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Flicker Fade Gone

Linggwistiks at Foklor (Linguistics and Folklore) (University of the Philippines Diliman)

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Flicker Fade Gone

Questions:

Why do people get addicted to playing video games?

5 years ago, I used video games to escape from reality. I could play 12 hours straight every day, avoiding everyone, including myself
(I rarely ate and showered). The root of the problem didn't lie in the games I played, but the fact that I was depressed and stressed
due issues and problems. Well, It is a highly rewarding, stimulating, and motivating activity. And our brains know it. Eventually, the
release of dopamine and glutamate reach a threshold in the brain where a higher amount is required to experience the rewarding
effects. The brain becomes desensitized, and the individual will seek more of the addictive source or behavior.

Have you ever felt that the world of the video games is more real or more important than the real world? Why or why not?

Honestly, Yes. We can get the satisfaction we want and we can control the game. We can do what we want there. We can show off
lots of skills and powers there. Some of our imaginations which are impossible are possible there.

Why do some people prefer a video game’s reality to the reality that they live in?

Some people prefer video games reality than reality they live in because video games are better than reality. You can do anything
and beyond human imagination in video games. You can do whatever you want and it can make you happy not like reality. In reality,
you can only be happy sometimes and after happiness, sadness will follow.

Guide Questions:

1. Could you relate to the protagonist? Why or why not?

This some sort of an escape from reality. The boy grew up in his neighborhood not being able to fit in-- not being recognized as
someone worthy to be played with. His emptiness was filled with being alone facing the screen of an arcade game. Perhaps, we’ve
already experienced being alone and worthless. Personally, I want appreciation and acknowledgement from other people. As a
student, we can relate our lives to the boy because in the 21 st century teenagers are already in transition of virtual realities and
games because it’s the opposite of reality. We sometimes imagine that we belong to the game and we’re part of it especially when
addicted. We feel great and powerful in virtual realities. The story revolves around emotional and mental instability of each
individual. It talks about how everyone has their weak side and needs someone, a crying shoulder perhaps, that craves for comfort
and love. We naturally crave love and appreciation .When we don’t get it; we find something which can satisfy our needs. But at the
end of the day, it all varies because of our perspectives.

2) Why did the boy disappear at the end of the story?

Actually, he used to dream of disappearing. He would stare at the mirror, looking first at his reflection, then through it, until finally it
seemed to him that the reflection was no longer there. His father was the one who introduced arcade that is destined to inhabit. He
felt unimportant and not acknowledged. The girl didn’t recognize him until he realized that no one really knew him. He was not a
person; he was just the key he held. They only acknowledge him when they need him. He felt that he came alive only after a turn of
the key, when he was in a game. The reason is he thought that this wasn’t the world for him. He could feel himself gaining
substance through the game, not being blank anymore. He watched himself fading away, disappearing. And when he saw that the
game was started, he used to play. Every time he plays, he doesn’t feel blank. When he's playing the arcade, he couldn’t feel useless
anymore.

4) What does the story seem to say about the difference between living and existing?

The story differs living and existing in two ways.

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Living: This is where the boy and the reality world connect. He's living because he's doing his purpose which is to fix the machines
with his key or so and play video games. He needs to live because he is alive and has a life. If we think about the life of an individual,
we can easily relate and differentiate the terms.

If an individual is living that means he/she is alive ex. breathing. We can say ‘living’ means spending life with vitality. If a person is
living and not merely existing that means he/she is spending life conveniently, can be called an active life. Moreover, Living is to
make the most of life and to experience the beautiful reality of life as it is. Living means the actual existence of a being up to the
fullest.

Existing: This is where the boy's emotions and the world of gaming connect. He feels like he only exists because either of the girl or
because he still has the sanity of balancing the reality world and the gaming world. On the other side, if an individual exists that
means he/she is merely present and continues life with restrictions. H e/she lacks the experience of life. It means to live life devoid
of any control and options in it. Such a life seems to be stagnant with no changes and excitement. When an individual merely exists,
he/she just survive lacking the beauty in the senses and controls in life. Existing simply means to survive without feeling the actual
reality of the feelings and emotions in it.

5) Why did the boy end up the way he did?

