Strangetown, HWC: Mirror, Mirror

[strangetomato]

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Who's the most glamourous? The most dangerous?

Who has the power?






Dina smiled back at her reflection.



It had been disappointing that Don hadn't been there to see her, she thought as she fussed with her hair. He'd probably already left town. Nina hadn't been there either. The damn fool probably went after him.

She could have him, as far as Dina was concerned. Nina deserved him. Dina had no time for the Dons of the world. They were too messy. Too easy. Too obvious.

She liked her men mysterious. Wise. She like them with more subtlety.

The funeral had been much what she'd expected. They'd all looked, gasped. How dare she wear that dress? So glamourous. So familiar. They'd stared and whispered. Alexander, remote as always, had barely said a word to her.

They'd all watched, gawking, to see if she'd shed a tear. She didn't. She never did. Not at that funeral, nor Michael's, nor her father's. She never cried. It wasn't that she wasn't devastated, but she'd never give anyone the satisfaction of knowing it.

She remembered her father, lying in the casket, just like that. Eyelids shut, never again to betray his secret, for all the good it did him after death.




She remembered those eyes. Those dark secrets he hid behind his sunglasses, only rarely glimpsed. People thought he wore them for character. For the mystery. In that respect, the glasses had served him well. They gave him an unknowable, dangerous edge. Combined with his unnatural strength and his fearlessness, he'd risen quickly in the ranks of the family business.

The mystery had also been his downfall.

But Dina's memory was long, and her grudges long-held. Those who crossed her lived to never know what hit them. She'd had the last laugh. For her father, and for herself. She always did.

She thumbed the necklace at her neck. A family heirloom. Didn't want me in your family, did you? Well look at me now.

She always got what she wanted.

Comments

[stinalotta.livejournal.com]

aaaah I just read through basically all of Strangetown, Here We Come and was trying to decide on where to leave a comment to tell you how much I LOVE it....when I saw this short and I think it's really interesting to see what you made of one of my favorite characters and I might as well comment here. Seriously, my Dina also married Mortimer but only long after gaining permanent platinum status and now I just let her (also permanently pregnant, it seems) run around on freewill and she's one of the most entertaining Maxis sims I have.

Anyway, let me praise you, because I tend to have problems getting into sims stories, but yours not only has well-developed characters and is very well-written, it also made me want to fix my simsgame in order to be able to play again. It also showed me how much I have under-estimated the Strangetown sims. Of all the maxis neighborhoods, it's the one I usually play the least with, but I might have to change that.

Another thing I really like is how you incorporate some of the elements of the actual game, how you don't try and make it seem as if they grow like humans do, no, they have transitions and aspirations and everything.

I couldn't even tell you which one is my favorite character. You have the ability to make the reader care for almost all of them (besides the obviously evil ones), you let them all explain what is going on to make them act the way they act and it never seems implausible.

Anyways, I'll stop gushing now, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your story :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this lovely comment and for the kind words you have for my story. You have good timing, because it really meant a lot to me to read this today. It really brought a smile to my face when I needed one. Thank you.

I'm really happy to hear you've enjoyed the story, and especially this Dina short. I think she's a wonderfully interesting character, and I really hope to do her justice in writing.