….I had an epiphany about Present Mic’s quirk.
His quirk is described as this: “Present Mic’s Quirk allows him to increase the volume of his voice, giving him the ability to create loud high pitched sounds.” And yeah, the way the high-pitched sounds are created are with the help of the vocal cords. Very important pieces of his anatomy, must be protected.
But it isn’t just the vocal cords that his quirk lies in.
It’s also his lungs.
Ever heard a baby start crying really loud and thought to yourself, “Man, that little thing has some powerful lungs!” That’s because all the power of the scream is in the lungs.
In order for vocal cords to vibrate and thus allow us to talk, sing, hum, ect, air has to pass through them. As we all know, that air is provided by the lungs. If anyone has tried to talk as long as they possibly could without taking a breath, you know that the vocal control and volume greatly diminishes after too long without proper air. It’s the same with trying to hold a note or screaming.
If Present Mic didn’t have the lung power to back up his quirk then there’d be nothing impressive about it at all. He’d almost be considered quirkless, just with very sturdy vocal cords.
“Okay, so why is his quirk both lungs AND vocal cords?” Easy answer: because the vocal cords can get damaged very, very easily.
There’s the term “screaming yourself hoarse”. Vocal cords that do too much too fast or too long will wear themselves down. Usually drinking some water helps - proper lubrication can help the way the cords rub together and create less damaging friction. That’s why we see public speakers or comedians with glasses or bottles of water with them. I also have a cat that has had a permanant change to her voice because she had to be kept in a small room with no shelves (because of a surgery) for 24 hours and spent the entire time wailing to be let out; her vocal cords took a lot of damage during that time (yes I feel awful but it was better than having to send her back for surgery for a third time just because she tore her stitches).
Heck, even just trying to speak with laryngitis will damage vocal cords since the air causes the cords too much friction - it’s even too dangerous to whisper. Doctors everywhere recommend not speaking while recovering from laryngitis to prevent just that.
So. With that in mind, let’s remember that Present Mic was born with his quirk. The hospital staff and his parents all had their eardrums blown out the second his airways were clear. That means his lungs were set for and incredible and impossible output at all of a minute old.
If his vocal cords weren’t up to snuff at such a young and dlicate age, he’d have lost his voice then and there, and therefore would have never become the Voice Hero we all know and love.
To recap: Present Mic has very sturdy vocal cords due to his quirk, but all the power of his quirk comes from the lungs.
…Now because I am an awful person… Some people so far have made it that when his quirk gets cancelled, he stops talking.
What if. With this knowledge. When his quirk gets cancelled.
He stops breathing…?
