Ear Worm

The beat of the bass, the drop of the drums, the vital vocals; Taylor heard them all and nodded along, happy for once. Taylor didn't know how her father managed to afford a mp3 player and a set of noise-canceling headphones or why he thought she would like it, but she didn't really care. All she knew was that she loved the Christmas gift. She always enjoyed music somewhat, thanks to how her mom would play the flute to lull her to sleep as a baby, but she had a whole new appreciation now. With her new headphones, she could get lost in the beat and forget her troubles for awhile. Pretty soon, she was downright addicted, wearing them pretty much all day, every day. As she listened and danced and sung along, she started to feel free again. But Taylor forgot something; just because you forget about the world…

…doesn't mean the world forgets about you.

Taylor cried out in pain as her head slammed against the wall of her locker, filling her ears with a insistent ringing. She was too stunned to realize what was happening as the lights went out and she was locked inside. It was hard to concentrate in the dark, feeling the filth and trying not to wretch as the smell smothered her nose, but it was easy to panic. She cried out for help, kicking and punching at her metal prison as best she could, but for all her struggles, the only answer was mocking laughter. But even that faded eventually and Taylor was left alone, crying in the silence.

…Silence…

Taylor reached up to her ears, feeling for her father's gift. Her headphones had been dislodged and it took her a minute of fumbling to find them. She brought them up to the weak, thin light streaming in in strips so she could see them. She felt them with her fingers. She held them up to her ears and desperately tried to hear any of that comforting music that had been right there before.

It was no use. The were destroyed. Smashed. Broken.

And Taylor broke with them

[DESTINATION]

[TRAJECTORY]

[AGREEMENT]

Then Taylor woke up and a song began to play...

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Hey guys, what's up? I'm RexHeller and this is Ear Worm, a musical Worm quest. This idea of mine was inspired by Cacophony by Rooster on SB. Here are the rules.

You do not directly control Taylor's actions, with one exception.

At the end of each update, you will vote for a song. Taylor will hear that song playing in her head during the next update.

Taylor will gain powers from the song playing. I will be the one to determine exactly what the powers are, taking inspiration from the song, the lyrics and the source. Taylor's power will only last for the length of the song.

Taylor's attitude will be influenced by the song while it's playing. A lighter, happier song will result in a more cheerful Taylor, while a darker song will give Taylor a negative attitude. In this way, you can influence Taylor's decision making somewhat.

Taylor cannot stop a song from playing once it starts. When a song starts playing, she is stuck with the consequences until the song reaches its natural end.

For every vote, I will be providing three songs as possible votes: one lighter, one darker and one chosen at random by pressing shuffle in my personal iTunes library. You do not have to vote for these songs if you do not want to, and I actually suggest finding your own songs as 'write-in' votes.

Taylor will the ability to save songs/powers to a 'playlist' in her mind, letting her use the powers again later. When you vote for a song, you can vote for a new one, or you can vote for a song from the 'playlist'. If a song is not saved to the playlist, you may not vote for it again. At the start of the quest, the 'playlist' will only have two slots, but this will get expanded as you reach certain achievements. When there is a free slot, the next new song will automatically be saved to it but when the all the slots are filled, you will be able to vote whether to keep or discard any new songs played. If you vote to keep it, you will also have to vote on which song on the 'playlist' to replace. Voting whether or not to save a song is the one vote that directly influences Taylor decisions, as in-universe, Taylor must choose whether or not to save a song.

Vote for a Song

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