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1, 051, 200 minutes.

17, 520 hours.

730 days.

104 weeks.

Two years.

It’s no secret that there are two things I don’t have the best relationship with – math and time. Time is a weird construct, and I’m convinced math hates me on a personal level. So then, that begs the question, why even start with that?

These numbers have lived rent-free in my head ever since I woke up on December 12, 2021.

Why?

Because I shouldn’t be here, it has been two years since my inner demons should have won. I’m Kris. Let me talk about the journey I’ve been on since I tried to let the demons in my head win.

CW/TW – Implied suicidal thoughts.

Fair warning, it’s a hefty and heavy read, I made a shorter video skimming the surface of all this stuff as well.

Continue reading “1, 051, 200 minutes.”

What’s New Kris?

Oh hey, remember me?

So it’s been a while but truly I’ve been experimenting more with different ways to do storytelling. Specifically, after the completion of this fun little project where I explained my interpretation of an incomplete canon timeline of the Scooby Doo animated universe. (Yet again, unofficial, I just have a lot of passion for all things Scooby Doo.)

Since then, I’ve been informed of the fact that I’ve got a hub of Scooby Doo knowledge that apparently makes me a little too specific for trivia-based purposes. But my life has definitely changed a lot since I was last on here. I started a small trend called 1 Reason A Day. A TikTok series where almost every day for a year, I tried to give myself one reason to focus on while my life was incredibly difficult and needed something to anchor me to my reality.

I try to get back into doing that when I can, but life happens.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT!

Distractions aside, I’ve finally gotten to a point where I’m excited to announce I’m starting this new series – Mystery Unincorporated. This multi-media project will have some audio aspects (like a podcast), some video aspects (through TikToks), and some write-ups here on the blog. Once I have established more than two pieces of content, I’ll add a link here where all that information will live.

Mystery Unincorporated will be my deep dives into the world of Scooby Doo. I’m hoping to do things such as character deep dives, reviews of the movies, unofficial timelines, and more. I was inspired by the incredible work of Game Theory and Critical Role to really embrace my passions and share that knowledge with the world. All interpretations are of my own understanding, while I will provide data to support my findings, they are not in any capacity considered canon or correct. I am not sponsored, I just really love Scooby Doo.

Stay tuned y’all, we’ve got mysteries to explore!

A letter to AMHS, from a 2012 Stanner

Dear Molloy,

I haven’t tried thinking about my time there in years because as much as it established a foundation for who I am as a person, I have ACTIVELY REPRESSED my memories of my time there in those halls. 

I wanted to survive high school, so I remained silent about what I saw and experienced. But my silence has gone on too long because apparently you have failed your students still. 

Today? I’ve got time and I’m gonna hold you accountable for once.

My name is Kris Atienza. I graduated in 2012, with many friends and treated as a leader in many after school groups. One lesson I’ve kept all these years is that I’ve got a voice and I should use it. So here I am.

Continue reading “A letter to AMHS, from a 2012 Stanner”

It’s no mystery: the collective and individual importance of Scooby Doo’s animated movies and television series

For over 50 years, people have loved following the adventures of Mystery Incorporated and their beloved dog: Scooby Doo. This particular group of meddling kids have solved mysteries in various media over the long tenure of the franchise: five live action films, various comic book series/crossovers with DC Comics, 38 animated films and 14 animated television series. 

With hundreds of hours of material, it can be hard to fully appreciate and understand why all of it matters to the entire franchise. As wonderfully depicted in 2002’s live-action Scooby Doo, what makes Mystery Inc. so great is their collective strengths and weaknesses as a whole. 

Please note: Scooby Doo is owned by Warner Brothers. I do not claim ownership of this content, this is just an extensive analysis for fun that I made for my friends.

With such a variety of material to choose from, I have divided and created three separate universes that exist within Scooby Doo lore: the live-action universe [LA], the animated universe [A] and the Scoob! Universe [S] (Disclaimer: These have not been confirmed in the slightest, this is more or less my attempt to connect everything together.) There is no better place to start than with the beginning, so let’s discuss the individual and collective importance that the animated movies and television series contribute to the Scooby Doo Franchise in chronological order.

Let’s go gang. Kris-tery Inc is on the case!

Continue reading “It’s no mystery: the collective and individual importance of Scooby Doo’s animated movies and television series”

Grief.

Coping is hard folks. As much as I want to happily write about the selling of my soul to Tom Nook, I think I need to just try to wrap my head around everything else going on.

It’s almost been a month since I’ve had to quarantine due to COVID-19 and living through a pandemic is a nightmare.

So here’s what you missed on [not] glee:

Continue reading “Grief.”

You should probably care.

If somehow you didn’t know, I absolutely love Critical Role (this will not be the last time I’ll be writing about them, probably.) I love staying up late on Thursday nights watching this amazingly talented crew tell stories through Dungeons and Dragons.

My passion for this show is far beyond my fascination with D&D. It’s rare that you’re able to see such creative souls have such room to weave a beautiful tale both individually and collectively. Yes, it’s great to see a group of friends who just so happen to voice a lot of things I love dearly, but that kind of collective trust among friends really allows for breathtaking stories.

These storytellers have really inspired me to aim bigger with my creations and not to be afraid to create a complex character who helps me face my own battles. And ever since I first watched episode 1 of campaign 2, I’ve just become enlightened to the value of a good character.

Continue reading “You should probably care.”

I would like to RAGE

I’m no stranger to anger. (I always preferred dealing with anger than disappointment from family members.) For years, many folks knew that the strength of my anger was powerful and to steer clear of it. With the toxic mentalities I was around growing up, it felt like I was .5 seconds away from erupting into a raging storm of fury with the slightest provocation.

Anger was easy; Controlling it was hard.

With some natural personal growth, healing and therapy, I was able to contain my anger (and unfortunately a good amount of my emotions) pretty well. So when came an opportunity to become a new character for a new D&D campaign, I eventually found myself as the half orc Barbarian of the Storm – Brute.

Continue reading “I would like to RAGE”

Returning to checkpoint…

When you ask me where I’m from, I’ll tell you that I’m from Philly and Queens. Philly is my home, don’t get me wrong. But, in my eyes, my formative years that really impacted me were the 8 years I spent in Queens.

It’s been a few years since I’ve spent time in Queens and it feels like a lifetime ago. As excited as I am to see familiar sights and enjoy loved foods, my gut is tumbling faster and harder than a gymnastic athlete trying to qualify for the Olympics. I haven’t been this nervous about the unknown since the last few seconds during Superbowl 52 when Brady’s pass was in the air.

Continue reading “Returning to checkpoint…”

Roll for healing at advantage.

I love story telling.

It’s been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Sure I remember hearing stories during bedtime when I was a smaller spud, but there is something truly amazing about the magical abilities of stories to this day.

Nothing was more devastating than when I temporarily lost the ability to immerse myself in this magic after I suffered a massive hit to the head that exasperated my anxiety to the point that I couldn’t write more than a sentence without experiencing the fun times that is a panic attack.

As someone whose entire purpose was communication in some capacity, this was hard to bounce back from. I genuinely didn’t think I would ever recover from it. But then, I was asked by my friend if I was interested in playing some Dungeons and Dragons.

Continue reading “Roll for healing at advantage.”