Even if the date is cheap, the dating app isn’t

Plus: BookTok drama, the Zelda movie and more. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a hype machine for Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Dating apps]( are getting dumped. - TikTok readers are [super pumped](. - [Zelda]( casting leaves us stumped. The Apps Are No Good Would you spend $100 a week or more for [a dating app](? Dave Lee [says]( he’d “rather reinvest that kind of money in a bigger apartment in which to die alone.” But some people are willing to pay an arm and a leg to find true love, apparently. A few months ago, Tinder [announced]( a $500-a-month subscription that gives users the ability to message *anyone* they want, regardless of any sort of reciprocity or red flags. It’s “the digital equivalent of interrupting someone who is reading a book while listening to headphones,” he writes. Let’s just hope that [this guy]( doesn’t have the expendable income to sign up for it: The truth is, dating apps are in a bit of a rut, and it’s not just because people are [bringing]( their parents on the first date. Bumble’s CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd [stepped down]( on Monday. Match Group’s [stock]( is plunging. And plenty of individuals are waking up to the fact that yes, [single]( people can be [happy and healthy](. “Both Bumble and Match Group have plans to crank up the monetization,” Dave writes. For Tinder, that means moving toward a weekly subscription model. For Bumble, it involves a plan to attract “high intent, serious dating users.” At least these dating apps aren’t getting in bed with (sorry, couldn’t resist) so-called BNPL apps as a valid form of payment. (I checked the Terms of Service for Tinder, Hinge and Bumble.) Buy now, pay later transactions [amounted to]( about $147 billion worldwide in 2021, almost doubling in a year, Lionel Laurent [writes](. As of March, about one in two US households used such services to pay for stuff: But a sizeable percentage of those people are missing their payments. In the UK alone, 11% of BNPL users have paid late fees — a percentage that goes up for lower-income households. Earlier this year, BNPL companies [threatened]( to ditch their UK operations if regulators caused them trouble. An IPO is the last thing Klarna deserves, and yet that’s [the direction]( it says it’s headed in. “It’s vital that this regulatory ambivalence doesn’t get caught up in a misguided race to attract fintech IPOs,” Lionel argues. Even if you can’t pay for your dating apps with BNPL, you can [use it]( to foot the dinner bill. By [one estimate](, an average date in New York City — dinner and drinks — costs about $230. That’s not a formula for a healthy financial relationship — or for a [romantic]( one, either. Bonus App Reading: [Finance apps]( like Venmo are still too risky. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Gen Z’s addition to social media is Big Tech’s [greatest threat](. — Amanda Little The BookTok Hype Machine Photo illustration: Jessica Karl Remember when people [started reading]( Harry Potter and nobody knew how to pronounce Hermione’s name? Some readers thought it was Her-mi-one; others were fully confident it was Herm-ee-own. But it wasn’t until the Goblet of Fire that the female heroine told Viktor Krum the proper way to pronounce it: Her-my-oh-nee. Readers of the [New York Times bestseller]( Fourth Wing could use a similar clarification. Since the book was published in May, everyone’s been butchering the pronunciation of the dragon names in the book — Tairneanach, Andarnaurram and Ferige, to name a few — including the author. That’s right: Rebecca Yarros, creator of the TikTok-famous fantasy book, mispronounced several of the Scottish Gaelic words from her novel during a [recent interview]( at New York Comic Con. You’d think the book community would take offense at this, but as I write in my [inaugural culture column](, “the blunder — or the viral TikTok a native speaker made to [express frustration]( with how the language was carelessly deployed — hasn’t slowed down her success. On Tuesday, when she released the sequel, Iron Flame, it sold out on Amazon.com Inc. within 12 hours.” But this is just the tip of the iceberg for the “[romantasy](” genre, which has grown increasingly popular on BookTok. Corners of the publishing industry appear to be speeding up their production timelines to meet the unrelenting demand, similar to how the fast-fashion industry works: When I attended the midnight premiere of Iron Flame at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square this week, Yarros readily admitted that she doesn’t speak Gaelic: “I am really sorry, but I did find a tutor. I may butcher these words right now so please have some grace for me. … Next year, I will have some better pronunciations for you, I promise.” It’s an apology that feels too little, too late. Let’s hope her tutor gets hired on the set of the [TV adaptation](. It’d be a real shame if the actors mispronounced the names of their dragons on screen, too. Please do read [the whole thing]( — again, it’s my first culture column, and my editor said we could [celebrate]( by making it a free read! [This Isn’t Your Mother’s]( Nintendo Heartbreak feels good in [a place]( like this. Photo illustration: Jessica Karl Speaking of on-screen adaptations, The Legend of Zelda is finally coming to Hollywood!! Gearoid Reidy [says]( the announcement shows how Nintendo is finally taking the old man’s [famous line]( — “it’s dangerous to go alone” — to heart. The first order of business will be to select [the stars]( that will play the live-action versions of the characters. My personal favorites include: - [Michael Cera]( as Link - [Hunter Schafer]( as Princess Zelda - [Jennifer Coolidge]( as the great fairy - [Nathan Fielder]( as Beedle Once they settle on the actors, they’ll need to figure out how to create a live-action movie with a main character who [famously never speaks](. Luckily, Nintendo will have some help deciding how to go about that challenge: For Zelda, it’s teaming up with former Marvel producer [Avi Arad]( and Sony, which will co-finance and distribute it. “It’s been seven years since the Kyoto-based firm first said it was venturing into the movie business, and ever since it’s been picking some smart partners,” Gearoid writes. The Super Mario Bros. Movie — a collab with Illumination, the maker of Minions — turned out to be the second-biggest earner at the worldwide box office this year, right behind Barbie. These collaborations stand in stark contrast to the old Nintendo, which wasn’t very good at sharing its toys. “Once regarded as a notoriously hard company to work with, it has clearly learned its lessons,” Gearoid argues. News You Can Haiku We’re mixing things up on this fine Wednesday. In place of our normal Telltale Charts, I’ve got some haikus for you news freaks. Enjoy, and try not to burn the roof of your mouth on these piping hot takes: The King’s [speech]( was lame. Sweet [ride](! A [slam]( in the face! Time to celebrate. SCOTUS, you [messed up](. Lower courts play guessing games on [abuse]( and guns. [Ohio]( gets it... Motherhood can [change careers](. [Pro-choice](!!! Give three cheers. Further Reading Antony Blinken’s “[shuttle diplomacy](” is just political theater. — Andreas Kluth The [recession]( you may have missed is over! — John Authers A [rusting shipwreck]( is causing drama in the South China Sea. — Hal Brands The Fed needs to forget about its inflation issues and [pivot to jobs](. — Conor Sen Life is about to get tougher for [Marks & Spencer](. — Andrea Felsted Australia’s [territorial behavior]( is not good for the lithium market. — David Fickling Demand for oil lubricants has reached a 40-year low, which is [bad news]( for the economy. — Javier Blas Wait, Texas just voted for socialism? They’ll do anything for [natural gas](. — Liam Denning ICYMI Ivanka Trump says she was [not involved](. The Las Vegas [Sphere CFO]( quit. Amazon [streamed]( a homophobic slur. Disney+ topped 150 million [subscriptions](. Kickers The city [that SUX](. God was a [livestreamer](. Kraft debuts a [dumpling](. NASA+ is [streaming]( the starts. (h/t Earl K) Never try to [feed the elk](. (h/t Andrea Felsted) Notes: Please send grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? 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