Alright so after having looked through hypnos’ new design I have something to say. The poppies.
So I’ve already seen someone post about this ( @blamethecows-draws ) and yes!! Poppies do symbolize his son, but they are also closely related to Hypnos himself. Now I’m not sure how they were in terms of Ancient Greece (unfortunately my Ancient Greece knowledge is shaky at best), but I am aware of this particular painting from 1874: Sleep and his Half-Brother Death
In this painting, Hypnos (depicted closest to the audience) holds a few poppies in his hand. Poppies, to my knowledge, were flowers that symbolized not only him as a god, but also death (hence why Thanatos is there too)
What’s interesting, though, is that poppies also symbolize a hope for a more peaceful/calm future. I think that this potentially could tie into the whole PLOT of the game, which is trying to take down the calamity that Kronos has caused
So tldr: poppies symbolize death, the God Hypnos, and hope for a calm future, which is kinda the whole plot of Hades II
Some notes about this that I think are interesting. In low approval he's unnaturally still and doesn't blink. Not even once. He's turned slightly away from them like he's ready to attack or run at any second. He's fully alert and on guard. He does NOT trust tav.
In high approval he literally slow blinks like a cat and sways back and forth a little like he's giddy to talk to tav. He literally can't stop smiling even at the expense of looking a little silly :3
He shows complete trust and absolutely adores them. Either platonically or romantically.
Just some details that I think are really cool and show how much thought the devs put into these interactions. Even though most of the time we can't even see the faces he makes when talking to him.