The longest prep for the clink because I had to reach for my cup.But it's because it has a ghost face on it.It's really cute.Not like a horror story ghost face.It's a ghost, ghosty face.It's a little ghosty, yeah.
A little, yeah.It's got little hands.It's cute.The little smiley.Yeah.So.Welcome to our tea is steeping and we both have tea steeping today.What are we drinking, Caitlin?
We're drinking that Celestial Seasonings Oat Cinnamon thing.It's supposed to be good for your gut.It just tastes good.
Yeah, it's got oats and cinnamon, but it's also got probiotics and prebiotics, but it also tastes delicious.And I learned that if you put brown sugar in there and like some milk or half and half, it is Chef's kiss delicious.
Brown sugar makes everything better.Yes.Um, and we're talking about a spell for a Smith.So a nice cozy tea and a nice cozy read.
Oh yeah.Episodes 17 through to one T. I think.The only reason I knew it was 17 is because I saw her previous recording up in her computer store and I went through 16.
Yeah, I, um... I'm really bad at scrolling to the wrong episode.Oh, same, same.
Okay, so.Episode 17.Ivy's at home doing her chores, but keeps getting distracted.She finally explodes to thistle, saying it's been over two weeks, and she wonders if she did something wrong.
She says she really expected to see or hear from Brom by now, and questions whether it was all a hoax set up by the village, or if she read too much into the situation. But she decides that it's fine, and she doesn't need guests anyways.
And she never has, and thinks that everything will just go back to how it was before.But as she turns away, and she looks very dejected.Dejected?I can't talk. and she still peeks out the window looking for him one last time.
Brom is at the tavern with his friends, also looking very dejected.His friends try to relate to how he's feeling and reference him pining away and being in love, but Brom denies it.
They encourage him to talk about his feelings or just go see Ivy if he really wants to see her.Brom admits that he's worried he's overstepped.
and that maybe she doesn't want him there, and that he's waiting for her to make the next move, even if it's an unpleasant wait.
His friends remind him that they're there for him, and ask him if it'll all be worth it, even if him and Ivy only end up as friends.Brom replies that he thinks so, while smiling, and they all raise their glasses to that. It was so cute.
Just the anticipation and stress of early relationships, this brings back those feelings so much.It's cute that she's already looking forward to seeing him again.
You feel so bad for her, though, because connections to other people aren't a bad thing, and Braum will make it worth it.She just has to get through the wait.
And when I was taking notes for this, I originally typed out that he was at the bar, but then that sounded kind of bad, so I had to switch it over to Tavern.
Yeah, a tavern I feel like provides more of a restaurant slash alcohol type of atmosphere.
Bar provides just alcohol.Yeah, and like village setting.I don't know, you say bar and I just like picture like a biker bar and I'm like picturing Brom there and I'm like... I picture that one in our downtown. Oh, that's nicer.
I always picture the one going to the next big town over that, um... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Exactly the one you're talking about.See, you already know.Because every time I pass it, I'm like, do people actually go there?
I know.I think I drove by one evening and there was a bunch of bikes there, and I was like, Can you just keep driving?Not that there's anything wrong with motorcycles.My dad had a motorcycle.The name of this bar and the clientele is very indicative.
Well, the sign that they have up for it.
Brahm has really good friends and I think not a lot of webtoons show such solid, grounded friends that actually give good relationship advice too.So I enjoy that.
there are so many that show friends that really actually aren't good friends and are just trying to manipulate or they just give really bad advice and the friend is stupid enough to listen I'm like mm-hmm those are normally webtoons I end up dropping because they like start out with the miscommunication trope and I'm like nah nah nah yeah
And I love that we're seeing a man here who isn't pretending to be too macho to want to go see the girl that he likes.He's just genuinely worried that he's overstepped in some way and wants to make sure that she's okay.
I think he's holding on to like the deer metaphor for her.She's got to be confident enough to venture out and see him or she's gonna be too scared for anything to develop between them.
I think that's a good insight, yeah.I like that connection. Um, and his friends asked a really valid question, like, is this still gonna be worth it even if you only end up as friends?
And I think a lot more people should consider that question, honestly.
And we know that Brom is such a green flag because he doesn't even have to consider the question for long.He's like, yeah.
We need the green flag video guy in the background.
Get hottie roasted.So cute.Oh.Clink. I was like, what are we doing?I'm just trying to take a sip of my drink.
This cup is a little interesting to drink out of though because to make it look more like a ghost the top curves inward so it's like weird to keep it from I feel like I would just slosh it all on myself.Yeah.We're gonna pretend I'm not gonna do that.
