Clara "Syran" Matthews

Clara Matthews

Portrayed By	Kim Smith
Gender	Female
Date of Birth	June 26
Age	26
Zodiac Sign	Cancer
Aliases	Syran, Death Anemone - (Kitty), Expendable Girl - (Erik)
Place of Birth	White Bluff, TN
Current Location	New York
Occupation	Theater teacher at Xaviers
Significant Other	None
Identity	Secret
Known Abilities	Prehensile Hair

Table of Contents

History

Clara's childhood wasn't anything spectacular, but it was filled with happiness; She was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee where family was everyone's main focus and everybody knew everybody else. She was the only child of two horse farmers and though didn't grow up rich, she never lacked in what she needed, and certainly never lacked in love. It was easy to raise a child in White Bluff, where your neighbors were willing to look after your kids as if they were their own. Of course, this made it tough to branch out and sow any sort of wild oats. After her first kiss, it felt like the whole town knew, and when she decided to go to college in New York City, everyone attempted to talk her out of it. It was 'too dangerous' and she had 'no idea what she was getting into'. Clara knew that this was her family and friends looking out for her, but she also knew that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life in a small time. She needed a chance to branch out and see what the rest of the world looked like. Starting with New York City.

Her parents held their breath when her letter arrives from New York University, the only school Clara had applied to. Much to her delight and the town's obvious chagrin (though inwardly most felt a great sense of pride that she had managed to be accepted at the one school she wanted), Clara packed her bags and prepared for her long journey to NYU where she majored in education and minored in theater. —- It was everything she could have hoped for, the hustle and bustle with thousands of people she doesn't know and never will surrounding her. It was something she had never experienced before and it was thrilling. When she arrived at school, Clara was quick to throw herself into her studies, spending two years not really getting a chance to investigate the City as she might like. It wasn't until her third year that she met the man who would draw her from her studies and teach her how to enjoy life. Though there had been many schoolyard crushes, and a couple of boyfriends along the way, there was never a man like this before.

Though Clara still studied and worked hard to keep her grades atleast pass worthy, most of her time was quickly dedicated to this wonderful man. James and her had been dating for quite a few months, even hinting at the thought of marriage when tragedy struck. Walking down the street late one night, the couple was laughing about a great movie they'd just seen when a large man walked up to them demanding her purse and his wallet. Clara's temper flared, but she shoved her purse anyway because who in their right mind says no to a gun pointed in their face. The man must have been antsy, because when James reached for his wallet he flipped out and shook the gun from Clara's face to his chest and pulled the trigger. Clara screamed, her power triggering at the sudden surge of anger and fear that took her over. Her hair flailed out in the direction of the mugger, slashing the gun from the man's hand. James fell over clutching his chest and the man, freaked out that he'd actually shot someone, and even more shaken by the attack of hair took off with her purse. James didn't make it through the night and the man who had shot him was never found, smart enough to dump her purse nearby after have just taken the meager cash that was inside. —- Clara would never be the same, sinking into herself for a good long while, once more thrusting herself into her studies as she tried to forget everything that had happened within the past month, though a growing struggle with her hair making this one of the most impossible things she'd ever done. As time passed, the emotional wounds began to heal, and she tried to remember everything James had taught her about life. He wouldn't have wanted her to sink into herself, so she struggled to rise above the pain and move forward with her life. Though she knew she would never forget the wonderful impact he had made on her life.

She struggled to learn basic control over her hair, and would eventually get enough of a handle on it that she could function in normal society. —- Eventually, Clara graduated with honors and a degree, beginning the hard pressed search to find a job. Most of the good schools in the area wanted someone with experience, someone older and more refined. Eventually Clara had to try for some of the public schools in the area. She wouldn't fit in, that much was obvious, but atleast she would be doing what she loved and she'd have some money in her pocket. For years she worked at the same inner city school, trying to reach out to trouble youth and make ends meet on her measly salary. At the age of 26 she learned about a school called Xaviers, where it was rumored that mutants learned how to control their abilities. This seemed like an amazing opportunity that Clara couldn't pass up so she made an appointment for an interview.

