We are back with Season 2 of Nina & Amanda, and after a long break – I’m happy to be back with the series. I’m happy to also announce we’ve recently launched Nina & Amanda S1 as a podcast, after having recently launched it as on a podcast for audio-only listeners too. I felt the series was enough where you could listen as well as watch to get the point. S2 will be available once it completes its run on Youtube, and I start work on S3. Yes, there will be an S3 too.

Now in S2 we are back with Nina, Amanda, Tony, Carrie and Addie. What’s been going on since we left off at E20 S1? A lot! But, if you haven’t seen S2 E1 yet, and wasn’t able to join us for the Season Premiere, then please watch below before proceeding to the spoilers.

https://youtu.be/5GRYjWCt09Y

SPOILER WARNING – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

We start S2 with a recap that things are going great for Nina, Amanda, Tony, Carrie and Addie. Everyone seems to be in good place and are happy. Carrie is still in a relationship with Drake. Nina is totally infatuated with Addie, and Addie seems to feel the same way. Tony and Amanda are solid as a rock, and everything looks fine.

But something is about to happen because that’s how I roll…….

We see that Nina and Addie are having a peaceful sleep together, after having gone to the theater the night before, and have had an amazing romantic date. As Nina awakens and looks at a sleeping Addie next to her, her heart is filled with pure joy. She’s never been this happy before. Addie is a breath of fresh air for her life and has given her so much happiness – and today Nina has made a decision.

As she remembers the start of their relationship, she recalls her first visit to Addie’s friends’ and sees exactly what goes on during a weekend visit. There were a few scenes I threw in for laughs like when I forgot to shave Addie’s legs. This is a joke between my husband and me. Sasquatch.

I also thought due to Addie’s strength and stamina as a werewolf, she’s pretty strong and easily lift Maryn off the ground. It resulted in a funny jealousy scene when Nina sees this. The mod I used was MapleBell’s More Kisses mod. I laughed when I saw the daily of this.

And lastly, the woohoo rug makes an appearance. It is my favorite item from Lovestruck, aside from the heart shaped bed (which appears later in the season.) I wanted the scene to be both romantic and funny, as we see Nina enjoying a real kiss from Glenn while Addie and Maryn are snug as a bug in a rug, literally. Watch the episode to see the scene. I’m not spoiling it for you here. 😂Although you can see that they are having some tag team action below.

We learn that Nina not only kissed Addie’s friend Glenn, but also woohooed with him too. For Nina it’s her first kiss and woohoo ever with a man, and she found it quite enjoyable and fun. There was a scene that showed Nina sitting up in bed after having woohooed with Glenn, but I cut it, as it gave too much away, and there is a “blink and you’ll miss it” scene. Shown below, Nina and Glenn are going into the bedroom to have woohoo. Behind them are Addie and Maryn to watch along eagerly. The scene was longer, but I cut it down because it showed too much and took away from the pacing of the episode.

We also learn that Nina and Addie visited together not just once but twice, going back to Sulani the next month, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The experiences are a thrill for Nina, and a first for her life, to her it’s almost like a novelty. It did give her the ability to explore her sexuality and find out what it’s like to be with a man in bed, and at the same time, have a partner who embraces her exploration. But we also find, despite the ability to have this type of sexual exploration, Nina enjoyed being with Addie the most. We also find that over the last couple of months, her feelings kept growing in intensity. Woohoo is one thing, but actual connection and romance was what she loved, and there was no shortage of that. Now, she’s certain that she’s falling in love with Addie, and she wants the relationship to be more than a fairy tale romance.

Why Make Addie a Polyamorous Werewolf?

One of the reasons why I chose to make Addie a polyamorous werewolf was it was a good way to try out the new Sims4 update that allowed for romantic boundaries to change. This is in fact a Let’s Play Series, and while I shot for an adult audience for Nina & Amanda, I wanted it to be about The Sims at its core. Another reason for the character to be this way is we learn at one time; Addie had a boyfriend in college that she adored and went through a painful break-up with. The reason will come out later.

Since graduating college, Addie has concentrated on being a powerhouse business professional in the celebrity scene and resigned her woohoing to her two good friends Glenn and Maryn. In fact, here’s a spoiler that will come out later. Addie was Glenn and Maryn’s babysitter! That’s how the relationship evolved from that, even after the couple moved to Sulani. There was a scene in E20 S1 that explained further but I cut it. It was very long and kind of boring. Eventually, this will be revealed later in a conversation.

