Lorenzo:
Co-Creator, Editor-in-Chief

Lorenzo started the Lonely Outlet in 1986, as a small, hand-printed zine, which he primarily sold on shady street corners. Initially, it was a project that he began with his girlfriend-come wife Agnes Mülman, in an attempt to fill the void and give him some purpose. It wasn’t much, but it was, at least something. In time, and after much hard work and lack of sleep, the magazine somehow became a relatively large enterprise in Durénnmørk and even spawned a long-running TV series.

In 2008, Agnes passed away and Lorenzo, after much contemplation, decided to hire more staff, in part to help maintain the magazine and in part to help deal with his loneliness.

Despite the Outlet’s success, it doesn’t actually make all that much money. Materials and printing (not to mention staff wages) are very expensive in Durénnmørk. Additionally, Lorenzo has always maintained that the magazine should be fairly affordable, so more people are able to read it.

During the day, Lorenzo works at Auβenengaté Public High School as the head of Science and Mathematics. He enjoys the work and finds it very rewarding, but feels that his true calling is the Lonely Outlet.

Lorenzo lives with his daughter in the Northern Auβenengaté region, by the coast, where it is generally even darker than other parts of Durénnmørk.

He has said that he will keep the Outlet going for as long as he can, which, knowing Lorenzo, will be until he physically cannot write, type, or speak any longer.

Favourite Video Games: Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, The Neverhood, Life is Strange, Bioshock: Infinite, Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Persona 3 FES

Favourite Films: Lost in Translation, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Stand By Me, Bladerunner, A Christmas Story

Favourite TV Shows: Seinfeld, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Breaking Bad, Trapped

Favourite Musical Artists: Tom Waits, David Bowie, Dead Can Dance, Rodriguez

Favourite Anime: Spirited Away, Steins; Gate, Watamote, Azumanga Daioh

Favourite Books: The Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse 5, The Shining, And Then There Were None, the Pickwick Papers, Harry Potter 1-3

Favourite Comics: Cerebus, Peanuts, Love and Rockets, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, Spider-man

Favourite Magazines: MAD Magazine, American Scientist, Silicon Chip, The New Yorker, Nintendo Power, Videoscope

Dave Capelli:
Reviews Editor

Dave is one of few known childhood friends of Lorenzo, and while they didn’t keep in much contact during the early years of the Lonely Outlet, they reconnected shortly before Agnes’ death. When Lorenzo was looking for more staff to help out, Dave agreed, though initially only on a casual basis. With time, however, he found that he rather enjoyed writing for the Outlet, and it was something that he could do alongside his wife Julia. Eventually he became a full time writer and the reviews editor.

Dave has been described as looking like a cross between director David Lynch and Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. Lorenzo claims it’s primarily due to his “wave-like” mess of hair.

Dave is a semi-retired computer consultant. This basically means that he originally wanted to be a ‘programmer’, but was never quite good enough to really do much himself. He got some jobs, early on in his career, helping to fix and diagnose (fairly basic) computer problems and, considering the lack of computer savvy professionals in Durénnmørk, he ended up sticking to that kind of thing. It paid well and the hours were flexible. He can’t complain.

During his formative years, Dave’s family were quite poor. There is still much prejudice in Durénnmørk and as a result, he was looked down upon by many of the other, more wealthy residents. Today, Dave claims to enjoy the ‘better things in life’ and is rarely seen without a suit and tie, no matter the occasion.

Dave lives with Julia, along with their two cats, Ray and Hachi, in Lusengratz – the very centre of Durénnmørk.

