ins and no outs - january/mid-feb 2025

reflections on January & mid-February 2025

Hi! It has taken me ten times longer to write this than any other Substack thing because things are kinda hard right now. I am going to focus on only INS for this installment, and no OUTS because I simply need to think Positive Thoughts. Here we go. Enjoy.

INS

ROBBIE WILLIAMS!!1!

I don’t wanna ROCK. dj ♥︎

I know it’s a meme right now, or at least in my algorithm, but the whole “Americans learning that Robbie Williams has been here the whole time” is so funny to me, and is also an experience I am currently experiencing. I’ve only known Robbie Williams as “British”, in connection to early-One Direction, and vaguely of the horrifyingly beautiful “Rock DJ” music video¹.

To be completely honest, the man’s a genius.

I am scared of monkeys, and it is an inside joke within a friend group of mine of how much they freak me out. I like gorillas, I like Japanese macaques, but the moment a chimp, capuchin, or a similar species proves that they are smart enough to like, unlock doors, I’m out. I don’t like when people have them as pets, I don’t like when they wear clothes.

Similarly to most Americans, the Better Man trailer absolutely confounded me. Why is he a monkey? I don’t like looking at him. If anybody hadn’t seen the trailer, I forced them to watch the trailer, not quite at gunpoint, but symbolically at gunpoint.

Well, would you believe me if I said Better Man was the best musical, if not one of the best movies, of 2024?

I saw Better Man twice in theaters, once at an AMC Screen Unseen (I already knew it was Better Man, and feared the movie would not last long in theaters so I wanted to see it prior to its release²), once at an AMC in Burbank a few weeks after its release. At the point when I saw it in Burbank, there was only one theater in Los Angeles showing it, with only 2 showtimes a day in the absolute smallest screening room I have ever been in, and we had to sit in the front row. I had already been going down the Robbie Williams rabbit hole, but this second viewing really did me in. On the walk out of the theater to the car, in the car with “Rock DJ” playing on repeat 25 times, on the walk to dinner, and on the walk home from dinner, my friend & movie-going buddy Skylar and I scrolled through his Wikipedia page. We researched everything we could find about this man. “Robbie Williams gay³”, “Robbie Williams bisexual”⁴, “Robbie Williams net worth”, “Robbie Williams tour”, “Robbie Williams Liam Gallagher”, etc. Robbie Williams has very quickly become one of my favorite people. He has done everything. He has lived one million lives. If there’s something you’re interested in, there is probably something Robbie related attached to it. If there’s a movie you enjoyed as a child, Robbie is probably involved in some way⁵. Hell, there are TWO best picture nominees this year that have Robbie/Robbie-adjacent needledrops— the Take That⁶ song “Greatest Day” opening Anora, and “Swing Supreme” by Robbie in Emilia Perez, to indicate that the scene in fact, takes place in London. I find it interesting that there are not THREE best picture nominees that feature Robbie Williams songs— Better Man fucking snubbed.

I recently watched the lovely special One Night at the Palladium and I think it is one of the sweetest and most pleasant things I’ve ever seen. He’s so “cheeky”. And he’s singing with Muppets! I’m excited to be going down this Robbie-hole⁷, and looking forward to discovering more.

Lip Liner

Specifically NYX Suede Matte Lip Liner in 52 - Free Spirit.

I used to be a big lipstick fan pre-Covid, and lowkey fell off because of masks. I only recently started diving back in⁸. I’d never really used lip liner, and have always been like, “Hm. I don’t like my top lip”. I get this top lip insecurity every time I see Sophie Thatcher⁹, and also whenever I see my Molly figurines on my bookshelf.

I have come to the conclusion that if you get a lip liner that is the exact same color as your own lips, simply connect the cupid’s bow and then put a few scribbles of it onto your lips, then put some chapstick or perhaps some Lip Balm over that, all of your dreams will come true.

THREE QUEENS STAND BEFORE ME…

NYX, please sponsor me or something. I love you

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - MISSION: BREAKOUT!

AHHH!

I hate the feeling of dropping, and out of all of my visits to Hollywood Studios, I’ve never once experienced Tower of Terror. It has always intrigued me, the Twilight Zone theme of it all, and similarly to the Xenomorph scene in The Great Movie Ride, just reading about it as a child scared the absolute shit out of me. A few weeks ago, I went to California Adventure with a goal to conquer all of the rides, and, of course, visit my friends The Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sorry to be a GotG enjoyer but why did this sign make me wanna cry. They’re so good

As I have previously mentioned in my “crying in a theme park” diary entry thing, I love when Bradley Cooper goes absolutely nuts, and I love that he actually did the voice acting for this one.

