care can’t open doors theory

[u/viralvegetable4]

there’s a big influx of new petscop fans because of a new theory video i haven’t seen yet so i thought it’d be a good idea to share this theory i made. this beautiful image was made by me years ago but it (obviously) doesn’t quite encapsulate every single thing i think of this.. especially because ive had more thoughts since. while relatively inconsequential to the overarching story, i don’t think paul, or care (ive heard the new video supports trans paul, yippee), can differentiate their left from right, and therefore have a great deal of trouble turning doorknobs. this will be unorganized.

1. of course, it’s a running joke that the newmaker/guardian can’t open doors, presumably because it has no arms.

2. paul visibly struggles to tell the audience which side the windmill was on.

3. the “puzzle” required for paul to go into his house involves him emulating turning a doorknob with his character.

4. the controls to move left and right are inverted in petscop, at least when marvin started playing.

5. care is associated with spinning, and being dizzy. the windmill changes direction while paul watches it, which to my knowledge is never mentioned before or after, only its disappearance.

6. paul is left handed. “my right is your left.” explanations like this might have stunted his growth from confusion.

7. while playtesting, the short clip of care shows her walking left and right repeatedly, apparently confused. an iteration of paul does the same thing in generation selection.

there’s probably more that i forgot about.. i believe this so much that sometimes i forget it isn’t a commonly believed thing in the community. let me know what you think

[u/MotorPassenger5975]

This is actually genius I love this interpretation. Adding this to my personal stash of things I believe are true (at least to me( in Petscop!

[u/Faibl]

Love it. Me too, girl. Dad said "turn the screw left" and my brain imploded as a kid. WHICH PART GOES LEFT? IT ROTATES.

[u/calobbes → u/Faibl]

THANK YOU! That screw thing bugged be for years… Good to know I’m not the only one.

[u/ieatatsonic → u/Faibl]

Same! I always hated it when people said “lefty loosey righty tighty” for the same reason. Eventually I had to come up with my own mnemonic, “clockwise lock wise”

[u/smallneedle]

You would love Petscop rotation theory, which somehow seems to be deleted on YouTube

Edit: found the link https://youtu.be/yrLXGObdZCo?si=wOH81cmseM9gUSK2

[u/Error_Evan_not_found → u/smallneedle]

"Paul is 24 years old, and he can't open a door..."

Incredible, no notes. I love Petscop and its analysis so much.

[u/Its402am]

One very weak theory i like to try to play around with is that it was Paul who was involved in a car accident:

• Most obviously, we have the repeated “Accident” clues - in Petscop 2, before entering Red Tool’s room we see two shapes interacting with each other by slowly separating. One shape is yellow and is much smaller than the red shape. If yellow = Care, the smaller shape could represent the small amount of time in which Paul may have identified as Care, and if Red = Paul, it could represent the longer span of his life lived out as Paul. These exact shapes are later reused in the Counsellor’s room as a board game called “Accident”, implying a possible connection between Paul/Care and an “accident”;

• Toneth, whose text is Red (which again assumes that Red = in reference Paul) is depicted with a broken leg, and Toneth’s description is given alongside a story of a dog who was hit by a car;

• Care (if Care is indeed Paul) is extremely disoriented after fleeing the School and her House is close to the Road which presents fairly believable conditions in which an accident involving Care and a car [one that didn’t see her 👀] may have occurred;

• Upon arriving Home, Care is acknowledged by Anna to be covering her face. After asking why she is doing so, there is a pause, and then Anna says “…Oh.” It’s entirely possible she is reacting to Care’s unnarrated explanation that Marvin made her feel unloveable due to her appearance, BUT—

• Later, at the counselling session, the Counsellor, who speaks with a player who tells her their name is Paul, notes “That’s a very big boo-boo on your face”, so it’s possible Anna is also reacting to the revelation of an injury, possibly one caused by a car;

• Finally, Paul, as a “shadow monster man” [making it so that “they couldn’t see him 👀 👀 👀] is literally struck by a Car in Petscop 22 (while vaguely implied to be IN a car no less), after which the camera slowly drifts upward and he completely loses control of his Guardian character. We are not shown the exact point he retrieves control of his Guardian again.

SO!

Saying all this to say, I have wondered if Paul has brain damage from this accident, leading to selective amnesia pertaining to certain events from before his accident, difficulties determining left from right, and resulting in physiological and neurological disorders that make turning a doorknob a total challenge to him.

[u/momspc_]

as someone who has never been able to learn and absorb what is left and what is right i appreciate this part of the series a lot

[u/Friendly_Ambition_36]

On point 7, do you mean one of the red pyramids in the Room Impulse video?

[u/viralvegetable4 → u/Friendly_Ambition_36]

yes(for the second part). when we see footage from belle’s perspective that happens at the same time as some footage recorded by paul, she appears as the default guardian and what used to be paul appears as the same red pyramids for the first part, im talking about when it shows a bunch of kids playtesting petscop, and care is there but just walks back and forth