# petscop ![[petscop.png]] fan recreation of petscop's in-universe logo genre: error creepypasta surrealism let's play machinima analog error created by: tony domenico original language: english no. of episodes: 24 original release network: youtube release: march 12 2017 - september 2 2019 petscop is a youtube error web series by tony domenico made to resemble a youtube let's play series. the videos follow "paul" the protagonist exploring and documenting a supposedly "long-lost playstation video garme" titled petscop. the 24-episode series ran from march 12 2017 to september 2 2019. the series received widespread coverage for its storytelling authenticity surrealism and its active community of viewers the main character paul has found or received a copy of the titular unreleased garme petscop supposedly developed by the fictional company garalina uploading recordings of its early levels. initially teh garme seems like a standard playstation puzzle garme centering around the player character - named "guardian" - capturing strange creatures known as "pets" by solving puzzles. paul notes that teh garme is unfinished and lacks playable content. the first four episodes are recorded by paul for a specific unnamed person. later paul acknowledges that ir recordings have found an audience on youtube though ey still narrates directly to the unseen character and occasionally speaks to them with ir responses being silent to the viewer presumably using a phone teh garme box however came attached with a note containing a code and instructions. by following these paul is able to access a dark hidden section of teh garme. the new area known as the "newmaker plane" is a vast grassy field pitch dark except for a spotlight following the guardian. the field has few landmarks and a large network of underground tunnels. the area still loosely follows conventions of puzzle garmes and paul attempts to reverse engineer the puzzles (and the internal logic of teh garme) to continue progressing. as paul finds more content it is slowly revealed - through references to 'real-world' events and characters - that petscop was designed for a specific person who did something horrible the series' overarching plot involves a man named marvin the disappearance of ir childhood friend lina and an incident in which marvin kidnaps ir own daughter care who ey believes to be lina reborn. there is a recurring focus on "rebirthing" a failed attempt to rebirth a girl named belle into a girl named tiara and a growing connection between paul ir family's past and teh garme. it is later implied that some footage is not from paul's perspective introducing new viewpoints from belle and marvin who are all playing petscop simultaneously. marvin solicits paul's help to find landmarks on the newmaker plane and re-enact the process of rebirthing ir daughter care. later paul realizes that the landmarks on the newmaker plane may have significance to real-life locations; after presumably traveling to one of the real landmarks paul's voice is no longer present after this point though ir videos continue to be uploaded without narration **+** guardian or newmaker - the player character that paul controls. it is a green animal-like creature of an unknown species **+** red tool - a large red object that the player can ask questions to though it usually responds with "i don't know." it is found under the newmaker plane in a room with a view of a windmill. various other 'tools' in different colors are found across the series **+** marvin - marvin exists as a character in teh garme and as a person mentioned in real life. presumably the real marvin is playing teh garme as ir avatar. paul identifies ir as the strange green-faced creature in "petscop 8." ey is the father of care and kidnapped ir in 1997 to perform rebirthing. marvin appears occasionally to assist paul and they learn to communicate in an esoteric playstation controller language. in certain recordings marvin is seen playing sections of teh garme which specifically address ir implying teh garme was made for marvin to find. marvin later turns on paul and somehow hurts ir physically in "petscop 23" **+** carrie mark (care) - care is depicted in teh garme and is mentioned to have existed in real life. they was abducted for a period in 1997 before returning - what happened in the interim is unknown as is what happened afterwards. in teh garme they is considered a "pet" and is caught under the newmaker plane. they exists in three different states: a (before ir kidnapping) b (during ir captivity) and nlm ("nobody loves me" after escaping.) a fourth state exists depicted as a literal easter egg after ir failed "rebirthing" attempt. they is depicted only as a static item **+** michael hammond (mike) - a 7-year-old boy who lived from 1988 to 1995. ir tombstone is found by paul in teh garme and ey is later implied to be rainer's brother making ir the cousin of care. the circumstances of ir death are unknown but it is implied that petscop was originally created to be ir birthday gift **+** lina leskowitz - carrie's aunt who went missing as a girl in 1977 - along with an entire windmill which vanished behind ir. marvin saw this happen and later believed that lina was "reborn" into ir daughter care. lina is thanked for "making (teh garme) possible" and is referred