Say what you want
Just don’t say that you’re leaving
I hope this summer breeze
Will last more than a season
Will you write to me?
In time, we’ll see
Maybe spend your whole life with me
We’ve packed our suitcases
We’ve shut up all the windows
Hold tight
Soon you and I flow anywhere the wind blows
So make life to me
Hold tight to me
Stay awake the whole night with me
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Can I take your shirt to dry my tears?
Can I meet you here this time next year?
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
We could take a chance and disappear
We could run away, get out of here
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Wish you were here
I taste salt in the air
In your sweater that I sleep in
I dream of us riding bikes
At sunset by the ocean
Those were giddy days, lazy days
Sipping rosé, time to waste
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Can I take your shirt to dry my tears?
Can I meet you here this time next year?
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
We could take a chance and disappear
We could run away, get out of here
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Wish you were here
And if I leave here, you’re coming with me
If you leave here, I’m going with you
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Can I take your shirt to dry my tears?
Can I meet you here this time next year?
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
We could take a chance and disappear
We could run away, get out of here
Can I keep you as a souvenir?
Wish you were here
...so I guess I should probably post that summer-themed Moanida moodboard I made before summer’s actually over huh
Luckily, the songs that inspired this take place at the end of the summer anyways, so I guess it still works XD
Long story short, I finally got around to listening to the latest Avril Lavigne album a few months ago and for whatever reason both Souvenir and In Touch have huge Moanida vibes to me, so...I made a little modern AU about it!!! Fuck it, I haven’t made content for these girls in a while, so it’s long overdue.
Anyways, the basic story here is that Merida’s family, the wealthy heirs to some old, old, old money that supposedly comes from their Scottish monarch ancestors, often use the rather cushy funds to take lavish vacations. The summer after Merida turns 16, her mother sets her sights on the Polynesian isles, hoping for a relaxing three months of beach-lounging and daintily sipping classy drinks. Although Merida rolls her eyes at her mother’s lackluster vacation plans, she hopes that if Elinor is preoccupied enough in her suntanning quest (as fruitless as it is--Merida knows damn well their pale Scottish skin will go straight from pink to lobster-red), she won’t be paying much attention to her wandering daughter.
Then one day, after several hours of making sandcastles and then stomping on them to pass the time, Merida meets Moana Waialiki. Moana is a local, her family having lived on that very island for hundreds of years. Generation after generation, they’ve made a life right where they are, never seeing any reason to leave. Additionally, Moana’s people are wary of the dangers of the outside world--especially her father, who lost his best friend to a faraway accident that he didn’t get word of until months later.
Moana wants more. She isn’t content to stay cooped up on her town’s island, and dreams of one day being some sort of community organizer...or perhaps the captain of a tour boat. Anything that lets her meet lots of different people and gets her off the island. Merida can understand--she longs to be free of her parent’s strict rules and expectations, and wants to see and experience so much more than the small world they’ve built for her.
Before they know it, they’re sneaking off on adventures together. Moana’s parents are too busy with their town to pay much attention to where she is, while Elinor, bless all the powers that be, is also taking a vacation from micromanaging her daughter’s life, evidently.
Fergus, meanwhile, is honestly thrilled--his daughter finding someone with her same fire and stubbornness who she can truly be herself around is truly all he could have wanted. He loves his wife, but he knows how lonely Merida can be when she feels like no one really understands her. And Elinor’s sternness hardly helps matters.
They steal an entire summer together. Licking ice pops while meandering their way along jungle paths. Sipping cherry-pineapple cocktails smuggled to them by Moana’s rebellious cousin Maui. Sharing lavish fruit bowls, legs dangling into the fancy pool Elinor and Fergus blew tremendous funds to include as a resort add-on. Having beach picnics and biking across palm tree-covered cliffs. Feeding ever-growing “cool shell” collections. “Accidentally” straying off hiking trails and roaming uncharted parts of the island they’re definitely not supposed to be in. It’s full of mischief and hijinks and perhaps something just a little more than friendship sparking...and it’s the most magical summer either has ever had.
The end of that summer hits both of them hard. They hate the thought of being parted so much that they make a brief plan to run away together. It falls apart, of course--the island’s small enough that there’s nowhere to really go, and for all Moana’s boating dreams, no one’s ever actually taught her how to sail. So they do the next best thing--Moana gives Merida a sweater to remember her by, and Merida promises to do whatever it takes to convince her family to come back the following year.
Hope to make more content for these gals soon <3 I miss them!!!
Pic credits available upon request!