Okay, good.Anyways... Episode 18.After sitting at home by herself, Ivy suddenly makes the decision to go into town, saying that it's just as easy to walk to town as it is to walk to her house.
She starts to second-guess, questioning that he did invite her to visit the forge and come up and see him, and decides that she'll just come up with an excuse for being there along the way.
She marches into town, surprising people, sees Braum and his forge, and knocks on the doorframe.When he hears her voice, Braum drops his tools and is so excited to see her and invites her in.
He tries to tidy up a bit and asks what brings her to his forge.Ivy blurts out a jumbled request for hair rings like Braum has.
She then notices all the fine weaponry that Braum has around the shop and gets embarrassed about how simple and small her request is, but he says he'll do it and it'll be a nice change. of pace for him, sorry.
There was a car that like, zoomed by behind us and I was like, who's getting here?There's a bit of an awkward silence and Ivy rushed off to leave, embarrassed but promise pleased.
Ivy's taking the reins!It's so exciting.Go Ivy, you can do it!I was like, the excuse should be that he is your future husband.Done.I love it.It's point, period, blank. Full stop.Yes.
But really though, Brom would have been, would be happier to, oh, bleh, words.For her to have no excuse for coming to see him except for the fact that she just wants to see him.
And that he's there.Yeah.He is her excuse.
Yeah.And I love that she's so focused on going to see him and just like getting there that she doesn't even care that people saw her on the way in.And then her relief at seeing Brom actually there in the shop is just precious.
And then he drops everything when he sees her.It's just so cute.
It's my favorite part.When he turns around and sees her.But also, like, he didn't hear her talk.And so, like, he's just talking to her with his back to her.But then when she speaks, he immediately drops his things, like, that he's working on.
He's probably gonna have to, like, scrap it or start over.I mean, I've watched enough Forge and Fire to know how they speak.
There you go.You are the master expert here.It's okay. Her jumbled words when she's trying to ask for the herrings is just hilarious.
And then how Brom finds a way to accept the job and make her feel okay about it, even though it is like not something he might normally do.It's just great.
Her blurting out her words all in a jumble is so completely relatable, but it also makes me think of trying to order food.And it's also why like
Because we've tried to get the healthier versions of deli meat and not the pre-packaged stuff that's got all the stuff in it that's bad for you.But you have to go and ask someone for it.
And I'm like, uh, about that.We're not going to do that. But then there's a local, like, smaller country store where they'll do the same thing.And I'm like, I'd rather give my business to them, but I think Publix, you can order it on their app.
That's really convenient.Yeah.So, because then I can just get it when I'm like having to run into town for something else, which would be nice, but it's also like, I want to give this, like, the local small company the business.
But then I have to talk to them and they're nice.Like I used to work at the store that's across from them and the guy that owns it would come in all the time.Like he's super nice. I don't think they remember me.
My hair's a different color and I have more tattoos than I did before.
It makes you sound so rebellious.
It really does.I mean, my hair is a bit more of a rebellious color now than it used to be.It used to just have the blonde at it, but now I got a lot of purple.It's awesome though.It's so fun.I love it.
And I think about how my kids are going to grow up with a mom that has tattoos and colored hair, which is the opposite of what I grew up with.Oh yeah. Anyways.
And then her slow stop when asking him to make the hair rings after she understood what he normally worked on, that's on par with her jumbling up her words.It's like that slow, oh, I've just made a fool of myself.
Minor regrets, but also not. And then when she's like, also I left something on the stove, bye!
So... But he's like, like, he's like, got the little sweat drop of like, heh heh, but also like, he's so happy that she came.It's so cute. These clings are a little sad.I think it's the mugs are just not lining up right.
Yeah, my mug isn't the best for it, honestly.Come on.I know.Okay, episode 19.A few weeks have gone by and back at her cottage, Ivy continues to be embarrassed about asking Brom for hair fastenings.
But she still had hoped that he would have stopped by by now. She sits in her garden and admits that she just wanted to make a connection and that he made her feel seen.And then she continues to beat herself up over the interaction at the forge.
Over in the village, Brahm is whistling while tending to his horse and talking with John.
John casually brings up that Ivy came to visit Brom, which he confirms, and then John speculates that Ivy might like him back, but Brom tells him that she just needed something made.
John brings up the significance of herrings to dwarves, but Brom cuts him off and tells him that she doesn't know that and she just wanted hair ornaments, and she's not a dwarf, so the point is moot. Later that evening... What?
I have a story about that later though.Later that evening, we see that Brom has finished the herrings, but is actually incredibly nervous to go give them to her, but he heads out that evening anyways.
