DD 5.47: Can’t Touch

Week 28/Day 190 (Sunday)

You may remember several mentions of visiting a Japanese summer festival.
I’d been planning for the household to spend a day visiting a lot that I’d been gradually building since around mid-June. It was to be a finale of sorts.
Today was the day for that summer festival but I sadly discovered this morning that several essential objects have been corrupted, perhaps by recent patches.
My sincere apologies but there will be no Japanese summer festival. The shot below was taken last month. *sobs 

Go: By the way, we’ve been wracking our brains over here about what to award @FrancescaFiori.
Francesca was not only the only one who guessed at the pigtailed girl’s identity but she also guessed it correctly!
Meet Cara Fyres-Rocca, the daughter of Amanda Fyres (child of Morgan Fyres and Gavin Richards) and Paolo Rocca.

Tao: I realize my girls’ teen birthday party was last night, but I hope you don’t mind my sharing a few more photos of my fabulous family.
My family stayed behind after all the other guests had gone home, so we got into the hot tub together.
From left to right: Maia, Kyle, me, Hana, Albert, and Nana

Tao: Here are Hana and Maia with Kyle. The girls really look a lot like their mother, don’t you think?
The resemblance would be even stronger if they wore more eye makeup, but they are lovely just as they are.
I’m really happy with how the twins aged up! Maia (right) is especially cute! 

Tao: This last shot shows me sitting with Albert—future heartthrob—and my beautiful Nana.
Tao and Nana have done a tremendous job of passing down their best genes.  

Nana: Here’s a collage to help you better identify what feature of each child resembles which parent!
The girls share my nose and lips, whereas the boys both have their father’s nose.
I’m not sure where Albert got his double-lidded eyes and thinner lips, but he’s gorgeous, anyway.

Go: Since our plans to spend the day at the festival have been dashed, we spend the day at home doing nothing in particular.
Also, we decide to spare you yet another evening spent at a restaurant (even though we still lack two photos in our experimental food photos collection).
Previously, @Joria had mentioned wanting to see the interior of the house, so I thought we’d share a few photos.
Here’s the basement floor, which we only use for sleeping or the occasional bath or shower. Everyone has their own room.
Watchette even added a small room with a single bed for Kyle, so he and father Tao have their privacy.

This is the southeast corner of the first floor. You can see the pirate gym south of our Rippling Flats lot in the top left corner of this shot.
There’s a very small party area with a bar, dance floor, and DJ booth.
Watchette only allows certain sims access to this room, otherwise other sims are constantly mixing drinks.
The Hot Tub Room is quite spacious and very popular. The Focused Room is also a locked room because the computers are like sim crack.
We sims never swim in the pool unless Watchette tells us, even though it’s a great source of fun.

This challenge is all about maxing careers, so the yoga/meditation area is right next to the front door. And the massage room has been moved downstairs from the second floor. There’s even a small room that holds only a bath and incense holder.
This simplifies and speeds up the entire pre-work process of massage/incense, bath soak/incense, yoga routine, and meditation, depending on the needs of the day.

The second floor holds the gym, a Very Confident Room for the Negotiate Bonus interaction, the garden, a microscope, and either a rocket ship or observatory.
In the staircase hallway, there’s a wedding arch plus the experimental food photos collection.

Go: The other day, I happened to look at the forum and see an RDC house tour by @Joria .
I was shocked to realize that she’s also building on the same size lot as ours (40×30).
Yes, I was also very surprised to see how much more her build contains—many items I just never included due to the nature of this challenge.
For example, we couldn’t consume bar drinks until Mitch completed the Mixologist career, so we never threw parties until quite recently.
Ultimately, the most important areas of the house are at the front of the first floor: the kitchen/dining area, the living room, and the massage/yoga rooms.
Mainly, though, I’m a lazy builder… 

Day 191 (Mon) 

Gned the Gnome: Well, young lady, congratulations on completing the Artist/Master of the Real career!
Tremain the Trashcan: You did a fine job, Jade!
Mel the Mailbox: Of course, we are all so proud of you, my dear!
Jade: Why, thank you, all of you! I’ve really appreciated your seeing me off every morning and welcoming me back in the afternoon!

I still can’t believe how ugly this career outfit is, though. I’m actually wearing baggy, rolled-up jeans with clunky combat boots!
Please tell me what is so “Master of the Real” about this look?