Structurally, in story, I thought of how I would make Nina have a first time with a man. The original post-divorce woohoo was supposed to be with a guy she meets at a Christmas party, but I didn’t want it to be a bad first experience with a man for her. So, I optioned to change it to a woman she met at a Christmas party who didn’t like the woohoo either and optioned never to speak of it again.

When I thought of making Addie polyamorous and having her be open to Nina’s sexual exploration of herself, I thought it would be an interesting twist on the story. Nina’s never been with a man, but she’s been attracted to men, and having an opportunity to “try it out” in a healthy and safe setting would be a choice. More so, Addie is on board with this and loves watching Nina enjoy herself with Glenn. She’s happy that Nina is having a good time and is glad that they can be open and free with each other or join in if they chose to do so. Either way, she’s in support of her lover’s exploration. As she says in E20 S1 it be a “little adventure.” It certainly turned out that way!

Nina, as you can tell, has been a romantically reserved Sim, and only had one partner for most of her adult life which was Amanda. She truly believed that they were meant to be together forever. When they divorced, and she was alone at the Christmas party, she took it upon herself to have random woohoo because why not? Essentially, she was nectared up, depressed, divorced, devastated and feeling like crap. Did it help? As we learn, not at all, in fact she felt worse, and Rachel scolded her for almost throwing herself into scandal territory!

Since that incident, Nina resigned herself to working at home, raising Carrie, and keeping to herself while letting her anger, bitterness, grief and jealousy fester. As we know these emotions crouched into her career causing a three-year writer’s block. When Nina realized that had she lost Amanda forever, after she married Tony, it wasn’t until her Aunt Alexa gave her a literal “kick in the butt” that she realized she had to do something about her grief and depression. Nina sought the help of therapy which in turn made her better and had her crank out “the book of her career.” I named the book Lovestruck in honor of The Sims4 Lovestruck expansion pack.

Addie is also a solitary individual. While with her pack in Moonwood Mill, she’s enjoying the werewolf lifestyle by hunting, fighting, rampaging and howling, and it fills her social need easily. When she’s home, she relaxes with a good book and a cup of tea at her apartment in San Myshuno. When she’s at work, she’s all about work. The constant professional and workaholic (like Nina.) Having Glenn and Maryn as friends allows her to have uncomplicated physical pleasure. Addie doesn’t worry about being in a relationship since she is a non-committal Sim, and didn’t want any attachment, until she meets Nina.

Taking the Chance Recap from E20 S1

We know from E20 S1 that Addie has been a fan of Nina’s since reading her book Lost Desire in college after a painful break-up that forever changed her life. So, when Addie gets the chance of a lifetime to be the executive assistant to Global Superstar & Best-Selling Author Nina Gãrbãn she jumps at the chance! Addie knows how to keep herself in check from working in the celebrity scene. To her, Nina is her boss, but on day one she instantly feels something more, and it scares her.

From Addie’s perspective, she’s a professional, and isn’t one to cross the line ever. She’s also never had a situation like this before where she’s felt such a strong attraction for another Sim but is afraid to act on it. As time goes on, Addie’s feelings go beyond attraction for Nina.

We know the same was true for Nina. She had it bad for Addie! The two kept the slow burn going until the fire was unleashed in E20 S1 by “Taking A Chance.” The chance paid off and the two discovered a deep and unyielding passion for each other. Now having explored that, and having a fairy tale romance of sorts – what comes next?

What Are We?

The title for the episode came from KatieMods Mega Interactions The One With All the Romance mod. One of the socials from this mod is “What Are We?” And when I saw it, I thought it would be a perfect title for this episode. In fact, I show the social in one sequence as a tribute to KatieMods. I happen to love this mod. So, I’m happy to feature it.

The question of what we are we does come up in a relationship especially when things are too good to be true, and labels have not been defined. Then sometimes when it turns out that one person wants something and the other doesn’t, it can come crashing down like a ton of bricks on top of each other.

At this point in their relationship, Nina and Addie aren’t quite public yet, but they are having a wonderful and amazing time together. It’s at this point that Nina feels she needs to make a stand in defining the relationship, and also to discuss the choice of a future with Addie.

