Ryou shows his Purple

Ryou's wearing purple stripes in celebration of Spirit Day, hoping to spread awareness of LBGT bullying (and bullying as a whole) so many people out there deal with.

I'll be going home and throwing on my Marik costume today to show my support <3! But I wanted to do a little something else, so here is my drawing of the day. I can only hope it makes someone struggling out there smile c:

Living in the South, I see bullying and predjudice all the time, and it is painful for me to have to see it so very often. My own sister once told me she'd completely disown me if I were a lesbian, and hearing that stung - badly. I can't imagine how it would feel for my family to just kick me to the curb, but I know so many friends that it's happened to. It's especially bad here in Alabama, and I do what I can to defend friends, even from their own families, and it's really depressing that it's that way because family should be supportive no matter what.

I was bullied a lot in school for various issues, and I can understand how painful and difficult it can be. Now that I'm older, I've worked hard to stop bullying when I see it, and wearing purple (or drawing one of my favorite characters in purple) is just one more way to do that.

Never forget that you are loved.

Never feel like you're alone.

And always, ALWAYS love yourself <3

--
Ryou Bakura (c) Kazuki Takashi
image (c) me