Gimbal vs. Global

So I took a look at Spladoum's Big Sister posepack on MTS and read that she had used a tip from another user but she didn't give the tip and she didn't give a location. Well, I dug around and found the tip. It's about changing a single setting in blender to get a better rotation on joints and bones in Blender. Let's take a look and compare shall we?


Before we get started I have to say that early on I found out that I had to have my own personal Order of Operations to make posing easier for myself. And if I messed up on that order, sometimes I just had to scrap stuff and start over. My own PEMDAS (if you will. *giggles) Was face, fingers, hand, waist down, waist up, head. And when I say waist down I mean I started at the waist, then posed hips, then knees, then ankles, then toes with minor tweaks in between of prior posed joints until it all aligned and looked right. Waist up is the same. Waist, back, Spine 2, the clavicles, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, neck, head with tweaks in between to distribute rotations and movements evenly.

Now then, this is a pose I made on the laptop and I'm wanting to check things with it because the laptop didn't have the textures and I was working in solid mode only. The problem was I needed the eyes to move but the head was tilted. Using this tip I moved the eyes in perfect alignment and didn't need to fiddle with moving the head (since on the laptop Fred had no hair his hand is only lightly touching the scalp- as I want. But I know if I move head or hand I'm going to lose that position.) But now getting the eyes to move right would be tricky since one eye is lower than the other.

In our above example I have Fred's shoulder selected even though I have hidden the bones. Right now my Blender is in Global mode. Take a peek in the red box and you can see that we are in Global for yourself. But even the shoulder is tilted and moving along a pure x, y, or z axis is not going to be natural looking. You'd have to rotate along multiple axes to get a natural movement to untwist his shoulder. So I'm going to click on the word Global and from the menu that pops up I'm going to switch to Gimbal.

Look in the red box and you can see that I've made the switch. But look at my axis alignment! It's no longer along true x, y, z lines. It's alighted the axes with the tilt of the shoulder to get a movement that's along the lines of the musculature you've created. So if I were to make a follow pose of this one swinging his arm down would now be much easier and natural looking. Or if you're working on tweaking a face you can rotate and move your elements (joints and bones) along an axis that aligns with where that element is.

How I did it with the eyes is I rotated Fred's right eye around the z axis first (in Gimbal mode) 12 degrees, then along the x axis 2. Then I selected the left eye and rotated it around the z axis again 12 degrees, but only 1 along the x due to the position of the eyelid. If I had attempted that in Global mode I would not have had such an easy time on the x axis rotation since Fred's head is tipped.

This is Fred's original eye position. Using Gimbal mode helped keep his eye rotation aligned even though his head is tipped.




Also, though you cannot see it, I had forgotten to soften Fred's right hand and fingers but didn't want to move it so that it was perfectly straight out just to pose the fingers and get them correct.

Alrighty. Here I had forgotten to do anything with Fred's hand. He's worried here. His hand should be a little more tense than it is. The thumb needs to be rotated forward so that the nail is sideways, the last joint on the pinky isn't bent to make a crooked pinky, the fingers have no bend at all and the lowest knuckle doesn't turn the fingers toward each other to make the palm curve. But I'm in global and if I'm still in global it's a mess to make all those rotations without accidentally 'breaking' a joint. I'd be constantly moving my view and fiddling around with 'r+x,z,y'.

This is what I used to do to get the joints in a position where I could work with them if I'd forgotten to do it earlier. And when I would finally get the fingers right then I'd have to untwist that wrist with hopes it would go back to normal.

In Gimbal I was able to leave the hand where it was and still get the hand to show some stress and rigidity naturally without too much flex and I didn't have to move the wrist grotesquely to do it.


Give it a try! It really frees up tweaking.

Adding Props to You Pose in Blender

Another Tutorial for my Darling Fiance Gemma. Enjoy Deary.

For starters you will need to have whatever prop you are wanting to use in package form in a place where you can find it on your computer. If the object is in Sims3Pack form then you'll need Delphy's MultiPack Extractor to convert the item from .sims3pack to .package. If you already have the object as a .package you can skip this first part.

If the object you want to use as a prop is a game item (as in it came with an EP, SP, or Base Game) you'll need the latest version of s3oc to make a .package file of the item. We're going to do just this as the 'prop' I want to use is a loveseat for my simmies to sit on while posing for me, and it came with the BG.

