The Brunch round-up: The week and how it made us feel

Looks like the Deadpool and Wolverine duo are on a roll. The 2024 Marvel movie is now the most successful R-rated movie in the US, beating The Passion of The Christ (2004) in its second week of release. What a difference two decades can make. #EverydayMiracles

Rapper Sofia Ashraf is directing her first web series in Tamil. Ashraf shot to fame with her song Kodaikanal Won’t in 2015, which called out Hindustan Unilever for not taking responsibility over mercury poisoning cases in Kodaikanal. In 2016, she wrote Dow Vs. Bhopal, asking Dow Chemicals to be held accountable for the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy. That web series is going to be all fire, we’re sure.

Who doesn’t love a good carpet-cleaning Reel? Oddly satisfying, right? For those who truly dream of labour, there’s now Clean It, a mobile-phone game devoted to washing carpets and household objects correctly. Waste time, don’t waste water, clean virtually for free, leave the real world dusty. This is what late-stage capitalism looks like. BRB in three hours.

We love how the Olympics brings people together. French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati’s big... mishap (the one that bumped up against, and brought down the bar as he attempted to clear 5.70m) is now viral. Ammirati lost his place in the final. But artists online have commemorated his bulge in paintings. This. Is. Gold.

The UK Passport office has rejected Lucy Holloway’s little daughter’s passport. Khaleesi, apparently, is a name trademarked by Warner Brothers, so Game of Thrones fans are in a bind. The authorities asked Holloway for a letter of approval from the movie studio. Lucy, we hope you’ve got three dragons to state your case. Dracarys!

Word is that Gen Z views the thumbs up emoji as passive aggressive. Why are those guys such snowflakes? The rest of us plan to keep using it (and pick Thums-Up over other colas). If you encounter it in a text and are not sure if it’s snark or support, how about just ask? Or move on. Humans didn’t develop opposable thumbs to cry over imagined slights.

Karisma Kapoor has clarified that her name is Ka-RIZZ-ma. Alicia Silverstone’s Reel says it’s pronounced Uh-LEE-see-uh, not Ali-shia. How has it taken us this long to figure it out? FYI: Charlize Theron’s last name is meant to sound like Throne. Saoirse is Surr-Sha. Jake is a Jillin-Hall. Amanda is Sigh-Fred. And the band Haim? Just say High-Um.

Odd little anecdotes, accompanied by the floating head of a confused white man. They’re all over Insta. Turns out the guy is Russian trash streamer Andrey Burim, 25, aka Mellstroy. Burim has hit women and coerced underage girls to strip on live cams. His reputation is in the toilet. Insta is his last-ditch attempt at getting back into the game. Don’t fall for it.