Say When is a fanvid manip by YouTube creator LoveAndHeartbreak, who specializes in bittersweet and tragic stories… and this is no exception. The video details a love triangle between Jim from Treasure Planet and Ariel and Melody from the The Little Mermaid (1989) franchise, set to The Fray's "Say When."
Jim is a sailor whose ship docks in a new kingdom, ruled by King Eric, Queen Ariel, the Princess Melody. He spots Melody swimming by the docks, and it's love at first sight. Melody invites him to a ball that night, and from that moment on Jim stays in the palace as the royal family's guest.
However, things grow more complicated when Jim discovers that Eric is having an affair, and after he shows kindness and concern to Ariel, she starts to develop feelings for him as well.
It can be watched here.
Not to be confused with the video game or series of the same name.
Say When contains:
- Age Lift: In their respective movies, Melody and Jim are teenagers. Here, they are young adults.
- Crossover: Between several films, but most prominently Treasure Planet and The Little Mermaid (1989).
- Ambiguous Situation: Eric and the revolution. He's shown grabbing a sword immediately before the revolutionaries break into his and Ariel's room, and leaning against a wall and smiling as she's taken, leading to the idea that he was behind the revolution. But then he disappears from the video entirely while Ariel and Melody appear for a few more scenes, and a shot of revolutionaries in town shows "Down with the king!" carved in a nearby wall, implying he was not behind it, nor spared.
- Diabolus ex Machina: The video suddenly becomes a lot grimmer when suddenly the kingdom citizens declare revolution and storm the palace, attacking the royal family.
- Downer Ending: Revolutionaries imprison Ariel and Melody, and the two are killed when the fire from their burning palace reaches barrels of gunpowder and blows up their cell. Eric's fate is left unknown, but it's likely he was killed as well. Jim survives, but has to live with the knowledge that he was never honest about his feelings for either woman, and now both of them are gone.
- Hypocrite: Ariel calls out Eric for confronting her about her feelings for another man when he himself has been cheating on her with other women for years.
- Love Triangle: Melody and Ariel both love Jim. Jim loves Melody at the beginning of the video, then his feelings slowly shift towards Ariel instead, though he refuses to act on them.
- May–December Romance: Downplayed; Ariel and Jim have feelings for one another that they can't act on, for multiple reasons. Jim is a young adult, Ariel is his girlfriend's mother.
- The Mistress: Odette is this for Eric; it's unknown if she's a member of nobility or not, but he's been seeing her for years.
- The Oldest Profession: To cope with his feelings for Ariel, Jim goes to a brothel and seeks out a woman with red hair (portrayed by Jessica) so he can imagine her as Ariel.
- Personal Effects Reveal: While walking through the burned remains of the palace, Jim is only able to find a ruined picture of Ariel and Melody, confirming to the audience that they didn't make it.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Ariel is a married woman who falls in love with her daughter's boyfriend; she's shown in a sympathetic light due to not only being a lonely woman whose own husband cheats on her as well, but also because she never acts on said feelings, not wanting to ruin her daughter's relationship.
- Transplanted Character Fic: Like many fanvids of its kind, Say When is not meant to actually represent the characters used, but rather uses them as "animated actors."
- Uncertain Doom: Eric disappears from the plot after revolutionaries storm the palace. Considering the palace is set on fire and “Down with the king!” is seen on a wall, it’s safe to say it didn’t end well for him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Odette's fate is left entirely unknown, it's possible she survived the revolution, but that would depend on how close to the king she was.
- Your Cheating Heart: Eric has been seeing Odette on the side, something Ariel has known about for a long time but is unable to argue against. Later, Ariel begins to fall in love with Jim, despite being married to Eric.
