The kanji (Japanese term for Han Chinese characters) for love—as a general concept—is 愛, which is romanized as "ai" and pronounced like "eye". Hence, PR愛DE. I know it's a couple of weeks away, but some say every month is Pride Month, and every minute of every day those of us who experience identity, love, and desire in ways most folk find strange deserve to feel real, and seen, and free to be who we are—so I'm minting 5/8, which is kinda auspicious. I also tried to apply plenty of auspicious number instances for good luck. Of course I hope this artwork brings you luck and joy, and that you stay safe and hopeful out in the world (or not *out* in it, whatever is best for you).

I tried to make sure everyone has some representation by using colors from the Progress Pride Flag, and I made the background grey because we’ve all been there, in a grey area on the way to understanding our true selves—and some of us find that we are defined by being in a grey area, or by being people for whom the options for feeling romantic or intimate desires are “greyed out”. And for those of us whose lives are drab grey because we cannot safely live authentically, that’s for you, too; I see you. PR愛DE is for all of you—all of *us*—even though there will only be 835 of this particular design. This is far from being the only Pride NFT I’ll create. (And feel free to use the basic design to make your own version with the colors you want—for your own personal enjoyment, of course.)

Be well, y'all.