Powers

CJ has the ability to use her hair as though it were an extended limb from her body. The hair can be used in numerous ways. 1 – It can be used all at once as a club like object, hitting with a total force of 10 tons. 2 – It could be used in four separate pieces that can each hit with a force of 2.5 tons. 3 – It can be used in two pieces each hitting with a force of 4.5 tons. 4 – It can be used in three separate pieces that each hit with the force of 3 tons. The hair can also be extended into numerous little strands to help her do small things like opening doors or cooking. The hair has a combined tensile strength of 10 tons and the more it divides, the more that strength is dispersed through the strands. She can use hundreds of strands at once, but they'd each only be able to lift the weight as it's evenly distributed.

The strands can be moved and manipulated like thousands of flexible fingers able to reach even into tiny crevices. While the hair will usually stay down to somewhere around her hips and thighs area, it can extend up to twenty feet if necessary. The hair will never physically grow past that fully extended twenty feet, but if cut will grow back to that exact point. Because of the unusual nature of her hair, a normal pair of scissors won't hurt the strands, however anything that can cut with a force of five hundred pounds or more will damage the strands. And since the strands are considered another limb, having the strand be cut causes extreme physical pain (like having fingers chopped off). While there won't be blood loss, it is extremely likely that depending on how much hair is lost that the pain will cause her to pass out.

Here is a short list of things she has learned to do with her hair -

*Cocoon herself or others to protect herself from up to 8 tons of damage
*Create a wall that works as the Cocoon would
*Operate numerous machines at once
*Lift numerous objects at once
*She can create a sort of chair or swing for herself to sit on using her hair and objects around.
*She can swing with her hair much like Spiderman does using his webs
*It can be used like a fan with numerous strands circling at high speed.
*Can be used as a whip

The hair appears to others like normal, very well kept hair. It's extremely soft and very healthy looking.

Timeline

Date	Log Title	Characters	Rating
March 2, 2009	Much Ado About Teaching	Clara, Erik	G
March 3, 2009	Mm Mm Good	Christopher, Clara and Eddie	G
March 3, 2009	The Great Debate	Clara, Erik, Pryce, Skyler and James	PG
March 4, 2009	Cookies and Country	Clara, Kitty and Warren	PG
March 5, 2009	Gathering In The Living Room	Clara, Christopher, Eddie, Kitty and Leo	G
March 5, 2009	Footrubs and Relaxation	Clara, Erikand James	PG
March 7, 2009	Attack on Xavier's	Syran, Hellion, Grey King, Glimmer, Buff, Shine, Cannonball, Mr. Faith, and Pryce	PG-13 (Violence!)
March 12, 2009	A-maze-ing	Clara and Erik	PG
March 13, 2009	Pool Shark	Clara and Remy	PG 13

Quotes

<OOC> You say, "Just throw some cold water on me. I'll eventually be back!"
<OOC> Victor could go guard her virtue if you want.
<OOC> Toad says, "HAHAHAHAHAH."
<OOC> You say, "I don't want no hairy babies, you stay away from me!"
<OOC> Victor says, "Imagine all of that body hair…prehensile."
<OOC> You say, "…"
<OOC> You say, "Ew."
<OOC> Toad says, "ROFLMAO."
<OOC> Victor says, "Sasquatch+Medusa=WORLD DOMINATION."
<OOC> Pryde says, "OMFG."
<OOC> Pryde says, "adkj;lsgjak"
<OOC> Toad says, "WHAT HATH HELL WROUGHT!!!"
<OOC> Pryde says, "NOOOOOOO"
<OOC> Victor says, "I'm going to draw a picture for you guys."

'That sonuva-motherlover.'

<OOC> Erik says, "When Clara is alone, in pain, angry and waking up from being unconscious…she still swears like my grandma."

Trivia

Clara loves horses.
Clara loves the color purple.
Clara always wears a silver necklace that has a small, single silver heart dangling from it. A small diamond in the center. It was the last thing James gave her before he died.