The first thing we've got to do is open s3oc. So I click on my start button and navigate the menu until I get to s3oc and I'm going to open it up. (Also please ignore the mess my desktop is. That's really abnormal for it to be that crazy. I've got far too much going on right now.)

Once it's open I'm going to click on the Cloning menu, and choose Normal Objects from the menu. If you're needing counters you'd click on Modular Objects. Obviously there are other selections if you want a fence, or stairs, or fireplaces or CAS bits, etc.

Give it a second to process your request. The more stuffs you've got, the longer this will take. Unless you've got a computer like Misty and it flies like the wind. Then I'm totally jealous.

Alrighty, eventually a nice long list of everything you can make a prop out of will come up. For me? I like to click on the word 'Name' above the list so it sorts it all alphabetically and I can find things easier. However, click on the word EP/SP and you can sort the list by what the items came with. Anyhow, go through and find the item you want. You can click around until you find what you need. When you finally find your prop in the list you will click 'Clone or Fix' in the right half of the window.

Take a peek at the name of your item just so you know what it's called to find it easier later. The name will be in that red box above. But DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ON THIS SCREEN. Just click the Start button.

Navigate through your files and folders until you've found a nice place where you can find it for later and click 'Save.'

It has to think about itself for a moment again.

Once it's finished creating you prop package it will tell you. Click OK.



Once this is done, open up Blender and open the rig you want to work with.

I'm using Harriet today as I need a female pose. If you haven't already, import the blank animation. Then on the right hand side of the screen make sure you are in Scene mode in your toolbox and then scroll until you see the S3PY tools. (It always starts on Scene Tools for me.)

Once you've go the S3PY tools up click on Load Prop.

Navigate to where you saved your prop. Click on it and then click Import Sims 3 Prop in the upper right.

This is how your screen will look when you come back. With the prop tipped over backwards. Since I want the prop to load as it loads in game I'm going to rotate it to where I need it. To get a nice clean rotation I'm going to change my view first by hitting the 3 on the keypad.

And just so I can see a little better I've shifted the screen down. Make sure your object is selected and not your model and hit r and rotate the object forward until it's where you want it for your use. (NOTE: My props always start out selected so I never have to click on it or anything.)

I've now got my prop in game and it doesn't matter right now that Harriet is standing in the loveseat. She'll get fixed once she's posed.

And here's Harriet in her finished pose. (She's off center like that because that's where I need her in relation to Fred who has a corresponding [though not a couples] pose here.) Once you're finished (make sure the Hide Bones button is off) hit a until all the joints are selected, hit I, select LocRot and then Export your pose as usual. Anytime you want to open than pose again and want your prop you'll have to reload the prop and put it back where you want it. So I suggest not using overly complicated positions for your props if possible. Don't forget, you've also got to get it in position in game also.

Uh for your phone Gemma, I'd suggest paying close attention to the degree you rotate your prop. As you are rotating in the lower left corner of the 3d view screen it will say by how many degrees you've rotated whatever it is you're rotating. Just keep it to 15, 45, or 90 and you'll be able to use a tipsy OMSP much easier on it. (Is there a 30 in the Tipsy too? I can't remember.)

I hope that made sense to you! If not, just let me know!

Snapping tutorial for my dearest Gemma

Alrighty hon. I've got lots of pics for you and little arrows and, I hope, a nice clear explanation. However, we'll see just how clear it is after we're through. Before we begin, right now this tutorial is assuming the poses are already finished. I can add instructions if this is not the case though. Just let me know.

Step one: Open blender with a nice clean rig. I will be starting with the Adult Female rig, but you can start with whatever rig you need.

Now for pictures!

Step two: Click File:

When that menu drops down you will select Import and when the submenu comes up select Sims3Animation

Like So.

This is the next screen you will see. Navigate to wherever your animation you want to make snap (that corresponds to the rig you've got open. I had a nasty booboo earlier when I accidently imported the male pose into the female rig. What a face! Actually, it seems I've got pics of just that. See below to see how I put her in his pose. Ha!) Anyhow, Select the animation you will be using and then click Import Sims3Animation in the upper right. NOTE: However, if you are starting the pose from scratch you need to import your blank pose  and then pose your rig . You don't have to finish it right now either. You need the blank pose in place to make the pose keep it's position in game. If you did not start your animation with blank pose you will sometimes have to repeat this process a time or two before it takes.


