i love manitoba. he's smarter than he seems. he's unreliable. he's a self-serving wildcard and sees nothing wrong with it. he's allergic to sincerity. he's traumatized. he feels death lurking in every corner and he sprints straight into hell to avoid it. he will never let them want for anything ever again. he's obsessive compulsive and it's destroying him. he's a self-fulfilling tragedy and he knows this. he sees it coming. he spends his life in constant escape and at the end he's only ran in circles.
i like to think manitoba's very hedonistic. he split from neglect, and as a result, the need to be as completely self-dependent as possible is built into his bones.
it makes him self-serving, it makes him a wild card, it makes him unreliable. he canonically has an ego. he never needs anyone, and there is nothing more important than his own survival. he hoards food until it's spoiling under the floorboards. he hoards smiles and good times until everyone else sags. he hoards successes until you'd think he's never failed. he hoards and hoards and hoards and he will never let them go hungry again. they will never suffer again. he knows the depths of suffering and he would rather dive willingly into hell than even glimpse them again.
Jessica-- Vito and Anne Maria's first kid, adopted 3 and a half years after all stars at birth. Jessi for short, she/her.
Dominic-- Vito and Anne Maria's second kid, adopted at birth about 2 years after Jessica. Starts using he/they pronouns when he's 7. Gets along really well with Mal. Answers to Nicky but doesn't really like it.
Xena-- Mike and Zoey's kid. 4ish years younger than Dominic, but hates not being included and does her best to do everything the older kids can do.
Sparrow-- Kitty's kid that Svetlana is helping raise. 6 months younger than Xena, was 2 and a half when they met. They/them. Occasionally abbreviated to Ro, mostly by Vito.
Tilly-- Scott and Manitoba's kid. A full 12 years younger than Jessi and 5 years younger than Sparrow. She/her pronouns until they're 3, and then they/them. Doesn't start talking until they're 6. Very energetic and adventurous, but shy. Has vitiligo.
more ramblings under the cut
Jessi and Dominic live primarily with Anne Maria, but spend most weekends at the system's house. Vito visits them as much as he can during the week and helps drive them around and stuff.
Mike and Zoey both wanted a kid but wanted to give them as stable a life as possible, so it kept getting pushed back. They have problems conceiving, and after Xena they decide that any more would be stretching everyone too thin. Zoey gets bottom surgery about 6 months after Xena's born.
Sparrow is Kitty's kid from a previous relationship that ended badly. They spend holidays with their dad and the rest of the time with Kitty. Kind of a sickly child. Svetlana is solidly in "mom's girlfriend" zone for a long time, and she understands and tries to be content with that, but is ecstatic when they start calling her their stepmom around junior high. They have a dark sense of humor and relish in the fact that they have a space away from their cousins. Gets diagnosed with a (TBD) chronic illness in high school and starts using crutches.
Scott wants kids, Manitoba doesn't, they compromise with some very babied dogs for years, but eventually Scott says that he's going to do what the rest of the system's partners are doing and have his own dang kid and Manitoba can help out as he pleases. That's the agreement until Tilly is actually born. Manitoba watches her for the first time and just about melts. They renegotiate and Scott moves into the city to be closer to Mani so they can co-parent better.
Trying to lay out character arcs and realizing that starting with the people who are only there for a few episodes is much more manageable than going right off the bat to say, Mal's arc.
