OK, so I'll openly admit to getting a little obsessed with this headcanon. But but but... My expanded theory on Hob as successor to Father Time and Dream as the next Night.
So the Why... Hob is Hope and Delight and Curiosity and all those things people have called him in abundance. But what this all accumulates to is he loves 'LIFETIME'. He appreciates the time he has. Every second of it! The good and the bad. The memories of the past, the everyday wonders of the present, the potential of the future. He doesn't waste a minute of it. He respects and revels in Time. It's his one true gift, Hob has Time and makes a masterpiece of it.
And the How... the Greeks, (who seem to be really up on their Endless know how in their own way) had three divine representations of time..
1.The first, Opportunity, luck and favorable moments.
2. The next level is Eternity, The Zodiac /The turning of time/months/seasons etc
3. Finally the Big Dog, Time itself.. Past, Present, Future
So we say that's the three stages a new Time will journey through.
Hob is literally 'birthed' as Time's successor through 'opportunity'. A case of gets cocky at the right place, right time and boom... In that instance, Death withholds her gift, and after some bargining with dear old dad. Father Time pours himself into Hob to stop the age and decay of his mortal body. Too much of himself. The process of one Time fading and one Time ascending begins!
Say from that point on the power of opportunity is Hobs, even though he doesn't know it. Things just work for him and those he cares about. Who's ever side he's fighting on in a battle 'will' win. The printing press for example, he joins it as a no hope career then it explodes! Hob just puts it down to good luck and a can do attitude.
By the End of the 1500s he's slowly evolving into the next stage, Eternity. Learning to respect the natural cycle of time, the change of the seasons, with life comes death...Yeah, this stage starts with a hard lesson.
So by this point, the power of life, memory and time are all slowly building up within Hob. Every turn of the wheel that passes for him, it grows. Now this could take centuries to come to fruition. But over the years, not that he'd notice, say, the seasons seem to be perfect wherever he goes. His memory, even as an immortal shouldn't be able to withtain everything he's been through. But he has perfect recall of everything from 1389 onwards. Maybe people around him get that little extra boost for experiencing life in the time they have. I also love the idea of the embodiements of the Zodiac being at his unknowing beck and call. He's sat talking to a crab and is like, "Let's have a good July this year. What do you think little crab?" And Cancer replies in crab... 'Ofcourse my liege!' and skuttles off to see to it immediately.
Final stage, Time itself. Learning to be and master Past, Present and Future... Where the fun really starts.
Hob waking up a different age every day of the week until he gets a handle on it.
Accidentally trapping himself in a time loop beacuse he was so focused on how a situation could have played out better.
Wishing he could have been there to help Dream and suddenly find himself standing outside of Fawney Rig in the 1920. And having seen enough movies to know he can't change anything. Even though he wants to more then anything.
Sneezing too hard and ending up in a different universe 100 years in the future. And having to call on a very white and definitely not 'his' Dream of the Endless to find his way back.
Hob may be starting to realise somethings a miss by now...
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As for Dream becoming Night. Of all the Endless Siblings, Dream is the closest in function to Mother Night. While you can certainly dream during the day. Sleep and Night generally go hand in hand. He also seems to have taken for her the most in appearance if those starry eyes are anything to go by..
But well, the moment Hob decided, 'That's the anthropomorphic personification I'm going to marry!' his fate was sealed. Time HAS to have a Night. Mummy dearest is now slowly on the wane as her power slowly passes to her son.
I doubt Dream would notice any major changes for a while. He's got a lot on his plate to contend with after all. But maybe little things...
One morning he's snuggling with Hob and the dawn sunlight beams straight into his eyeballs. And Dream thinks, 'Go away...' And suddenly it's night again until his highness deems it time to get up.
The Stars in their masses start to visit the Dreaming to pay their respects to Dream. Which is all very nice, but he has absolutely no idea why its happening.
Dream is regarding himself in the mirror and notices his skin is starting to ever so slighlty sparkle. Thinks, 'I am getting old, I'm turning into my Mother.' Yup, quite literally duck. π
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Then we come to the events of 'The Wake'. But a different kind of death awaits Dream, that of transformation. Daniel becomes Dream, Dream becomes Night. Hob ascends as the new Time... And Father Time and Mother Night's A* parenting comes back to bite them in some truly cosmic level karma.
