“I have missed you so much,” said Vic as he opened his panel on the Saturday of MCM Birmingham Comic Con (the last time he was at MCM Birmingham was November 2014). “It’s been too long,” he added as a packed audience had come to see him. There were questions on Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, RWBY, as well as a few requests. Vic did not stay confined to the stage either, as he walked out into the audience taking questions from his fans. “I want to come out there and see all of you guys,” he said.

The first question he took from an attendee simply asked, “Original or Brotherhood?”
“Ooh, you nasty girl,” responded Vic. “That’s a nasty question!” While he felt that almost everyone liked Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, he said that he had a soft spot for the original series. “You know how they always say you never forget your first love, right? Well Fullmetal, the first one, was the one where I met all of these characters and this world. For me, I kind of have to say the first series was my favourite.”

Keeping with Fullmetal Alchemist, there was then a request that resulted in Vic having to explain the popularity of the line, “Colonel Mustang is dead sexy in a mini skirt.”
“Years ago we were at a convention; me and Travis Willingham, who plays Mustang, and Aaron Dismuke who plays Alphonse,” said Vic. He explained how someone in the audience wanted them to say something nice about each other’s characters. “Aaron said something nice about me, and Travis said something nice about Aaron. Then it was my turn to say something nice about Colonel Mustang. So I said, ‘Colonel Mustang is dead sexy…’ But you can’t just leave it there, because Ed has to make it an insult, right? So I decided to add, ‘in a miniskirt.’ I didn’t think anything about it. But then, it started! Every convention we went to, everybody asked us to say, ‘Colonel Mustang is dead sexy in a you-know-what.’ To the point where they started asking other voice actors to say it. And these poor other voice actors are like, ‘WHAT DOES THIS EVEN MEAN!? Why are you making me say this?’”

Vic gave an example, explaining how Aaron Dismuke was at a convention and attendees asked him to say the line. “He called me on the phone,” recalled Vic. “He’s like, ‘They want me to say the mini skirt line.’ I’m like ‘Don’t do it man! DON’T DO IT!’ He said it. He did not listen to his older brother. Two weeks later, he called me and he said, ‘They won’t let me stop saying it!’ He was at another convention and they all just bombarded him with it. So we try not to say that anymore, for obvious reasons.”

Vic was then asked about when he was working on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and if there was anything he would have told his younger self when he first voiced Ed. “Wow, what a great question,” said Vic. He noted that when he first started working on the show, he didn’t know anything about it. “I kind of fell in love with it over the course of the show,” he added. “I had fallen in love with the original so much that I was just elated at the opportunity to play the character again. So I savoured it much more.” He felt that he probably wouldn’t have done anything differently, but was worried about Brotherhood, for the original series set such a high benchmark. “Whenever they make a sequel to anything, often times it’s not that good. They’re trying to make more off of the original, and it’s never as good as the original. But when I heard that they followed the manga, and a lot of you guys told me that the manga was really wonderful, that made me feel a little better about it.”

There was then another request, as Vic was asked if he could do the commoners coffee line from Ouran High School Host Club. “The other line that will never die,” joked Vic as he asked the girl (Sophie) who made the request to come up to the stage and act the scene out with him. He then set the scene for those unfamiliar. “Sophie is going to play the role of a young lady who has come to the Host Club, and Tamaki, the host, wants to try commoners coffee, because he’s never tried it before. He thinks it’ll be amazing to try it. And this girl is afraid, and this is how it went down:
Sophie: I’m scared to drink this. I think my father will yell at me.
Vic: Then what if I let you drink it… from my mouth?
Sophie: Then I’ll drink it.”

Vic was then asked what his favourite line was as Qrow Branwen from RWBY. He didn’t have one, but revealed how he first met Rooster Teeth during a convention in Australia and saw artwork for the show there. It wasn’t till they both arrived back in the US that they offered him a role on the show as Ruby’s uncle Qrow. “I recorded all of Qrow’s lines, in Los Angles, alone, in my home,” he said. “I’ve never got the chance to actually go to Austin with Rooster Teeth and record. So I have so much fun when I get to actually meet them.”

The next question was related to his character Rin Matsuoka from Free!, simply asking who Vic would ship Rin with. Vic shook his head, saying, “I don’t. Rin is married to the swimming pool. If I could ship Rin with anybody it would be a shark.” He then mentioned that when he was young he actually had a pet shark.

