Line #95 WebAnimation/AlfredsPlayhouse


1	[[quoteright:258:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alfreds_playhouse.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:258:Alfred and his Playhouse friends!]]
3
4	!!!An article detailing canon and non-canon [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Alfred]] [[VillainProtagonist Alfer]]
5
6	->''"Get out of bed,\
7	But don't wonder how the blood got there! (Good morning)\
8	If Steve Martin violated you in your sleep again, \
9	You will not care.\
10	'Cause there's a place you can escape to mentally,\
11	Where only silliness is making forced entry\
12	For the purpose of self-preservation,\
13	Here at Alfred's Playhouse!"''
14	-->-- '''Beginning Theme Song''' in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CxHATXa_j0 Alfred's Playhouse Part 1]]"
15
16	''Alfred's Playhouse'' is one of the most [[MindScrew surreal]] and [[DerangedAnimation disturbing]] web video series on the internet. The series is about a traumatized, mentally ill dog named Alfred Alfer, who tries to forget about his abusive childhood by [[ThinkHappyThoughts imagining himself in a happy fantasy world]]. In the videos, his alter-ego, Dictator Pickles, emerges, who is an AxCrazy psychopath who dreams of [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]. Alfred also shows himself to be [[IJustWantToBeLoved incredibly needy and lonely]], and he's often forced out of his fantasy land by harsh reality.
17
18	The series has been likened by some fans to [[Creator/DavidFirth David Firth's]] works such as WebAnimation/SaladFingers and WebAnimation/SpoilsburyToastBoy. The series is very NotSafeForWork, as it has full of sexual imagery, and has pretty disturbing themes, but it has a touch of SurrealHumor.
19
20	''Alfred's Playhouse'' was created by Creator/EmilyYoucis, who based the series largely on her own life experiences. A full-length movie of the series was produced in 2017. While her [=YouTube=] channel was terminated due to her advocacy of neo-nazism, the videos can still be viewed on her Newgrounds account, found [[http://emily-youcis.newgrounds.com/ here]].
21	----
22	!!''Alfred's Playhouse'' (and general installments) provides examples of:
23	* AbusiveParents: Alfred mentions in a song that his parents left him at Goodwill and once tried to drown him in the bathtub. When he was sexually abused by a human, his parents were completely unfazed and did nothing to help him with his trauma.
24	* AlliterativeName: '''A'''lfred '''A'''lfer.
25	* AxCrazy: Alfred's alter ego, Dictator Pickles, who wants to take over the world and force everyone to worship him.
26	* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: This happens in Dictator Pickles's case.
27	* BlackComedy: In the show's case, serious topics such as sexual abuse and parental abandonment are PlayedForLaughs.
28	* BlackBugRoom: What Alfred's HappyPlace Playhouse has turned into by the premise of the show.
29	* BoundAndGagged: This happens to Alfred quite a bit, usually just for a split second on the videos... but he is also restrained when talking to Dictator Pickles and sometimes when being raped.
30	%%* BreakTheCutie: Poor Alfred.
31	* BreakThemByTalking: Dictator Pickles' speech. He explains who he is, what the Playhouse is, what his plans are, and how Alfred is powerless to stop him. Alfred is left with no other choice than to give up power over his body and his dignity, submitting to his new master.
32	* BrownNote: The [=FedEx=] guy, that poor bastard, begins weeping uncontrollably and begs to be free after Alfred pulls him into the Playhouse [[GoMadFromTheRevelation and apparently begins hallucinating]].
33	* CloudCuckoolander: Alfred, mainly because he is trying to ignore and repress all of the terrible things that have happened to him.
34	* CompanionCube: Alfred talks to a lot of his belongings and treats them as people.
35	-->"''The Dishwasher discusses Marx over cocktails~''"
36	* CuckooNest: Pickles reveals to Alfred that the Playhouse and all the trauma he has just experienced is only a hallucination.