(Here, briefly, we are going to diverge: First Gemma: This link is for you Go and grab these. Download them. Then you need to create a new folder in your Clip Tool Rigs folder. Title it: Blank Poses Originals and unzip this into it. Then create another folder titled Blank Poses Copies. In the blank poses folder you need to select the rig size. So I titled one of the rigs a_gemma_adultblankpose. You are going to have to look inside the file name to see that ok? The original name is something like this: S3_6B20C4F3_00000000_5C13BF8552873E1C_a_gemma_adultblankpose%%+CLIP.animation Only there is no bolding to point out what you are looking for. Before you import your premade animations you need to import this. Really. Then go ahead and import the premade animation. Now it will work to snap. There is one in there premade for adults, children, and toddlers. Anyhow, this is where I got the how to on that file. I also included the original package for you if you want to attempt that yourself.)

So here's our animation looking all happy but wait! It's not in a good spot. So we need to move her. The easiest way is to grab her crosshairs and move her. So lets select her crosshairs.

Right there in the middle. Then grab the red arrow (Not the one I drew on) and click and hold and drag her where ever you want. I'm going to move her to our right (her left) since that's where she's going to be in this pose anyhow. We'll still have to move her again so it doesn't matter if it's an exact science.

Now she's moved out of our way so we can get the Male Rig in here. Or whatever other rig you'll be using. NOTE: IF STARTING WITH ONE RIG YOU CANNOT REIMPORT THE SAME RIG!!! Really. If you're starting with the afrig.blend you cannot reimport it. It will give you an error. However, who says you can't copy that rig, rename it, and plug in the copy? ;) But just an FYI here.

(Really, if you're wanting a two female pose, or a two toddler pose you need to make a copy of the rig, rename it [I suggest something like afRig-copy.blend or afRig2.blend] and have it in your Clip Tool Rigs File folder.)

To get our second rig in so that things will snap we're going to go to the File menu and then we're going to select Append.

Your Blender should automatically open up your Clip Tool Rigs file, if it doesn't, then that's where you need to go. From this menu select the rig of the second sim you want in this pose. For this example I need the Adult Male Rig. so I'm going to double click on the amRig.blend file. I don't know if you need to double click on that or not. It's most likely just my ADD needing the double click.

Anyhow, this is the next screen you will get once you've selected your second (third fourth fifth etc.) rig. From these folders we're going to select Object.

The files that come up next have lots of names. You want the files that begin with whatever letters your rig starts with. So if you're using the toddler rig you're looking for all the files that begin with 'pu'. This is eyes, hair, scalp, teeth, etc. In our example with the male rig, we're selecting all the files that begin with 'am.' To select them all at once hold down the shift key while clicking. Once you have all of them selected click the link/append from Library button in the upper right.

You may need to give your machine a second to think about what you've just done (contemplate the ANSWER Hahahahahahahaha!) it depends on your machine how quickly this works. Anyhow, now that we're back we have that wonderfully orange Male Rig and the female rig. Note that the female rig is currently selected. We need to select him.

Click on him until you get him highlighted. Now, at the bottom of your screen (It's probably not quite in the same place as mine is, but the toolbar will look the same) You're going to see a box that says either Pose Mode, or Object Mode. If you have him correctly selected you will see Object mode. Click on that and this menu will pop up. Select Pose Mode. Now you can pose him!

So, again, his animation is already complete so we're going to import his animation.

Ack! What happened? Well, because I created both of these animations in the same appended screen and saved them in the middle they both snapped to the middle. lol. (Also, silly me accidentally put her in his pose. Oops. So I'm changing her back to her animation) So we're going to grab ahold of one of the rigs and move them over as we did earlier. Note: Grabbing the Arrow instead of using the g key means you move along the axis that coordinates with the arrow you've grabbed. This makes your movements a lot more precise for later on. I like to keep my poses aligned with these arrows if possible for ease of posing in game.


Anyhow, rotate your rigs until they are where you want them. Check lots of angles to make sure you're not clipping.

So, now I've got my rigs all lined up with each other and in position (I'm not entirely happy with this, I don't think either of them are leaning forward enough, but I want to test this in game before I make further changes. So this is just for demonstration purposes.) Yay for lined up rigs!

So with his rig selected I'm going to hit a until all of his joints turn light blue.

And then hit I and select LocRot from the menu that pops up.

Now I'm going to select her rig and do the same. Hit a until all of her joints are light blue, and then hit I, and select LocRot. Note: Do not Export your rigs until you've done the LocRot on both of the Rigs! If you do export, the rig you did not do LocRot to will revert to it's original position when you imported it (or created it) and you'll have to position it all over again!

