The Daycare Attendant

The Daycare Attendant, commonly abbreviated as DCA, is a character from the video game series Five Nights at Freddy's, first appearing in Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach. The Daycare Attendant consists of two characters in one body: a sun-themed character who appears in the light, and a moon-themed character who appears in the dark. The pair takes turns being in control based on the light level. They are most often referred to as Sun and Moon, though they are collectively the Daycare Attendant.
After the release of Security Breach, the Daycare Attendant became a fan favorite character. On the fanfiction website Archive Of Our Own, ships involving the Daycare Attendant reached multiple top spots in relationship tag numbers (see Shipping).
==Canon==
The DCA appears in the Superstar Daycare, greeting the main character Gregory after he slides into the daycare's ball pit. As Sun, the DCA jumps down into the ball pit and grabs Gregory, rambling overenthusiastically about having a slumber party. His only rule is to "keep the lights on, on, on." After turning the lights off, Sun will dramatically declare that he "warned you" and fall backwards. Having changed into the Moon, Moon scolds Gregory as a "naughty boy" who "must be punished." Moon will then stalk Gregory throughout the daycare as Gregory crawls around the playsets looking for generators.
After the lights are back on, Sun returns and declares that Gregory is a "rulebreaker" and banned from the daycare and throws Gregory out. Then, the player can no longer enter the daycare and a large banner saying "BANNED! >:(" hangs on the door. Moon will periodical stalk Gregory in the pizzaplex when the lights turn off every hour and will jump scare him if he does not lead Freddy to a recharge station.
The DCA also has cartoonified versions of Sun and Moon painted on walls, as plushies, and in in-game advertisements. Their in-game ads are used to advertise "sundrop" and "moondrop" candies. If the player completes a certain puzzle they are able to enter a door at the back of the daycare's balcony, where they can discover two connected rooms behind the balcony's curtains, assumedly the DCA's rooms. The rooms include trash, a broken staff bot, an arcade machine, and toys. There is no re-charge station. If the player plays the Sun and Moon themed arcade machine they can discover the game's "glitch," which combines Sun and Moon's face into a red "Eclipse."
In a book tie-in, it's stated that the DCA was a reused theater animatronic, explaining their celestial theme and overdramatic personalities. However, FNAF tie-in books aren't considered canon by every fan. however the voice actor for them said an interview that he played them with the intention of including his personal autism however it is not confirmed if the characters themselves actually have this
==Fanon and Headcanons==
*They are referred as Sunman and Moonman in the game files, however fans do not use these names in fanon except as a joke. Instead, fans come up with a wide variety of nicknames for Sun and Moon, usually related to their celestial theme. For Sun, some nicknames are: "Sundrop," "Sunrise," "Sunny," "Sunny Bunny," "Sunshine," "Sunray," etc. For Moon, some nicknames are: "Moondrop," "Moonie," "Moonbeam," "Moonpie," "Starlight," etc. Sundrop and Moondrop are two of the most common names and frequently used in tags, taken from their respective in-game candies. In Reader/DCA fanfiction, some of these nicknames are applied instead to the reader, such a Sunshine and Starlight.
*Fans assume or headcanon that Moon is a "naptime attendant," designed to put children to sleep for a scheduled naptime in the daycare. However, there is no canonical evidence of children sleeping in the daycare nor any obvious designated naptime zone. This leaves Moon's "naptime attendant" status in fanon to not be canonical, though it is widely accepted as if it were canon. However, in the FNAF Security Breach: Ruin DLC Sun declares that he is "trapped in a nap" and sings "naptime, naptime" when Moon is in control. Additionally, Moon tells Cassie that it is "time for her nap."
*Some fans assume that Moon's aggressiveness is caused by the Afton virus affecting the other animatronics. In fanon, this may be exaggerated by depicting Moon as being murderous or having harmed guests, though canonically Moon does not explicitly harm Gregory. Fans frequently headcanon that Moon's aggressiveness has caused him to be temporarily retired from being the naptime attendant, leaving Sun to take care of the daycare alone and naptime a thing of the daycare's past. It is rare for fans to headcanon Sun as also having or being affected by the virus.
