#and what i found out from the reviews is that it’s a homage/rip off (depending how kind you want to be) of what sounds like a way better

[fingertipsmp3]

Okay, I know I set a resolution not to buy any books this year but consider: what if I accidentally bought and read a really bad book and it made me sad and I wanted to buy a different book to make up for it

[courtingstars]

Notes for Storming the Castle, Chapter 4

Hello again, my dear AkaFuri readers! These notes are kind of long since I rambled on and on about Disney movies because I’m me. (And now after this chapter everyone knows why I put Disney movies in the Ao3 tags! //laughs)

So we’ll start with the Disney stuff, then I mention a few things about Akashi’s sexuality in the fic, and then the usual cultural notes. (Plus the real-life inspiration for the last scene!) Also as a reminder, I have a Pinterest board with photos that helped inspire the first half of the story.

(Cut for me being an incurable Disney nerd, plus notes about sexuality, love hotels, Japanese convenience stores, and other things!)

On The Disney Movies

I should probably feel bad about putting so many Disney references in a fic. //laughs (I’ve been Disney obsessed since I was little, and I wish I could pretend I grew out of it, but I really, really didn’t). But it seemed like a fitting way to bring up the lighter side of fairy tales, since that’s a major theme in the story.

It’s also worth mentioning that Disney stuff is a popular obsession in Japan! There’s Tokyo Disneyland, tons of great Disney stores, you get the idea. I’ve also seen a few Japanese dubs of the movies, which are excellent. <3

I didn’t plan to go into so much detail, but I wanted to try to make the movie references as accessible as I could. And if you haven’t seen the films, I do recommend them because I am a sappy dork. I chose them to match the story, and hopefully to create some interesting parallels to both Akashi and Furihata.

So first, The Little Mermaid! Random fact: This was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. (Also one of my first memories! I was three.) The songs are great, and it’s an interesting take on the fairy tale. But mostly I just thought it would be kind of funny that Furihata would like a movie about a redhead who has issues with a super-strict father and a hard time fitting in with normal humans, because of course you would Furi. (I mean Ariel was basically the reason all of us 90’s kids were in love with supernaturally red hair, right...? No? Just me? //shutting up now)

(… I would absolutely read a fic about merman Akashi trying to comb his hair with a fork though, I don’t know how that would even be in character BUT I’D READ IT. XD)

And if you haven’t seen the film before or want a trip down memory lane, here are some YouTube clips of parts I mentioned in the fic! The opening, Fathoms Below, has beautiful atmosphere. Part of Your World is Ariel’s most famous song, and I pretty much ripped off the reprise of the song in Akashi’s dream sequence so let’s all crack up together about that visual, haha. I think Poor Unfortunate Souls is one of the best villain songs ever, and of course Kiss The Girl is famous and adorable (and you can see how it ends if you didn’t already know, or you forgot!).

As for Cinderella, it’s so iconic that I feel like I don’t really have to say much about it... I did briefly mention the scene with Cinderella getting ready in the morning, which is pretty well-known (also I want you all to really imagine Akashi and Furihata watching a movie where the mice all sing in those tiny high voices together), but the main thing I wanted to link is the fairy godmother’s song! It is precious and iconic and absolute NONSENSE and I will now always think of Akashi cracking up when I watch it. //laughs I also quoted the song with Cinderella and her prince, So This Is Love, which has gorgeous scenery.

And last but not least, Beauty and the Beast! For some reason I’ve had in mind for a VERY long time that Akashi only saw this Disney movie when he was a kid. (I wrote a really silly GoM fic about my headcanons for all their favorite Disney movies back in 2015, but never got around to posting it. //laughs). In any case, hopefully I made it obvious enough in the chapter why I think it’s an Akashi sort of story. (Because of course in an AkaFuri fic Akashi’s Disney crush would be a book-loving brunette who’s off in their own little world, right? Pfft.) Also, full warning, this chapter won’t be the last time I include a painfully obvious homage to this movie… I apologize in advance. xD

Anyway, one of my favorite parts is the prologue! That chiming music is so epic, and the art is breathtaking. And of course Belle’s opening song in the village is brilliant. Those two clips show off the scenery well, which ties in closely to why I referenced it in the fic. The song Something There is a great example of the way the romance develops. And I could ramble on and on, but those were the main things I referenced, so that’s probably sufficient. //laughs

… Okay and also can we just agree that all happy-ending kisses should end in a magical firework explosion? Yes? Yes. (I may or may not be planning to write a scene kind of like it for, um, a certain fic that isn’t this one… And now everyone will know my not-so-secret influences. //cough)

And if you happen to be in a Disney mood now, I’ll also link a countdown I found of the top 20 best Disney endings, which includes almost all of my favorite Disney films/some sadly underrated ones! (My personal favorites will always be #13 and #7, but I could not agree more about the top five rankings, because I am a Disney Renaissance kid. <3)

On Akashi’s Sexuality in the Series

I mentioned this a while ago, but now might be a good time to mention it again! In my AkaFuri series, Akashi is on the asexual spectrum, but I haven’t used the specific term for his identity in the fic. Partly because this fic takes place when those terms were even less commonly known (back in 2010, which is only a few years after I first came across AVEN, so the idea would have been even less familiar in Japan), and partly because he hasn’t fully discovered this about himself yet.