As Nina finishes reflecting on the past months with Addie, she turns to see her looking at her as Addie asks, “Hi. What were you thinking about?”

“You.” Nina responds.

“Me?” Addie asks.

“Yeah, you. You make me very happy.” Nina says.

“I’m glad.” Addie responds with a wink.

Nina tells her to stay in bed and that she’ll cook her breakfast and bring it into her.

Addie is surprised and says, “Oh you will? You’ve never cooked for me before.”

Nina smirks and says, “First time for everything, Darling”

“Breakfast in bed too?” Addie asks.

“Oh, just allow me to spoil you a little.” Nina says.

Addie chuckles and says, “Spoil me now.”

They spend most of the morning in bed together. Finally getting out of bed at 11am, as Addie sips coffee in the living room Nina makes breakfast. She serves her a spinach frittata which she said she learned from Tony.

True, Addie would prefer some raw meat for breakfast, but the spinach frittata is delicious, and she loves the breakfast that Nina has made. Addie notices that Nina seems to be “glowing” and “looks different today.”

Nina asks Addie to sit on the couch with her and as the two sit together holding hands with one another, Nina tells her that Addie has made her happier than she’s been in a long time.

Addie says that Nina makes her happy too. Then, Nina says that after thinking about this for a long time she wants Addie to move in with her and be her partner. Will she?

Addie at once starts to get nervous by saying, “That’s a huge step!”

Nina then says, “Addie, I’m falling in love with you. I want you to be part of my life and meet my family. I want to build a future with you. Will you be with me, Addie?”

Addie’s response is not what Nina expects as she jumps up off the couch saying, “Nina, please…. don’t say anymore……”

If you’ve suspected that Addie’s fear of commitment has kicked in, you are absolutely right. Right now, Addie feels like a deer in the headlights. This was her worst fear about the relationship with Nina, that she would ask this question one day, and now she has.

Nina is surprised and hurt by Addie’s reaction, she stands up and asks, “What’s wrong? I thought we had something together.”

“We do!” Addie says, “but I told you at the beginning, I don’t have relationships.”

“I thought that you’d might want to….” Nina says in almost disbelief.

“Okay, let’s discuss the obvious thing. I’m a werewolf. I’m very much a werewolf. You haven’t seen that side of me yet, and I’m afraid you’d be terrified of me……” Addie says almost breaking into tears.

“Terrified of you?” Nina asks. “Addie, I love you for who you are no matter what you are!”

And it’s true. Nina isn’t bothered that she’s fallen in love with a polyamorous werewolf – she’s still Addie, and everything that she loves about her. She can learn to live with the werewolf side of her and accept it, even at first if it is hard to do.

Addie then asks another question about her friends. Would she have to give them up?

Nina’s response is, “Oh, Addie, that’s like a novelty! If we’re in committed relationship, I want my partner to be with me and me only!”

“That’s why I can’t be with you,” Addie says sadly and then yells out, “They’re not a novelty to me! I love them! You’d make me give them up and I don’t want to!”

Then it hits Nina like the world crashing down on top of her. “You’re in love with them? That’s it. You’re in love with them. That’s why you don’t have relationships because you’re already in one.”

Addie feeling like she’s been cornered, turns away and sighs. As Addie faces her she yells, “Yeah. Yeah, that’s the truth. I am in love with them! They are important to me! I refuse to give them up for anyone or anything!“

Nina is taken back. Has this all been for nothing? Was it just woohoo to her? “What about me?” Nina asks her in a hurtful voice. “Was I nothing more?”

“Of course not, Nina,” Addie responds getting up from the couch and turning away.

“Then what do I mean to you!” Nina yells back as the hurt comes through.

Addie comes back to her and sits with her on the couch holding her hands saying, “I am in love with you too, but I don’t think it’s enough for me to be with you.”

“Why? Because of your friends?” Nina asks.

“No! Because of……” Addie can’t finish as she breaks away nearly breaking down as she breathes in and says in a low voice. “Did I ever tell you why I broke up with my college boyfriend?”

“I’m listening.” Nina says.

“He wanted a family. I didn’t.” Addie says closing her eyes and feeling her heart shatter. This was truly Addie’s worst fear – having to confront this deep-rooted fear of hers, and she knows that this revelation can tear her and Nina apart right now.

