A little ficlet for my DCA OC Bastion, who will not stop bullying me until I got this written out SOMEWHERE. And yes, this is partially inspired by/written in the setting of that Apartment Complex multi-OC dating game I posted about before ;3c

tldr: Bastion is a half-disembodied AI who uses it/they pronouns and, despite claiming that it doesn’t care at all about human values or companionship, seems to care an awful lot about YOU

“You have not eaten anything in exactly 6.3 hours.”

“I know, Bastion.”

“Your caloric intake has been below the recommended amount for the last three days,” the voice continues, echoing through the empty air of your room as if you hadn’t said anything at all. “You will eat something of your choosing within the next half-hour, or I will have to take measures in doing it for you.”

“I’m not hungry right now,” you mutter, trying to be quiet enough so that the quip wouldn’t be heard and you can continue your personal project in peace so—

“Why must you be combative about your own health?”

The words almost rumble through the air, echoing from the speakers dotting the corners of almost every single room and hallway of the building. You have to wonder what kind of mics are hooked up with them — or the nearly-microscopic security cameras — because even you barely heard yourself speak.

But before your mind can continue with the annoyed line of thoughts there is a sudden and abrupt grip on your shoulders that pull you back from the laptop and desk, chair wheels squeaking out from the sheer speed and force as Bastion’s tendril-like extensions snake out from the interface port somewhere near the room’s door leading into the hallway.

“Jesus fuck, Bastion I’m not—“

“You are eating,” the voice says, cold and firm, unwavering in a way that can only come from someone like it. It. Not him, it— though you know Bastion couldn’t find an atom of themself that truly cared how others regarded it anyway, but was always steadfast in referring to itself as ‘it’, and you had a feeling there was more nuance to the situation than that.

When you first met the AI construct, it had actually outlined all of the sole priorities that it had been ‘programmed to cared about’, and not one of them was ‘how humans regard my being’. Instead, you think that your health was near the top, followed by a laundry list of legal rules, regulations, and other things that came with Bastion taking on the role of being the apartment building’s literal internal network, firewall and pseudo-VPN.

Still, you’re not sure why YOU are a priority to the AI, and Bastion has not deigned the time to explain it to you either. It seems to rather avoid the topic with all the same stubbornness as you seem to avoid self-care.

“I will allow you the choice of food only once more, please designate something you have a preference for and I will obtain it.”

“God damn,” you murmur. “Just— cereal? I think I can stomach that right now.”

Around your waist and the chair both, the silver-smooth tendril squeezes for just a moment. Not a necessary motion, not in the slightest, but you can’t help but feel a sense of comfort in that little notion alone — a very human motion of affection that Bastion would otherwise deny if you’d brought it up to them.

“I will have a bowl of your favorite kind ready within the next five minutes. Are you able to walk to the kitchen?”

You think about it for a moment before nodding. It doesn’t need to hear your answer; Bastion is always watching.

“Good. I am satisfied with your answer.” Bastion’s tone is cold and calculated as always, nearly monotone from one word to the next, but you can hear something else lingering in the background.

The tendril lingers for a few moments more before finally— gently — letting you go.

“Please be in the kitchen in the next ten minutes,” the voice continues, and then, a brief flicker of humor as it adds, “…Or else the cereal will get soggy.”

Someone in the DCA discord server: We have so many cool OCs in here guys, wouldn’t it be cool if we made a collaborative dating game for them?

Several members & myself: Haha yeah…. But what if? 👀

Me literally a day later: okay so here’s the outline and a Google doc for us to start getting our characters and routes listed out, we’ll follow this general setting and here are open story books to use and—

Meet King! My first of *checks notes* five DCA OCs

He is an Eclipse-style Daycare Attendant Model (Ver 1.5) who works in one of the newer, mardi gras/medieval themed FazCo locations in New Orleans, LA. His complimentary Sun and Moon animatronic partners act as the ‘princes’ of the location, while he is supposed to play as court jester (even though he fights that job title regularly).

While originally simple named after his model, recent events with a newly hired technician has led to him taking on the moniker ‘King’ and refusing to acknowledge or respond to any other name. Management has decided to update his name in the system files to avoid any future conflicts.

me? finishing the reference art for one of my *looks at notebook* FIVE DCA OCS? More likely than you think…..