But for this demonstration we've done LocRot on both rigs. So with hers selected I'm going to go ahead and export her rig.

Remember to name it something unique!

Save that animation!

When it's finished saving that particular rig you'll come back to find this again. Hit CTRL+Z and they'll move back to the position of the last LocRot. Not a problem.

So now select the other rig and export it. You might get something that has a .001 at the end of the original pose name. Just get rid of it if you do.

Like So. Now create a package of your poses and test them in game. They should snap together now. If they don't, do the same steps again until it will work. Trust me, I know. lol. The next shown pose didn't snap at first. Now it does because of the steps above. As noted earlier though, you can begin to create your poses this was as well as import premade poses. The ones I've made starting like this I haven't had to snap. Just know, that if you start with the blank pose you won't need to repeat these steps. If you start like this (remembering to import the blank pose before you pose your sims) you will have already done all of this without the need to rinse and repeat.

Like on this one. It's so nice that they snap together with the lacing of those fingers and all. Also, my poses snap onto that loveseat all nicely because of these steps. Ease of positioning! A story tellers dream!

Ok deary, I hope that helps a little.

Chapter 22- Thumb Rules

Chapter 22-Thumb Rules

Also known as Chapter 20-Part 3-if-this-doesn’t-end-here-shoot-me-now-my-Friday-night-is-shot-to-hell.

                William tries to bluff for a second. Maybe those were just delusions. They might not have been real…

                “Our baby,” He has a smirk on his face and his tone is condescending.

                Lily Pad expected this. She was fairly sure that any of the times they had been lovers he hadn’t really been present. He was drunk past his own recognition and she took advantage of it. She had tried to convince herself that he had wanted it too, but she knew that was a lie. He just wanted to forget. Woohoo helped him forget, it didn’t matter with who.

                “Yes, William,” Lily Pad said. “Sadie is your daughter.”

                “No way,” William said vehemently. The veins popping out on his forehead were dangerously tight. “No way I have a daughter. Not possible. I’d remember something like that.”

                Lily Pad had taken in a stock of patience to ride her through this.

                “William, she’s almost 3 weeks old now. The paternity test came back yesterday. You left a few hairs on one of the pillow cases here once. I used those.”

                She noted him beginning to object and stepped in to cut him off.

                “I also had Helen send me your toothbrush and replace it with a new one,” her voice started out strong to ring over his. She ended soft, knowing he heard exactly what she was saying.

                “But my toothbrush was missing like 3 times last week,” he pleaded to her.

                “I don’t know what all that is about,” Lily Pad tried to defend herself. If Helen wanted to risk pranking him that was her business, not Lily Pad’s. “I asked for one, I received one. I don’t know about any others that may or may not have been taken from you. Well… Maybe Heather Red asked Helen for one, but I couldn’t be positive about that.”

                William was silent. Staring at her too intently. The smile on his lips too fixed.

                “She’s yours William.”

                William watched Lily Pad put little Sadie back into her crib. He said not one word, the words in his head were screaming and he couldn’t pick out the ones he wanted to use.

                How could this have happened to him? The bartenders were his friends, and said they would look out for him. He had worked so hard to banish Lily Pad from his life. Now she was back and it was his own stupid, drunken fault. And why would Heather get a toothbrush of his from Helen? Why, unless…

                He turned and walked to the dresser, running a hand across the grainy surface. A dull ache had started in the back of his head even while his tongue turned to sand. The dreaded hangover approached.

                Lily Pad came up quietly behind him. She intended to gently put her arms around his waist. Tell him everything else she knew. Tell him it would be ok. She could take him back, he would take care of them.

                Instead, he whipped around facing her with eyes and veins popping worse than ever.

                “I’ll fight you for her.” His words were breathy and low. “If she’s mine I should have her, train her in the Blue tradition. You shouldn’t have her.”

                Lily Pad’s jaw dropped. No way he could even think that. He’d just get laughed out of court. Even his lawyers wouldn’t be able to perform such a miracle on his character.

                Suddenly he was roaring, waking up Sadie who cried at the sound.

                “See this thumb?” William yelled, shoving it in her face. “This is the thumb I will keep you under! This thumb has all the power! This thumb rules!”

                Just as quickly as his roar began, he was quiet and mocking.

                “One two three four! I declare a thumb war!” Wagling his thumb back and forth in front of her. Before spinning on his heel and marching out of the house giggling madly.

