ins and outs for 2025
the third (wtf??) annual ins-and-outs list
Welcome to Flop Era, a digital platform where I muse on pop culture, cultural trends, and all things Gen Z. Today, I’m wishing 2025 won’t be a flop.
It’s time! Somehow this is the third annual end-of-the-year list I’ve written for flop era. When I first started this blog a couple years ago, I didn’t think that this type of post would be a mainstay.
2024 was personally a rollercoaster of a year for me. I had some high highs: I turned a quarter-century old, I traveled to Italy for the first time, and moved to my first solo apartment. And I had some low lows (which we don’t need to get into). Culturally, this year was like a Honeycrisp: a bite of sweet-tart crunchiness. It was the year of brat summer, pop girls/divas mothering, calling a guy a “rodent” as a compliment, and so much more.
With that being said, I present you my ins-and-outs with no explanation. My list has been and will always be half-serious—while a societal commentary tinged with playfulness, the list and I are by no means doorkeepers of culture. With pop culture always oscillating, it’s fun to look back on past ins and outs to see which predictions were accurate. Or maybe it will be another example of me being absolutely filled with brain rot (which happens to be Oxford’s Word of the Year).
In:
borrowing books from your local library
going to the movies solo
hot green tea in the morning
a life-changing sandwich that becomes your new fixation for like two weeks
collecting small objects (buttons, matchbooks, cards, etc. from your favorite businesses)
photo booths
ordering calamari as an appetizer
befriending your neighbors
not caring about what people think
social media detox
reading comprehension and critical thinking
Out:
using AI for literally anything
natural deodorant
grocery shopping without a list
using TikTok as a primary research tool (literally just use Google omg)
spending more than $6 on coffee
thrifting for the sole intention of reselling
hangovers
elaborated skincare routine
bringing dogs (that aren’t service animals) into stores
stanning
lowkey in and outs lists (CTFUUUU)
flop watch & reads AWARDS (my favs of the year)
Shows, movies, and books I’ve enjoyed and recommend in 2024:
📺 Fellow Travelers, Heartbreak High (season 2), Percy Jackson and the Olympians
🎥 Brokeback Mountain, Challengers, Immaculate, Luca, Love Lies Bleeding, Maurice, Past Lives, Problemista, Scream, The Substance, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Wicked
📖 Dancing My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy by Simon Wu, Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, Monstrillo by Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond, Sula by Toni Morrison, The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan
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