37	%%* DerangedAnimation
38	* DissonantSerenity: Over the duration of Alfred's freak out, Lavrentiy Beria is periodically seen spreading lubricant over his body while sensual music plays.
39	* DysfunctionJunction: Ignoring Alfred, Dictator Pickles, and everyone else in the playhouse, many of the characters are either extremely cruel, rapists, or ApatheticCitizens.
40	%%* EnemyWithin: Pickles within the mind of Alfred, and he wins.
41	* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Dictator Pickles is always seen with a cigarette in his hand. [[CigaretteOfAnxiety During his rant at Alfred he has about 20.]]
42	* HappyPlace: Alfred's titular Playhouse, where he goes to avoid confronting the reality of his past abuse.
43	%%* HelplessGoodSide: Alfred. Although, he's mostly only "good" when compared to [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dictator Pickles]].
44	* HollywoodPsych: Sexual abuse is certainly not likely to turn you into what Alfred has become.
45	** If you got a nickle for every time this trope applied, you could probably order a lunch at Alfred's restaurant and eat with him.
46	* IJustWantToBeLoved: Alfred. He is pretty desperate to get other people to love and accept him, and is very needy.
47	* InsaneEqualsViolent: Alfred has been violent, either because he was afraid that other people were going to harm him and lashed out in terror, or because Dictator Alfred took over.
48	%%* JekyllAndHyde
49	* {{Lilliputians}}: In ''Alfred's Playhouse Part 2'', in the beginning of the video Alfred tells the audience that he secretly has "friends living inside my wall." Then, tons of little elf-like creatures, whose designs are very clearly a reference to ''Literature/TheLittles'', climb all over Alfred, fondling and vomiting on him and defecating everywhere while Alfred laughs for a full minute or so. However, Alfred's laughter soon turns into a screaming meltdown.
50	* LotusEaterMachine: Pickles appears to have trapped Alfred's true personality within this, taking full control of his, by the end
51	* MadnessMantra: Alfred had "I am loved, I am loved, I am loved" in the Rise of Alfred Alfer. Pickles has "''POPSICLE''-- ''POPSICLE''-- ''POPSICLE''".
52	* NightmareFace: Alfred makes them ''constantly'', with one example being in the intro for Part 1, where Alfred gives the camera a close-up SlasherSmile while whispering "Good morning" in a deranged manner.
53	%%* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: [[VillainProtagonist Alfred Alfer]] and (especially) [[PuttingOnTheReich Dictator Pickles]].
54	* ParentalAbandonment: Alfred's parents are shown to be ignoring him all the time, apparently left without him while at a Goodwill, and Alfred claims that he was the result of an unsuccessful abortion.
55	* PsychologicalHorror: The bizarre effects, abstract-dimensions, and concepts of abuse of very unnerving. The series uploader to Website/YouTube warns that it might give flashbacks to some.
56	* PsychopathicManchild: In a nutshell, Alfred is the manchild, and Dictator Alfred is the psychopathic one. Alfred is shown to be an adult and having a job, but he acts very much like a child, and his fantasy world is like a surreal version of Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse. Dictator Pickles is cold, power-hungry, and generally AxCrazy.
57	* RapeAsBackstory: Alfred is definitely a good example, and his abuse is the reason why he is so unhinged.
58	* SelfHarm: Alfred has a "cutting leg" where he injures himself so people will see and feel bad for him.
59	%%* SmallSecludedWorld: The Playhouse.
60	* SplitPersonality: On one hand, there is the happy but needy Alfred Alfer, who is secretly traumatised by his abusive childhood. On the other, there is vengeful, megalomaniacal Dictator Pickles, who wants to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world]] and is cruel to Alfred.
61	* SurrealHorror[=/=]SurrealHumor: Until watching ''Playhouse'', you probably would have never considered long dead politicians or cartoon characters to vile sexual abusers.
62	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Although how much they could actually help Alfred is up for debate.
