GENERAL INFO
Physical Build
Brown-skinned, brown-eyed, and brown-haired, Amanda seems to be about what you would imagine when you think of a spunky pilot: her expression is always fierce and frequently scrunched into a frustrated frown or scowl, her jaw-length hair textured with the slightest hint of a wave is always messy and fraught with cowlicks, and her voice always projects far louder than what you'd expect from someone her height.
Her skin, eyes, and hair are all different shades of brown, of course: her skin is warm-toned and tawny, prone to tanning more so than burning; her round, upturned eyes are a dark brown, almost black, like espresso; her choppy hair is walnut-colored and a bit bronzy, streaked with a few white stress-strands that she tries to pluck whenever she has time and a mirror. She has a flat nose, defined eyebrows, and full, two-toned lips, with perpetually-dark bags beneath her eyes. There is a beauty mark just beneath the left side of her bottom lip. Her hair tends to fall slightly over her right eye if she doesn't pin it back.
Her physique is ample yet firm, roughly hourglass-shaped; she has a good amount of muscle padded with a healthy portion of fat that makes her a surprisingly-explosive little powerhouse. Her legs and hips are broader and fuller than her upper body, with her thighs being especially bulky. She has very defined arm and leg muscles, while her midriff is softer. She's good at holding strong and keeping steady for long periods of time, as well as making small but fast instinctual movements. She has very powerful hands.
Clothing Style
Utilitarian and protective; dark colors and a great proliferation of pockets. Amanda lives in basic yet comfortable cotton shirts of different sleeve lengths, cargo pants, a sturdy belt, and big, bulky boots. Not much to speak on visually, but all of her clothes are of good quality, since she intends to wear them forever. The only thing that is actually of note in her regular outfits is that she uses a wallet chain, and that she puts an elastic headband on while piloting so her hair doesn't get in her eyes. She has an engagement ring she keeps at home, but it's not hers and she doesn't wear it.
PEOPLE
Sexuality
Bisexual, with a preference for women (but she's not opposed to guys—she just doesn't have a history of dating them)
Crush
She's going through a messy breakup with a long-term partner, but there's still a lingering wisp of love for her despite their current situation… so, I guess her now-ex-fiancée Calliope is a "crush." She's pushing through it.
Family
Sinagtala Panganiban — mother ("nanay"). A very assertive woman. They argue a lot and have very different opinions on things, but are actually very similar temperamentally and are very close.
Virgilio Caballero — father ("tatay"). He's a very quiet man who gives praise sparingly and disapproving looks frequently. They aren't very close, but they do care for each other.
Teresa Jones — older sister by five years ("ate"). A worrywart. She loves to remind her little sister that her biological clock is ticking and she should hurry up and get married soon so she can have kids, maybe settle into a tamer career. Of course, since she isn't a hypocrite, she, herself, is married with a son and is currently three months pregnant. They've always had an antagonistic relationship, but they love each other.
PERSONA
Personality
Rather private and short-tempered, Amanda tries to keep her job and personal life separate. Despite how often she works, she tries not to hang out with coworkers all that much; in her head, all she has to do is make money and make sure no one intentionally leaves her to die if she were to become incapacitated on the job, not share hobbies or send birthday gifts. As a result, she comes off rather curt and even rude at times if certain people approach her too often with "frivolous" topics, prone to snark and sarcasm ramping up to outright hostility depending on the day. All in all: she's not easy to make friends with!
On that note: Amanda's a perfectionist through and through, and loyal as they come—she'll do something a thousand times to get it just right, and if that something is dating someone she's interested in or forging a friendship with a like-minded person, then she'll lock onto them for life. Because of this, she's also very family-oriented and places them above all else. Her competitive spirit flares up when she's with people she likes.
She isn't a warm, welcoming presence by any means, but she does have her soft spots. She's kind to those in crisis; she cares deeply for the environment and animals. She's reliable and a strong, attentive shoulder to cry on, and she can always be trusted to be an honest critic with your best interests in mind—regardless of how much she likes you, she's always capable of a firm respect and politeness on work grounds, so long as you offer the same to her. Amanda is a tough nut to crack, but it's certainly worthwhile to give the effort.
