My Eliksni/Fallen obsession

Uhh more headcannons

I'm hoping that since I've been inactive so long on here this'll be a safe place for me to start sharing my headcannons again... Hopefully..

Anyway, I wanted to share a headcannon for something I don't see people sharing their headcannons about, molting!

I also go along with the idea Eliksni have biology similar to crabs/crustaceans, and along with that includes that as long as they can molt and are healthy enough they can pretty much live forever. I imagine when Eliksni are younger they'll molt more often and when they're older it's like every few years instead of once or twice a year. The best way I can describe what I think shed carapace would be like is brittle plastic, like poking at it won't break it but if you were to grab it with both hands and bend it would break. The shed skin just flakes off so there's not much I have to say about it.

When an Eliksni is about to molt they'll get very dry and their colors will become duller as the shedding carapace separates from the new carapace, when the old carapace is ready to come off it'll either just fall off or in some cases if it gets stuck it'll need to be pried off of the new piece, if stuck pieces are not removed excessive movement can cause the stuck piece to shatter or snap, potentially harming the new piece. For their skin it'll get dull as well, drying out and getting flaky as the new skin grows. Bathing is very important for Eliksni who are molting, as it makes the process easier and, in a way, safer. Once an Eliksni is done molting they'll be very vibrant for awhile until the pigments in their carapace and skin return to normal through exposure to air, sun, and other things.

While molting is something natural I imagine it can be triggered by outside forces, like sudden influxes or decreases in Ether, wounds that aren't healing right, and I imagine in some cases stress might cause and Eliksni to molt. These non-natural molts would probably be painful and uncomfortable, sometimes causing more harm than good.

Uhh this is all I can think of rn so I might add more or post some more later

I hope whoever reads this enjoys my rambling and doesn't rag on me heh