#dbacc year 5

[melsie-sims]

Ariel, Robin, and the twins were about to head home, but before leaving they managed to wrangle up the toddlers for a quick photo.

"Say cheese!" Snow said from behind the camera.

"CHEESE!" all three toddlers said in unison.

Now they had something tangible to commemorate the event. They'd be able to remember their very first playdate for years to come!

[melsie-sims]

"Oh my Watcher, your hair looks amazing! Bangs look so good on you!" Snow said when she came inside the cottage, finally seeing Ariel's new look for the first time.

"Thanks! Your hair looks really great too! It's so much longer!" Ariel replied cheerfully. "How have things been with you? The place looks awesome! You've done some expanding!"

"Yeah, we needed a dining table during the blizzard so we added a few tiles to the main living area. It's feeling like a proper house finally," Snow explained. "But things have been pretty good! Florian is at level 3 of his career now so that's exciting!"

Snow leaned in a little bit and Ariel knew immediately that she was about to reveal some juicy gossip. "Also Belle and Bruno are an item..."

"Really?! Woah, good for Belle!" Ariel grinned.

[melsie-sims]

While Bruno and Belle were upstairs becoming my absolute favorite pairing of the challenge, Snow and Rainy were having a mother/son day outside.

"PAL! PAL! PAL!" Rainy kept insisting.

"I'm going as fast as this animation will let me!" Snow replied, scooping up snow and making the biggest snowball she could muster. Her hands were frozen solid!

"Wow!" Rainy whispered, completely in awe. "Pal!"

"It's a snowpal, yeah!" Snow laughed, watching the excitement on his face as the snowpal suddenly came into existence before their very eyes, clothes and all.

[melsie-sims]

Robin was feeling a little stressed out about the lack of progress for his aspiration.

He needed to be disliked by two sims, and Bruno just so happened to be walking by. They also had awful compatibility with one another so it'd be a very easy aspiration milestone to check off!

"What the plum is wrong with your hat?" Robin asked, deciding to start off with an insult.

"What?" Bruno looked confused.

"Your hat, it's ridiculous," Robin smirked.

"It's the same as yours... same swatch and everything," Bruno retorted, a little weirded out by this random aggression.

[melsie-sims]

Now that Maris could crawl around, she was really developing a little personality of her own. For example, one of her favorite things was to follow adults around and watch them while they were hard at work.

Since her parents were out and about, Uncle Tarzan was her target today. She was very intrigued by the woodworking bench and kept babbling to him while he built furniture for his shop.

"One of these days, I'll bring you to the store," he said to the little one. "With that adorable face, you'll definitely help me sell some things."

[melsie-sims]

Belle headed into the other room to find Rainy up from his nap, waiting patiently in his crib for someone to come let him out.

"Hey birthday boy!" Belle said cheerfully. "Are you ready to have the best time with Tante Belle?" Belle asked.

"YAAA!" Rainy replied, raising his arms to be picked up.

[melsie-sims]

"Guess whose birthday it is today," Snow sang to Rainy as she got him out of his crib once all of her gardening was done.

"Ray?" Rainy replied, still a little sleepy.

"That's right! You're finally gonna be a toddler like Sparrow and Maris! You know, you're actually older than them?" Snow continued, rocking her baby back and forth.

Rainy blinked. "Ya!"

"That's just what happens when we get played second in the rotation," Snow explained. "Don't worry, the birthdays are all kept nice and tidy in a spreadsheet. The Watcher knows what she's doing... most of the time."

[melsie-sims]

After Rainy was put to bed for the night, Snow came upstairs to keep Belle company while she finished grinding the last level of the writing skill.

She was so close, and with a bit of encouragement, she managed to unlock a new career for everyone!

"That's amazing!" Snow grinned proudly. "One CAS Point and one new career, I think we did pretty well for ourselves!"

"Yeah! We're making so much progress! I'm gonna join the Writer career right away, otherwise I might forget by the time our household comes back around."

"You mean the Watcher might," Snow smirked.

