to both Gwen and Max.
  • Morality Swap: Characters' moralities are reversed. Interestingly this doesn't necessarily mean that their better traits go away completely as "Serial Killer David", a popular version of this, is still David; just as a serial killer.
• The campers frequently end up in high school together and Max and Neil will go to the same school if nothing else. Antics vary but shipping is frequent.
• Harrison gets kicked out by his parents over the vanishing of his brother, whether he's unable to undo it (the more common version) or because they don't want anything to do with him once he manages to fix it. His True Companions find out and are none too pleased.
• If Nerris and Harrison aren't shipped together, it's becoming popular for her to get her parents to adopt her rival; Harrison typically is awkward about it, especially at first, but ultimately couldn't be happier.
• One of the campers ends up in an abusive dating relationship and the others try to save them. Believe it or not, despite being popular as a root for shipping, the story doesn't always go that route.
• Someone is revealed to be trans and the characters react to this. David is by far the most popular option, with Max as a close second (and in most stories where Max is trans, David is as well) but other characters such as Harrison, Nerris and even Gwen are fair game too. Stories where Max is trans frequently feature his parents being transphobes (he's not the only one who gets transphobic family, just the most popular).
• Camper Gwen, as in "Gwen was at Camp Campbell with David and/or Jasper" stories, are well-liked.
• "Wood Scout Max" stories, where he ends up at the Wood Scouts somehow (often being kidnapped again or by having the canon "loss" of Jermy be thwarted so Pikeman takes Max), are popular and frequently end up with lots of Cold-Blooded Torture and pain for Max; the final rescue usually ends up being heartwarming, though.
• Max is the victim of a violent crime (which may or may not have also left him orphaned) and the other characters help him recover. This plotline can be used for other characters, with characters who are part of minorities being the more popular options, but anyone is fair game, though exactly what the crime/attack is varies depending on who the victim is.
• Neil's father ends up marrying one of the other single parents. Candy, Nikki's mother, was popular for a long time but is now starting to have to compete with Mrs. Nurfington.
• Rehashes of canon episodes with Unfortunate Implications either just addressed or outright fixed, such as the Egg Sitting plot being done with "single parent" or "three parents, one child" options.
• Dolph either has his Nazi tendencies actively addressed or comes to the realization that he's hurting people on his own. Alternately the author just chooses to ignore him altogether.
• Harrison's magic goes haywire. This can be completely original material, which alternates between hilarious, heartbreaking or nightmarish, or a 'for want of a nail' scenario from canon where the haywire magic makes things go very differently.
• Crossovers with X-Ray & Vav are very popular. Mogar and David are frequently shipped together with the rest of the casts of both series being quirky honorary family. The Mad King and Daniel frequently team up, though it doesn't go well for them.