Le Grand Coup de Téléphone

So, SacAnime is tomorrow, and J. Michael Tatum is going to be there. (For those of you who don’t know, J. Michael Tatum voices France from Hetalia, Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler, Kyoya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club, and a bunch more characters. Look him up.) I met him two SacAnimes ago (before I was so wickedly obsessed with Hetalia), and he was very sweet. Actually my favorite moment of the con, better than the vendors’ room or the autographs or anything else, was when this girl stood at the microphone during the J. Michael Tatum panel, and said something along the lines of, “my best friend loves Hetalia, but she has poor self-image and sometimes she self-harms.” Upon hearing the phrase “self-harm,” half of the audience physically shrank back in their seats. Mr. Tatum leaned forward a little, his expression abruptly serious, and said, “okay…” The girl continued by asking if JMT would call her best friend (who could not make it to the con) and tell her that she is beautiful. She asked if he could do it in his France voice.
Mr. Tatum didn’t even hesitate. He told her that of course he would call her friend, and what was her name?
My mouth may have dropped open by this point, because I was so startled and touched by the whole thing. I held my breath as JMT made the call, and the best friend answered the phone. (She was on speaker.)
“‘Allo~!” “France” greeted her cheerfully. She was like, “who is this??” and JMT was like, “eet ees France!” and she was like, “oh my God” and she started laughing. Everything “France” told her after that was… well, it was just the absolute perfect thing to say. The two were not on the phone long, but their conversation was long enough for the best friend to hear that she is beautiful, and to please be kind to herself, and that she makes the world plus belle. That may not seem like a lot to you, but when you hear those words from a character whom you treasure and know so well that he is almost family to you, well… it helps. It really helps.