Waiting for anything, but just like especially when you're excited about it and just all the anticipation is so hard.Mm-hmm.
Especially when she says there's been weeks between their meetings.Yeah, I mean of course he's gonna need time to forge them But like there was a couple weeks after the first one.
It's been more than a couple weeks between this one.Yeah, um, but Especially when you know, there's interest there.Mm-hmm, but probably it might also feel slow But actually really quick to her because normally she sees no one.
Yeah, and And they're living in less of an instantaneous world than we are right now.
It's hard to kind of get that mindset.Yeah.The compliments that these two have for each other are really great because normally we talk about how Bram talks about Ivy, but hearing Ivy say that Bram... My words today are a mess.
Oh no, we're in the same boat.Ivy...but hearing Ivy say that Braum makes her feel seen is a really good compliment as well.
They're...the compliments in this, they show that these people look past the superficial.And I feel like that's a lot.
Even if the characters in general do look past the superficial in other comics, I feel like a lot of the compliments tend towards surface level.
Yeah. Um, the way that she overthinks every single word that she spoke while she was there is so relatable.
And the way she makes herself more, like, increasingly more cocky in her memory.
Like, and then, like, her hair's more frazzled as it goes.
The little pointy nose. And I loved this way of getting information about the herrings and it makes me so excited for the upcoming episodes.
So cute.He was so pleased with the fact that he gets to make her herrings, whether or not she realizes what it means.And I think with
With John, I don't think I mentioned this at any point in the notes before, but I liked that he immediately jumped to her defense and was shutting down, even though he was joking and it's meant in a lighthearted manner.
He said, nope, we're not even gonna do that because we're not gonna put words in her mouth because she does not know. So we're not gonna joke about it because it's not fair to her.She's gotta be in on the joke for it to be fair.
It's just like immediately defending his woman before they're even together.
And it's not even like something that's super needing to be defended about.It's like he's always on her side.
I remember wanting her, like the whole hair fastening ring situation, to be a declaration of feelings and courtships and how it really is for him even if she doesn't realize it.And the comments section went bananas for this episode.Holy cow.
I also really love his friendship with John.It's just wholesome.Yes.That's a really great way to put that. Episode 20.
Ivy is sitting at home in the evening thinking about how her home is simple and safe and despite feeling lonely she has thistle when a knock sounds on the door.It's Brom and he apologizes for calling on her so late.
He tells her it's about her commission and that he didn't want her to think he just forgot about it but wanted to hand deliver it to her. Ivy thinks to herself that something is changing.
The change isn't always a bad thing as he passes over the hair rings.Ivy asks how the hair rings work and Brom offers to show her.
She agrees and sits down in the chair he offers to her while he worries that his hands are too rough and notices that his hands are shaking.As he begins to arrange her hair, he thinks that her hair is so soft and that he needs to remember to breathe.
accurate.I'm just sitting there thinking that he is so gentle and that she can't remember the last time someone touched her like that and she tries not to cry.
Every time I read these things, I'm like, hmm, I don't know.
He finishes up, and Ivy tells him that they're beautiful, and they share a tension-filled moment.And then Ivy asks how much they cost.He tries to tell her not to worry about it, but she puts her hand on his chest unthinkingly and says, please.
They both realize what she's done, and she yanks her hand away as Brom tells her he could use a couple spells.It's just, it's so cute.
Brom being nervous now while Ivy is happy to see him is such a sweet change from the last time.It's cute.
She looked almost like Sleeping Beauty heading for the spinning wheel when she was going to open the door.Like it's just like that, like a, what's the word?Like a trance?Not disconnected, out of body, whatever that is kind of thing.
Like when you know you're doing the thing, but you feel like you're watching yourself do the thing.Yeah.
disembodied sort of associated disassociated The fact that he hand-delivered these oh And then the calloused hands like yes, that's a yes for me.Yes.Thank you
And then just the whole environment and the drawing for this, the low firelight, the way that they look at each other, the simple hand touch.It's like I'm falling in love with them and it's just so cute.
And then him doing her hair, like... My husband could never.
Same. Although I think it is funny because the more we read in this and as we're like reading back over it I'm like, this is totally Jen's husband.
I think that every time.I think that's part of the reason why I just love this so much.
Because he does a lot of work with his hands and your husband does and he literally made your engagement ring.He did, yeah.Like, how cute! I will happily take this comic as our love story.I feel like it just really fits.
But then also, I keep cracking up because I'm like, I never got my hair played with as a kid partially because it's curly and if you play with my hair I turn into Mufasa.
