this is basically just me thinking Herc is REALLY cool for an entire chapter
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[ design hcs ]
- he,,,, he has paw pads. you can't convince me otherwise
- when he was a baby/young teen, his ears overlapped. think of a German Shepherd puppy, like that-
- when xena was gone, his eyes became more dull and less vibrant/crystal blue. after her return, his eyes have started gaining saturation again
- it's faint, but if you look closely there are paler splotches of skin around his chin/jaw and down his chest. you know how wolves usually have a lighter muzzle/underbelly? like that-
- he has silverish/gray wing markings under his eye's waterlines - they aren't that obvious, since they blend in with his eyelashes, but they're there
- this is stupid but why do I feel like Herc has rows of teeth like a shark's but also like,,, they're all pointy and needle-esque. like a bat's
- can,,,,,,,,, can he fly with his seraphim wings????? or are they spectral projections so they aren't really usable?? I like the idea of him being able to at least glide using a combo of his wind abilities + his wings
- idk about this one but I like the idea that he wears a lot of rings. he likes the shiny
- after certain attacks/during his finishing attack, his wings will appear automatically - usually as an instinctive attempt at intimidation
- he's so used to looking down/leaning to get under doorways that his natural posture is slightly hunched-
//
[ behavior + habit hcs ]
- since he grew up with people who were a lot smaller than him, he eventually developed a habit of speaking softly and being incredibly careful with his surroundings. that doesn't mean he doesn't smack his head on a doorway every once in a while bc he wasn't paying attention though-
- when he's stressed he overbakes. like imagine walking into the kitchen and there's just,,, hundreds of full baking trays with different pastries
he is completely oblivious to this. if you asked him if he was okay during this, he'd just go "yeah why do you ask" while putting another tray in the oven
someone help him
- he fidgets with his hands or sleeves when he's idle for too long
- when cuddling with xena and not really saying or doing anything else, he's developed a habit of either playing with her hair or quietly studying her scar markings/stitch scars. she probably does the same with him tbh-
- I,,,, I feel like he can breathe underwater bc of his water abilities. or at the very least hold his breath for super long bc he's part turtle. anyways I like to think he sits at the bottom of pools for like an hour just to scare his family-
- he feels bad whenever he accidentally scares someone-
- he used to chew on his knuckles/claws till they bled, either when he was younger or when xena was gone
- he has a cute habit of lifting anyone he hugs a bit. if it's Xena, he just- picks her up-
- he befriends random animals he finds on the street, and then gets unnecessarily attached-
same-
//
[ combat + misc hcs ]
- when using his sword, he swings it similarly to a claymore; large, heavy swings with a lot of jumping, and a lot of spinning the blades so he doesn't stab himself. see the video below for a reference as to what I'm talking about.
- if you think you can get away from him by jumping into water if he's set on killing you, you are,,, sO dead. this bitch is a jack of all trades, and he's more deadly in water bc of his familiarity with the element, plus the fact he's literally semi-aquatic [I think]-
- I think the only area you'd be safe from him is somewhere high up, where his teleporting abilities can't reach. but he'd probably be able to knock you down using his wind abilities-
- I like to think he finds the water element more comforting and fun to use, considering the two family members he's closest with are water/ice elements (Harms & Middy, if I recall correctly?)
- he's???? weirdly flexible??????? I can see him mimicking xena's habit of contorting herself to kick certain targets full force- but slightly scarier bc,,, it's herc-
- when fighting hand-to-hand combat, he aims to knock his opponent out rather than kill them. unless they've done something worthy of being killed [r@pe, abuse, targeting a child, etc]. then he just mauls them-
- delmira helped him customize his sword. you can't convince me otherwise-
- there's no real reason behind his fear of printers other than he just,,, hates the sound they make???
- he likes being in trees and high places in general-
- he adopted the habit of head-bonking family members as a sign of affection from the Panthras- specifically middy & bax, who do it as a greeting-
- he does song covers sometimes- mostly quiet/solemn comfort songs-
- his skin is really cold to the touch????
- it's just occurred to me that if herc's skin being cold is canon, then herc & xena are literally just,,, thermodynamic equilibrium. his skin is cold, her skin is abnormally warm,,, it's balanced-
- when he listens to music by himself he does that cute little sway-from-side-to-side thing- I guess like Sundrop's animation but less exaggerated-
- he likes dullcore/dull blue aesthetics/light academia-
- he's probably fostered a lot of stray animals/rescued animals he finds on the street-
- he can sew :D mostly stuffed animals/tears and such in clothes, though-
//
okay- uh- that's all I got so far lmao-