Favourite Video Games: Planetscape: Torment, The Longest Journey, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Final Fantasy VI, Bloodborn, the Last of Us, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, StarCraft, Zelda

Favourite Films: Citizen Kane, Eraserhead, Vertigo, Old Boy, The Kid (Charlie Chaplin), The Illusionist, Star Wars, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Favourite TV Shows: Twin Peaks, Westworld, Breaking Bad, Frasier, Atlanta, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy

Favourite Musical Artists: Vivaldi Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Arcade Fire, Bjork, U2

Favourite Anime: Serial Experiments: Lain, Cowboy Bebop, Paranoia Agent, Monogatari

Favourite Books: Great Expectations, In Search of Lost Time, Kafka on the Shore, Of Mice and Men, The Brothers Karamazov, The Lord of the Rings

Favourite Comics: Achewood, Detective Comics, Watchmen, The Phantom, Saga, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

Favourite Magazines: The New Yorker, Film Comment, National Geographic, Durénnmørker Culture Press, Edge

Julia Capelli:
News Editor

Julia was one of Durénnmørk’s most well-respected journalists, writing for the region’s biggest newspaper. She met Dave at college, when they both took a creative writing unit in their first semester. They’ve been together ever since.

When Lorenzo was looking for more writers to join the Outlet, Julia naturally caught his eye. While he couldn’t offer her as much money as the newspaper, he could offer her a lot more freedom, and the chance to work alongside Dave. After much deliberation, she finally agreed and has been with the publication ever since.

Born to Vietnamese parents, Julia always felt rather alone in a town made up of almost entirely white, European natives. The town was generally not all that welcoming either. While not overtly racist, people of other ethnicities are simply not as ‘accepted’ as natives, or other Europeans. Julia always felt she had something to prove and performed well in school, with the intention of eventually attending a college abroad. However, she stumbled during her final exams – the pressure and expectation too much, and ultimately received low scores, effectively shattering her plan to leave. She still intended to leave after college, once she had established herself, to some degree, but since she got married and made new friends at the Outlet, this desire is not as strong as it once was.

Julia would still like to travel and see other parts of the world one day, but is now fairly content with her life in Durénnmørk.

She lives with Dave, along with their two cats, Ray and Hachi, in Lusengratz – the very centre of the town.

Favourite Video Games: The Cat Lady, Silent Hill 2, Super Metroid, Super Mario 64, Bioshock, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII, Thomas Was Alone, Resident Evil 2, Castlevania IV

Favourite Films: Let The Right One In, The Shining, Hereditary, Carrie, Escape from New York, Ghost World, The Incredibles, Groundhog Day

Favourite TV Shows: Twin Peaks, Gilligan’s Island, Stranger Things, Seinfeld, Red Dwarf, DuckTales

Favourite Musical Artists: Fleetwood Mac, The Gorillaz, Sia, Eurithmics, Lisa Gerard

Favourite Anime: Another, Lupin the Third, Clannad: After Story, Mysterious Girlfriend X

Favourite Books: The Hellbound Heart, NOS-4R2, The Stand, Snow Country, Carrie, Anna Karenina, Interview With a Vampire, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Favourite Comics: Saga, Paper Girls, 30 Days of Night, Locke & Key, Batman, Harley Quinn, Love and Rockets, Everything I Love is Monsters

Favourite Magazines: Durénnmørker Culture Press, Official Nintendo Magazine, Private Eye, Sight & Sound, Literary Review

Adrian Treeble:
Features Editor

Adrian is one of those unfortunate individuals who just does not know what he wants to do in life. He’s never really had any great purpose and generally felt more at home watching anime, playing games, or reading manga than in the “real world”. Of course, he realises that he can’t simply sit around doing nothing, so he is, at least, attending college, doing a Bachelor of Arts, hoping that something might ‘click’.

In his spare time, Adrian used to have his own blog “Yes, Senpai”, where he reviewed and commented on anime, manga and other niche Japanese culture. While the site was never a huge success, it certainly had its followers, including Lorenzo.

When Lorenzo needed more staff for the Outlet, he offered Adrian a job. He is now the defacto “anime guy”, “JRPG guy”, etc. Other staffers still review and report on those things, but Adrian is probably the most knowledgeable, and writes on these subjects the most.

