An Introduction to APRA

The Jims say we've been approved to onboard new hires, welcome to APRA! Remember, what we do here is confidential— if you see anything in one of these files? Do not share it with the public. We're not supposed to exist. Leaking information tells us that you'd like to volunteer as a human test subject. Anyway, protocol says you're in for mandatory brainwashing before you come in for work.
Don't worry, it's not mind altering or anything of the sort, we just scoop out your brain and scrub it of any infohazards. Safety precaution. Don't worry, we use soft soap. Usually. Suds may leak from your head for a week or two after.

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Hungry after your brainwashing? APRA personnel get a 10% discount at all Agnew Sr.'s!

— Ash Ngo, APRA Director

Somehow you've managed to join the ranks of the clandestine APRA organization, you've heard rumors that the spread of strange parks and attractions in the past few decades were their doing. You may have looked into the matter on your laptop in a cold bathtub while wearing a tinfoil hat— forgetting to use a VPN. That might have been how they found you.
The next day, biting into a sandwich from your local deli, you found a letter bundled with a coupon for a fast food franchise inside. After spitting out and smoothing the partially chewed portion of the letter— the coupon was lost to the fiendish amount of barbecue sauce you had demanded— you realized it was an invitation. An invitation you couldn't ignore. The vague threats made sure of that. (Which noted something about being left in the Wyoming wilderness near a den of man-eating jackalope.)

What is APRA?

APRA is a comedy narrative setting, home to prose, videos, a TTRPG, and of course— articles. Much of the work found in APRA pokes fun at the capitalist hellscape we call the modern world. How else is one to cope, after all? Despite that, APRA is a space for myself to simply goof around. Nowhere else can I air out horrible ideas such as discogolf, man-banana-hybrids, or clown corporations. I also use this space to experiment with audience interaction, with events such as Halloween 2020.
APRA is a subsidiary of the Anomalous Containment Foundation, and was created to keep the ACF from going bankrupt— which would consequently allow world-ending anomalies to roam free. APRA is tasked with finding anomalies contained by the foundation deemed "safe enough" to be released from containment and converted into tourist attractions. This, alongside corporate sponsorships, donations, and occasional funding from governments has allowed the ACF to keep the lights on just a while longer.
Attractions are set up and overseen by various shell organizations, including foundation-run theme park franchises and cooperative governments. Lines are crossed, and boundaries are constantly tested, in order to discover what can and can't work. Many venues are liable to go back into containment following disasters and accidents— unless, of course, someone pays enough to keep them open.
APRA operates in the modern day, and attractions run by them can be found across the globe. You, the reader, possess a notably high security clearance as an archivist, though you do not possess total clearance and some things are hidden from you. However, these archives seem to be an anomaly of their own— some things that you aren't meant to see are uncensored, such as information regarding ███████████, █████, or ████████.

Where Do I Start?

The ACF

The ACF is an international clandestine organization dedicated to finding and containing anomalies— things that disrupt or disobey the natural laws of the world. This allows the average global citizen to live their life as usual. Unfortunately, doing so is obscenely expensive— and the ACF has had to take a number of cost-saving and money-making measures.
This includes taking on corporate sponsorships, the APRA initiative, and usage of cheap equipment. Here you may find information on the foundation's operations, personnel, and sponsors. On top of this, the occasional non-APRA anomaly may receive an article.

Attractions

Over the years, the APRA initiative has managed to create myriad attractions. Some still stand, many have been closed off; yet the memories (and occasional deaths) live on. APRA attractions include (super)natural parks, museums, theme parks, stadiums, and everything in-between.

I feel like there are a lot of weird places to go these days. My kids begged me to take them to see the zombified remains of past US presidents play football— but we'd just been to The Mimic Menagerie last summer...

— A concerned parent

Stories

As with any setting, stories are often the best way to get a feel for them. If articles seem too dry or intimidating, why not try reading some short stories instead? There are plenty of goofs and laughs to be found within them.
So far, these stories focus on the ACF and various anomalies within the world of APRA, but in the future there are sure to be some focused on APRA attractions as well. I write more whenever I feel like it, so check back for other stories if these whet your appetite.

Themes

APRA is meant to be a lighthearted, comedic setting. A lot of jokes center around late-stage capitalism and failed government oversight, but there are a lot of jokes outside of that realm. Truthfully it's just whatever is currently making me laugh; this time I don't particularly aim to get out a particular message or idea, just plain old goofs. Some articles may lean into certain ideas or thoughts, but there isn't a heavy lean beyond comedy here.
APRA is a global organization, so I'd like to delve more into folklore, mythology, and history from around the world for its various attractions, personnel, and rivals. That said, I am most familiar with that of my own country— so there will likely be a bias towards those sorts of anomalies. I've got several global attractions planned already to try and remedy this however, and will keep an eye (and mind) open for whatever I can find!

Inspirations

Beyond the obvious two mentioned in the origins section— Mystery Flesh Pit and the SCP Wiki— there is another, key set of inspiration for APRA's tone and humor. The work of Jay Pinkerton and Erik Wolpaw, such as Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2. Especially the TF2 comics— I cannot understate their influence on me, I love those things so much. There's a sort of elegant ridiculousness to it all, a mix of clever and stupid that boils down to a tasty goof stew.
Team Fortress 2 also influenced the aesthetic of APRA, most notably the music. Some of the CSS and artwork as well, but to a lesser extent.

Thanks to...

Jake, for goading forcing holding me at gunpoint joking around with me and really getting me excited about fleshing out this idea! As well as being a good friend to bit with and bounce ideas off of, and encouraging me throughout the project!
Qurilion for early support and feedback.
Stormbril for UNKNOWINGLY giving me great last-minute formatting advice.
Amy Winters-Voss for also unknowingly having contributed to this by discovering the deadly combo of BBCode containers and Bootstrap classes.
The folk of the Happy Sun Lodge, and the Ethnis team for their continued feedback and support.
Anyone who interacts with APRA and gets a laugh out of it.
Elias Alija for the fantastic theme song.
The Worldanvil community for being fantastic.
And WorldAnvil for being such a dang ol' good tool, made by dang ol' cool people.

Origins

There are two primary inspirations for me creating this. First, and what got the ball rolling— was the first infographic piece for Trevor Roberts' Mystery Flesh Pit. This combined a mysterious eldritch horror with rampant tourism and capitalism, while keeping a happy tone.
I thought, well, of course they must be doing an entire series of similar attractions— that idea is too golden to not do, right? Nope. Their focus is entirely on worldbuilding the Flesh Pit.
My imagination was sparked, however. A flood of potential strange and dangerous parks of this nature came to my mind, and these could combine really nicely with my second inspiration— the SCP wiki.
I've wanted to write an SCP-inspired world for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that. I felt like this was too derivative though, despite it quickly becoming one of those ideas I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to write down new concepts for. When talking with my friend Jake about this idea, he immediately clicked with it, and got excited too— we talked back and forth about the potential of it and this got my engines going too far to turn back.
And here we are. Whoops.

Support APRA

Do follow the world if you're interested in seeing more! Leaving likes and comments helps my brain do the happy, and criticism is typically welcome!
Join the discord! We've got space for feedback, sharing inspiration, and more!
Become a patron! More funding means more cool things for the future, and you get access to WIP posts, voting, HD images, and even more!
Check out the Operation Thingamajig Kickstarter when it launches next month!
Buy APRA merchandise! Every bit helps!
Commission me! Check out my website for details.
Tell me about myths and folklore from your culture! My own knowledge is limited, and I truly do want to ensure that APRA is multiculural.

Check out my other worlds!