But aside from that I never really like nobody ever really played with my hair like and I mean part of that is because I'm a touch me not and so I'm like not comfortable with many people doing anything like that but
My brother like got head scratches all the time and stuff and I'm like it's not fair and so like he cracks on me because I'll watch ASMR videos of like people like the hair because like I get the tingles and like the sound and I'm like this is the closest I'm gonna get because you won't play with my hair.
And I'm like and here we have a comic where they're not even dating at this point.It's like comic ASMR. Pulling her hair, braiding it, putting on these signs of like courtship and devotion and love.And my husband, he won't even scratch my head.
But it's okay.It's fine.That hopefully is not gonna be too loud on the microphone.It's fine.
Well to our two listeners, if they've stuck with us this long.But like really.Thank you to you. two people out there.
Because neither of us remembers to listen anymore so we know it's not us.
It really is just like two people.We love you guys.Thanks friends!So the intimacy here and I love the fact that we can have this like being able to call this intimacy in such a different way than what society would normally call intimacy these days.
It's the quiet, true intimacy, and it's like, I was almost blushing on their behalf.It was so cute.And then that title drop on a few spells for the smith.Ha ha ha. And then I just feel like I'm squealing the entire time through these episodes.
And then there was a comment on this one, this episode, with someone speculating that, well, the rings have significance, that they thought that him putting them in her hair probably... Like, why does it have to be part of their wedding ceremony?
Oh, I know.That it probably adds additional significance on top of it, and I'm 100% here for the theory. I feel like we should make it canon even if it's not in my brain.
It makes sense that it would be though because if the gifting of it is a special thing like how much more is actually putting it in her hair.
Yeah and how many men are going to offer to do that too?
if she were to give him some back to place them like in his beard or like that's also like that's near their face like yeah that's like you have to be gentle and that's like so intimate to be that close to someone that you can fasten some something and like he previously had longer hair yeah so like future ivy braiding his hair
And another comment apparently said that this puts us at the point where this stopped on canvas before it became an original.And I thought that was really interesting too.Yep.
I loved this one on canvas.I was so excited when I found out it was an original.And like it really didn't take long to come back out.Like sometimes some comics take longer than others.
And I don't know if maybe that's because they've got more story that's already out there that they're having to go through with the editor.
I feel like this one has less panels than other ones too, which is not a bad thing.Like I don't mean that in a bad way at all.It's just like, if you compare it to like Lore Olympus or something, those were so long.
Yeah, but Lore Olympus, she had a team helping her.There's a couple other artists that have full teams that help them, but that's one of the things that I've noticed is different between
Webtoon versus like Manta or I think I like read some on TappyToon for a bit But I'm like stingy with what I'll spend money on and TappyToon you had to pay for most of it So I like I do fork out for the Manta subscription, but I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be doing that.
Yeah, so I'm like waiting for the comics I read to like stop.Yeah, and I'm probably like But like Webtoon I feel like has a lot more
indie artists or like one or two person team of artists so it's just I feel like it that's one of the main differences because there are some webtoons that are have a whole team or have a studio behind them but unless
you as an individual make a really big comic like Rachel did with Lore Olympus.I feel like it's not common to go from having just one person to a whole team.
Or like Aiden, Snail Lords, he's got sort of a team in that he hires people to do certain aspects of either comic ideas he's come up with that he's like, I don't have to be the artist for this.It's really cool.
I enjoy watching his like Instagram and stuff.He has some cool stuff on there, yeah.Well then just seeing like how he thinks through things and like how he decides to... I can't think of this word either. Delegate.There we go.There we go.
It'll come to me eventually, guys.But anyways, thanks for joining us on RTS Steeping.
Yeah, do we need to make an announcement about our fifth week episode or?For, how do you say, because it's October.Because we were just going to do Another one of these!
It felt fitting with the fact that the fifth week episode for October is on Halloween.You know, this is a spell for a spit, spit, spit, Smith.It's got the cozy fall vibes.
Also, we didn't realize this month had a fifth Thursday.And so this is what we are physically able to provide. So next week will be The Gentle Way as normal, which is starting back up.Yay!What's today, the 4th?
Uh, I think, yeah, I think it's starting the 6th.
So, yay!And then you'll get another Pelfer Smith episode!Woo!
And it won't be a special amount of episodes, it'll just be a normal, another 4.Yeah.And then we'll resume business like usual in November. We are not very ahead right now.
We're going to try and get ahead because in December, after December, we're going to go on an indefinite hiatus because Jin will be having a baby, and then three months later, I will be having a baby, so... Yay!
We have to get our lives in order before we can record and talk about webtoons.
And I think we would also like to have a really good buffer buildup.
Yeah.So we'll let you guys know when we have a plan.
We'll let you know when we know.
Sign in