Adrian and Liz recently moved in together – as roommates, they’re not ‘together’. Do not ship. They met through the Outlet, and discovered that they were both attending the same university (not too surprisingly really, considering that it’s one of two in the area), though in different fields. They started spending time between classes together and rather strong friendship soon formed.

Adrian has a dog, named Switch, and, on an unrelated note, he dreams of one day owning every physical PS Vita game released. We advised him to finish college and get his degree first.

Favourite Video Games: Persona 4 Golden, Muv-Luv Alternative, Catherine, BlazBlue (all of ‘em), Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus, Dr. Mario, Overwatch, Uncharted 2, Kingdom Hearts

Favourite Films: Fearless, Ghostbusters, The Producers, Audition, Coco, The Seven Samurai, Tokyo Story, The Handmaiden, Toy Story 3, The Taste of Tea, Midnight Samurai

Favourite TV Shows: Midnight Diner, Everybody Loves Raymond, Original Twin Peaks, Wipeout

Favourite Musical Artists: Utada Hikaru, Baby Metal, Iron Maiden, Japanese Breakfast

Favourite Anime: K-On!, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Baccano!

Favourite Books: The Windup Bird Chronicle, Harry Potter Series, Baccano, Almost Transparent Blue, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Favourite Comics (or manga): Monster, Death Note, Chobits, Watamote, Batman, Batwoman, Hellboy, Strangers in Paradise

Favourite Magazines: Otaku USA, Official Playstation Magazine, MegaVisions, HyperPlay RPG, Stardust, FilmInk

Wil Peterson:
Staff Writer, Photographer

Wil is a professional photographer and somehow got an ongoing gig taking publicity shots for a number of the nightclubs, bars and events in the Ullenbach Strip – the nightlife destination for the young and young at heart in Durénnmørk. During the day Wil works, often furiously, for the Outlet and most other staffers wonder if he ever actually sleeps. This arrangement also means that he is, perhaps, the very embodiment of the ‘lonely’ in the Lonely Outlet. Everyone else mostly works (or studies) at ‘normal’ hours and start at the Outlet in the evening. As such, when Wil comes in during the day, no one else is around. As a photographer, he also doesn’t get much of a chance to interact with people, spending more time behind the camera, as opposed to in front of it.

Wil has a beard, is overweight and suffers depression (as do most, if not all of our staff).

He also does not take criticism well, taking even small slights personally. Ironically, he was originally hired as the Outlet’s Customer Service Representative (which did not go well), until he became the magazine photographer a month later (and then a writer a year after that).

Wil loves cartoons, more than any of the other staffers and finds them therapeutic. He claims that he is also a closet Brony, though he does write the occasional piece about MLP for the magazine.

Favourite Video Games: Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World, Super Mario Odysee, Banjo-Kazooie, Beyond Good and Evil, Jak and Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Overwatch

Favourite Films: The Incredibles 2, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, National Lampoon’s Family Vacation, The Goonies, American Splendour, Aladdin, The Lion King

Favourite TV Shows: On the Buses, Dad’s Army, Faulty Towers, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rugrats, Samurai Jack, DuckTales

Favourite Musical Artists: The Gorillaz, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Steve Miller Band

Favourite Anime: New Game, Kill la Kill, Fate/Stay Night, Food Wars, Laid Back Camp

Favourite Books: The Hobbit, The Wheel of Time, My Absolute Darling, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Golden Compass Trilogy, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller

Favourite Comics: Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Archie, Garfield, The Goon, Ultimate Spider-man, Creature Tech, Gunnerkrigg Court

Favourite Magazines: GameInformer, NF Magazine, Empire, WDW Magazine, MAD Magazine, Top Gear

Liz Aarland:
Staff Writer, Archivist, General Girl Friday

When Liz was younger, she hated her name. If there was one thing that she could have done, it would have been to change her name. “Liz Aarland”, when said too quickly, sounded like “lizard-land” and she was consistently the brunt of jokes growing up.