63	* ThinkHappyThoughts: Alfred's usual response to being raped or having a flashback is to separate himself from reality and go to his happy fantasy world.
64	* ManOfAThousandVoices: Well, Woman. The creator, Emily Youcis. She has done the whole series entirely by herself, including providing voices for the mostly male cast.
65	* VillainousFriendship: Pickles is portrayed as having a kinship with famous dictators Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and also Lavrentiy Beria.
66	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Dictator Pickles. Whenever Alfred was being sexually abused, he would shut down and go into his happy fantasy world... But later Dicator Pickles tells Alfred that when Alfred was in his happy place, Dictator Pickles was being abused in his place and had to take on all of the bad things that Alfred couldn't deal with.
67	----
68	"And what do we do when we hear the secret word, boys and girls? ... We '''''SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEAM.'''''"
69	----
70	[[quoteright:434:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c89c9cb9e56253891ea8bc3e282ac4b8.png]]
71	[[caption-width-right:434:''"You're in the Playhouse,\
72	You're in the Playhouse,\
73	Alfred's Playhouse,\
74	Bow down!"'']]
75	->''A cartoon dog who wishes to be real, and a real dog who longs to be a cartoon\
76	The thing is: They're the same sick fucking puppy--Alfred!''
77	--> -- ''Opening narration''
78
79	10 years of in the making comes ''the Alfred Alfer Movie'', canon sequel to ''Alfred's Playhouse'' and grand opus of creator Emily Youcis. Emily had originated the Alfred saga with the ''Rise of Alfred Alfer'' and the ''Alfred's Playhouse'' series, but that wasn't enough. As the fanbase had grown exponentially, Emily decided that she needed to do Alfred a justice with his own feature-length film. [[https://www.patreon.com/emilyyoucis With support from fans]], she has begun producing the movie, all on her own, in segments released on her website which will be completed approximately 2017. It takes its audience into consideration, up to a point of BreakingTheFourthWall.
80
81	The story takes place takes place sometime after Alfred breaks free of Pickles' hold on him when he has made a sole friend in Labby. After Labby abandons him in a surreal corn field, he is left alone to wander the literal Where the Dead go To Die and right back into Pickles' hands. Alfred descends into pure madness, creating new violent personas, while Pickles tortures him with shadows of his past and present.
82
83	The movie guest stars new music artists and voice actors, a number of which Emily considers friends, such as Music/LilUglyMane, [=JimmyScreamer=] Klaus, Music/PassengerOfShit, Music/JakProgresso, and Kenny Hotz from Series/KennyVsSpenny.
84	----
85	!!The ''Alfred Alfer Movie'' provides examples of:
86	* AdaptationalBadass: Ala invoked MemeticBadass. Emily had designated Alfred to resurrect as Jesus Christ, aka Alfred Savior God, purely to amp up the over-the-top wackiness of the series canon.
87	* TheAlcoholic: The Ni***rmelon is seen taking swigs from a bottle of hard liquor. He compares booze to cranberry juice, claiming that [[ItMakesSenseInContext alcohol can be used to cure emotional pain in the same way cranberry juice can help with urinary tract infections.]]
88	* ArtEvolution: The movie has a much more professional and detailed art style than the initial shorts.
89	* CallBack: The decayed corpse of the [=FedEx=] guy is seen on the floor as well as the devious Littles in the ''Return to the Playhouse''. The employees from Burrito Bell are seen in Pickles' TV show.
90	* {{Crossover}}: Labby appears from WesternAnimation/WhereTheDeadGoToDie, playing a major role in Alfred's torment.
91	* DarkerAndEdgier: Not that it wasn't already, but the audacity and sexual violence has been shot up.
92	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
93	** Emily has stated that Alfred dragging the body bag home is reminiscent of a dog carrying a trophy home to his master.
94	** The dead patrons from the Dead Girl Strip Club are a reflection of average bar patrons who, as Emily puts it, are basically already dead.
