On the record

Promos

Character Development · Sep 10, 2026

Misconception

I don’t know how we got here, truly. One afternoon I’m getting stomped out by a group of guys outside of Magliano’s Pizza in Philly by the dumpster out back, fighting for my life, and the next week I’m on a bus to Dallas? If that’s all you heard you’d think I was running. I’ve got literally nothing to run from. No, not a fake literally. Not an often-used but never meant “literally”. I mean I have nothing. Evicted last week, but still squatting in the same apartment complex in a spare room I’ve jimmied the lock to a billion times. Tried to do it the right way, but bills are for the birds, man. Evicted…because I’m broke? Nah. Because fuck ‘em. These apartments are a step up from trap-house. N…

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Ronan Vale Ronan Vale

Character Development · Aug 31, 2026

Guys (and some women, apparently) will do anything but go to therapy. [Pt 3]

"Yo. Your tooth." Rat holds it out with two fingers, arm stretched out, looking away like a dead cockroach in his grasp. The man on the ground rolls onto his back, wheezes, takes the tooth and studies it and places it in his shirt pocket. The back door of the bar opens once more, and a bartender peers out, towel on his shoulder, uninterested in anything that happens outside. "Dan. If you're going to bleed, bleed off my property." "Yes sir." The door closes. "Dan," Rat says. Dan sits up, spits red saliva on the concrete floor and smiles, exposing the new gap. Finally Marcus blinks, after about ninety seconds of watching everything happen around us. Looks at me like coming back from somewhere…

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Dorian Knox Dorian Knox

Character Development · Aug 30, 2026

Guys will do anything but go to therapy. [Pt 2]

"YO CHILL! CHILL!" Marcus is scooped up by the collar of his shirt, lifted off his feet and pressed against the wall of the bar. The recent rain has the walls outside all slimy, so he slides up rather easily. That or Derrick is just so fucking strong. Derrick is seething as if it isn't Rat that just cold-cocked him in the jaw. "Derrick, that's your name, right? Derrick, look, he wasn't thinking. He didn't mean to actually start something." ..."A LITTLE FUCKING HELP HERE, MAYBE?" I ask Rat with impatience. This guy is twice the size of all of us. Shit, three times the size of Rat. "Derrick, let him go man. This is between us." "Nah this motherfucker wants to involve himself in our business? …

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Dorian Knox Dorian Knox

Character Development · Aug 22, 2026

Guys will do anything but go to therapy.

"I'd beat the shit out of you!" A refrain heard in every realm where alcohol exists and at least two friendly men are drinking. "Brother, I wish you would. You'd get dog-walked and you know it." I can't help eavesdropping. Not because the conversation's any good, they're just two seats down with one patron between us. He looks miserable. Choking down a handful of assorted nuts, tapping a finger on the bar to flag another Old Fashioned. "They've clearly never heard of an inside voice." That's @Marcus Sheppard. We've been A1 since day one. Best friends since second grade. Genuinely the kindest, most helpful dude I know. He'd kill for me. He'd feel terrible about it, but he'd do it. He's famil…

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Dorian Knox Dorian Knox