''"An abandoned city damaged beyond repair sits in the cracks of the universe's continuum, its skies alight with the threads of fractured timelines. A lone clock tower lies in the heart of the city, beating with the ticks of lost seconds gone by, its bell ringing for no one to hear...
"Have you ever wanted to make a wish?"''
A Original Character Tournament, hosted on Twitter and its website
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In the titular Splinter City, contestants race to the twisted clocktower in the center for the prize of a single wish. In a twist to the usual OCT formula that normally takes the winner’s entries and plotline as sole canon, all competitor entries are considered equally canon; catalogued as ‘alternate timelines’ rather than struck from the record.
This OCT contains examples of the following tropes:
- Alternate Continuity: The OCT’s main schtick. Normally, each artist in an OCT will depict their unique take on how matchups progress. In Splinter City, every artist’s take on a round and what occurs within it are considered parallel timelines to each other, and are documented in-universe as books in a library.
- Animate Inanimate Object: The ‘Helpers’, little hourglasses with wings and wheels that repair parts of the broken city.
- Eldritch Abomination: The ‘Frays’, strange dark goo-like creatures that dwell in the shadows. What they truly are is up to interpretation. Theories range from animate remnants of lost timelines to the souls and bodies of humans who have died or failed in previous tournaments.
- Humanity Ensues: Adonis, a data construct, enters the city and is granted a human body to compete. As his wish has already been granted, this raises some questions about his future in the tournament.
- Sliding Scale of Unavoidable vs. Unforgivable: Some characters with darker stories, such as Ashen Crow or Aislinn/Arien. All three have blood on their hands for reluctant reasons, but it’s implied some may take desperate measures for the prospect of a wish.
- Tournament Arc: 32 contestants, 5 rounds, one wish.
