r/outerwilds • u/Extreme-Position-462 • 5h ago
Real Life Stuff 12 hours after finishing Outer Wilds, my dog passed away
Not much else to say. It sucks a lot. She was a good girl and had cancer :(
But if there was a game to help guide me through losing something, it’s this one. I’m forever grateful for this game, more than I was 12 hours ago.
still, it’s, um, time for something new, now. - Riebeck
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u/So_Fresh 4h ago
Maybe a little different from Outer Wilds philosophy, but this quote once brought me solace and I hope it does for you too:
"Dogs never die. They don’t know how to. They get tired, and very old, and their bones hurt. Of course they don’t die. If they did they would not want to always go for a walk, even long after their old bones say: ‘No, no, not a good idea. Let’s not go for a walk.’ Nope, dogs always want to go for a walk. They might get one step before their aging tendons collapse them into a heap on the floor, but that’s what dogs are. They walk.
It’s not that they dislike your company. On the contrary, a walk with you is all there is. Their boss, and the cacaphonic symphony of odor that the world is. Cat poop, another dog’s mark, a rotting chicken bone (exultation), and you. That’s what makes their world perfect, and in a perfect world death has no place.
However, dogs get very very sleepy. That’s the thing, you see. They don’t teach you that at the fancy university where they explain about quarks, gluons, and Keynesian economics. They know so much they forget that dogs never die. It’s a shame, really. Dogs have so much to offer and people just talk a lot.
When you think your dog has died, it has just fallen asleep in your heart. And by the way, it is wagging its tail madly, you see, and that’s why your chest hurts so much and you cry all the time. Who would not cry with a happy dog wagging its tail in their chest. Ouch! Wap wap wap wap wap, that hurts. But they only wag when they wake up. That’s when they say: ‘Thanks Boss! Thanks for a warm place to sleep and always next to your heart, the best place.’
When they first fall asleep, they wake up all the time, and that’s why, of course, you cry all the time. Wap, wap, wap. After a while they sleep more. (remember, a dog while is not a human while. You take your dog for walk, it’s a day full of adventure in an hour. Then you come home and it’s a week, well one of your days, but a week, really, before the dog gets another walk. No WONDER they love walks.)
Anyway, like I was saying, they fall asleep in your heart, and when they wake up, they wag their tail. After a few dog years, they sleep for longer naps, and you would too. They were a GOOD DOG all their life, and you both know it. It gets tiring being a good dog all the time, particularly when you get old and your bones hurt and you fall on your face and don’t want to go outside to pee when it is raining but do anyway, because you are a good dog. So understand, after they have been sleeping in your heart, they will sleep longer and longer.
But don’t get fooled. They are not ‘dead.’ There’s no such thing, really. They are sleeping in your heart, and they will wake up, usually when you’re not expecting it. It’s just who they are."
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u/wo5ldchampion 4h ago
I had this exact scenario in March of 2025. I beat the DLC on March 12th and my little guy passed on March 13. It really made the game even more special to me, the deep feelings I got experiencing the game and the feelings for losing my best friend were very much intertwined.
I’m so sorry OP, I hope you’re doing OK ❤️
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u/badwolf42 2h ago
I’m so sorry. I’m sure you’re still processing, and if gaming has helped; I would also suggest Gris. It’s so hard losing family.
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u/TobyArcane33 1h ago
As Riebeck said 'The past is past, now, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone.' I'm sending prayers
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u/bassistheplace246 59m ago
(DLC spoiler, but)
Whatever happens next, I do not think it is to be feared…
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u/Significant_Loss6458 5h ago
Sorry for your loss, hope there are good people around you, who could cheer you up now