bmay_illustrated

Funny thing about bad advice…

It usually sounds a lot better

coming from somebody

who needs you to make the same mistakes they did.

Got real brave with a coward in your ear,

telling you betrayal ain’t betrayal if the reason sounds sincere.

She said, “You deserve better,” while she’s sneaking on her own,

giving relationship advice with three numbers in her phone.

That’s rich.

Taking morals from somebody who misplaced theirs,

letting somebody with a wreck tell you how to make repairs.

She normalized the lying ’cause admitting it was wrong

meant looking at herself and seeing where that guilt belonged.

See, misery loves company, but cheaters need witnesses,

somebody else doing it makes it feel legitimate.

So she handed you excuses, you wore ’em like they fit,

and every time she crossed a line, you moved yours next to it.

What kind of friend helps you destroy what chose you?

Calls it “living your life” while the consequence owns you?

What kind of friend sees a good thing and gets nervous?

Maybe watching you stay loyal made her question her purpose.

So

“Girl, he’ll never know.”

“Girl, you only live once.”

“Girl, if he was doing enough, you wouldn’t need someone.”

Funny how the advice always protects what she’s done.

She wasn’t setting you free.

She was recruiting someone.

Now two guilty consciences can call each other queens,

rewrite what happened till betrayal sounds clean.

Tell each other, “We’re not bad, we were missing something.”

Nah.

You had something.

You just listened to someone

who couldn’t stand seeing you keep

what she keeps fucking up.

Every excuse had fingerprints that weren’t yours,

but your hand was still the one that opened the door.

And don’t get it twisted, I’m not giving her the blame

for decisions that you made when you stepped into that game.

She encouraged it? Sure.

You still chose it.

She handed you the match

you’re the one who fucking lit it.

She told you cheating was healing?

You believed it.

Then came home to somebody faithful

and deceived him.

That’s the part they leave out in the group chat celebration:

betrayal ain’t empowerment just because it gets validation.

A room full of people saying wrong is right

doesn’t turn a knife into anything but a knife.

Now look at the company you chose to keep close

everybody giving advice from the relationships they broke.

Everybody screaming “toxic” at the ones they betrayed,

everybody playing victim when the receipts get displayed.

You became what they applauded.

They became your defense.

Now accountability sounds like disrespect.

That’s convenient as hell

build a circle where nobody can judge

because everybody’s hands are dirty enough.

So keep the friends who taught you love has loopholes.

Keep calling betrayal “finding yourself” if that soothes you.

But when all of them disappear when their own lives implode,

remember who was beside you before they showed you that road.

Because the company you kept

convinced you to hurt

the company that chose you.

And maybe that’s the coldest part

they didn’t teach you how to cheat.

They just made you feel less guilty…

I can be the bad guy, if that’s what helps you sleep at night

I’ll wear the shadows you painted on my shoulders,

I’ll be the reason you’re alright

If it’s easier to see me through the crosshairs

Of every word you couldn’t say

I’ll be the one across the battlefield, sword in hand—

Even if I never come to fight your way

You can tell it how you want to, to the neighbors or your friends

Let them see the story you survived

Let them never know how much I tried

You can leave out all the times that I begged for something simple—

Just to be seen, just to be held

You can tell them how I hardened, how I turned into the villain

But you don’t have to tell them how it felt

You can blame me for the thunder

You can call me every storm

I’ll carry every fault line, be the crack in every wall

I’ll let you love your version

Let you hold onto the peace

If you need me standing on the other side,

I promise I won’t reach

I can be the bad guy, if that’s what lets you love me

You don’t have to remember how I trembled

Or the nights I couldn’t sleep

You can let your anger build a legend

Where I’d rather fall upon the sword

Than ever use it on you—

I’ll be silent, I’ll be small, I’ll be wrong for you

I can carry every story,

Wear the black hat, play the part

If it means that you find mercy

Somewhere deeper in your heart

I can be the bad guy,

If that’s the only way you know

I’ll love you from the distance

With the characters created and showcased, we begin moving onto writing the first volume and it's opening chapter!

Here is a blurb from the opening scene for Debauchery in Wonderland, following Alice pondering his own work as an artist.

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