guys guys guys i just remembered. when i was in highschool, learning the periodic table for like, the second time i think? (i was fifteen some details are blurry), some of my classmates were confused about the noble gases being stable on their own. we had learned the names of the elements the year before but it was the first time properly learning about the different kinds of bonds between them and how they became molecules etc. and since every other atom was unstable on the own and needed another element to achieve stability, creating molecules as a consequence, they were a bit confused about it. so to make it more understandable, our teacher told us that when she studied chemistry at college, her classmates usually joked saying that they "hit on people/flirted less than the noble gases" (in spanish "ligas menos que los gases nobles". i did my best to translate by i think most of the funny is lost in the translation). and i laughed at the moment, but right now, as an aroace phd student, im screaming and laughing til the top of my lungs imagining ryland grace wearing a t-shirt with a joke about this. specially considering how relevent is xenon in the movie and in erid. so it would be something like "as interested in romantic relationships as xenon", an then the xenon element pictured in the colours of the aroace flag. or maybe something like, "you say sex is great but have you found your platonic soulmate among the stars? ("tried to intertwine your soul with your best friend's making both of you inseparable among the stars? no? well, it's your loss" is too long but brilliant in my mind). i think the best one im capable of thinking right now is like, "i flirt with people the same way an Ar (picture of the icon of argon on the periodic table) o a Xe (same with xenon) do with other elements. it's not perfect cause xenon starts with x and not with c but it's the best i can do when it's late at night and i just finished the movie for the second time. but hey i liked it so much i might play with the idea of that last one tomorrow so i can have a fun sticker or something.
anyways im not at my most imaginative with jockes right now but i hope i have made myself clear enough for you to see the vision. bonus points if after learning the meaning of aroace, grace tries to teach that and gender to rocky and adrian just because after realising it he wants to be understood with someone who gets how joyful it is to finally click with those terms and get what you didn't understand about yourself before that. (maybe is not that easy/common to give that read to grace but as an nb, seeing how people in the fandom also play with Grace's gender is so personal to me). and they don't get it at first cause why humans as a species limit themselves being like everyone else in this tight box instead of letting all flow and just be how you like. but they give reassurance to grace, let him joke about it how many times they need it and they're the first ones to help him make the t-shirts