“You don’t want children?” Nina asks.

“No, I don’t!” Addie says getting up and walking over to the fireplace.

Spoiler warning. As we know Nina has always wanted to have another child. When she starts her relationship with Addie and falls in love, she’s not only seeing a potential partner, but a potential wife and mother. She knows that Addie is still young enough to have children and she wants to explore that possibility with her once she marries her. Yes, Nina is thinking of marriage. She’s totally in love with Addie and wants to be with for the rest of her life.

Addie senses this too and becomes at once defensive explaining her reason for not having or wanting children, “I was born a werewolf. My parents were werewolves as were my grandparents. I’ve carried the bloodline for sixth generations and I never wanted to bring a child of mine into this world who was a werewolf!” Addie says with defiance.

Nina is now thoroughly confused. Why is Addie a werewolf if she hates being one? There’s a serum that changes Sims back from werewolves why wouldn’t Addie do that? If they had children, their children do that if they didn’t want to be werewolves too.

Addie’s response is this monologue, which I had to admit I really had to concentrate on to get right. I needed to put myself in Addie’s shoes and think about what a werewolf must be feeling being almost like an outcast of society, and yet have this proud heritage at the same time. Also, I thought about what a werewolf would likely go through from the pains of fangs coming through, to the first transformation into a werewolf.

Addie says to Nina, “Do you hear yourself? I KNOW you want more children!  I don’t want to have any, and I don’t want a child of mine to have to make that choice or endure what I did as a werewolf!  When you’re born into it, it’s far different.  You can never lead a normal life. You must always succumb to the moon’s will and comes out in you forcefully and violently.  Everything you hide about yourself is brought out into the open when you transform. The only ones who can truly understand this lifestyle are your pack.”

“Then why be a werewolf if you hate being one?” Nina asks with pure anger. At this point, she feels like it’s a bag over the head, and she’s been punched in the gut. Addie is breaking her heart with this admission. She knows she’s about to lose her and will do anything to make that stop from happening.

Addie tells her, “I don’t hate being one. I love being a werewolf!” And here we see the real Addie, the one she hides away except when she becomes a werewolf. She’s proud of her heritage and her bloodline, but she doesn’t want to pass that onto a child of hers by choice, knowing what that child would endure leading up to the first transformation once puberty hits.

Now after hearing Addie’s admission it’s soul-crushing to her, but despite this, Nina loves her and wants to be with her. Maybe she’ll come around eventually to the idea? Nina tries to be reasonable as she says to her. “You’re already assuming I won’t understand.  If you don’t want children, it’s okay.”

“But it’s not okay for you!” Addie yells. “I know you, Nina!  You want another child. You have never told me, but I have heard it in your voice. You love your nephews and nieces. All you ever talk about after visiting Amanda and Tony is how Zoe laughed and how big she’s getting. You love talking about when Carrie was small and how you’d love to do that again someday. I don’t want to confine you to a life of misery!”

Why does Addie say, “a life of misery?” She’s afraid – plain and simple. She worries that Nina will sacrifice her own dreams and ambitions for her sake, even giving up the idea of having another child so she can be with Addie. Addie knows, with every fiber of her being, that it’s wrong – and she loves her too much to do that to her. Addie’s honor code is strong, and she knows that the kindest thing she can do for Nina now is to let her go, no matter how much she doesn’t want to.

“A life of misery?” Nina asks with shock. This is when her temper goes through the roof, and she yells at Addie. “Then why didn’t you say this to me before WE GOT INVOLVED! Damnit, Addie, why didn’t you walk away from me when you resigned!” If you noticed for this scene, Nina goes full-on Windenburg with her accent. She’s beyond furious and broken hearted. She can’t believe that her dreams are being destroyed right before her eyes, and worse the woman she loves is not the woman she thought she was.

Right here, Nina has had enough. It’s one thing to have had an amazing and wonderful fairy tale, but now reality has come crashing down on them both. This is where she’s furious, draws the line at Addie and is ready to slap her. She’s beyond hurt and heartbroken. And she can’t believe after everything that has happened over the past few months that now it’s about to be over.