“We should do this again!” William called out over his shoulder, slamming the front door.

Lily Pad decided to let him hear the other news from the rest of the world. Surely his lawyers would be dealing with that soon. And after his display, they would be dealing with her and Sadie too.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

                William left Lily Pad’s home and headed straight to the small flat his father had purchased for Heather. He rang the bell, jamming his finger at the button as hard as he could. Lily Pad had mentioned Heather for a reason. Lily Pad did nothing by accident, she never had.

                He took up a defensive position, hoping it would show her that he was coming by to make amends. He’d long wanted to get back together after discovering how Lily Pad had duped him, but he simply had never had the courage. If he was honest to himself, he didn’t have it now either.

                “William!” Heather exclaimed. She was smiling, but it wasn’t reaching her eyes. “Did you really think you needed to shield yourself from me? No chisels today!”

                William forced his mouth into a smile as well. His head was starting to pound.

                Heather stood waiting, expecting him to say something. She wasn’t about to talk to him for any reason, and William noticed it.

                “Well,” William began. “Aren’t you going to invite me into your home?”

                Heather’s smile froze, but her eyes glinted malevolently.

                “Of course,” Heather said. “Won’t you come inside?”

                The door had barely shut behind the two when William heard a low gurgle. Heather’s face showed her dislike of the situation, but she didn’t move. William stood staring at her for only a moment before letting his ears tell him where to go.

                William reemerged from the bedroom a moment later carrying a small bundle. Heather hadn’t moved from where he had left her. Thinking she’d better see exactly what he had discovered he moved around the couch hoping she would betray herself.

                Sure enough, the moment she turned enough to see him her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes round and frightened.

 

                “Were you even planning on telling me his name?” William thundered at her. “This is my son, isn’t it? We slept together when I was drunk and didn’t remember it. You probably set it up. You got pregnant and hoped to hide it, get child support, make a fool of me, Didn’t You?”

                Heather didn’t answer, but the weary lines on her face betrayed her.

                Finally, Heather stepped back from him. She glared at him the way she had wanted to for months now. He was weak, and she had tried to take advantage of him. So what. Life was hard. This wasn’t exactly easy, no matter what he thought. He had it all, he could spare some for the mother of his child.

                “I’ll never tell you his name,” Heather hissed at him.

                “Who told you?” She shouted at him. “I’ll bet it was that brat Helen. I should have known she’d end up saying something to you about why I wanted that toothbrush. But you can’t blame me for that! I gave the idea to Alisa. Lily Pad stole it from her. I just wanted proof. But I have it now. He’s yours. And you’ll pay for him!”

                “I’ll get back at Helen, that little slut. She’s been trying to get my boyfriend, too. I knew she had it out for me. But I’m going to make it so that your son will grow up in a manner fitting for the blood that runs in his veins. Watch me, William! And watch out too, by Plumbbob, I’d kill you in a second if I could, fucking bastard.”

Heather’s anger had reached a point where even William was frightened. He put up an arm to shield the baby and himself in case she decided to become violent.

                “Get out of my house William. Put my son back in his crib and get-out.” Heathers tone was low and sinister, her clenched teeth bared at him.

                William glared at her for a second. She had smoothed the emotion off of her face, but he could still feel the hatred in the air around her.

                He spun away from her quickly, afraid to turn his back to her for too long. As he put the small boy in the crib he kissed the downy head, promising he would rescue him somehow.

                Glancing over his shoulder as he exits the house he notices that Heather had been unable to keep up her passivity. Far from looking angry, she just looks bitter and sad. But she had said enough to get William out of the door with no intent to return.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

                William just ran. He didn’t even bother closing the door behind him. Heather had given him another name to follow and he planned to do just that.

                Thankfully, Alisa and Lacie Pink lived almost next door to Heather and he was there in next to no time.

                William went to press the doorbell as hard as he had at Heathers and decided instead to be more gentle. Maybe he had jinxed that.

                No matter though, he decided he’d better shield himself from whatever fury came out the door.

                Instead, Alisa came out with a gentle smile on her face. She invited him inside with grace and almost seemed excited that he was there.

                William heaved a sigh of relief and decided to jump straight in. Her calm had given him courage, Heather had made him bold.

                “I’m over here because I’ve been learning… things… today that I didn’t know. Along this quest… someone… mentioned your name. So I came by to see what information you had for me.” William looked at her intently.

