#(why does bivalvan call galagagus ‘amphiban face’ in ‘escape from aggregor’???)

[whatudottu]

Been thinking randomly about breathing headcanons specifically for Ra’ad and Bivalvan, because unlike Andreas and Galapagus who are based on land animals (ignoring the sea turtle look of galapagus’ arms) and P’andor just being a fucky mess of radiation in a probably plasma state, thinking about how our ‘fish-out-of-water’s can walk and talk without losing ‘breath’.

So… yeah-! I’m gonna talk about that.

I’m going to start with Bivalvan first - mainly because I was inspired to jot this down thanks to him, Water Hazard and Orishan biology as a whole - and I’m going to tie how he breaths with his power; water production. On that note, I’m changing the context a little by now calling it water STORAGE, where Orishan can intake water and hold it in their bodies so they have a built in tank for land living. I suppose the concept there is reverse lungs, though taking inspiration from clams themselves, these water pockets are lined with gills that further filter the water for oxygen sipping. As an added bonus, another carry over from clams, is hairlike cilia that allows for water to flow over gills and compensate for the significant lack of ocean currents helping breathing.

I can see this evolution being initially a passive ability, a uh… utility skill that got folks out of the ocean and onto land, or perhaps off the ocean floor and into drier, predator free sea caves with pockets of air. It IS simply an increased and more importantly improved system (at least for their evolutionary path) of their already existent water lungs, it’s just been further adapted to more effectively store water. Then when push came to shove and other folk took to land, early ancestors of the modern Orishan and a few of their evolutionary cousins (whether close, distant or convergent) may have turned that ability to a natural defence system; outside of just armour of course. The cilia could help - especially if they’ve strengthened from use - in redistribution, though of course muscles would be the primary method of uh… water shooting.

Whether or not this affects the voice at all only really depends where you put the pockets and how the vocal chords get affected by the water, but hearing how Water Hazard seems to talk as if underwater and Bivalvan doesn’t -or at least to a lesser degree - kinda influenced me to take the water storage route, especially since clam gills serve duo purpose as filter feeders thanks once more to the cilia. Being the Omnitrix, Ben gets provided the necessary amount of water to not die as an Orishan, but for Bivalvan who do NOT have a life support AI built into his arm, he needs to hydrate himself.

I’m thinking because, since this is like one of the most important functions of a land dweller - regardless if full-time or not - years of evolution probably means those pockets can house a days worth of land walking. Yes, if not refreshed, ‘air’ quality will reduce - either by use (shooting a motherfucker with a jet or two of water) or just because you’re breathing your own breath - but one won’t die. Drinking (whether with face or with hands, depending on whether it’s a one-way stream or a two-way) water or just soaking in it - that being far more effective - will ensure for consistent quality of breathing water.

Sleeping in water is a MUST, so Bivalvan may have to skip out on polycule snuggles, but he won’t be alone in that regard with Ra’ad around. And, because Orishan gills are heavily based on clam gills, sleeping in a well prepared body of water doesn’t just deal with breathing. Thanks to the cilia, as stated multiple times throughout my headcanoning, is that they serve a dual purpose of creating flow for water to crest along gills AND snag onto foodstuffs (zoo plankton and organic material) within the water itself and filter feed. So essentially- Bivalvan eats when he sleeps, and since they’re already in need of like… setting up a ‘bed’ to sleep in that has special requirements, ‘bed bugs’ are actually kinda wanted??? If an Orishan eats through the day, it’s almost an equivalent to midnight snack even if they’re naturally awake during the day; there’s a lot to eat and little burn to sleep, so the energy is built up and stored for the waking hours.

Now, for Ra’ad, I looked towards squids and - for shits and giggles - amphibians for reference (besides- in ‘escape from aggregor’ it was RA’AD who was complaining about breathing, so i might as well work with that). Squids in real life have gills imbedded within the mantle, their head, but the most interesting thing about amphibians is that there are multiple ways they can breath; through the skin, through their lungs and in some types through gills, as well as a variety of combinations such as one or the other, both lungs and gills, or depending on well… WHAT they’re breathing.

Before I get to my amphibian inspired breathing idea, I will focus on squid gills for the time being. Since squid gills are internal and - unlike clam gills - lack cilia, they have to pump water through their mantle themselves to create the flow most water breathers get from simply moving. This, translating to Amperi biology, would mean that they a more active in breathing than just storing water in reverse lungs since they themselves intake ‘air’ and expel anything unneeded. Gills though, do require water to work because otherwise they dry and stick together, which overall kinda works against the whole ‘large surface area low mass’ benefit needed to filter oxygen out from water, so Amperi need a little alternative for air breathing.

Here’s where the amphibian elements come in. While Amperi are by far more aquatic than amphibious, they still have made adaptations to breath on land. And that adaptation is skin breathing. An element common amongst skin breathing amphibians, notably frogs, is doing so through the moisture on their skin, and frogs themselves do this by being covered in mucous. Many ocean dwellers have adapted to use mucous in their own ways, so even if Amperi still have a significant preference for aquatic life, it’s not an ability at risk of completely devolving. In certain free-floating species, mucous-meshes are used to graze for food, and seeing as though I headcanon that Amperi younglings are rather small - at least in comparison to fully grown adult sizes - it takes away the early stress of ‘getting good’ at hunting for food and just gather plankton, zoo or otherwise, to allow for an easy access meal.

Mucous has also been used in many spaces as a protection from bacteria and such-like, so even when adulthood comes around and oops know you’ve got enough brain to know how to find food, that mucous coating can turn into a natural barrier to opportunistic little microbes - land or sea - as well as a ticket to skin breathing. Sipping air through wet mucous skin helps provide an Amperi’s gills the moistness they need, especially if they’re still running under the need for gills rather than evolving a set of lungs, they are after all more inclined to the water than to land regardless of their adaptations. Of course, Ra’ad would still need a lot of water and other nutrients to keep that mucous coating from drying up, but when you’re an aquatic lifeform that’s just inherent in the job description; hydrate or diedrate in the most literal sense.

Back on the topic of sleeping, Ra’ad also needs to nap in water, even if he’s a little more lenient so long as his skin is damp. Maybe a minor snooze is okay on land, but if he’s spent the entire day up and out and strictly no water time outside of sipping it, yeah go the fuck to the sea bed my dude. I like to imagine that he and Bivalvan get to share a ‘bed’ because they both need the water- but you might remember my headcanon on Orishan needing some zooplankton and organic material to snack on while they sleep, and how a more active breather like Amperi would deal with that. Well, that’s simple, it’s the mucous again. Young Amperi may have used mucous to help them eat zoo/plankton, adults use muscous to help stop the tiny little buggers from getting into their much larger adult gills. Besides, Ra’ad doesn’t have to worry too much ANYWAY because where he breathes is already hidden under his layered mantle, it’s just an extra layer of defence for the determined zoo/plankton.

This is a breathing headcanon thing so I’m not focusing on like- what the dudes need to sleep in and how there’s like different standards of sanitation. Just fucken uh… making them morning showerers and move on- all I’m after here is how they do and technically don’t sip air and stay hydrated while doing so.

And that’s all I have on breathing headcanons. A lot of this was bullshitting with like… constant googling on how clam and squid gills work to like… figure out the logic that I was gonna piece together. Actually looking into amphibians did help with Amperi even if like- they’re not- in any way, shape or form-

Uh…….. thanks for reading :)