This part was truly hard to master. Switching back and forth between two characters is tough. You have to constantly remember the mindset that they are going through, and when it’s emotional, it’s tougher. During recording of this first episode, it took me nearly a week to finish it. I needed to stop several times and catch my breath to project myself back into the character’s mindset. This is one of those times I wish I had an actor on the payroll.

Addie’s response to Nina is just as angry and tearful as she says, “Because I didn’t want to! I thought you handle the type of situation we had. I thought you’d maybe be satisfied with just us being together as is, with me going to Moonwood Mill once a month and [also] visiting my friends. And in the meantime, we’d be together being happy and loving one another”

Nina looking at her with disbelief feels at this point that Addie was selfish, misleading, and inconsiderate, as she asks, “You never thought I’d want more than that?”

“Sure, I did, but I thought that you could have the type of relationship that didn’t involve….” As Addie turns away, she mutters with a long-drawn-out sigh, “…total commitment.”

“Oh, I see.” Nina says in a breath, as she tries to fight tears. Finally, Nina is realizing that when Addie said to her in the beginning “I don’t have relationships” that she meant it.  

“I don’t want to be exclusive, Nina. I don’t want a family. I like my life. I’m sorry.  I think I’ll go.” Addie says as she starts walking back to the bedroom while bursting into tears and checking the train schedule.

Nina is still not ready to give up. She lost one love because of being stubborn and rigid, she’s not about to lose another for the same reason. She gets up and goes after her, finding her own tears starting to fall.

As she comes into the bedroom, she asks with pain in her voice, “Could you try? I would be willing?”

Addie responds in a calm cool manner, “Trust me. It’s better this way.”

“How is it better? I love you.” Nina says. 

“You’ll be okay.” Addie says. “You learned to love again through me. That’s a huge step for anyone, and you’ll love again after me.  You deserve someone who can give you everything you deserve and more.  I can’t be that person for you.”

At this point, Addie recognizes that to be with Nina is selfish and wrong. She can’t keep leading her on. She doesn’t want Nina to hope that one day it’ll be happily ever after, when it won’t be. Addie knows she’d never can give Nina the happy life she knows she deserves to have or become the wife and mother that Nina wants and desires her to be eventually.

Nina embraces her saying, “You’re going to be a hard act to follow for a while.”

“You will too.” Addie says.

“And I hope that you find someone to make you happy, and if its Glenn and Maryn forever so be it.” Nina says.

“Thank you. I love you, Nina. I’ll never forget you or the times we’ve had.” Addie says as she begins to cry.

“Addie, I love you.” Nina whispers as Addie kisses her one last time with a tear coming out of her eye, holding onto it for as long as she can.

“Good-bye.” She says in a painful whisper as she walks past Nina and into the elevator.

Addie knows that as painful as it is to say good-bye to Nina, she needs to do this for her. Nina deserves better and more. Addie isn’t that person to give her the life she deserves to have or be the partner that she should be with. As much as Addie loves her, she leaves her to give her that opportunity.

Nina is devastated. She’s lost another love in her life, but this time, she has the strength to get through it and not crack into millions of tiny pieces, like before with Amanda. She knows the relationship ended cleanly. They both wanted different things, but at least, Nina knows she can love again, and someday maybe she will.

The episode ends with Nina standing on her patio looking into the distance, her heart is broken, but then she decides to go to the gym and workout to get these emotions under control. She knows it will take a while to get over Addie, if she ever gets over Addie, but one day she’ll feel better again.

Originally, E1 S2 was supposed to be tacked onto E20 S1, but it made E20’s runtime of S1 longer clocking in at over one hour. I also thought it would be too much at one time to give away. Another thing I was going to do was start the Season Premiere with S2 E2 as E1, but overall, I felt this episode was perfect for the S2 Premiere. It primarily answers the question about how Nina and Amanda’s relationship has been, and where it was going after. And all too often in life, sometimes we find out that a relationship we felt was idea, turns out to be false. When one partner wants something more than another – compromise sometimes doesn’t work.

What’s coming up in S2 E2? The title of that episode is Unexpected Gift, and it is. We also get to catch up with Carrie a little bit and see little Zoe as now a toddler. Amanda and Tony are there too, as is Nina. There are three episodes this season that have all of the characters in the same episode. This is one of them.

Also, if you’re wondering about Addie. I will say this much – this is NOT the last that we see of her.

See you next week and thanks for all of your support.