#idk just some disjointed thoughts abt his childhood

[limitlessscion]

HCs; Satoru's childhood is, unsurprisingly, unconventional even for one born to a major clan. A child with both the Six Eyes and Limitless only appears every several centuries, and from the moment he was born his life was laid out for him.

i. There's an entire stack of ancient scrolls detailing the process of raising such a child and his upbringing is a formal affair for the entire clan. Lists of the challenges he would face and how to help him overcome them, the glyphs needed to ward his room to train a child to acclimate to the Six Eyes, and mountains of writings on the application of the Limitless technique.

The Gojo clan faced a unique difficulty with their most prized inherited technique, in that knowledge could only be passed down in such a way across vast stretches of time, with no possibility of in-person training.

ii. Satoru was not his parents' son, but the clan's Scion. He was given a great amount of respect and care, his every need taken care of.

He was treasured, but he was not loved.

iii. His parents had been part of a minor offshoot branch of the Gojo clan before Satoru's birth elevated their status. Satoru does not feel any particular attachment to them that is stronger than he feels for any other adult in the clan; in a way they were less involved in his life than the servants who did a majority of the childcare.

His older siblings had a more typical childhood, being directly raised by their parents

iv. He had been a willful child, understanding from an incredibly young age that he had greater power to impose his will upon the world than all other people. He was a nightmare for his handlers who were unable to make him do anything he did not want to do, but he did well in his studies and training regardless, having a keen interest and talent in all matters of Sorcery, validating every claim of his prodigy status.

As he grew older and they had more experience handling him, they found that he responded very well to rewards in the form of entertainment media, which he formed strong hyperfixations on. Manga volumes and access to video games became the typical bargaining chip to ensure his best behaviour.

[birb-tangleblog]

Hello! I've been wondering what the origins of each of the members of the Brotherhood could be. Like, if they are native to the Dark Kingdom, if they are noblemen/peasants... What do you think?

Hi anon!! Thanks for the ask!

I tend to headcanon that Adira and Hector are both orphans in some way, and probably share pretty similar backgrounds- just with Adira having more social/community support, and at least some people who looked out for her, while Hector was left on his own.

And I think that's prob a pretty common take, but like with Hector in particular (and Adira, to a lesser extent) I think it's honestly just hard to imagine someone with a well-adjusted, stable upbringing growing to be so extreme and intensely dedicated to their cause.

(Like if you assume Edmund or another royal took Hector in, gave him a home, fed him, and made him into who he is, then of course he's going to put him on a pedestal and not want to go against him. In comparison, Adira and Quirin having more external support and a wider perspective gives them more to base their sense of identity off of. And you can kinda see how that plays out w/ where they each ended up.

+ I think Hector having that added emotional baggage to unpack is interesting. ANYWAY-)

So my take is that both Hector and Adira were orphans, who became wards of the DK after someone saw a spark of potential in them and gave them the offer to begin training as squires.

Before that, I think Adira did have people in her life who loved her- parents, extended family, or other members of her culture/community- but they just weren't able to take care of her, or they passed away. Maybe she left so as to not be a burden on them? With Hector, idk if I think his bio parents even died early on so much as they just didn't want him- him being a street kid is my hc.

They lived at the castle (where they met Quirin), received an education, and worked their way up to knighthood/formal initiation into the Brotherhood. I imagine Brotherhood training is... a very encompassing and rigorous process, so that exp prob brought the three of them together, and their bond helped them to succeed. :>

I think it'd make sense if they met as little bby knights adjusting to their new lives, but I'm also very fond of the idea that Adira and Hector knew each other prior? And were this pair of urchins scraping by together. Only ever having each other to depend on really just adds to that childhood best friends, "nothing will ever come between us" dynamic that I'm a sucker for. And it makes for an enduring bond- there's obvs still a lot btwn them even so many years later.

The Flynn book also gave us Maeve! And I'm totally here for her being this figure in their upbringing later on- a matronly lady getting after them for being scamps, but still slipping them extra bread rolls and pulling strings for them on the sly. Maybe teaching life lessons or helping them out socially, too.

Based on Adira's Korean-inspired char design and the presence of Hector's binturongs (which are native to South and Southeast Asia) I actually kinda lowkey HC that one of the DK's neighboring countries or trade partners is analogous to SE Asia? And that Adira's family either moved to the Dark Kingdom from there before her birth, or she's mixed!  (Maybe they moved due to war/sickness/famine  and that's also how she lost her parents?)

Quirin and Hector both have that archetypal DK look, like Edmund- tall, dark hair and eyes, widow's peak, prominent cheek bones- so I assume they and their parents were native to the DK.

Re. Quirin, I've said this but I like the thought of him coming from lesser nobility? Maybe a distant cousin of Edmund's. Or just having a background of more privilege and stability relative to the other two, with his parents there for him, and that giving him a bit more emotional distance from the Brotherhood and moonstone, along with more of an ability to envision/want something else for himself in the future. 

Quirin’s family name is on the side of a building somewhere in the DK, and Hector and Adira are the scholarship/grant kids of the Brotherhood.

(And I think having that bg in addition to being a knight also adds more meaning to him rejecting all of it, and choosing instead to settle down as a farmer later.)

Though, even if his parents weren't nobles and were... craftspeople or merchants or what not, I can still see him being a bit closer to Edmund/having more of a peer relationship with him, and just naturally picking up on court life + focusing on studies/politics more than the others, which eventually leads to him becoming a leader and Ed's advisor/right hand man.

I hope this whole thing wasn't too disjointed lmao. Everything about the Brotherhood's origins is pretty much fanon and personal pref, and I'm p flexible w/ HCs! But I'm always gonna go for the origin story and beats that have the most emotional pay off to me, yk?

I'm pretty picky abt the popular trend of treating the bros as literal siblings, but I do get a kick out of how much speculation and different ideas there are about their pasts- it's prime free real estate!