95	* EarnYourHappyEnding: See second Foregone Conclusion entry.
96	* ForegoneConclusion: Emily bluntly states in the trailer that Alfred's destiny is [[DownerEnding to get the rabies and die]].
97	** [[spoiler:In her interview with Wedge Radio, Emily explains that the movie ends rather with Alfred discovering his real life fanbase and that people really do adore and love him.]]
98	* {{Jerkass}}: The Ni***rmelon beast doesn't give a shit about Alfred or his problems, calls him a bitch-fairy, and tells him to suck his dick or get out.
99	* InterruptedSuicide: Labby, who appears to a distraught Alfred as a vision in two glasses of liquor in the "Dead Girl Stripclub" scene, calls Alfred a rabid dog that needs to be taken out back shot while offering him a gun. Before he can pull the trigger, however, he is seduced by the titular dead girl stripper.
100	* NightmareFetishist: After Alfred wakes up in the shed of of bodies he begins screaming, then laughing and begins to drag a corpse home.
101	* PigMan: [[Music/PassengerOfShit MC Bushpig's]] avatar appears several times in the background of the cornfield scene.
102	* WorldOfChaos: The cornfield: A bizarre world in, or on the edge of, Where the Dead go to Die.
103	----
104	!!Alfred Alfer prequel, retcon, and ambiguous canon:
105	* [[ApatheticCitizens Apathetic Employees]]: The Burrito Bell crew seem to slump feebly around during the duration of Alfred's psychotic rampage in the precursive episode.
106	* BigBad:
107	** Dictator Pickles.
108	** [[spoiler:Lavrentiy Beria, the lubed-up pervert. He is implied to have been the shadowy figure who molested Alfred, ruining his life.]] This would also paint has the series' KnightOfCerebus.
109	* CerebusSyndrome: Emily's mid-to-late teenage Alfred creation were fairly lighthearted, such as ''Story of Christmas'' and the laser pointer shenanigans with Phat Dawg. Since the absence of Phat Dawg, Alfred has become completely AxCrazy.
110	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Phat Dawg, Alfred's original best friend and comedic sidekick, inexplicably disappeared just after ''Limbo of the Room''. Emily Youcis says he was RetConned so that Alfred's only friends would be his Playhouse ones. Recently, she had revealed that she's [[PutOnABus planning to bring him back]].
111	* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Over the course of ''Limbo of the Room'', Phat Dawg is only seen taking repeated drags of an unknown number of cigarettes. He has an arguable look of worry on him.
112	* DestinationDefenestration: The ending of ''Alfred Gets Fixed'': [[spoiler:Alfred jumps to freedom, but it turns out that the hospital he's in is on top of a skyscraper and he falls to his death.]]
113	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Alfred's Cloudcuckcoolander-to-AxCrazy ratio had began at approximately 5:1, or even lower. Then flipped and turned even more Ax-Crazy.
114	* ItsAllAboutMe: Alfred's song in ''The Rise of Alfred'', which is all about how Alfred is amazing and perfect and everyone will kowtow to his every whim, ending with him screaming "ME! ME! ME! ME!" a the top of his lungs.
115	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Reasonably Justified in the case of Beria, possibly an ExploitedTrope as well. Via social medi, Emily writes in a history lesson to her politically unknowledged audience of Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, Josef Stalin'sappointed head of the KGB, who would kidnap unsuspecting schoolgirls off the street and sexually abuse them. By the premise of ''Playhouse'', [[spoiler:Beria, supposedly, had somehow warped to the present to invade the Playhouse and begin sexually abusing Alfred, causing Stockhold Syndrome. Furthermore, his complete mental breakdown and finally led him end the world]].
116	* TakeThat: ''American Alfer'' has WesternAnimation/MrPickles' mutilated and sodomized corpse.

Context WebAnimation / AlfredsPlayhouse