Liz was an orphan and while she was adopted early on, her new parents never changed her name… To them, she was not “Elizabet Olafenson”, but always “Elizabet Aarland”. They were never outright mean or abusive, but just treated her with an air of indifference. Her adoptive brother inexplicably seemed to hate her. She, like so many other staff members, I suppose, felt very alone and as soon as she was able, left home for good.

Beyond that, Liz would say that she’s had a fairly conventional life thus far. She went to school, had a couple of kind-of friends (as is the norm in Durénnmørk) and is currently undertaking actuarial studies at college.

Liz and Adiran recently moved in together – as roommates, they’re not ‘together’. Do not ship. They met through the Outlet, and discovered that they were both attending the same university (not too surprisingly really, considering that it’s one of two in the area), though in different fields. They started spending time between classes together and rather strong friendship soon formed.

Liz says that she has an ardent love of Harry Potter, Disney and comics.

Favourite Video Games: Kingdom Hearts Series, Final Fantasy VIII, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, Metal Gear Solid, Bayonetta, World of Warcraft, The Path, Mario

Favourite Films: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Beauty and the Beast, The Lord of the Rings, The Royal Tenenbaums, Toni Erdmann, The Handmaiden

Favourite TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Monty Python, Rugrats, Spongebob, Friends, The Brady Bunch, The X-Files, Better Call Saul

Favourite Musical Artists: Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Eminem, Beach House

Favourite Anime: My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Favourite Books: Fingersmith, American Gods, Imajica, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Old Man and the Sea, Wuthering Heights, The Fountainhead, The Left Hand of Darkness

Favourite Comics: The Sandman, Sex Criminals, Batman, Tarot Witch of the Black Rose, Afterlife with Archie, Black Hole, V for Vendetta, Judge Dredd

Favourite Magazines: WDW Magazine, Wire, Mojo, Pen World, Rolling Stone, EGM, CGM, American Bystander

Evelyn Wane:
Publisher (English edition), Translator, Occasional Writer

Prior to his recent work at the Lonely Outlet, Evelyn was a “published” author of dozens of books. Basically, he’s like a real life Kilgore Trout, with each book only having one, maybe two copies produced. Due to Evelyn’s name being so close to actual writer ‘Evelyn Waugh’, he generally writes under the name ‘E.V. Wane’ (despite his middle name not starting with a ‘V’).

Evelyn was born and raised in Australia, until his family were killed in a devastating fire. From that point on, he used what funds he had to travel the world. Eventually, he found his way to Durénnmørk, where he settled down and got married – though he still makes frequent trips back to Australia. Please do not say “G’Day Mate” to him. He hates that.

Evelyn primarily translates old and new material from the Outlet Archives, with help from the other staff members (who actually do speak English rather well), and publishes the material in physical magazines – with greater print runs than his actual books! He occasionally writes for the Outlet, though rarely in the same capacity as other staff members. If you do happen to see his stuff around, it will generally be pieces of his own fiction (which Lorenzo has gracefully allowed in the magazine), as well as pieces about the Outlet, or Durénnmørk itself.

Agnes Mülman:
Co-Creator, Former Writer and Designer

Agnes was an artist and designer originally from Southern Durénnmørk. She met Lorenzo in high school and the two became a couple during their final year. They started the Lonely Outlet in 1986, with Agnes primarily taking on the majority of art and design duties.

The Outlet’s Mascot, Ida was a character created by Agnes, based largely on herself. She even produced a short-lived comic series, ‘Carnival Blues’ starring the character in 1991, detailing her childhood and teenage years.

In 1993, Lorezno and Agnes were not yet married, however Agnes found out that she was pregnant. Premarital sex is frowned upon in Durénnmørk and the two were somewhat ostracised, motivating them to move to the Northern Auβenengaté region, which is a relatively quiet and isolated area.

The two did eventually marry in 2006 and collaborated on the magazine until Agnes’ untimely death in 2008.

Not a day goes by when she isn’t missed.