Chapters 9 + 10. Luke + RJ and the Lies We Tell Ourselves About Our Friends, and the Lies They Tell Us

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Luke and RJ: Lies About Rejection, Boundaries, and Getting What You Want

What happens when someone who barely knows you suddenly decides they hate you? And what happens when someone who knows you far too well refuses to take no for an answer?

In this episode of The Lying Liars Who Lied When They Said They Loved You, two very different encounters expose the strange, sometimes cruel ways people negotiate rejection, intimacy, and personal boundaries.

First, there's Luke—a familiar face from the neighborhood and the dating apps whose seemingly harmless interest takes an unexpected turn. A casual message becomes an avalanche of insults, humiliation, and threats, leaving the narrator wandering the neighborhood in search of someone he barely knows and confronting a much larger question: Why does he keep inviting these people into his life?

Then there's RJ, an occasional boyfriend, persistent visitor, and enthusiastic explorer of loopholes. Armed with a signed liability agreement, a talent for weaponized childishness, and an apparently limitless capacity to test boundaries, RJ turns an ordinary visit into a spectacularly ridiculous confrontation. Even being thrown out of the house doesn't stop him from asking for one last favor.

One story ends with a man crying alone on a curb. The other ends with a man laughing as he walks away.

Together, they explore the difference between setting boundaries and actually enforcing them, the humiliation of wanting to be wanted, and the absurd lengths people will go to avoid hearing the word no.

Darkly funny, uncomfortable, and painfully human, Luke and RJ is another installment in a series about the lies people tell to survive—and the lies we tell ourselves to keep letting them in.

Content advisory: Adult language, substance use, sexual references, emotional abuse, and threats of violence.

In this double-feature episode of The Lying Liars, we dive into the chaotic world of dating app harassment, toxic hookup culture, and boundary-stepping guests. From unprovoked middle-of-the-night app tirades and awkward apartment love triangles to enforcing house rules against erratic visitors, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 unpack the absurdity and emotional toll of dealing with chronic manipulators.

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Music Arranged by Barry Floore.

Lyrics by DJ Staxx.

Instrumentation from Suno.ai

Podcast Vocals from Elevenlabs.io

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OpeningIntroduction to Luke and RJ

01:54 Luke: The Convenience Store

05:55 Luke: Daquan and the Bitch

09:17 Luke: Chris's Hedonism Overflows

13:49 Luke: Time Passes

16:02 Luke: The Attack

22:23 RJ: I Never Ask for Cigarettes

24:05 RJ: Arguing with a Baby

27:41 RJ: One Last FavorAn exit, a bag of chips, and the inevitable cigarette request