Prolly gonna make a carrd website for them, but here’s how one boyo is lookin! King is a sassy bastard who takes inspiration from Mardis Gras and drag queens and will absolutely try to seduce you by telling you how good his dick game is

Me: *makes a DCA OC base*

Me: *takes a month to use my OWN BASE*

Either way here’s a look at one of my three musketeers (/affectionate). His name is King, he’s an Eclipse model who works at a Fazbear Entertainment location that is medieval/mardi gras flavored and he has the biggest goddamn ego you’ve ever seen. A right fine BASTARD and i love him so much

*hands you a smug ass bitch and his dinky plastic burger king crown /affectionate*

His name is King and he’s an older Eclipse model currently ‘employed’ by a medieval-themed Fazbear Entertainment location. He doesn’t get along much with his location’s Sun and Moon, but he seems awfully interested in that new caretaker hired to handle and maintain him…

But also:

Daycare Attendant Base/Template

So I’m in the process of designing some of my own DCA OCs, but I noticed that there doesn’t seem to be any existing bases or templates that are close(r) to their in-game proportions. So I decided to make one! While I’m not the greatest artist and there are plenty of things I’m not 100% happy with (please for the love of god ignore the spelling on ‘palettes’ I AM NOT RE-SAVING ALL THE FILES AGAIN), I think this could be a useful resource for anyone else to use!

I made two versions since I noticed that a fair number of fans liked to give them anthro paws, and while I’m not an anthro or furry artist by any means, I think it came out really good!

Rules to follow when using this resource:

Download all the file variations (PNG, JPEG, PSD and Procreate) on Google Drive

Green Hills and Blue Skies

Solunis is an Eclipse-style animatronic made for the exclusive use of a renaissance fair. He was designed to be flashy and entertaining, charming and witty, able to dazzle guests with his unique feature of flipping between two modes — Solar and Lunar Eclipse — upon whim or request. He’s exuberant and talented across a wide range of musical and storytelling skills, but most importantly he’s—

Lonely.

So very, very lonely.

Three hundred and six thousand, five hundred and forty-two minutes.

Five thousand, one hundred and ten hours.

In other words, a touch under seven months exactly, down to the very moment in time that he was initially powered on -- when his systems came to life beneath blinding floodlights and his mind suddenly stuffed full of awareness.

Activity. Life. Pain.

The sensory overload was almost as agonizing as it was immediate. From cold and lifeless to the functional equivalent of a fully-grown adult, it wasn't something one could simply describe. The act of living when one was dead just a moment before — though non-existence would be more fitting of a description. It was as if every single byte of information within his body was on fire all at once, tearing through metal and wire and plastic until it engulfed him with the raw, unfiltered sensations of being alive.

To call it a shock would be an understatement.

At least the employees had the decency to power him on for the first time a few days before the grand opening of the fair. Not enough time to cope with the existential dread of suddenly being alive, mind you.

But long enough to learn how to hide it behind a mask.

That was seven months ago.

Seven months ago, he didn’t even have a name — not really, at least. He had a model type (Eclipse ver 2.32) and serial number (so long a string of letters and numbers that it isn’t worth mentioning), but neither of those concepts constitutes a name proper. His handlers came to calling him ‘Eclipse’ in passing, but his official title was dependent on what of two distinct forms he took on.

Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse. Catchy, one might think. Creative. Witty, even.

With his flashy attire fitting for that of a fantasy bard mixed in with the aesthetic of a royal jester, he truly was eye-catching. His signature feature was being able to switch back and forth from warm reds and golds to cool blues and purples in the blink of an eye. Not into separate personalities, as some earlier models did as a cost-saving measure, but simply to impress crowds of onlookers drunk on mead and happy to listen to a blissful tune of an animatronic almost tailor-made for entertainment and charm.

He has a name now, of course. One of his own choosing, not to be pried from his cold, power-drained fingers no matter how many times his systems were reset — the employees stopped doing that after a while, when it was obvious it was more effort to do so after every weekend than to simply let him roam about freely in the hours between shows and seasons.

Solunis. His name was—

His name is Solunis.

Unfortunate: My wife, a player in a long-running Pathfinder 2e campaign that I run, immediately clocked when I was in the middle of trying to design a DCA-inspired NPC and demanded, nay, begged for me not to go through with it. I love my wife and alas, he will be unused

Fortunate: I now have a DCA oc/ttrpg AU and I'm going to figure out how I can make things about him. His name is Celest (short for Celestial) and he's an Automaton Oracle who specializes in astrological magics and somehow has two (or more) souls stuck inside his automaton core. He's a couple hundred years old (in terms of being in his current form/life) and tends to keep to himself and away from major cities.