*Sun and Moon's personality traits may be softened or exaggerated in fanon, depending on the fan. For example, Sun's "cheery" personality may be headcanoned as being optimistic and always happy-go-lucky, and Moon's "less cheery" personality may be headcanoned as broody and shy. Alternatively, Sun's anxiousness may be amped up in fanon and Moon's aggression may be amped up to physical violence. 
*Sun is sometimes depicted as being bashful and shy when it comes to romance and affection, while Moon is bold and inappropriate. Other fans depict the exact opposite, with Sun being loud and unashamed and Moon being quiet and insecure.
*The level of separation or lack thereof between their two personalities has no canon explanation. The most common fanon on this is that they are two separate artificial intelligences sharing a body, usually seen as siblings. However, not every fan sees them as siblings since they are robots. It is rare for fans to headcanon the Sun and Moon as being one person. In the FNAF Security Breach: Ruin DLC it is canon that Sun and Moon are aware of who is in control of their body and know what is going on. Some fans criticize all of these depictions and the canon DCA, believing them to all be negative representation of dissociative identity disorder (see Dissociative Identity Disorder and the DCA).
*Sun's rays (or "petals") are headcanoned to show his emotions. Usually, fans depict them spinning when he is excited or happy and as retracting when upset or nervous. He is also usually depicted as being fidgety and energetic. Moon is usually depicted as less fidgety and energetic. Moon's hat is sometimes headcanoned to be important to him, and some fanart depicts him as grabbing or wringing it.
*A common trope in DCA fanfiction, especially Reader/DCA fanfiction, is that the reader is appalled by the DCA's trashy, unfinished room and then cleans it up and/or furnishes it. This sometimes includes adding a mattress or bedding. Fans sometimes write the DCA's room as already being furnished or having a bed, which is not canon. A charging station or charging cable is usually included. Furnishing the DCA's room also occurs in the fanwork The Sun and Moon Show.
*A common trope in fanfiction is that the DCA has several special features designed to help children. This includes being able to read their temperature and heartrate by touching their skin or pulse point. An early headcanon is that the bells along the DCA's wrists are designed to lead blind children to them.
* Eclipse is a fanon character in which Sun and Moon control their body at the same time. Usually, this results in a physical change, which may be different depending on the artist. Common changes are increased height, four arms, and red coloration. Eclipse's personality also differs between artists, with some making Eclipse a whole third character while others make Eclipse have Sun and Moon both speaking through the body as individuals. As of July 2023 Eclipse is also a canon character, introduced in Security Breach: Ruin, but fanon Eclipse continues to exist.
==Alternate Universes and Original Characters==
The DCA fandom is heavy in AUs and original characters, usually featuring character redesigns of Sun and Moon. For example, an early AU is the mermaid AU, in which Sun and Moon are designed by fans as mermaids for the yearly mermaid themed art month in the general art community, "Mermay." Others redesign Sun and Moon as nagas or other monsters, which overall would encompass a common theme of cryptid AUs. Alternatively, some apply a sci-fi approach, and have created AUs of Sun, Moon, Eclipse, and OCs in a literal celestial god setting, or personifying them as anthropomorphized celestial bodies. This makes DCA fandom heavy on teratophilia.
The Sun and Moon Show (TSAMS) is a YouTube channel dedicated to voice actors roleplaying as the Sun and Moon through Let's Plays and VRChat. TSAMS is extremely popular, and as of Nov 2023 has over 500 videos and 551k subscribers. Its popularity may have contributed to the large amount of DCA roleplayers and voice actors in VRChat. TSAMS has formed a DCA subfandom and has its own lore and AUs attached to it.
Some fans have expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of AUs in the DCA fandom, citing that because not every artist tags their DCA AUs appropriately, some art gets mistaken for original. In this vein, DCA has been compared to the Onceler or a Tumblr sexyman. See Tagging on Tumblr, Gatekeeping, and AUs.
