The Brunch round-up for January 24: The week and how it made us feel
This week, we’re reading #Dramione fan fiction, watching gay hockey, calling people choppelgangers and sticking googly eyes on everything

- 1
Raising sticks
Bring out your Heated Rivalry references, class. Not only does North America’s Professional Women’s Hockey League have 30 openly queer players, Anna Kjellbin and Ronja Savolainen are engaged to each other and will play on opposing teams in the 2026 Olympics. So, where’s their TV show? We want an Enemies-to-Lovers arc!

- 2
Smooching again
Harry Styles – he of the bare-chest jumpsuit, the fuchsia fur, the groovy stripes – just dropped the best album title: Kiss All The Time, Disco, Occasionally. Sounds like deathbed advice from an uncle who caught herpes in the ’70s. Exactly what we need when playlists have Showgirl, West End Girl, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). Sugaring our watermelon as we wait.

- 3
Doing a double check
Wait. There’s Draco-Hermione fan fiction? They call the pair #Dramione? It’s popular? SenLinYu’s dark-fantasy trilogy Manacled is actually good? So good that a studio cut a seven-figure movie deal? The film is called Alchemised? There’s necromancy, lost memories and war? How deep does this beautiful rabbit hole go?

- 4
Relatively relieved
Park Shin Hye is getting the full set! She’s been in K-dramas for two decades, largely playing a daughter with either deceased or separated parents. But in the upcoming Undercover Miss Hong, both eomma and appa happily run a local business together. She plays a financial detective. Her CEO is her ex. Sigh. Some tropes persist.

- 5
Driving to Gotham
Look what Warner Bros. is selling: 10 Tumblers from The Dark Knight, aka, the baddest Batmobiles, ever. Each has a 6.2-litre LS3 engine that offers 525 horsepower and 486 pound-feet of torque. Yes, they are two-seaters. No, they’re not street legal. Alas, they cost $2.99 million. Please deploy your deepest growl if you’re ordering by phone.

- 6
Fanning this flame
Fussy celebrities, take note. Not only did Elle Fanning pose for Szilveszter Makó’s unhinged witch-housewife portraits for Who What Wear, she did it in designer wear. High fashion but make it craft collage. We love a bit of risk. Celebrity photos are so predictable these days.

- 7
Copying the kids
Gen Alpha gave up 6-7 the moment grown-ups discovered the nonsense term. They now have a new word to describe someone who looks like them, but uglier. Introducing Choppelganger (chopped + doppelgänger), a devastating way to throw shade at your parents. We’re not stealing this one, TYSM.

- 8
Staring back
Your friend who buys googly-eye stickers from MR. DIY and puts them on everything, including your water bottle? Take her to Boston and leave her there. Artist duo Collectif Pierre&Marie have fixed gigantic eyeballs over six buildings as part of a public-art installation. Let her feel looked down on, for a change.


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