Chesterfield Act Registry of the Expressive Database
File #19 May 2018 01:54
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 Chad Michael Murray |
As a Registered Evolved, Tahir Avery Dunham’s status was known to those that had clearance. His previous military role (and involvement in clandestine operations) kept his status from being public knowledge. However, that protection didn’t seem to be useful as they started rounding up Evolved and carting them off. Tahir Avery Dunham was attacked in front of a live studio audience and things just went sour from there. Tahir reverted back to his military days to fight his way out and with the help of some Evolved friends (and soon to be family) Tahir made it out alive and to the Island of Pollpel. Where, most importantly, he was reunited with his sisters.
Remade in his own image, Operative Dunham became the primary “personality” that took over for the next phase in his life. He remained holed up on the island, fighting alongside people he knew and didn’t, all for the protection of his family. During this time, Tahir lacked his usual charm and seemed to be more focused on preparing for what was to come. He’d been through this kind of thing before and he knew that war was on the horizon. It’d be a different kind but casualties were to be had on both sides. It was his job to make sure that his family didn’t end up as any of those.
When the Island fell, Operative Dunham played an integral role in helping his family get to safety. Well, “safety”. It wasn’t until he was sure that they would be okay did Tahir decide it was time to stop hiding, stop running and to join the fight. There was a war going on, a Second Civil War, and Operative Dunham was not about to let his extended Evolved family down. Known personally or not, the Evolved were all connected. At least in Operative Dunham’s eyes. He stood alongside his ability having brethren and fought against the people that he had once fought for.
His battles were more verbal than most as he fought with both his tongue as well as his special operative training. Operative Dunham hadn’t even noticed that his ability was shifting and changing the more he used it. It was like an entire new door to what he could do was opened and he ran through it and into the fire. Being at war, though, never really gave him a chance to fully explore the full new height of his ability.
When the Reconstruction started, Operative Dunham was put back into recesses of Tahir Avery Dunham’s mind. With full out war taking a backseat to trying to put America back on the map in a significant way, Tahir Avery Dunham put his talents and skills to full use. Not only did he reach out for popularity by performing and entertaining for those that needed it, he used his traveling performer occupation as a cover for more helpful operations. Tahir Avery Dunham returned to life as his former famous self and used that fame to push himself into as many agendas as possible.
During the entire Reconstruction era, Tahir Avery Dunham worked on establishing himself as a person that people, Evolved or Non, could count on for different things. He created a rolodex worth of contacts with various groups and organizations, firmly planting himself down in the world of neutrality. His loyalty to his family became as known as his unorthodox exploits traveled through the path of word of mouth. It became clear that in addition to being an entertaining presence and street performer that Tahir Avery Dunham had become a Freelance Badass in a Suit. It was even on his calling card.
Tahir Avery Dunham’s travels took him across what was left of the United States, where he often found himself hooking up with people in need during his travels. He built up his ‘Freelance Badass in a Suit’ reputation and a compiled a network of individuals that he could trust, from all walks of this new life. In addition to that, Tahir Avery Dunham helped out with those involved with the Lighthouse as much as possible.
Even a rolling stone has to come to a stop at some point, though. Tahir Avery Dunham’s stone rolled right into the NYC Safe Zone. With a handful of followers, vagabonds, nomads and other ne’er-do-wells in tow, Tahir Avery Dunham took up residence in an abandoned theatre they uncovered in what had become the Sheepshead Bay area. For the better part of a year and a half, this group established themselves as a place of neutrality and fun. Entertainers and performers of all types started to fill their ranks, as well as others that had no place else to go.
Tahir Avery Dunham combined his two worlds into one and created the splinter group that has come to be known as Act IV. Built upon the assumption that even the dark times need a little bit of light, Tahir Avery Dunham leads his new group, his new family with one simple mission statement: The Show Must Go On.
Tahir Avery Dunham rarely seems to be a very complicated individual. For one thing, he has a terrible habit of employing his full name far more often than he should. As might be expected for someone with such an immodest facade, he knows exactly what he wants in life and usually goes after it. Considering how much his life has changed in the years that he’s been alive and the things that he’s seen and been through, he should perhaps be jaded and filled to the brim with angst. However, the fact that his family has made it through the fire with him has managed to keep him from falling into the darkness that has consumed the souls of so many to be caught up in the events of the past decade. For Tahir, there’s always a light at the end of a tunnel. There’s always greener grass. There’s always a brighter side. Still, he endeavors to approach life in a realistic way, and sometimes congratulates himself upon having perfected the art of being an Optimistic Realist.
In order to deal with the dramatic hand that he’s been dealt, Tahir has turned his sense of humor up to eleven… thousand. He tries to always be ready with some sarcastic wit or a quick quip to keep a situation as light as possible. Still, he usually knows when to be serious and the more serious he gets, the quieter he is: it’s one of his few tells. He talks a lot and usually puts on an air of ego and confidence - though it’s more of a defensive smoke-screen than a true reflection of his underlying personality.
