Strowlers:Strowlers (Show)

Strowlers is a show produced by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment and created by Ben Dobyns

Premise

Setting

The Strowlerverse takes place in an alternate Now. The same historical events occurred there that took place in our reality, and often involved the same people, but for warped-mirror reasons. For example, in the Strowlerverse, the bombs dropped to end World War II were literally arcanologists who drew on The Source as they jumped from the airplane, breaking the subatomic bonds within their own bodies, and self-immolating in a psychodynamic chain reaction that destroyed cities and left haunt-ridden waste- lands behind. As the explosion consumed everything in its path, the horror-filled last seconds of those with Talent manifested as “monsters” that took years to eradicate—and that still, in the form of monstrous beings popularized in kaiju media and other horror stories, haunt the popular imagination today.

The same parallel logic can be applied to adapt most major world events to the Strowlerverse: The players and outcomes were mostly the same as they were in our history, but within a world where magic is as dangerous, and as highly-regulated, as nuclear power. So, as you prepare to write your own Strowlers stories, think about how historical events might have played out, and how their outcomes, consequences, and influences might have been different, both globally and in your own backyard. You have an entire world with which to play, and we encourage you to write and adapt from what you already know. Generally, demographics, population distribution, urban centers, and nation states mirror those in our own world. Australia, for example, occupies the same place on the maps, elects the same politicians, and sends the same child refugees to prison camps on isolated islands. But perhaps their human-rights abuses in the Strowlerverse are the direct result of their need to test everyone who arrives on their continent for powers. Or perhaps this scenario is nothing more than an excuse that provides them with plausible deniability of, or maybe even justification for, these abuses. The choice is yours. Stories can go wherever your imagination and background take them.

The Strowlerverse is our world, with minor differences. For example, your phone stays charged for a week, because you leased the model that an arcanological drone imbued with power from The Source. The climate is doing a little bit better, although large-scale, arcanological, energy projects don’t get approved very often—or, at least they haven’t since Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. But the small extra boost to renewables provided by the existence of arcanology has resulted in less environmental devastation.

Magic and its effects are not limited to traditional fairy tale settings. While psychodynamic phenomena may be encountered anywhere, they’re more likely to manifest around large population centers, especially ones in which large numbers of arcanologists already practice.

Strowlers as a project is a world spanning web of stories that show how the hyper local can have global implications.

Characters

Because characters may travel between storylines this will be an alphabetical list of all characters across all Strowlers stories with links to each story in which the character appeared.

AMANDA DARROW, 30, straight-laced professor. Resolute, idealistic, dedicated. Studious, intelligent, and magically powerful, Amanda recently earned a PhD in Alchemical Arcanology (magic). She is an idealist, and views Arcanology as the means by which she can actively improve her environment and society. The intrusion of politics, though frustrating, is a small price to pay for state funding of her research. She is highly logical and introspective, to the point that some view her as cold and distant. Amanda's passionate relationship with Whit could compromise all of the progress she’s made in her career. Love or career? Her choice will change everything.

BELINDA, 40s, Strowler. Noble, impatient, determined. Belinda, also known as the Snake Woman, is a strong conduit for power. She was not born to privilege and so in order to maintain autonomy her path led underground. She found a teacher in Josiah and will soon find herself becoming a reluctant teacher as well. Belinda can do things with power that most humans can’t do. It is debatable whether Belinda is still 100% human. Belinda is determined to fulfill her purpose, no matter who gets in her way.

DIANA JACKSON, late-30s, working mother. Troubled, persevering, passionate. Diana was always too busy with her daughter, her marriage, and her job to do much more than occasionally share a strongly worded social media post about the horrors of ARC. Then, her husband was found to be hiding Talent of his own. And then ARC burned him against his will. And then Diana had to raise her daughter and care for a broken shell of a husband alone. And then her daughter exhibited Talent. And then her daughter was taken. And now... Now, Diana is a furious mother with nothing to lose and the determination to change the world.

JOSIAH, ageless, Strowler. Practical, patient, altruistic. Josiah is a revered teacher and user of magic in the underground world of Strowlers. He has helped countless people discover and explore their abilities. Ageless, he’s always been available to guide those who wish to be guided. His origins are unknown. He seems to have a greater affinity for magic than for humanity. Some may question where exactly his allegiances lie.

LUCAS RODRIGO, 40s, burned ARC agent. Manipulative, ruthless, single-minded. Lucas was an emotional child, frequently called a mama’s boy because of his depth of compassion. Luckily, he was trained to his fullest arcanological potential by expert ARC professors who excelled in fixing those flaws. He’s now one of the best ARC agents alive. And now that he’s focused, he can mimic his past emotions with such a degree of realism that even his mother has stopped sniffling over his profound change. Some would call his behavior sociopathic. He is simply doing his job. And, he will use every tool he possesses to meet every goal ARC sets for him. No matter who or what gets in his way.

NIKKI JACKSON, 11, Child. Precocious, caring, innocent. Nikki earns good grades, hates that she needs her asthma inhaler, can't wait for the next book in her favorite series, and has just developed a Talent for magic. She's desperate to hide this illegal Talent; her mom is scared and the government already took another child in her class. Maybe one of the librarians can help….

- Note: According to NPR, since early May, more than 2,300 children have been separated from their families under the new “zero-tolerance” policy. We, the Strowlers cast and crew, are stunned that a government policy of stripping children from their parents has become reality. To help end the terror, please consider donating to groups like ACLU and RAICES. As one of the largest immigration legal services, RAICES helps pay legal fees to release undocumented parents on bond so that they have a fighting chance of reclaiming their children. https://www.raicestexas.org **

PEPPER JONES, 35, head librarian. Secretive, nurturing, cunning. Anyone paying attention will guess that Pepper Jones is more than the head librarian. But, how far does her subterfuge go? One of the advantages of working for an agency like [scribble out answer] is that they go into such deep cover, and for so long, that co-workers like Whit have never noticed Pepper’s little secret: she’s barely aged since the 1940s. Pepper has seen more than any of them, she knows where the bodies are buried, and she has her own network of connections around the world. The only question now is: whose side is Pepper on?

Sergey Leitner (ARC Agent)

Timothy Marks (ARC Agent)

WHIT MARTIN, 20s, myth-punk librarian job-hopper. Intense, searching, insecure. Whit wants to experience everything NOW. She is often seen as bold, impulsive, and fearless to the point of recklessness. She has little patience for authority or dominant, popular culture and hates feeling tied down. Everything is a bit bigger for Whit. When she loves someone or something, she loves it to her core. This is how her relationship with Amanda, despite the toll it takes on her fierce and stubborn sense of independence, has lasted so long. Whit eschews practicality for idealism, restraint for experimentation. She would much rather be doing than contemplating, and often is.

Strowlers Histories

The Traveler

Strowlers S1

Strowlers Pilot

The Box

Production

Non-canon Content

While the material below is officially considered non-canonical, fan-created content is frequently accepted into canon by showrunners, at which time it will move from here to the "canon" section of the page. All content created within this intellectual property is covered by the terms of the Shared Cinematic Universe License Agreement.

The enclosed content may contain spoilers or inaccurate information.

Edit at Strowlers:Strowlers (Show) (non-canon)

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Canon: Any wiki entry in the CANON category has been approved as an official part of the Strowlers Shared Cinematic Universe story.