Like Stars in a Tide Pool - Explorations on Subculture, the Sona, and Places in the Internet Age

Abstract

This thesis project and paper explores the digital, internet age. Parts within explore topics of queer culture, neurodivergence, escapism, narrative storytelling, sona creation, character design, ludology, and fantasy world exploration within interactive software– all witnessed through the lens of celebration of the subcultures, micro-communities, and creations of self-exploration, self-expression of the people that populate them. From video-game playground rumors to well-written story-beat payoffs in a blockbuster hit-– the magic of storytelling, subculture, and the subsequently formed micro-communities all go hand in hand within our contemporary internet age. All types of people inhabit these communities– people who may be trans, neurodivergent, queer, gay, or autistic; people whose everyday-life families, nations, or cultures may fail to understand or accept these identities, or may not be able to be fully “themselves” in their everyday life. By engaging in cross-cultural communities, they can find escape, joy, or even newfound acceptance in these spaces. This interplay of “belonging” and “community” within the virtual realm directly results in spaces which contain interactive artwork, or spaces that are within interactive artworks themselves– some of which go on to re-manifest physically within our world as events or places.