Go: You know I’m always happy to mentor you, Kyle, but why work so hard?
I hear from Jade that you and Albert become young adults tomorrow, but this challenge is ending the same day.
What’s the point of leveling your skills at this point?
Kyle: Well, you just never know what the future holds in store. If Watchette ever wants to play a pre-skilled sim—or even just a sim that she’s enjoyed playing—I want to be that sim!
Never hurts to be prepared, right?

What are you doing out here by yourself, Jade? 
Well, now that I’ve maxed my career, I really don’t have anything else to do.
I thought I’d take myself and my ugly career outfit to the riverside and finish off this Angling Ace aspiration.
Thanks, Jade! It saves me from having to micro-manage you, so I appreciate it!
And a superb job on lifting your career lock so swiftly! 

Jade: Not long after, Albert drops by the house. I want to relax in the sauna and I invite him to join me.
Nothing inappropriate, you understand—just a teenager and a young adult relaxing in a sauna and chatting.
They seem to enjoy each other’s company. 

Albert: I quite like spending time with Miss Jade! Perhaps it’s because we’re both creative folks!
Albert’s traits are Bookworm and Perfectionist. 
I congratulate Miss Jade on completing her career and she tells me that the challenge will end tomorrow evening.
When I mention that my young adult birthday is tomorrow night, she looks sad.
Don’t you be making any rash promises to Jade now, Albert!
I may have other plans for the young adult Albert or, at least, your bin clone, depending on the challenge.

Day 192 (Tue) 

Mel the Mailbox: So, tell me, Watchette! When this challenge ends, which sim will you miss most of all?
Take a wild guess, Mel. 

Sara: Mitch lovingly prepares our son Makoa for his last day of work!
Mitch: If you pass gas, Makoa, you’re on your own! I mean it!

Jade: Now that we near the end of this challenge, Watchette finally dresses me in an everyday outfit that actually becomes me!
What do you think, Dad?
Go: Huh? Did you say something? I’m still in shock that Watchette won’t miss me the most!

Makoa: I end up doing 25 minutes of overtime, but then bring home my last promotion.
Folks, you are now looking at a Level 10 Creator of Worlds!
I imagine this means that this Apocalypse Challenge is technically done!
Excellent job, Makoa! You and Jade both maxed your careers before ageing up to adults, too!
And yes, technically, this challenge is done. In spirit, however, there’s still one thing left to do.

At the Pan Europa Discoteque, The Dancers wait patiently for the floor to clear and then begin flaunting their moves.
This is the first time The Dancers have had eight members!
This is a cheesey pose but allows everyone to be clearly seen.
In the first row, Tao. In the second row, Kage Takeda (Go’s klepto father) and Mauricio Landgraab (the founder’s son with Nancy Landgraab).
In the third row, Mitch, Go, and Makoa. In the back row, Naoto (Kage’s brother-in-law) and Kyle.

The Dancers are stepping pretty.
In the lower shot, Makoa illustrates the perils of excessive weightlifting. Not cool, bro! Not cool!

It gets so late that the DJ leaves, so Sara quickly hires a headliner DJ.
Dominic Fyres, you are being so annoying tonight!

Besides Dominic, Candy and Joaquin also ruined several good shots by standing in the middle of the dance floor.
By the way, you would never know that Mitch, Kyle, and Makoa are performing with The Dancers for the first time tonight!

You can’t touch this!

---

---

And so ends the Sanada Apocalypse Challenge in a blaze of silly frivolity with The Dancers!
Although I surely could have completed the challenge more quickly and strategically, I don’t regret having taken the time to move in a number of memorable (to me, at least) sims.

I had great fun creating then playing Kage in the Kleptomania challenge in the 2016 Tournament at Carl’s Forum.
I had even greater fun importing him into this Apocalypse Challenge and playing him as part of a household. I loved Daia and Kage as a couple!
Somehow, Kage managed to singlehandedly replace all Sanada genes with his own. Go looks nothing like his Sanada predecessors—he’s pure Kage!
Playing Mauricio Landgraab from a child also slowed my progress, but I felt so bad about failing to return Nancy to Oasis Springs that I decided to take in and raise Mauricio.

Coming from my first failed immortal dynasty, Sara and Tao hold deep sentimental value for me, even though that dynasty failed while they were still children.
For this challenge, I aged them up  and played them from the teen stage for the first time, planning carefully when to add them to the household.

And, of course, I enjoyed watching all the nooboos grow up as much as playing this challenge, if not more. All the career locks taught me how to enjoy Sims 4 in new ways and to appreciate the little things (like a chair with any comfort rating at all).

Thank you, both vocal and silent readers, for following this odd story. I feel very lucky to have enjoyed your support!