I never really liked Damion all that much when he was in college, and when I moved him into the Neighborhood I figured that I probably wouldn't play him very often and he'd be just a useful walkby in other lots now and then, and fodder for those Romance Sims with bedpost-notching Wants. So, naturally, I immediately got interested in his story, and have been posting about him more than anybody else lately...
We start with a little backstory, or maybe forestory, over at Gina Raptor's place.
After Suzette's positive experience, the idea of car ownership began to catch on in Neighborhood One. Gina Raptor was the next buyer.
Showing it off to Katelyn.
Knowing Gina, she's planning to test out the suspension. *8)
She and her friend were just getting cozy in the front seats when Damion happened to stroll by and notice what was going on.
Rowr!
Who knows why Damion was so angry. Envy of the girls' youth? Doubts about his own engagement, Lucy's pregnancy, the end of the carefree playboy years? Or just the inexorable laws of physics.
For whatever reason, he went away Furious.
The first time it happened in my game, I think. Gina and Katelyn are blithely socializing behind him, probably laughing about the whole thing. Note the Langerak place (left) and the Danverses' (right) in the background; I do like the new NL 'see other lots' stuff. Makes the neighborhood feel much more knit together. And yeah, that's an Electro Dance Sphere up on the slope above the car; Gina tried out her mom's (which I also haven't posted about yet), and just had to have her own.
The reason for this backstory will become evident a couple of parts from now.
One of the new Nightlife features (as seen in The Dream Date) is Chemistry between Sims (beyond the basic "everyone whistles at Romance Sims" effect from the basic game). Lucy and Damion have I think one Lightning Bolt of chemistry. Turns out one of Damion's old college lovers has a bolt or two also.
Floating hearts
Apologies to the old college lover; I don't remember her name. Note Goopy Gilscarbo thinking about himself.
More floating hearts
The feeling is mutual; we're not currently planning to allow this to have any consequences, but you never know.
And in other relationship news, Lucy and Andrea Hogan are Best Friends.
Tickle tickle!
Popularity Sims get various Have N Best Friends wants and all.
(Now back to the main story.)
Back at the Pad time passed happily, with parties and games of pool and only the occasional moment of remembered rage on Damion's part. And eventually...
Time!
I'd been thinking about having them get married while Lucy was still pregnant, because pregnant brides are so appealing, but I wasn't quick enough.
Welcome, Violet Hanby!
"Whoa, my mom's the maid?"
Damion and Lucy both fell in love with the new arrival instantly.
"Hello, baby!"
Here's Damion taking his daughter off to her crib, while Lucy finishes eating and prepares to go buy some new clothes.
They're both thinking, "Lucy Liu may be hot, but our Lucy's even hotter".
They added a little 3x3 nursery just next to the bathroom there; having the baby sleeping in the big main room with the bed up on the dias wouldn't have been conducive to restful sleep.
Lucy called a cab, and came home with some new clothes.
There we go!
She bought a few of the wilder-looking new NL outfits, but this was the only one that she was willing to wear at the moment. Some of them are very silly! And now having taken off her Maid's cap I'm not sure she'll ever be able to put it on again; have to experiment with that sometime.
At a party not long after, Damion apologized to Gina for overreacting to the Katelyn thing.
"I was just being an idiot; forgive me?"
Gina seemed somewhat mollified.
When most of the guests had gone home and Violet was asleep, Damion and Lucy started to settle down for bed.
An idyllic evening.
I do like that outfit. Damion's a lucky guy.
But then Damion remembered that Gina was still out in the hot tub. He got up and called her in, so he could say goodbye and maybe apologize again. But when Gina came inside and saw the peaceful domestic scene, she blew up.
Rowr yourself, old man!
In game terms I have no idea what happened here; Damion wasn't doing anything remotely amorous with Lucy when Gina came in and got a jealousy reaction. In story terms, Gina's feeling as envious of Damion having a live-in love as Damion was feeling of Gina's untrammelled freedom back in Part One. Very fitting!
Gina's also becoming furious at Lucy here, of course, which is too bad because they were Best Friends. (See Part 6 below.)
But in general Lucy was oblivious to her beloved's relationship complications.
She was busy with other things.
Awwww! We'll probably have to make this room bigger as Violet grows up.
Not long after Violet was born, we had another Major Life Event.
The wedding guests arrive
That's Brandi LeTourneau and Justin Danvers, both good friends of the family for reasons that I'm not entirely clear on. For quite awhile after Damion passed the SSU house along to him, Justin would call Damion every night just to talk. The Brandi connection I've forgotten, though.
Socializing before the ceremony
Justin and Brandi were hanging out on the carpet there when Lucy came by and took Brandi off to dance.
Petals from heaven
Under the Rose Arch. Was the arch recolorable pre-NL? I don't remember it being.
Man and Wife
Yay! Christy Stratton also joined the festivities at some point. Brandi is overly interested in the pool table.
Time to feast!
Both of them seem a little dubious here, Lucy with the cocked eyebrows and Damion with the bad memory and the underarm scratching. But it's too late to back out now!
The traditional post-ceremony pillowfight
Woo ha!
Lucy gave Genesis a big tip.
She knows what it's like to clean up after a party.
Damion gave Lucy a little squeeze.
Busy place, that bathroom.
At the end of the party, the Limo showed up. But there was a hitch.
"Um, sweetie, shouldn't we have arranged for a nanny or something?"
Whoops! Can't leave Violet by herself. But anyway, it was a great party.
So they didn't have a honeymoon (my fault entirely), but they didn't seem to mind.
They had a nice wedding cuddle instead.
And so on.
Gina didn't want to be furious at Lucy (or at least I didn't want her to be) so she invited her over the next day to patch things up.
At first she wasn't happy to see her.
Hmph, she says.
But Lucy was eager to make amends.
"Whatever I did to upset you, I'm sorry!"
She did this autonomously as soon as Gina greeted her. I thought that was nice. The papergirl seems impressed also.
"Oh, no, it's nothing you did. I shouldn't have blown up like that. I don't know what got into me."
So I had Gina apologize also. Looks like both the furious person, and the target of the fury, are able to do the Apologize thing.
So everything was settled (although Gina is still nominally furious at both Damion and Lucy; we'll keep working on it), and Lucy drifted off into the party that was just starting up (with a Popularity teen in the house and lots of new amusement devices, Gina's place has been having lots of parties).
With Gabriel in the tub.
Down, boy; I know she's cute, but she's a married Mom.
So there's a new addition to the neighborhood, a new married couple, and a couple of case-studies of these new NL behaviors. (Now I need to catch up on some of the other lots!)