In doing so, Clubsweethearts challenges the very idea of what “popular media” means. Popularity, for them, is not box office gross or Nielsen ratings. It is relevance to the heart . A niche webcomic with 2,000 devoted readers can be more “popular” in this framework than a billion-dollar franchise that no one actually loves. Of course, not everyone is charmed. Media traditionalists have accused Clubsweethearts of “toxic positivity” and “criticism without teeth.” In a Rolling Stone op-ed, a TV critic wrote: “By refusing to engage with art’s failures, Clubsweethearts 25 01 infantilizes audiences. Not every ending is happy. Not every character is redeemable. And pretending otherwise is a disservice.”
| | Example from 25 01 | Clubsweethearts Take | |----------------|------------------------|--------------------------| | Streaming Series | Ironheart (Disney+) | “Not a superhero show, but a trauma recovery narrative with cool gadgets.” | | Theatrical Film | The Long Goodbye (A24) | “Finally, a breakup movie that validates staying friends.” | | Video Game | Hades II (Early Access) | “Romance mechanics as therapy: a love letter to Supergiant.” | | Music Album | Eternal Sunshine (Ariana Grande, Deluxe) | “Pop as emotional mapping; track-by-track sweetheart analysis.” | | Fanworks | “The Penelope & Colin Mixtape” (AO3 podfic) | “Peer-reviewed fanfic: why our community voted this the best canon divergence of 2024.” | clubsweethearts 25 01 17 alice flore solo xxx 2 better
The 25 01 edition feels less like a media product and more like a shared journal. It invites you to write in the margins, to disagree gently, to fall in love with a side character, to defend a silly rom-com, to admit you cried during the car commercial. In doing so, it remembers something that popular media often forgets: that the word “entertainment” contains the word “heart.” In doing so, Clubsweethearts challenges the very idea
But the real impact is cultural. By centering emotional connection over scandal, Clubsweethearts is quietly building an alternative canon. Their 25 01 “Sweetheart Hall of Fame” inducted three characters who are not leads, not heroes, but simply beloved : the diner waitress from The Last Voyage , the sarcastic AI from Starbound Odyssey , and the flower shop owner from that Hallmark Christmas movie no one else reviewed. A niche webcomic with 2,000 devoted readers can
And for the thousands of clubsweethearts gathering in Discord servers, living rooms, and comment sections this January, that’s more than enough. Clubsweethearts 25 02 is slated for April 2025, with a theme of “Spring Renewals: Reboots, Reimaginings, and Second Chances.”
Noticeably absent from the 25 01 slate? Negative reviews. Clubsweethearts has a strict “no dunking” policy. If they dislike a piece of media, they simply don’t cover it. This editorial choice has sparked debate in media circles, but the group argues that curation is more valuable than criticism. As legacy entertainment outlets shrink and lay off critics, new models are rising. Clubsweethearts operates on a patronage model (Patreon, ko-fi, and Discord memberships) that nets the collective an estimated $80,000 per month—enough to pay its 12 core contributors and fund the 25 01 zine’s print run.
The collective responded in their 25 01 zine’s letters section: “We don’t ignore darkness. We just don’t perform cruelty for clicks. There are a thousand places to read a takedown. There are vanishingly few places to read a celebration. Choose.”