                “Oh,” Alisa thought. “Oh, how cute! He’s trying to fix it discretely.”

                Alisa thought to herself for a second. Her eyes bad become vacant and William grew nervous during her silence.

                “Do you have information for me?” William asked again.

                Alisa’s head came up and she pulled out a pen and notebook.

                “I do,” she chirped. “But I need you to answer a few questions for me, first. Ok?”

                William stood staring blankly at her.

                “Great! Let’s get started!”

                “First of all,” Alisa began. “How do you feel about violence in popular culture?”

                William was slightly stunned at the turn this conversation took, but he welcomed the distraction.

                “Totally against it,” William said. “I think it’s excessive and give people bad dreams. Besides, it might give the loonier amongst us ideas. I also think it gives the aliens far too much information and ideas as well. We should cut both out entirely, violence and popular culture.”

                “That’s great,” Alisa commented the moment he paused. “And what is your opinion of your driving abilities? Are you a safe driver? Seatbelts, 10 and 2, and all that?”

                Again, William was surprised by the direction this and taken but he answered gamely again and again. The questions seemed to follow no particular pattern and he had a hard time sometimes coming up with answers to go with the questions quickly. None of it seemed to faze Alisa in the least. She listened closely and jotted his answers down, her pen flying across the pages.

                “You’ve done great so far, just one more question. What do you feel about child abduction?”

                This one completely floored William. He had assumed that Heather had been wrong mentioning Alisa’s name, now he wasn’t so sure.

                “Kids should be with their parents. Abduction is frightening and wrong. I’d never want any child of mine to go missing to some lunatic,” William said it his piece quietly, hoping she would realize that he wasn’t out to kidnap anyone’s child.

                “You did really great William,” Alisa told him. “I’m really relieved I don’t have to arrest you.”

                William did a double take. Arrest him? He’d come to question her, not the other way around.

                Following the pattern of the day’s events, once again, he heard an infant’s wail.

                turning toward the noise, he tried following it on his own as he had at Heather’s, but heard Alisa behind him.

                “Excuse me, please,” she said. “You don’t know the way, and she doesn’t know you yet. Just follow me.”

                William was stunned. It wasn’t exactly open, but she wasn’t really hiding it either as Lily Pad and Heather had attempted to do when he’d first entered their homes.

                She led him through to the back bedroom where a third crib stood against the wall. In it was a tiny girl, wailing her head off, fists churning in her anger.

                William was furious. “Another baby. Another mother. Another secret,” William thought.

He’d never particularly wanted kids. Now he had found three in the space of an hour or two.

                He offered a strained smile when he found Alisa watching him expectantly. She may have offered for him to follow her but she still hadn’t been forthcoming about the little girl. A tiny shoot of hope burst up in his brain. Maybe it wasn’t his.

                He took a few tentative steps, and she neared.

                “Her name is Eliza, just like you wanted,” Alisa told him. “Would you like to hold her?” Her smile was gentle, her voice calm though she almost seemed shy and embarrassed.

                “Her name is Eliza,” William repeated. “Who is her father?”

                “You are William. I haven’t been with anyone else,” Alisa was acting very shy indeed now.

“Heather Red assisted me with a paternity test though, just to be sure,” she added. “It’s amazing that you would ever have wanted to be with me. I’ve loved you for so long. I never thought you’d actually see me; you always seemed to look right through me. I’m so very excited you’re here now, sober and still wanting to be with me.”

“I said I loved you? And you believed it?” William’s words were cruel, his voice nasty. “I was drunk! I was out of my head! You’re just trying to see what you can take me for, trying to see how much money you can get! Wanting to run away with my child and her inheritance, play me like a fiddle! Tell me the truth!” William’s words echoed in the bare room. The baby smiled up at him as though he were some amusing show.

                “See this?” William’s growled at her. “See this thumb? This thumb holds all the power! And I’m going to put you under this thumb! Watch me!”

                Alisa was stunned by his behavior. He’d never been anything other than kind and attentive during their trysts.

                “Ah,” William’s face had crumpled. He was on the verge of tears. “Who cares about you. You’re just saying that. You don’t mean it. Love…” His voice trailed away in a frail sob. He had been used cruelly today. He couldn’t handle anymore, he just wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die.

                Alisa was dreadfully hurt. He had taken her love and scorned it. She meant it. She loved him. She had adored him for years. She didn’t want his money or prestige. She wanted him.