Asked on his opinion on the ending of Ouran High School Host Club, Vic said, “If I had a million dollars, you know what I would do? I would personally make another season of Ouran High School Host Club.” There were cheers from the audience. “I love Host Club so much. You know the manga keeps going, right? Haruhi goes to college and they all follow her to college.” He also mentioned how there had been the occasional online rumours about a second season. He quashed them by saying that he does not think they are true, but if it ever happened, he would love to do it.

A question from the audience then had Vic being asked which three characters from Fullmetal Alchemist he would choose to be stranded on a desert island with. Vic laughed, then said, “Okay, I have to pick my brother [Alphonse], he’s got to be in it. And then, how could I not pick Winry? Because you got to have a beautiful girl around and a good friend, so she’s both. And when Ed finally discovers girls, he’s going to want Winry around. And then my last choice…” Vic actually took a moment to really think about this before finally saying, “I want to say Lust. I’m not going to say Lust, but I want to say it. Because what’s better than one girl? Two girls, right?” Vic then justified his final choice, saying, “If things got really bad on the island, and Ed needed to transmute something, if he needed material for an alchemy in order to survive, he would need as much material as possible. So I’m going to say Gluttony. Because he would provide the most material.”

Vic was reminded how he is often asked what he is currently working on, so he brought his phone out and read a long list that included the following:
Unbreakable Machine-Doll
Space Dandy
Karneval
Tokyo Ravens
Magi
Sailor Moon
Rock Lee
Free!
Brothers Conflict
Durarara!!
Black Butler (this got the biggest cheer from the audience, which promoted Vic to stop reading as he told the audience, “Oh behave!”)
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Rage of Bahamut
Show By Rock!!
RWBY
Miraculous Ladybug
Escaflowne
Fairy Tail
Strike Witches
Garo: Crimson Moon
Charlotte
Digimon
Rio: Rainbow Gate
Charger Girl Juden-chan
God Hater
Battle Battalions
World of Warcraft
Asterisk War
Star Trek Online
Mobile Legends
Skip Beat
Seven Knights
One Punch Man
Ruruoni Kenshin
Danganronpa (this also drew significant screams)
Sonic the Hedgehog
Orange
Yuri on Ice
Joker Game
League of Legends
One Piece

Vic also added that there are a couple more he’s not allowed to talk about yet.

Following this an attendee said, “I don’t have a question, but I have a gift for you.”
“You have a gift for me?” said Vic as he walked over to them. “Thank you. What did you do?” He was given chocolate. In return, Vic decided to sing a bit of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ to the attendee. “Thank you for the gift,” he told her. “Do you have a question?”
“No, just a gift,” she said.
“Just a present?” said Vic. “This is the best day ever! I don’t even have to answer a question and I get chocolate.”

This then reminded Vic of something. “Speaking of chocolate… you bastards… keeping Cadbury all to yourselves!” He mentioned that he had visited Cadbury World yesterday, took lots of photos, and had so much fun. “I love Crunchie. Make a note, if you find a Crunchie bar, I will buy it from you. I want Crunchie!”

The next question was a request, as Vic was asked, “Would you do a Rick and Morty quote in Qrow’s voice?”
“I hate you” Vic told the attendee. He then laughed and asked for a good quote, since he does not watch Rick and Morty. “It’s your question man, you must know.”
After a few seconds, Vic said, as Qrow, “Stick those seeds right up your butt Morty.” And he didn’t just say it once, but twice.

Vic was then asked what his favourite song was when he was a kid. He revealed that he started playing the piano when he was a teenager. “I really loved all of the songwriters who played the piano. Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Elton John. I love those guys. But way before that, I loved The Carpenters. That woman’s voice [Karen Carpenter] will melt anyone’s heart.” He revealed that his mother had all of The Carpenters records and he would play them all the time. He then started singing the first few lines from We’ve Only Just Begun.

The final question came from an attendee cosplaying as Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club. “My Haruhi,” sang Vic, who then followed this up by saying. “Daddy loves you!” However, the question happened to be a request, as she asked Vic if he would dance for her. Vic then requested that she join him on stage so that they could both dance together. “Can we have some nice pretty music?” asked Vic. “Play something quick, we’re out of time!” The tech crew decided to play Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk. “What the hell?” said Vic as soon as he heard what was playing. Nevertheless, they made the most of it and decided to close the panel by dancing on stage.

Originally published on MyM Buzz on 24 March 2016.