[h3][u][color=00aeef]Matthew Stanford[/color][/u][/h3]
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[color=7bcdc8][u]Appearance[/u][/color] 

Lean and spare, Matthew has slightly sunken cheeks, overly prominent cheekbones, a straight, sharp nose and long, bony fingers. He stands at about 5' 9", with slightly curly black hair worn at almost collar length, cloud-grey eyes, and light brown skin free of any blemishes. Or at least, these are the facts one would recite if they had thought to pay attention and then recall to mind the unremarkable man in his mid-20s, dressed neatly in muted colours. Beige turtleneck long-sleeved shirt and grey pants, or perhaps dark blue jeans. A black knee-length longcoat with a hood, almost certainly, and comfortable running shoes.

He has a preference for concealing clothes, if one takes the time and effort to notice; long sleeves regardless of the weather, longcoat close at hand. They hide lean, wiry muscle and flawless brown skin stretched tight over bone; he is thinner than he seems at first glance, and stronger than he looks like he should be. (His canine teeth are longer and sharper than they should be, too. But if you can see it for yourself without a doubt, likely he is showing them to you deliberately.)

The clothes he prefers are also of good quality, a mark of wealth, along with the things one may see him produce from his pockets - handphone, wallet, the cards in his wallet. Not that he acts the part, unless it is the part of a self-centred youngster careless with his money, slouching in his seat, a smirk on his lips, playing with language in a way that suggests both proper education and a disdain for said education.
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[color=7bcdc8][u]Personality[/u][/color]

Cautious courtesy for a stranger, laughter and a careless sprawl when he means to be casual, deadly fearless determination under pressure; Matthew changes, smooth as quicksilver, to be whoever and whatever he wants to be for a particular situation. He's not bluffing or lying, not exactly, and not usually; he throws himself into each moment with the self-confidence of someone who has not only been there and done that but gotten the limited-edition souvenir, unless he's faking uncertainty and vulnerability to mask his decisiveness, which in turn belies the darkness and doubt that he, like all thinking beings, carries with him. 

But he usually doesn't need nor want to stage an act, so his usual behaviour is more-or-less who he is, or prefers to be - irreverent, sardonic, prone to voicing harsh truths, generous in both material and spirit. And observant; always observant, keen-eared, and more insightful than is often expected. It can be disconcerting, when he suddenly pauses, with a measured look and a thoughtful gleam in his eye, slightly longer than confortable, and the very act leaves one suspecting that it [i]is[/i] an act, that he has allowed his interest to be noticed.

And of course it is his choice; Matthew values control over his life and freedom in his actions, for all that he seems content to sit back and make a sarcastic comment.
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[hider=Background][color=7bcdc8][u]Background[/u][/color]

Matthew is a vampire. He has walked this Earth for a very long time, so long that he has lost count of the years, and lost count yet again as humans changed the ways they reckoned the dates, and changed again. Sustained by blood, and only upon blood (for normal food and drink are as ash in his mouth), he will heal from all injury without a trace, live all of time without its marks upon him, unless he is stabbed through his unbeating heart or decapitated. Sunlight burns his skin, but it will take a great deal of it to kill. All vampires are faster and stronger than humans are, but Matthew is much older than most vampires, and therefore much stronger and faster.

A vampire is created by an exchange of blood with the human who is to be changed, and the human's subsequent death. This is how Matthew was created. He does not know how the first vampire was created. 

There are many things Matthew does not know. There are many things he knows and does not wish to speak of. Who sired him? Do the blades in his possession have names? Are there other people in his life? Ask him yourself, if you get the chance.[/hider]