Ethan Fillion's Questionnaire

Originally from New York, Ethan's mother (Erina Fillion née Pasquez) moved him and his baby sister (Penelope) across states to her hometown in Michigan, after his father died in a head-on collision, to be closer to her own family (Ethan and Penelope's grandmother and uncle). They ended up in an apartment block on the outskirts of a larger city a few doors down from his Grandmother (Henrietta Pasquez), his mother worked several jobs to afford the rent which left them with the dwindling life insurance from his father to get by. Since Ethan's mother didn't hold a degree herself, she dropped out after learning she was pregnant, she couldn't find a high paying job to raise them out of their meager apartment but they make do nevertheless, Ethan and his grandmother taking care of his sister.

Ethan earns his money through odd jobs working as a cashier, delivery driver or an errandboy. Often begrudgingly delivering notes and packages for the gang that "owns" his neighbourhood.
He spends most of what he earns on groceries, home supplies and similar nessecities for his mother, sister and himself. However whenever he can he will save small amounts of money so that he can afford to buy second-hand tools, parts and equipment to fix, repair and drive his dirtbike so that he can practice and enter a biking tournament for larger sums of money to afford a better place to live and more luxuries for his family.

His aspiration is to become a famous rally racer so that he can afford a better lifestyle for himself and his family, so that he can let his sister continue into any field of education that she may choose and so that his mother doesn't have to overwork herself with multiple jobs.

However, his deep ambition is to tear apart the gangs that have dominated his town and forced their way through fear and violence into the minds and homes of the people in his apartment block. Having been forced through necessity to deal with these gangs he wishes to shield his sister from that aspect of life and to protect his mother and grandmother from the dangers that they pose.

The defining event in Ethan's life that changed the trajectory entirely would be the death of his father, Ethan was still fairly young at that time and only really understood that his dad wouldn't ever come home again. He remembers he was a big man, taller and stronger than anyone Ethan knew at the time, a consequence of being a construction worker and amateur boxer.
However, the day that police officers came to their small house to break the news to his mother that Ethan's father was killed in a head-on collision, is a moment he can never forget. The pain-wracked sobs of his mother mingled with the cold hand of the officer on Ethan's shoulder as he lightly explained that his father wouldn't be coming home.

Erina Fillion née Pasquez - Mother - Daughter to Henrietta and Mother of Ethan and Penelope, Erina is a hardworking and devoted mother who despite the tragic untimely loss of her husband (Arthur "Art" Fillion), with the help of her mother and brother found a home in the same apartment block and raised her children. She is stuck working several jobs to afford the rising rent on their apartment as well as all other bills, Ethan has helped to alleviate some of this since he started working.

Penelope Fillion - Younger Sister - Ethan's sister and closest friend, she is half a dozen years younger than Ethan and is almost heretically obsessed with all things sparkly and glittery especially unicorns and fairies (of the pop culture kind). Ethan can see her potential for anything in the world and would do anything to protect her, especially from the ramping gangs that stalk the streets and alleyways in their neighbourhood.

Henrietta Pasquez née O'Dulligan - Maternal Grandmother and Confidant - The daughter of Irish Immigrants, Henrietta spent some of her childhood among the brickwork of Boston but the rising automotive industry lead to her family travelling to Detroit to work in the manufacturing industry. Henrietta herself eventually found work in the dockyards, where she met her future husband Emilio Pasquez after drinking him under the table after her shift one night. Despite being in her 70's she is still exceptionally strong and fighting fit, and often will lend a quiet ear and strong shoulder to her grandchildren whilst caring for them.

Ethan's childhood was a rollercoaster. From birth to just barely out of being a toddler, his life was fairly uneventful and by all means happy. Despite dropping out of her degree to take care of him, she loved him like no other, and his father would always come home tired but chipper with the occasional busted lip, black eye or body covered in welts and bruises. Then a few months after his 5th birthday, his parents learned his mother was pregnant again, this time with his baby sister Penelope. Ethan decided it was cool he was going to have a baby sister usually... other days he hated the idea.

Eventually, his sister was born and everything began to calm down, his parents were discussing plans to move houses to better fit their growing family. After all Ethan couldn't share a room with his sister forever right...?

Then that day came.

That horrible day when Ethan's dad would never come back. That chipper man with a bruised face and dirtied hi-vis jacket was gone, forever. That day began the rush of nightly tears and endless letters and documents, it began the move from the big city that Ethan had known his whole life to the dreary town he'd learn to accept.

Every since that day Ethan felt something missing. He was always distracted and had a hard time focusing at school despite the sighs of teachers and head shakes of his Grandmother when she helped with yet another deadline essay.

Ethan just barely passed highschool and never looked back.

The only saving grace during this period was his bike, Ezra. It was a pile of rust and bolts but through endless weekends in his uncle's mechanic shop he eventually got it to run sort of smoothly. That was his happy place, racing down the dirt tracks and forest trails, the wind blasting into his face. That rush of speed that got his heart pumping, that was where he felt full.