Car Crashes And Windmills, Or Why Supernaturality Is Just An Excuse For The Events Of Petscop

car crashes and windmills, or why supernaturality is just an excuse for the events of Petscop

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSIONS OF DEATH, CAR ACCIDENTS, KIDNAPPING AND CHILD ABUSE

READING-THIS WARNING: THROUGHOUT THIS, THERE IS AN ASSUMPTION YOU HAVE SOME IDEA OF RELEVANT PETSCOP THEORIES. IF ANYTHING DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, YOU'LL PROBABLY FIND A WRITE-UP OF THE THEORY ON REDDIT. ALSO, I'M BAD AND MAY MINSINTERPRET OR NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING.

READING-THIS WARNING 2: THIS IS VERY RAMBLY. LIKE, SUPER RAMBLY. SORRY.

Alright. Petscop. That's a dead kid.

I've spent about two days running down a rabbithole with this series, trying to ignore the sheer horror of it all. It's fascinating in the way it captures this despite being so metaphorical - it reminds me of Yume Nikki and Chapter 12 of Dreamscape, which as we already know, I love and understand very well.

Anyway, I've been reading nonstop theories about this game for some time, trying my best to make sense of it all. And after a few sleepless nights, I think I'm ready to get into analytical about Petscop.

What better way to get rid of that sinking feeling of horror than to write about it?

I don't believe in the supernatural - I probably never will - but instead I believe in the power of coincidence. It's very probable that strange things happen sometimes, but they can all be explained, and we have a tendency to see patterns in the chaos. Things are often more simple than they seem.

Obviously, because Petscop and the world surrounding it are fictitious, the potential that something irrational or out-of-this-world occurred is much higher. However, I want to demonstrate that the idea that it is all reality is far more horrifying than pretending it's all a few ghosts and time travel.

The series clearly draws on the idea that Paul knows (some of) the people mentioned within the game, and is even implied to be a part of the family himself.

If it's not ghosts and time travel... then what's the point of Petscop?

evaluating some petscop theories that imply reality

Paul alludes several times to the game being haunted, or at least it trying to trick him into thinking it's haunted, but he seems unconvinced. He also alludes to the possibility of AI within the game, which is likely too complicated for the game being developed in ~1995-6.

What is a more likely theory surrounding both of these is that a singular game can be accessed from multiple consoles by multiple players, which also explains the prevalence of DEMO recordings and the interactions between Marvin/Belle/the Pink TOOL and Paul. The Pink TOOL is not literally the ghost of Mike trying to communicate with Paul, but rather Belle (considering the handwriting's similarities to Draw Mode) communicating with Paul.

Paul could potentially be Care, but is suffering amnesia as a result of trauma inflicted on him, where the goal of the game (from Rainer's perspective) is to help Paul uncover the truth of his past. There's plenty of debate surrounding the "trans theory" that I'm not really interested in getting into, but the game definitely links Paul and Care, particularly in the "Care-with-Mike's-Eyebrows" room, as well as events in the house aligning with events Paul states he has experienced, and their exact same birthday. I don't know if I agree with the twin theory, but that itself is more plausible than other proposed supernatural theories linking the two.

Both Belle and Care are implied to have been kidnapped (by Marvin?) and forced to undergo some sort of rebirthing therapy (potentially involving the Needles Piano) inside an abandoned elementary school. The rebirthing is implied to be Marvin's attempt to bring back the late Lina, It's possible that the DEMO recordings of Belle are taken during her kidnapping, as the game has reportedly been left on for ~17 years.

Much of the confusion surrounding Lina's death is related to the windmill - how did it and Lina simply disappear, and why is she "unable to be seen"? However, the game makes regular references to car accidents, and Lina's grave says "They didn't see her", which suggests that perhaps she was hit by a car, unseen by the driver, and buried in an unmarked grave (possibly by Marvin, since he knows where it is). Alternatively, the idea that Lina died stuck in a machine within the windmill still alludes to reality.

The game itself is very deliberate, and after Mike dies in 1995, it seems as though Rainer continued it to expose Marvin ("I started it in 1996, for Marvin"). If we consider the possibility that multiple players can access the game from differing perspectives, and the game can track their movements, then Rainer had different purposes for each player. It's suggested that the game reflects real world places, so taking that into account, we can try to determine the purpose of these.

