Sunny with a Chance of Turtles

by HopeaLumi

Summary:

All that Levi could think of were turtles. He didn’t react when he heard the news, several hours after the accident, at the hospital, on that balmy morning in April. His only thought was the turtles. What turtles were the easiest to spot?

Notes:

Hello, here I am again. Mandatory excuse mistakes, though the first chapter isn't actually the first chapter. It's just the table of contents (which, let me tell you, it's a mess to format in here when you do it automatically with the word feature), because the whole story is already written. I'll edit it as I go, so let's see how many words this thing ends up with.

This is another personal one where I kind of dumped a lot of feelings. Since we live in that kind of world where you have to explain everything, I'll let you know that I don't have any physical disabilities aside from scoliosis. However, I have been living with disabled people my entire life. And I had the pleasure of meeting people in rehab centres focused on sports, which is something I'm passionate about. I also saw the people in the aftermath of life-changing injuries or accidents. It wasn't nice. But it affected my perception of disability greatly and, I like to think, for the better.

There are canon and non-canon disabilities here because I wanted the characters here and I wanted the veterans here. And I wrote about things I knew about because I saw them and listened. Levi's story is based on a real story, only the location is different. And since this is a modern AU, I imagined that the wounds on his face would get proper treatment and while his eyesight would be affected, maybe he'd keep some of it. And I live with CPTSD, so I know what I'm talking about on that one. And I've set the story in Bristol, UK, the city of my heart because I miss it and it made it easier to connect with stuff. And hey! For once, a story with a location!

Also, all the Ackermans are alive and thriving. I gave Mikasa's parents names, too. Just regular names. They're just regular names. And the Ackermans are a Jewish family whose customs have faded through the years. Right another tag I forgot, welp. My memory sucks. Generational trauma. Yeah. Another one I'm savvy on. I've seen many people headcanon the Ackermans as Jewish, so I hopped in on that for that one but didn't elaborate both because I felt like it made some sense, and also because I don't know much about the religion aside from the history of violence and the food.

I'm nervous about this story, really. I tried to tag everything (I'll tag the filth at the end when I post that chapter), and I know this is an accurate depiction of what it looks like. I planned for this to be a light-hearted short story but then chapter 139 happened and the ableism on Twitter dot hell really angered me, so it was no longer that light-hearted. The only things that are light-hearted, are the family moments, the friendships, and the way eruri fall in love.

These notes are long but I have this issue where I overexplain things and why I do them. I'll add more notes to the first chapter, which I'll post in a bit.

Chapter 1: Contents

Contents

 

Chapter 1 – Seeds 

I. What turtles are the easiest to spot? 

II. Arbitrary injustice and the walls around his heart 

III. The weather for tomorrow 

IV. Reconnecting under the weather, over the walls 

V. The weatherman who saw beyond the walls 

Chapter 2 – Budding 

I. Legally accessible, technically ridiculous 

II. Honesty Time at the Coffee Shop by the Quay 

III. Helios and his Golden Turtles 

Chapter 3 - Blooming 

I. Erwin’s Storm

II. The bumpy path, all the way up 

III. The Ackerman Family and their Love

Chapter 4 – Fruits 

I. Building confidence is harder than building strength 

II. The Turtles 

III. And love to the sound of Nina Simone 

Epilogue 

Notes:

I'm @homiro on Tumblr and I'm better at talking there. I read all comments on here, though.

I no longer use Twitter. Or xitter. Whatever that place is called now.