For the most part, he’s managed to reconcile the playful ‘lover’ with the determined ‘fighter’ and seeks to provide his world with both sides of himself. Refusing to be tied down save by bonds of his own choosing, Tahir promotes his rather free-wheeling lifestyle with honesty and love, tending to wear his emotions on whatever sleeve he’s dressed in at the time.
Tahir has become decidedly anti-government, anti-establishment and anti-anything but freedom. His love for organization extends only as far as it can help to protect disorganized neutrality. He lives for the moment when the world can just be free from all of these different people trying to control it. He’d much rather live free and die hard than deal with the ever-watchful eye of Big Brother. Consequently, he makes it a point to never really pick a side these days. He’s been a Patriot. He’s been an Evo. He’s seen too much war, killing and death to want to continue to see it. This is not to say that he won’t fight for what he believes in, his family or his friends. But wherever it seems at all possible to do so he chooses other ways to deal with conflict, and is now keen to use his creative mind more than his fists or his guns.
Given the importance he places upon voluntary bonds, loyalty is a central tenet in his life. The desire to form unbreakable bonds with people is one of his biggest drives. He’s been through a lot, and being able to share his life with people that care about him as much as he cares about them is now even more important to him than his promotion of freedom. Still, attention and popularity make for seductively alluring substitutes to real connections, and his frequent pursuit of them could easily put him in the sights of the wrong kinds of people. Similarly, his presentation of a carefree and sarcastic demeanor might be taken as a true reflection of intent and feelings even by some of those whom he wishes to impress and connect to. The very importance he places upon those he cares about can make it hard to take the risk of dropping the act and revealing his real self.
| Overview | Tahir Avery Dunham's Evolved ability has evolved in and of itself. Over time and with the continued use of his ability, Tahir has unlocked the mysterious potential of his Ycleptic Persuasion and expanded it out to a much more subtle and potentially more useful ability of: Persuasion. Underneath this umbrella of Persuasion there are a variety of different styles of application that Tahir may utilize when actively accessing his Evolved ability. These different facets of use allow Tahir to access a much more complex use of his ability and gives him more options than he'd originally understood his ability to have. Tahir Avery Dunham has Evolved along with his Evolved Ability. |
| Persuasive Voice | Persuasion is the ability to suggest or compel a target to follow the directives or commands given by Tahir. This is an entirely speech based ability that is only effective when Tahir's voice can be used or be heard. The directives given while Tahir's using his Persuasive Voice are backed up by a telepathic nudge that affects the target's mind. Those with high levels of willpower or mind-based protection or abilities can prove to be more difficult to Persuade and less vulnerable to his Persuasive Voice. Persuasion, on the whole, acts as a subtle 'push' of the mind into making a target believe that whatever directives are given are of their own will and that they 'should' be followed. It is also possible that targets are fully aware of Tahir's suggestions and just feel more of a need to 'listen' or 'accept' the suggestions that have been made around them. Sometimes they feel that push or nudge as something akin to rationalizing away a second thought about something. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how it happens as each person's mind is different and specific to that particular target. There's always a chance that a person's willpower or mind is just too strong to be affected by the Persuasive Voice without repeated attempts. Targets that have been affected by the Persuasive Voice may find it easier to be taken out of their compliance. As the effects are subtle and suggestions, they could be distracted out of complying or stopped by others. While they may feel a bit annoyed or nagging feeling for not completing a task they've been mind-nudged into believing they want to complete, they will suffer no ill effects mentally or physically. This is more related to the target's willpower and resolve than it is Tahir's ability. |
| Commanding Voice | Tahir may also use his ability to create a more forceful pushing of someone's mind into complying with his directives by using a Commanding Voice. Unlike the Persuasive Voice, the Commanding Voice has a more will-shattering impact upon a target's mind in much the same way a sledgehammer would do to a glass window. The Commanding Voice is the application of brute force Persuasion that often works better on those with weak wills or that are easily susceptible to mind trickery. Much like Persuasive Voice, though, the Commanding Voice suffers the same fates as all commands are not immediately followed. Sometimes a Persuader has to use their Commanding Voice in repeated attempts to force someone to follow their commands. Directives issued with this facet of the ability lack the subtlety of Persuasive Voice. Tahir, in particular, only uses his Commanding Voice in instances where it direly needed, such as life or death situations or the like. Targets that have been affected by the Commanding Voice may find it more difficult to resist or deny complying with commands or tasks that have been given by Tahir. Those underneath this more forceful version of Persuasion often have their willpower and resolve shoved aside in favor of doing his spoken will. While it is possible, but difficult, to resist the Commanding Voice and it is possible for others to stop someone under the commands, it may take more effort or even physical restraint of some kind. Those suffering under the weight of a Commanding Voice command may find themselves with a painful headache when not in compliance with the command. Tahir's Commanding Voice is activated through the use of a target's name as the trigger. |