During the segment where Marvin is given a speed boost, it seems as though Rainer wants to know the location of Lina's grave, and perhaps expose Marvin for his kidnapping and child abuse. He also provides deliberate messages to Belle during her demo sections, seemingly trying to break her out of the Newmaker Plane. Paul's journey also seems to surround exposing what Marvin has done, or at least trying to highlight what is in the School and what happened to Care (who may be Paul himself). These goals may correspond with the 'cycles' that were noted in the Comprehensive Progress Document.

The game is also implied to be an elaborate suicide note - the Pet description for Care A ends with, "Fuck you all, and fuck me as well. Merry Christmas. Check your bathroom now.", which is signed by Rainer. This, along with some events in the House, suggest this game might be an exploration of Rainer's guilt over working with Marvin on the rebirthing process.

Time is particularly prevalent during the game - the colours of the calendars representing different years, for example - but it is still distinguished, which is to note. This suggests that time travel isn't necessarily occurring.

reality as a pathway to trauma procession

Allusions to reality in texts can act as a path for characters to begin trauma procession, which may be the intentions of deliberately connecting Paul and Care within Petscop. The idea of things being realistic is infinitely more horrifying that unrealism, because unrealism forces a disconnection between the viewer and the events unfolding.

This is actually the reason why I really dislike the idea that Basil was dream-sharing with Sunny, or Spirit Mari is literally Mari's spirit trying to communicate with Sunny - it's because it misses the presentation of forgiveness, abandonment and regret in the text. Stranger is a representation of guilt over leaving Basil behind, and Spirit Mari is a representation of Sunny's hidden desire for forgiveness.

Taking things as the supernatural in this type of game tends to make you overlook the purpose of their existence. For example, blankly taking the Pink TOOL's words as Mike from the grave misses the discovery that they are Belle's previous attempts to connect with the outside world.

It's easy to miss the finer details this way, which is why I've always disliked these theories. There's more to it, keep digging!

special thanks to the giant document on the Petscop reddit that details everything.

i'll admit it, this was just a big excuse for me to write about what i think petscop is about... jhshjsjhshjs.

song i listened to while writing this: YY by 23.exe.

i'm such a pussy that i need to blast upbeat vocaloid music when thinking about Petscop. isn't it so weird that i absolutely adore psychological horror but i'm a massive wimp who can barely sit through it?

Who are your OCs?

Do they like Pizza?

There's four/five universes of OCs, which all mesh together at the end. I'm gonna try not to spoil things because some of these concepts revolve around a big twist, and I don't want to ruin that for a hypothetical reader if this ever becomes a thing.

A very specifically designed anime surrounding psychological abuse and manipulation, called Strings. It's just a wholesome mockery of stereotypical high school anime... or is it? Characters: Shimizu (likes pizza), Tadashi (likes pizza), Kei (not a big fan, but will eat it if it's there), Himawari (likes pizza), Ichiro and Zenjiro (both like pizza), Sachiko (LOVES pizza), Kenji (also loves pizza)

A post-apocalyptic concept idea revolving around the meshing of reality and fantasy. Within it, a young Deity has a goal, and a young Human will do anything to stop her. Not that she really knows what the goal is, but heroes gotta hero. Characters: Mia (loves pizza), Lea (has never tried it but would like it), Miko (doesn't care about pizza), Marisa (probably likes pizza), Herb (can't eat it), Melody (probably likes it, too busy killing people), Avery (some parts like it), Aria (doesn't need to eat), Showstopper (no clue), Lightmind (probably likes pizza)

Mediaeval-style concept which is also unnamed. The MC has a hell of a lot of trauma. No-one has ever tried pizza.

Currently unnamed universe where a group of singers fight off weird monsters. Someone is the same as someone you've met before, and when worlds start to collide, things get a little strange. All of the band likes pizza. I have not named them yet.

When all these universes combine, everyone ends up dying in a desert.

5. A weird little hotel where all the patrons are people who've given up on love. The owner is trying to convince our MC to join... but she's still clinging onto hope. I do not have names for anyone, but they probably like pizza.

reviewing chapter 16 of dreamscape, or finally, happiness for the children!

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSIONS OF HAPPINESS, PEACE AND SUNFLOWER CANON

Alright! Finally, some good news for the Dreamscape cast!