"Right, obviously," Belle laughed.

✅ Reach level 10 of the writing skill to unlock the writing career

[melsie-sims]

As the guests started to arrive for the girls' birthday, Ariel hurried around the kitchen, trying to get the honey cake ready.

"Watcher, I feel like such a mom right now," the redhead muttered as she got flour all over her clothes, and her fingers sticky with sweet honey.

It was going to be so fun to see Sparrow and Maris' reactions.

[melsie-sims]

"Look, we're almost at a gold medal date," Belle pointed out after a few more social interactions.

They were starting to run out of goals. The only one left was to share a kiss, and both Belle and Bruno were too nervous to make the first move.

"Maybe we should start to head back?" Belle asked after a moment of just standing there.

"Yeah," Bruno smiled awkwardly. "I had a really great time."

"Me too," Belle said. "I'd like to do it again sometime... maybe when the weather's a little nicer."

"Oh, totally!" Bruno grinned.

[melsie-sims]

"Hey Snow, how's the garden looking?" Bruno wondered.

"Oh, it's good! Nothing froze, fortunately. We got a nice harvest, plenty to feed ourselves and sell to some customers at the market," the princess replied. "What about you? Did you get any more paintings done this morning?"

"I did, yeah, but I was actually waiting for you to have a chat..." Bruno hesitated for a minute, looking toward the stairs. "I'd like your advice about... something."

"Oh?" Snow raised an eyebrow curiously.

Bruno took a deep breath. "I'd like to ask out Belle, but I'm not sure if I should. She's wonderful, but I'm afraid she's... I mean, it's complicated... I've never really..."

"It is a little complicated, yeah, but you won't ever know how she feels unless you ask her," Snow cut him off before he had a chance to embarrass himself further. "You two seem like you get along really well, and you've got amazing compatibility."

"Oh," Bruno looked surprised. It was as if he expected her to steer him away from the idea, not encourage him. "Okay then!"

[melsie-sims]

Snow knew she'd seen a chocoberry plant somewhere during her time spent foraging around the neighborhood.

She needed some for Rainy's birthday cake later, so she decided to go on the hunt. She just hoped there'd be some ready to harvest, otherwise they were going to be in trouble.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly when she found the elusive plant near some ruins.

Rainy's chocolate cake was going to be amazing!

[melsie-sims]

While the kids were playing, the adults were hard at work planning for Year 6, which was only half a day away now.

"We've made a lot of progress with skills. Belle might actually max out Writing before midnight, but I think that's gonna be our only unlock this rotation," Snow explained.

"Besides your business," Robin reminded her.

"Right, that was definitely a big one," Snow nodded. "I've been thinking about that. What if getting CAS Points is how the portal opens up? Bruno fell through not long after Tarzan got his."

"That's a really solid theory," Robin nodded. "I'll be working on charisma during Year 6. I know Tarzan's also really close to maxing handiness, so we'll have proper electricity soon."

Ariel was quiet most of the time, still thinking about CAS Points and portals opening up.

[melsie-sims]

Maris wanted to go see the chickens, so Robin and Snow accompanied her inside the enclosure.

"Woah," Robin said. "You've gotten quite a few new ones since the last time I've been here."

"Yeah, we've almost got a full coop now," she replied. "Hey Maris, do you wanna name the white one behind you? She doesn't have a name yet."

Maris nodded. "Cha-cha!"

Robin and Snow exchanged amused looks.

"Cha-cha it is," Snow grinned.

[melsie-sims]

Rainy and Sparrow immediately hit it off — as much as two babbling toddlers can anyway.

"Play?" Rainy asked excitedly.

Sparrow nodded.

[melsie-sims]

Miss Sparrow aged up with the independent trait, while Maris got the silly trait. Both girls are incredibly adorable all made over!

We'll be able to see their features better as they age, but at the moment I think Sparrow looks a lot like her mother, just with her father's bright green eyes.

Maris is the complete opposite, favoring her father's looks but with her mother's teal eyes.