                Alisa decided to lay it all on the line for him, for their baby.

                “William,” she started. “I’m not lying. I’m not wanting to use you. I only want to love you. Heather and Lily Pad had used what the tabloids were saying to get in your good graces hoping for a cut if they had a kid. Lily Pad is actually involved with my cousin Colin Pink. Heather is very seriously seeing Norris Imaga. Both of them told their lovers to back off while this was happening and then made sure to get paparazzi pics of themselves cavorting with you. When they were obviously pregnant, they announced it to the world. If you’d been paying attention, sober or no, you would have seen the interviews they gave in the tabloids and on talk shows. Their boyfriends even came out and said how they had left them each when they had decided to have a relationship with you. I didn’t do that. You won’t find my name mentioned anywhere else.

“Heather only knows because she figured it out. She knew I had a crush on you in high school, and when I refused to name the father of Eliza she came over here and demanded the truth. I told her that I was in love with you and you had said you loved me in return. She just laughed in my face when I told her that. She said it was your ‘special line.’ The one you pulled out when a girl played hard to get and you were getting desperate.”

                “I wanted to tell you the moment I found out I was having a girl. You had gushed about wanting a girl you could name Eliza Jane Blue, how you would put pink ribbons in her hair, give her a pony, and show her that a Daddy is the greatest person in the world. But then you started to change how the town was run.

                “People have been terrified that you’ve changed for the worst and my sister, Lacie, convinced me to not tell you for the safety of myself and the baby. Sim Nation has become involved and things are about to get a lot worse according to the news. She thinks that anyone involved with you will possibly be targeted.

“I was hurt. I didn’t want to believe it, but Lacie has kept an eagle eye on me to make sure I didn’t go near you. I was thrilled when you showed up. I’ve been just sick thinking that it’s all my fault we’re not a family.

“You can believe me or not,” Alisa began to sound weary. “I need to go and check on the pie I have in the oven. I’m going to put Eliza in her crib. If you’d like to get to know her, you can.”

                William positively beamed as Alisa turned to put the baby into her crib. He finally had the truth. Alisa was known for her sincerity, and he didn’t want to doubt a thing she had said. He had known for years that Lily Pad and Heather were out for whatever they thought they could get. He had not known that Alisa’s high school tailing of him and Heather was because of a crush. And he had indeed always wanted a little girl he could spoil, pamper and pet. Most importantly to him, a little girl he could sing Eliza Jane to.

                He felt like his heart would burst right out of his chest, but Alisa had just walked out of the room without even looking his way. Instead, he took his turn at getting to know his daughter.

                Slowly, gently, he lifted Eliza up into his arms. Tears prickled his eyes at the little miracle he had long dreamed of.

                Tenderly, he cuddled little Eliza Jane close to him, feeling her softness, smelling the best smell he had ever encountered. Eliza didn’t protest his caress. Instead, she nuzzled her tiny head into his neck breaking his emotional wall at last.

Tears poured down his cheeks. It was all his fault. All his fault. How could he have let himself slip up so badly? He was missing out on his own children; he was missing out on an amazing woman who wanted to be with him. He was missing out on his own life.

                A gentle snoring in his ear let him know that his baby was asleep in his arms. He never wanted to let her go, but he needed to find Alisa. He needed to know more. There would be years ahead for him to hold this precious bundle. And so he placed her back in her crib, watching her sleep for a moment.

                He turned to find Alisa back in the room, watching them together. He strode to her, pulling her close.

                “I’m so sorry,” he sobbed. At that moment, he knew that he should be the one comforting her, but right now he needed her more than anything else.

                Alisa reached up to stroke his hair, let him get the emotion out, let him break. Shushing gently, she waited for the flood to subside. She could help him pick of the pieces later. For now, all that mattered was he was here with her, with their daughter.

                But the report she had just seen on the tv didn’t allow an overlong time for the two to try to figure it all out.

                When his sobs had finally subsided, Alisa gently pulled away from him. She let her hand linger on his shoulder unwilling to let him go too far from her. She never wanted to not touch him, but it seemed their time was destined short.

                “William,” Alisa began. “There was a report on the news just now.”

                “Who cares,” William interrupted. He didn’t want to hear about the tv, he wanted to learn more about her.

                “Look,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s go into another room. I don’t want Eliza to wake.” She took his hand and pulled him out of the room, softly shutting the door.

                He looked deep into her eyes as soon as she turned back to him.

                “Can you ever forgive me?” William asked her.