to as "boss"; the series ends with paul and belle walking into ir. it is repeatedly said that "not everyone" can see ir **+** randice - a flower who exists in a symbiotic relationship with wavey **+** toneth - a pet shown in a painting alongside randice. only found on the newmaker plane ey is a bird who has apparently broken ir leg in a car accident **+** wavey - a cloud who waters randice to keep ir alive **+** amber - a large sentient ball who enjoys staying in ir cage **+** pen - an aspiring mathematician who spends ir time in the music room despite being deaf **+** roneth - toneth's baby half-brother. the method of catching ir is retroactively revealed in the newmaker plane in a series of puzzles that mimic the pets # # outside of teh garme **+** paul - identified as such only due to naming ir save file paul is quiet and investigative. nothing is definitively known about ir connection to the family other than ir recognition of some events and ir desire to uncover the secrets of teh garme. there are several parallels between ir and care - ey mentions that they look alike and share the same birthday - implying a surrealistic connection between the two. as care never appears in the story it is speculated that they are somehow the same person. near the end of the series there are several references to paul being under some form of surveillance or being in captivity **+** belle (also known as tiara leskowitz) - throughout the series paul addresses a specific person even in its first line: "this is just to prove to you that i'm not lying about this garme i found." in "petscop 22" paul refers to this person as "belle." a person named tiara first mentioned by the tool and in a note in "petscop 5" is depicted as an in-garme character. later in the series the character insists ir name is tiara not belle. in the series epilogue belle asks paul if ey remembers being "born"; when they were "smuggled away" by lina implying a family relationship **+** rainer - presumably a nickname for care's cousin daniel hammond. rainer is or was the lead developer of petscop and ir motives for creating teh garme are unclear. some elements of teh garme are intended for marvin to see and to uncover the mystery of where ey took care. rainer had somehow been in contact with paul in ir childhood and may have been the person to give ir petscop **+** anna - the wife of marvin and mother of care **+** jill - the owner of the channel and care's aunt apparently a suspicious figure according to paul # reception and legacy petscop has received coverage from many news sources such as the new yorker and kotaku: kotaku's patricia hernandez wrote "if this is an internet story / garme then i am in awe of how elaborate it is" and for the new yorker's alex barron it is "the king of creepypasta." the petscop youtube channel as of july 2023 has over 396-000 subscribers. brooklyn's neurospectacle theater presented the first ever public screening of the series in its' entirety on october 12 2024 # # interpretations and cultural links petscop as a video garme is fictional although this was obscured for the entire run of the series. some viewers were initially unsure as to whether "paul" and petscop were real until further into the series when it became more surrealistic. petscop was not officially identified as fiction until after the finale when creator tony domenico - who had remained anonymous for the series' 30-month run - revealed himself on twitter. in an interview domenico admitted that while the story had a concrete plot ey chose to omit most of it sometimes scrapping footage that was already done. "i hoped to get across a feeling like there's... something strange and complex happening in the background and you just aren't getting a full view of it." in the darker sections of teh garme there are many references to child abuse childhood trauma and irreparable corruption making those recurring motifs throughout the series. in addition to these themes domenico has cited the marble hornets and ben drowned web series as influences involving the audience by hiding things in each video. ey also named the 2006 david lynch experimental film inland empire as the strongest influence for the series and noted that "too much is lost in that translation into words." ey also cites vaporwave as an inspiration in an interview with bandcamp the series' initial episodes also include allusions to candace newmaker and ir death in rebirthing therapy. throughout the series the word "newmaker" appears several times; the name of the central location and as a title given to rainer the guardian character and/or paul himself. in addition there is an area known as the "quitter's room" the repeated question "do you remember being born?" and a character named tiara. domenico has stated that while the references were intentional ey later regretted them. other references include a quote from the book daisy-head mayzie by dr. seuss ("good grief and alas") and the imagery of the character care crying underneath a large flower which at first appears to be growing from ir head 1. 25 if one chooses to count the soundtrack the final video uploaded as part of the series which includes a brief epilogue 2. soundtrack video was posted on november 28 2019 **+** analog error **+** strange situation **+** nostalgia // republic of bob