| Residual Voice Effects | People that find themselves constantly being Persuaded or in the presence of Tahir when he's using Persuasive Voice can often find themselves with a weaker resolve to the Persuader. The consistent and continuous use of Persuasion upon their minds helps to mold it into a more malleable consistency in relation to being Persuaded. This allows the Persuader to build connections to those that they Persuade often and gives Tahir a bit of an edge when dealing with those that have had their minds primed for Persuasion. |
| Limitations | Persuasion comes with a variety of limitations built into it that keep Tahir in 'check', as it were. This particular form of Persuasion is focused through the voice and through speech. While it is possible to use recordings or broadcasts to Persuade, the ability is much more effective when done in person. That is not to say that it won't work through these other methods but just that it is more difficult for the Tahir to achieve success. In the event of him not having his voice, either through natural means or something like being gagged, he's unable to use his ability effectively. In addition to the ability being auditory based, the target must be able to not only hear Tahir but also must be able to understand the spoken directives and also be able to act upon them. If a target is bound to a chair, Tahir suggesting that they do jumping jacks would be futile. Tahir's suggestions do not compel immediate and instant obedience. Targets that find themselves under the threat of Persuasion may often have to hear a command multiple times before they actually follow through. Wording of commands play a big part, as well. The simpler the suggestion or command, the easier it is for the target to follow through. Complex or multiple commands are easier to resist. This all depends on how strong a target's willpower is. Persuasion has a limited range when it comes to Persuading in the same area or vicinity as people. Tahir can affect up to three people at once, giving them different tasks or suggestions to follow. The effects of being Persuaded last up to an hour from the point that a target's mind has been affected and the targets have succumbed to the suggestions/commands. However, through the use of microphones or broadcasts, Tahir can affect a greater number of people. The downside of that being that the chances of Persuading such great numbers becomes even less of a possibility. It's a natural trade-off. Persuasion is an ability that requires active concentration. The ability must be intentionally used in order to affect others. In the event that someone knows or learns that Tahir is a Persuader, it becomes harder for Tahir to persuade them due to their heightened resistance and willpower to his ability. |
It's time to play the music
It's time to light the lights
It's time to put on makeup
It's time to dress up right
To introduce our guest star
That's what I am here to do
So it really makes me happy to introduce to you
"Ladies and gentlemen, Tahir Avery Dunham!"
Appendices
The Greatest Showman
The Most Sensational, Inspirational, Celebrational, Muppetational
| Showman |
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| Showman | Tahir takes pride in being what he considers to be a Showman. He takes after the greats of yesteryear, broadening his talents to expand upon his entertainment value. He has pushed the envelope to gather a hearty understanding of entertainment, performance and showmanship in the areas of acting, dancing, musicianship (drums or guitar), impressions, stage combat and a growing mastery of practical effects. The pride and joy of his showmanship, though, is that he is a master of Muppeteering. All of these things come together to make Tahir a superstar of stage and screen. |
| Showoff | Tahir's always been a bit of an unconventional entertainer. Someone who spends the bulk of his time trying to show off for people or make others smile can be traced back to a healthy dose of unconventional talents and skills that he's compiled over his storied history such as a healthy mastery of playing table games like ping pong and air hockey or seemingly useless parlor tricks like guessing someone's weight or measurements or even burping the alphabet backwards. He's also become quite the fashionista capable of creating fetching ensembles and outfits or even boasting his make-up artistry abilities. His trivia and pop culture knowledge is off the charts and his skateboarding is too McFly. |
| Soldier | Tahir's past as an athletic super jock led him directly into the military where he spent a good number of years fighting for his country and being a trained assassin. Things like espionage, sabotage, using all manner of firearms and military equipment are coupled with a healthy dose of urban survival techniques and off-the-books training that he's received from his past superiors. His hand-to-hand combat expertise gets sprinkled on top of these other things and only helps to prove that underneath all the smiley entertaining bravado that Tahir Avery Dunham is a dangerous man even when he doesn't want to be. |
| The Muppet Theater | Tahir has taken up residence in a formerly-abandoned theater in Brooklyn, which now serves as the base of operations for Act IV and a home to some of its members. Though it is in a constant state of restoration and use there are many rooms, a stage, a projection booth and various other things that can be used to the benefit of Tahir and Act IV. The theater’s location also gives him access to some ruined subway tunnels and a subway station below. In honor of his favorite television program and the disparate crew of misfits now dwelling there, Tahir has named it The Muppet Theater. |
| Universal Remote | Tahir has a remote control that he carries at all times that is connected to a set of wireless speakers that he either carries around or sets up around an area when he’s had time to prepare. With this he can activate music, sound effects or some of his favorite audio features such as a laugh track or applause. Tahir considers this to be mostly for fun but it has proven to come in handy on a mission or two. |