                Alisa sighed. “Of course I can. But you’ve got to pay attention to me right now. The reporter said Sim Nation has finally decided to respond to the allegations of corruption and monopolism in Pipersville. They are mobilizing troops and the president is preparing to travel here.” She stopped trying to see if his face betrayed understanding. “There was more to the report, but I left before it could finish. Something about ‘decolorization’…”

                Seeing nothing but puppy in his eyes, Alisa tried again.

                “William,” Alisa said. “William, they are coming for you. You’ve got to get out of town, you need to run. You need to run now.”

                William tilted his head to one side like a curious child.

                “Why?” he asked petulantly.

                “Because they are going to try you on corruption! The government is saying you are an incompetent, oppressive dictator and that you have possibly committed crimes against simanity. They are going to put you in jail and tear down the Blue Empire! They’ll sell off the businesses and the estate and-”

                William was finally listening.

                “Run away with me then,” William interrupted her. “So long as you’re with me, I win. You and Eliza are all I’ll ever need.”

                Alisa gave an exasperated smile.

                “William,” Alisa said. “That’s wonderful, but this is happening now. We don’t have time for all of us to go. Eliza needs lots of things. She’s just a baby.”

                “Where on Sim Planet would we even go?” Alisa knew that their hair was the reason they were here, because they stood out so much. How would they ever effectively disguise themselves? William’s face had been all over the news and tabloids. He was a minor celebrity. No one would not recognize him, even with a different hair color.

                “It doesn’t matter,” William told her. “If we’re running out of time, we’ll figure it out when we get there. Pack up some things for you and Eliza. I’m going to go home and get some cash. When I return, we’ll leave. Okay?”

                Alisa continued to look worried. William gave her his best smile.

                “I won’t be long,” He said reassuringly. “When I come back, we’ll leave.”

                Alisa wasn’t so sure, but she let him go anyway.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

                William had raced home, changed into his suit, grabbed as much cash as his underwear could hold without making him feel weird and went downstairs to catch a final report on the large tv there.

                Helen and Peter were both doing homework in the kitchen and he couldn’t be bothered with the pair right now. There was no time for goodbyes and Kristine would be able to take care of them once he had disappeared. He had been checking the front doors every few minutes, just in case. This, however, he had missed.

                The man was scowling as he strode up to the door. His limo waited in the seemingly empty dead end street.

He felt no fear knowing of the trained hit-sims surrounding the house, hidden, giving him confidence and power. This little boy was no match for the man elected to run Sim Nation. And with such power, why knock?

                To say he was surprised wouldn’t be at all true. William had taken too much time, a new bubble gum commercial made him giggle and he stuck around hoping to see it again. Now, he was face to face with his own unknown.

                “Mr. Blue?”  The man standing in William’s home asked.

                “President Chavezo.” William returned the greeting in kind.

                “Good,” President Chavezo didn’t smile but there was pleasure behind his words. “I’m so glad to see that I am not unexpected. It’s time to go.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

How it felt to write this chapter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar4WlU4oQPM  

 Start it at 2:22. Gives you a pretty good idea. Don’t worry, it’s G rated.

                In the first part of the chapter, William was glitching pretty badly. He’s been glitched for a long time, since he was a toddler actually. A weekly reset usually does him the most good, though several times I’ve had to go back to previous saves to get him working again. (I usually tell him it’s time for his weekly dose of fiber) His particular glitch at the beginning of this chapter was his face wasn’t working. He wouldn’t open his mouth and his eyes were set all bug eyed. But he’s insane and you were supposed to be witnessing both his descent into madness and his personal salvation through redemptive love, so I did my best to get the expression to work in the writing. I hope it worked…  I had to reset him and send him back several times to get the shots I wanted/needed for this. I can’t wait for my RL to start so I can send glitched William on and get my wonderfully expressive non-glitchy heir started.

Sorry also about the length. With it being 52 pictures long, I suppose I could have broken it up a little but this effectively ended it. Look for my new blog beginning soon showcasing my Random Legacy! While one of William’s children will NOT be the heir, it will be a continuation of this particular family. And just to spoil it, William also had a girl with Heather. She was pregnant but not showing when he went to confront her. In the bloopers and outtakes I’ll post pictures of all of his kids in various life stages. Maybe a few of them will pop up in my next venture… Oh… his name was Titus. The game named him. His final daughter was Persephone.I decided to follow the theme of the first name.

Fin.