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You just came home from a day of stressful meetings at work, just got past midterm week at school, or simply had a rough day that just kept getting worse. Once you finish your regular self-care checklist, like taking a shower and eating your favorite food, you might not know what else to do. Instead of mindlessly scrolling on social media and stressing yourself out more, this list will present an exhaustive list of different destressing activities that ties in with fandom that you can use to center your mind while having fun. Read along and celebrate getting through the day with one of these activities!
1. Make/Listen To Playlists Within Your Fandom
Music is one of the best self-care suggestions any listicle about destressing can offer. More specifically for fandom, making playlists is excellent for those who have an active imagination and love picturing scenarios with their favorite fictional characters, from slow dancing to fighting alongside them in a war. If you do not have the creative juices to create your own playlist, listening to ones created by others in the same fandom is a great way to still interact with characters.
2. Read/Write Fanfiction
Fanfiction sites like Fanfiction.net, Wattpad, and AO3 are popular for a reason: they provide escapism for stressed people who simply want to interact with their fandom in a literary way outside of the canon material. Writing fanfiction is excellent for those who are bursting with ideas of how the plotline of a certain work should have gone. Reading is suitable for those who want to consume content and use those fantastic imaginations to see their characters in a different light. If you truly love a certain fanfiction, consider leaving kudos or a comment! It will make the writer’s day, and it’s yet another way to interact with others in your fandom.
3. Make Fanart
For those who are artistically inclined, making fanart — drawing, painting (acrylic, watercolor, oil, etc.), crocheting, sculpting — is one of the best ways to relieve stress in a creative way that you can also use to decorate your room! So by creating fanart, you’re practicing your craft and growing your skills as an artist; even if you don’t see yourself as a professional, you’re still putting your ideas and passions on paper (or yarn or fabric or clay) and making something beautiful. Many artists say that art can be more stressful than destressing, so participate in this hobby to have fun and not focus on producing something perfect.
4. Watch Theories/Video Essays
Watching YouTube video theories and essays is a great passive way of entertaining yourself and letting your worries melt away to the soothing sound of MatPat talking about how the people on the ship in WALL-E (2008) are cannibals. Video essays are the perfect background activity to keep you entertained and educated on Easter eggs and in-depth analysis of your favorite fandoms while you’re cooking or doing chores.
5. Make A Pinterest Board
If you are a visual reader and find yourself desperate to visualize the character and world after finishing a book, Pinterest is the perfect place to do it. Find pictures that line up with an AU of your favorite TV show or fully immerse yourself in your preferred movie by inserting what you would be like in the fandom through pictures. Pictures are a great way to calm down and let your mind wander to faraway lands or the attractive characters in your favorite series.
6. Shopping
Whether it’s window shopping, making an Amazon wishlist, or buying things, looking at merch from your favorite fandom or fandoms is a great way to relax and pass some time. It’s somewhat like making a Pinterest moodboard, except you may have the chance to buy something that adds extra spice to your living space and makes you happier to come home. Retail therapy is great, but use this activity with caution. Etsy collections and Amazon wishlists are just as great as actually buying something, and it’s fun to see the different types of merch people can create.
7. Talking to Friends
Sending a TikTok, dissecting a particular scene on Twitter, or sending memes on Instagram to your friends is a great way to participate in fandom while also keeping in touch with friends and getting that much-needed dose of socialization. Of course, some people believe that socialization is even more exhausting, but if you’ve been in your home for far too long, sometimes you forget that other people exist. Additionally, if you just joined a new fandom and are bursting at the seams with excitement, talking to somebody about it may alleviate all that energy. Plus, you can always make new friends on these social media sites in your fandom if you don’t have any in real life!
8. Embroidery
Embroidery has taken off after a dry spell as more people are returning to older hobbies to take a break from computers and phones. This is a great way to unwind because it’s an admirable skill to learn (you can embroider your clothing after you feel comfortable enough in your skills!), it’s a mindless activity once you get the hang of it, and you can display the beautiful work of your fandoms in your home. There are many how-to videos, and you can even pair this activity with one of the others on the list, such as watching a video essay or listening to a playlist that includes your fandom.
9. Cook Food From Your Fandom
Cooking is the last thing most people want to do after getting home. However, adding fandom into the mix makes a necessary task that much easier and more exciting! Picturing you’re in a tavern in Lord of the Rings (1937-1945) or in a restaurant on an alien planet in Doctor Who (2005-present) is a great way of taking the stress out of cooking since instead of just toasting bread, you’re feeding a hungry horde of Hobbits or sustaining the symbiote inside you. There are several websites with a myriad of delicious recipes for each fandom, and if you can’t find one you like, you can bring out your creative talents to make a brand new dish!
10. Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking is a great way to combine the different creative forms listed in this article, such as drawing, writing, and embroidery, into one central place that is aesthetically pleasing, fun to make, and most of all, relaxing. Burning a Castiel-scented candle and listening to an American Horror Story (2011-present) playlist while gluing a picture of Hinata onto a page and finishing it off with bunny-themed washi tape is a great way to end a stressful day. You can let your imagination run wild and utilize a variety of different mediums and art forms to make your book pop.
Most Important Of All, Have Fun!
These activities are all ideas that will hopefully get people to be creative within their fandom while also relaxing instead of scrolling through social media all day. Of course, some days warrant a mindless day of scrolling the Instagram explore page or TikTok. But if somebody is itching to do something with a new fandom they’re obsessed with or are finding daily tasks harder and harder to do, picking up a new skill or putting a fandom twist on a chore is an excellent way of making something less daunting. Hopefully, you will find something you love in this list, and if you feel less stressed after cooking Plomeek Soup or drawing Satoru Gojo fanart, that is a win!