==Shipping==
In Dec 2021, the month of FNAF Security Breach's release, the most popular relationships for FNAF were still William Afton|Dave Miller/Henry Emily (167), William Afton|Dave Miller & Henry Emily (155), and Phone Guy/Purple Guy (132).Five Nights at Freddy's, Archive of Our Own. Dec 22, 2021 (Accessed 2/11/2023) The DCA's popularity immediately shifted the most popular ships by a large amount. By the end of Jan 2022, Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader had 313 fanfics, just behind Glamrock Freddy & Gregory at 567 fanfics.Five Nights at Freddy's, Archive of Our Own. Jan 29, 2022 (Accessed 2/11/2023) The DCA would finally overtake the most popular ship by the end of Aug 2022, specifically Moon/Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader with 870 fanfics.
The most common ship for the DCA is Reader/DCA self-inserts. Self-insert readerfics take up four of the most popular ten ships for FNAF on AO3 and then take up seven of the slots when gen works are included, as of Feb 2023. The top three FNAF ships are Moon/Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader (1356), Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader (1034), and Moon (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader (975). One of the most popular DCA/Reader fanfics is Solar Lunacy by BNF BamSara, a QPP fic. Another popular DCA reader insert writer is BNF NaffEclipse who usually writes cryptid AUs, such as Cryptid Sightings, a demon and cryptid hunter DCA AU.
Some fans ship Sun/Moon, usually when they are not considered siblings by the fan. Moon/Sun has 38 fanfics as of Feb 2023. Shipping Sun and Moon with the other animatronics is rarer, but most commonly the DCA will be shipped with Montgomery Gator, particularly Moon. This ship is called Glittergolf.
==Controversy and Discussion==
===Dissociative Identity Disorder and the DCA===
Some fans may see the canon DCA or certain fan depictions of the DCA as being a "caricature" of dissociative identity disorder (DID) and systems. However, DID is never mentioned in canon so these fans may instead see them as "DID coded."what do you consider to be a non-ableist depiction of Sun and Moon? Tumblr, Feb 3, 2023 (Accessed 2/11/2023) These fans may argue that the change of personality itself is why the DCA is supposed to be frightening, making it a DID caricature.
Conversely, other fans with DID systems have commented that they "see themselves" in the DCA, or that they see nothing wrong with their depictions, so this topic is divisive.Hey, as someone who is a system, I really enjoy how you write the daycare attendants. Tumblr. Jan 9, 2023 (Accessed 2/11/2023) They may argue that it isn't the change of personality that makes them scary, but rather that it is because their personality is affected by the virus, which is considered just as scary in all the other animatronics. For example, one fan asked: "Usually the Daycare Attendant isn't even evil, they only are because of Vanny. Not by their choice. Does this change things for y'all? That in universe they aren't designed as villains but just characters with a job?"Usually the Daycare Attendant isn't even evil, Tumblr. Dec 19, 2021 (Accessed 2/18/2023)
Other fans have argued that because they are robots they are not comparable to humans with mental disorders in the first place.Daycare attendant has a disorder, Reddit. Dec 30, 2021. (Accessed 2/18/2023)
Criticism of the DCA being assumed to represent a DID system has caused some fans to make disclaimers about their own depictions of the DCA, with one example from a fanfic's note section below.
===Tagging on Tumblr, Gatekeeping, and AUs===
In March 2023 Tumblr user hungry-skeleton made a Simpsons meme and post expressing annoyance with the prevalence of the DCA in the "FNAF" Tumblr tag. The content of the meme said: 
The remainder of the post continued to express the same sentiments in expanded format, including gatekeeping, other fans being casual fans (or fringefans), and tag flooding. They suggested that DCA fans should use the tag "Eclipseverse" as a catchall tag instead of tagging "FNAF" as a solution to get rid of the FNAF tag being full of DCA art.
Reception was mixed. While some fans agreed to use "Eclipseverse," others pointed out that Eclipse is a separate character and instead suggested a myriad of other tags such as "DCA Fandom," "DCA AU," and "Daycare Tower," leading to no consensus on what new catch-all tag to use. Other fans suggested instead that OP should simply block the DCA's tags instead of telling DCA fanartists that they were "ruining fun" and "had no right" to use or be in the main FNAF tag. However, hungry-skeleton responded by saying that there were too many varied tags for the DCA, making it too difficult to block them all. 
Replies were eventually turned off a few days later, after fans could not agree upon one tag and other replies were negative towards the the post. As if Mar 19, 2023, the post has 356 notes.