One of the reasons I started writing this series was that I wanted to try to capture how it feels when you haven’t completely figured out your sexuality yet. That was pretty normal among my friends and I when we were sixteen, for a lot of different reasons. (Furihata will be having a similar experience in the series too, which I’ll get into later!) Anyway, I’ll be exploring these issues in more detail in the next fic in the series, but since this chapter does mention some of the feelings Akashi has been struggling with, I thought it would be good to clarify.

On College Kids in Japan in Relationships

I had a lot of fun writing the scene where Furihata’s brother sneaks back into the house, and since it loosely references an aspect of modern Japanese culture, I should probably mention that here…

It’s not too uncommon for university students in Japan—and other young people in their twenties—to still live with their families. Which means that for the ones in relationships, it can be hard to find some (ahem) private time, especially since living spaces are often crowded and PDAs are discouraged. So it’s very normal for young people in Japan to go out to places like love hotels with their significant others…

… And that’s basically what I was implying, when it comes to where Furihata’s brother snuck off to. //laughs That’s also the context of Furihata’s mother’s lecture, and I tried to capture some of the Japanese norms about sex there as well. It’s tricky to explain how they differ from Western norms, because they’re not more “conservative” or “liberal” exactly, just different. (And they vary a lot depending on the person and what generation they’re from!)

But basically, to sum up, I was hoping to convey that Furihata’s mother isn’t upset about what Furihata’s brother is doing per se, it’s more that she’s worried about him being responsible and “appropriate” while he’s doing it. My impression is that it’s unusual that a parent would broach the subject like she does--but hopefully it’s clear that this is a part of her character. Similar to how she dealt with events in Chapter Three. (And that’s also why a character like Akashi is very embarrassed to have overheard it, poor kid. xD)

Also! For those of you who are 18+, if you want to learn more about the cultural context of love hotels in Asian countries, and what they’re like (answer: epic) I love this comic that sums it up. (The comic isn’t explicit, BUT it’s hosted on a webcomic site—that I personally love—that features 18+ comics about sex ed and sex toy reviews. So please be aware, the ads and some of the site’s illustrations are explicit! And very inclusive, sex-positive and awesome.)

On Elementary School Uniforms

I also wanted to briefly mention one of the cultural tropes in Furihata’s family photos! Japanese elementary students wear bright yellow hats when they walk to school, as a way to make them more visible to prevent accidents.

On Conbinis

This is basically just a note to say that I love Japanese convenience stores. //laughs They’re everywhere, everyone uses them, and the major chains are extremely competitive. So they’re often open around the clock, their services are amazing, and their food is delicious.

Also, here’s a random fact! Kit Kats are hugely popular in Japan, and they have all kinds of unusual and regional flavors, including green tea and wasabi and sweet potato. (Yes, really.) The trend started because of a pun in Japanese that made them a popular good-luck gift to give to exam students. Now they’re so well loved that they even have fancy chocolatier stores that sell ultra-fancy Kit Kats because… Because Japan, that’s why. XD

(Also when I post this chapter, I’m rewarding myself by ordering some hojicha Kit Kats from Amazon, because roasted tea flavored Kit Kats from Kyoto are you serious of course I want that in my mouth.)

On the Inspiration for the Walk with Furi’s Dad

I also wanted to make sure I mentioned one of my biggest inspirations for this fic! Which is that when my sister studied abroad in Japan, she stayed with an amazing host family near Hiroshima.

I’ll never forget all her stories about what it was like, but my #1 favorite is that she was awake one morning and her host dad invited her to come on a walk with him… At which point he put the family cat in a harness and they went out and walked the cat. (Maybe that’s more common in some countries, but at least in the U.S., I don’t know anyone who walks a cat? XD) She tells the story a million times better than I do, but the gist of it is that they wandered around this ultra-tiny parking lot for a few minutes and he showed her the strawberries in their garden and it was adorable and a little strange and the best thing ever. <3

I didn’t have Furihata’s dad walk a cat in the fic, sadly enough! (I decided it would be kind of distracting… Also, the Furihatas don’t technically have a cat in canon. //laughs) But I did put a cat in at the end. Partly because everything’s a metaphor, the metaphors are out of control, someone save me from myself. But mostly because I wanted to include a nod to my sister’s host dad and his family, and how much they influenced this story, by being so welcoming to her when she was so far from home. <3