I did it! I don’t know what to say other than I didn’t know if I was going up or down at some points. I felt my purse floating around my feet and didn’t love that. I kept my eyes open for most of it, so I did get to see my friends The Guardians of the Galaxy and Bradley Cooper as a raccoon, but the second we were shooting up into the air and I saw the doors opening above us? Eyes closed. Absolutely not.

AHHH!

Similarly to Cosmic Rewind¹⁰, there is a randomized playlist of songs that play as you ride. We got “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5¹¹, and it made it so much less scary. It was a party. I loved it. Will I ever go on again if I get the opportunity to? Who knows. Glad I did it though.

“Don’t Delete the Kisses” by Wolf Alice

I forgot this song existed until it showed up on my Apple Music-generated weekly “Favorites” playlist a few days ago. I think this is one of my favorite songs ever written, to be honest. It also kinda feels like being Shot with a Gun.

I love, so much, just how raw and emotional this is. I can’t explain it because it turns my brain into absolute mush and also I haven’t slept a full night in a while.

I forgot that Charli covered it a few¹² years ago, which makes sense because it feels so True Romance-core¹³.

Sweet. Sad. Cool.

If I don’t scream this at karaoke at one point in the next 6 months, I will lose my mind I think.

Fred Hechinger

First of all, can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but I love that there’s an it-boy (to me, in my heart) named “Fred”.

I recently described Fred to friends, because I’m unfortunately brainrat (past-tense brainrotted) from the internet, as “he’s so Papa’s Orchard to me”, a phrase originated from a tweet I think about all the time, which is pictured below. The only true way to categorize Fred is as a “sweetie pie”.

Real Kyra-heads (people who I’ve been mutuals with for more than like 5 years) remember my “boy of the year” in which every year I just so happened to go through a phase of fixating on and obsessing over one man for a whole entire year. Past boys of the year have been John Mulaney, Bill Hader, Keanu Reeves¹⁴, and honestly, Richard Kind. My love for these men has never ceased, but every year like clockwork since like, 2015, so much of my online content consumption revolves around one specific man. Maybe it’s the algorithm and they’re just “big” that year, maybe it’s just me.

Fred Hechinger is literally everywhere this year¹⁵. He’s such a cutie in Thelma. He is absolutely captivating in Nickel Boys. I didn’t watch Kraven the Hunter, which is definitely a movie that was released in theaters in 2024, but sure! Good for him. I didn’t love Gladiator II, but I found his performance as a fucking freak¹⁶ so endearing, and on the press tour, his deep love and admiration for the monkey [Sherry] that played Dundus, his character’s lil sidekick and SPOILER¹⁷.

What a year for Fred! I would like to see him in every movie from now on (he was just announced as the lead in a horror movie directed by Finn Wolfhard(?). Hmmmm. Sure). A rom-com? Please.

Taking care of yourself

It can be hard to do this but maybe it would be good to do this.

OUTS

Emilia Perez

I know said I wasn’t going to have any OUTS this month but fuck Emilia Perez fr

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Thanks for listening! I mostly wrote this because I wanted to talk about Robbie Williams. My brain is mush otherwise and he’s all I think about. I hope you all have a good month! Rest of your month! Love you

1. the feminism leaving my body as I yell/sing “give no head, no backstage passes”

2. I was absolutely right, unfortunately this movie fucking flopped. Devastating.

3. “I’ve done everything but suck a cock. Honestly, you’ve never met somebody that wants to be gay as much as me”

4. most of the searches were along these lines

5. he sang over the credits of Finding Nemo? What the hell, sure.

6. A song from after Robbie’s exit from the group, but still somewhat related to him.

7. He would think this phrasing is funny I’d like to think

8. literally only because I found a MAC Chili lipstick, the Perfect red, for $10 at TJ Maxx.

9. I used to get like this when I would see her hair as well, and the first time I finally got my Perfect Shag Haircut, I brought in a picture of her in Yellowjackets and my beloved hairdresser laughed and was like “Yeah she has become the standard for that haircut, I am shown pictures of her all the time”. Talk about an It-Girl.

10. The GotG rollercoaster in EPCOT, for those not familiar with The Parks

11. Jackson 5 used to be my enemy, as somebody who worked retail during the Christmas season and had to hear their rendition of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” every hour

12. seven? what the fuck

13. at least the OG does

14. Did you know there’s like, a lot of John Wick fan fiction out there? I didn’t. Now I do.

15. 2024, it’s still 2024 because I finally got 2024 releases in my local theaters

16. I say this so so lovingly

17. the emperor? Is Dundus not the emperor at the end after everybody dies? Have we determined this? Let’s look into this.