===VRChat Avatar Ripping===
In VRChat (VRC), "ripping" is the act of taking a 3D modeler's avatars without permission, or editing them without permission. DCA avatars are an extremely popular avatar type in VRC, with some creators ripping DCA avatars from others and sharing them around. Some ripped DCA avatars become popular enough that players do not realize the avatars are stolen edits. 
InkyPop is a popular creator to rip Sun and Moon avatars from due to their large catalog. For example, avatar editor Munchbox/Sunstroke (stylized as ༒Munchbox༒) ripping Inkypop avatars to create several popular versions ("Trickster" Sun and Moon, etc) of them without Inkypop's permission. Another popular ripper, UnknownCode (stylized as ?~ŪñkñøwñÇødé~?), creates sought after Inkypop ripped designs with tails, wings, blindfolds, and other accessories ("Gatekeeper Bloodmoon," "Heaven Gatekeeper Angel Sun," etc), and also takes commissions to edit ripped models. These, and other rippers, led to Inkypop including a poster in their avatar world warning users about inauthentic versions of their avatars. Further, some DCA rippers are involved in cases of infighting in which they "steal" from each other, despite all of them being considered art thieves by the original 3D artists. For example, the "Munchbox Sunstroke Army" group in VRC, a group dedicated to supporting the ripper, includes the below description discrediting other rippers ripping from the ripper:
==Fanworks==
===Gallery===
====Canon DCA and General Redesigns====
File:Just-a-drawing-bean DCA.jpg|by just-a-drawing-bean
File:Shandzii DCA.png|DCA with reader-insert by Shandzii
File:Baby-bloos DCA.jpg|by baby-bloos's mother
File:Anglyluffy DCA.jpg|by angyluffy
====AU DCA and OCs====
File:Emil-Inze DCA.png|Humanized and genderswapped, by Emil-Inze
File:Nyxedbones DCA.jpg|Mermaid AU by nyxedbones
File:Opudont-donut DCA.jpg|OCs by opudont-donut
File:Sloth-space DCA.png|OC by Sloth-Space
====VRChat====
File:Vrchat mirrordwelling DCA.png|Mirror dwelling in the Superstar Daycare world
File:Vrchat inkypop.png|Inkypop avatar world and ripping discussion
File:Vrchat lovesick sundrop.png| "Lovesick" Sundrop, Inkypop ripped avatar by Woobull
File:VRC DCA Moon.png|Non-exhaustive Moon, Lunar, and Bloodmoon models
File:VRC DCA Sun.png|Non-exhaustive Sun and Eclipse modes
===Fansongs===
*FNAF SECURITY BREACH SONG ANIMATION "Drop" (Sundrop / Moondrop) | Rockit Gaming & CG5
*Lights On ▶ FNAF SECURITY BREACH SONG
*Superstar Daycare (Sun + Moon) With Lyrics | Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach
===Videos===
*Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me (FNAF Daycare Attendant) fan animatic
*Running away from Moon (FnaF Playlist)
*[FNAF SB OC] Rom and Death Meme – DCA OC with custom FNAF fansong
*Leave My Brother Alone – comic dub
*SUN AND MOON TRY THE PINK SAUCE
*Fnaf Daycare Attendant Animation [Spring and a Storm]
*Daycare Attendant || Dr. Sunshine is Dead || Complete FNAF MAP Animation - multi animator project
*Why do we Love the Sun & Moon? (A Daycare Attendant Analysis)
===Fanfiction===
*Solar Lunacy – popular queerplatonic DCA/Reader fic
*Little Rulebreaker – gen fanfic
*A Not so Sunny World (Prequel) – prequel to an apocalypse AU
*Shine, Little Star – popular incomplete NSFW reader fic
*A GlitterGolf Valentine Extended Edition – DCA/Montgomery Gator fic
*Ghost in the Machine - AU with DCA fan characters
===Zines===
*Lights On! Lights Off! (March 25, 2023)
==External Links==
* Daycare Attendant (Five Nights at Freddy's) character tag on Archive of Our Own
** Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's) and Moon (Five Nights at Freddy's) subtags on Archive of Our Own
* Sun/Moon character filter on FanFiction.Net
* Daycare Attendant at the FNAF Fandom.com wiki
==References==
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