Likes
engineering, sweets, beer, Filipino telenovelas, combat sports (esp. kickboxing and BJJ), competition
Dislikes
messy/disorganized spaces, arrogance, being pestered, pranks/practical jokes, bitter foods, being underestimated or ignored regarding her capabilities as a person
Mannerisms/Quirks
Amanda almost always misses the back belt loop of her pants when she puts a belt on, and if she notices it (especially if someone points it out), she will be irritated and will try to find a secluded place and fix it as soon as possible. In non-emergency situations, she tends to
point to things with her lips rather than her fingers, especially if her hands are full.
Skills
excellent memory, flying in bad conditions, fast reflexes, fast at calculations, observation/perception
Detriments
stubbornness, short temper, unsympathetic demeanor, overly-private attitude, overly-serious temperament
BIO
History
Born to a steelworker father and a nurse mother, both new immigrants, who wanted nothing more than for her to have a safe, quiet, cushy life, Amanda grew up adamantly wanting the opposite. She never felt content sitting idly—she wanted to explore, travel, and dip her toes into dangerous waters.
A strong athlete with a phenomenal track record with STEM-based classes, Amanda blazed through high school with minimal attachment to her classmates and maximal attention towards her studies. She had her eyes set on a college far from home, one where she could test her limits and get some space between herself and her suffocating family.
College in California was freeing: she had new opportunities, fresh experiences. She got a great internship, went to a few parties… even met the love of her life in her junior year. Her first real relationship.
Calliope Page was an arachnophobic, nearsighted, tone-deaf environmental science major, and Amanda fell in love with her hard. She was the sun, the stars, and everything else celestial; Amanda, usually so left-brained, threw logic and rationality out the window when it came to her.
They stayed together after college, with Calliope heading to Idaho for grad school and Amanda being recruited by the NOAA Corps as a hurricane hunter, flying planes straight into the eyes of tropical storms and charting the seas. While she initially only worked on NOAA aircrafts, her tenacity and ambition to fly the skies eventually put her in the cockpit of a Lockheed WP-3D Orion and sent her into the fray.
That ended up being a time where Calliope and Amanda's relationship started to fray, too. Amanda stayed in Florida for much of the year, traveling to the Caribbean frequently to document storms, and wasn't great at keeping contact with her girlfriend most of the time. They still loved each other, of course, but it was hard.
Eventually, though, Calliope had had enough. She'd had a thousand heart attacks worrying over Amanda's safety; she missed her presence at home, cooking breakfast together, watching movies together. She put forth an ultimatum: her or the job. One had to go.
Amanda chose Calliope. She quit being a hurricane hunter, even though she loved it so much, and sought jobs closer to home. Calliope was happy for a while, even though Amanda was floundering a bit trying to find her place without her job. The happiness, like anything else, ran out soon enough.
Amanda did find a new job—in fact, it was a job that shared some of the same forests as Calliope's, who surveyed ecosystems and environments for a nearby research laboratory. To say that Calliope was not pleased when Amanda announced she'd start training to become an aerial firefighter would be an understatement.
But it was a way to a job, and despite the fact that it wasn't nearly as safe as Calliope wanted, it was significantly closer. Besides, it was for a good cause, and Amanda already had experience with flying in dangerous situations. She was suited for the job.
It was evident that their problems weren't solved, though. After Amanda finished training (which once again took her out of state) and joined the Knowlton team, they continued to quarrel: Amanda was still away from home for far longer than Calliope could stand, and friction built up over little things that exploded at random. There was a brief period of peace when Amanda proposed to her, but it was just that: brief. It wasn't enough.
It's been only two years since Amanda started her new life as a firefighter. Calliope's leaving her, the forests still burn, and, damn, does she not know her coworkers.
OTHER
Theme song/playlist
Most notable song on it is Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."
Amanda's from Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania.
Because of her engineering background and love for math, at work, she enjoys talking to the aircraft mechanics at home base the most—they probably know more personal details about her than anyone else.
Besides English, she can speak Tagalog.
She has a very slight Filipino accent to her speech that gets more intense if she's angry/frustrated.
She does
not like it when people who aren't close to her call her Mandy.
Blaze It!