He enjoyed every moment he had on playing those video games, because it his perfect time to relax, to escape the reality and to be
free from the stress and problems he has on the real world. He felt big every time he plays those video games because it’s the
opposite of the reality, the reality wherein he felt small to the big world, as if nobody cares for him, nobody could notice him, he’s
like a thin air passing through us, he feels like invisible and worthless. That’s why that’s why the boy end up the way he did, because
for him, it’s the only thing that he had.

6) There are two central symbols in the story. What are they? What do they mean?

The two central symbols in the story are reality and fantasy. Fantasy is something which you imagine and you intuitively knew (with
reason) that they are improbable or impossible to exist or occur in the real world. That real world is the reality. To be a bit clear
about reality, let’s consider another term “Imagination” which is closely related to fantasy but is totally different when combined
with reality. Reality is something that could happen in real life or what is happening in real life. “It’s real!”

Fantasy is something in which you form new ideas or create new concepts that can either be executed or created in the real world.
The activity of imagining things. Especially things that is impossible or improbable.

These are the central symbols of the story.

There is just a fine line between fantasy and reality, but that fine line creates a hell lot of difference.

7) What is a toadstool? What does the code name “Princess Toadstool” allude to?

A toadstool is a spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically in the form of a rounded cap on a stalk, especially one that is
believed to be inedible or poisonous. It is any of various mushrooms having a stalk with an umbrella like cap, especially the agarics.
On the other hand, Princess Toadstool or also known as Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise. Originally
created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Peach is the princess of the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, which is constantly under attack by Bowser.
Princess Peach Toadstool (Peach) is the princess/ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach has servants called Toads and also has an
Elder who takes them called Toadsworth She is the love interest of Mario and Princess Daisy’s best friend. Peach is often kidnapped
by Lord Bowser, but Mario always saves her. In the story, the boy used this code name to the girl wearing pink Sunday dress.

8) Explain the significance of the title?

Flicker: glow in an unsteady way

fade: to disappear gradually
gone: no longer existing

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The advent of technology has deviated our world and life into eccentric opportunities and chaos. And everyone tends to act totally
different in what was accustomed just to incline himself from the digital trends and millennial demands. Youths who troubled
themselves by frequently playing online games and refused to engage in social activities with their peers, highly exemplify the
sickening impact in the reality catalyzed by technological devices. One example is that most of the folks wasted the preciousness of
their time and forget to unveil the true reasons of their existence and indispensable role they can contribute to the society. They can
hardly cope with interventions in the real world hence only find satisfaction and self worth through exposing their lives in virtual
world instantly created by human inventions. And all these accounts were perfectly limned in the story entitled, FlickerFadeGone by
Carljoe Javier. The title also builds up tension toward people who flicks and fades in the real world because of the influence of virtual
reality.

9) Does the boy in the story remind you of anyone? Does it seem to be a commentary on certain kinds of people?

Yes, it reminded me of someone; it also reminded me of myself. I admit that I became really addicted to video games before because
it gives me the satisfaction I can’t get to my surroundings. I can do everything I want there especially in GTA, it’s illegal to kill in
reality and drive car as fast as you can, unlike GTA you can. Also in Mobile Legends, you can show off your skills and you can show off
how powerful and rich you are. Well, it’s not bad that sometimes in our life that we dream to live in a fantasy world, we are treating
ourselves to be a princess living in beautiful castle treated like a royal person by everyone. But we must wake up ourselves on the
reality that those stories are just our imagination and remains as fantasy. We must teach ourselves that this world is not rainbow
and cupcakes, this world, our life is a series of never-ending problems, and our role is to be strong, face and deal with it.

10) Princess Toadstool does not fall in love with the narrator. What does this tell us about the difference between fantasy and
reality?

I think he says this for a number of reasons. Real love is not only rare, but it can take work. You have to accept that person for who
they are and what they love and hate. This also means accepting them for their faults. "Fantasy is a genre of fiction that
uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place
in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science
fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal
of overlap between the three, all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction."

"Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined." In a wider definition,
reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. A still broader definition includes
everything that has existed, exists, or will exist.

Princess Toadstool apparently didn’t fall in love with the boy because it’s all about timing. Maybe it’s not yet their time. In perfect
timing everything will fall into right places. The boy must do something so that the girl may notice him and get to know him. If they
really are the soul mates, it is meant to be.

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