We've been waiting on this for a while, as the fic is tagged, "It gets worse before it gets better," and it looks like our better has finally arrived, after the Great War!!!

To give a short runthrough of what the Dreamscape AU is, it's a canon convergent post-game fluff fanfic which follows Sonny, Basil, Aubrey, Kel, Hero and Mari living in a house together (with Mewo of course!!). They're all obsessed with this cute little game called Dreamscape, and the fic follows their daily activities (with a dash of romance!) as they work to live a happy and normal life after the Great War.

Dreamscape as a game is not particularly symbolic - it's just a MarioKart replica with character creation - but the way the characters use the game provides a catalyst for their development. For example, we know that Sonny and Basil have something going on, and this is because Sonny is always requesting that the two play Dreamscape together, and his character in the game is bright rainbow. Colours are easy to access in the game - in fact, it's much harder to go fully monochrome because of the Great War.

Donut is my personal favourite character in the text, but Jude comes a close second. Donut is a tall, clever ftm top who never gets flustered over praise, and Jude has a large peniThey live on a houseboat along with Kouta, their very very active track runner friend. He's always running laps around the house. The group contrasts to Pianoboi's clone, Sonny, as well as the main group, mean they serve as useful secondary characters, juxtaposing with the contrast of comparison. The group were all present during the Great War, and they love playing the Sims 4!!!

Let's look at where our characters are. Mari is perfect and flawless, just as she should be in canon. Basil is a recovering alcoholic, and Sonny is not traumatised. Kel has a clue, Aubrey is as bubbly as ever and Hero lazes around with Mewo all day. This is hugely different from before the Great War!! Look at how far they've come :)

If you remember from before (I barely did, it's been so long!!), Chapter 12 was an incredibly obvious and normal chapter which introduced nothing into the text!! Except the Great War.

Overall, ten stars. No plot, but pure, pure fluff. Exactly what @omoriboii aimed for :)

Transphobes make being trans sound so cool. Like trans men sound like they are possessed by the devil? That sounds AWSOME .

if the main members of the dreamscape cast (sunny, kel, aubrey, hero, basil) met the versions of themselves before mari's accident, what do you think would happen?

Sunny

In his right mind he'd tell himself to quit the game, get far- far away from Dreamscape. Get some help from somewhere, anywhere and to never look back. He'd say "It wasn't worth it, and it never will be. Just hold on a little longer, and find a new purpose."

Basil

Basil would likely want to hug his past self, and apologize for all the poor decision's he's made. While he'd want to steer himself in a better direction, he's still got a ways to go before he fully knows what he needs to heal. For starters though, he'd want himself to get rid of the game system all together, and go pursue a better home and career elsewhere. Also, he'd want to say hello to his grandmother one last time before he doesn't see her again.

Aubrey

One thing's for certain, getting in a romantic relationship with Sunny was not the right decision. Burdening Kim with her grief afterwards wasn't either. She would want to tell her younger self to try and look out for her own needs more, and don't let temptations control her. While she still cares about Sunny a whole lot, she can't fix anything that he won't do himself. It's better off that she focus on herself first, and make sure she's happy.

Kel

It's hard knowing both his past self and current self both aren't in a very good position. Neither of them saw what was coming to them, nor have the ability to fully grasp the situation yet. Maybe he never should've supported Mari's endeavors on the game in the first place. Or told the rest of the friend group to join. After all, if they didn't none of this would've ever happened right? Everyone was happier before they found Dreamscape. So telling his past self to avoid the game at all costs and focus on reality would do them both some good.

Hero

How does someone go about telling themselves that their girlfriend- their whole life is going to disappear? It's not easy, that's for sure. Still, part of it was needed in order to get himself anywhere. The right choice was still to keep Mari company until the end, but the way he handled her passing could've been better. He shouldn't have resented Sunny so much for everything. Especially to the degree of nearly ruining the man's life. Switching majors wasn't great either, he should've just stuck to cooking.

representation of me

context 1: ocd (intrsuvei thots)

context 2: i was(/am?) scared of the petscop. i cannot explain it. it has been haunting me for several days. i am presently writing an analysis to cope.

context 3: this video made me literally cry for half an hour straight. still makes me cry a bit.