History of the Caseyverse: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 06:23, 5 September 2024

Tony Bark created the Caseyverse as a coping mechanism for the changing landscape of his online friendships on DeviantArt in 2005. His friends were moving on or losing contact as he struggled to incorporate their characters and fursonas into his creative endeavors meaningfully. The genesis of the Caseyverse was an unfinished short story titled Sunset, conceived in 2010. This narrative introduced Aidan Cheddar, a mouse, and offered a fresh perspective on Zack, a fox, through Aidan's eyes. Zack, originally conceived as Bark's blue fox fursona during his time on DeviantArt in 2005, was initially based on Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog, reflecting Bark's love for classic games, fan characters and fiction. Over time, Zack evolved into the DJ character present in the Caseyverse lore.

Bark's journey into digital art began as a simple endeavor to create a web comic for his brother, which he intended to publish on DeviantArt. However, circumstances shifted when Bark moved, severing ties with his real-life friends and leaving his DeviantArt connections as his primary source of social interaction outside of family. As Sunset never saw publication, the world crafted within its narrative served as the foundation for the Caseyverse.

Bark continued to grapple with the evolving dynamics of his online friendships as they gradually moved on without him, rendering their characters unusable in any meaningful way. This experience instilled a deep-seated fear in Bark, hindering his ability to use characters belonging to others, even within fictional contexts. The Caseyverse was named after Zack, whose surname is "Casey," derived from the reverse acronym of Zc456, Bark's original DeviantArt username. His friends affectionately referred to him as "Z" or "ZC," ultimately inspiring the character's name.

Bark cherished the creative ways his friends utilized and reinterpreted his character, Zack, during their shared time on DeviantArt. While initial fame from gaining a club surrounding Zack brought joy, it was the feeling of love and connection that resonated most profoundly. Recognizing the evolving complexities of copyright in the US, often perceived as more detrimental than beneficial, Bark made the conscious decision to place his characters and fictional world into the public domain. His intention was to prevent others from experiencing the same pain he endured.

Bark's original DeviantArt-era artwork can be found on a dedicated SheezyArt persona, zc456, representing his original username. Utilizing DeviantArt's "v4" color scheme, with which he grew up, all of his artwork is publicly accessible, further solidifying the copyright-free status of the Caseyverse.

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-The '''Caseyverse''', a rich and detailed fictional universe centered around the island nation of [[Nethington]], was born from the creative mind of Tony Bark. Initially conceived as a coping mechanism for Bark’s evolving relationships with friends on [[Wiki:DeviantArt|DeviantArt]], the Caseyverse evolved from an unfinished short story titled “[[Sunset]].”
+Tony Bark created the '''Caseyverse''' as a coping mechanism for the changing landscape of his online friendships on DeviantArt in 2005. His friends were moving on or losing contact as he struggled to incorporate their characters and fursonas into his creative endeavors meaningfully. The genesis of the Caseyverse was an unfinished short story titled [[Sunset]], conceived in 2010. This narrative introduced [[Aidan Cheddar]], a mouse, and offered a fresh perspective on [[Zack Casey|Zack]], a fox, through Aidan's eyes. Zack, originally conceived as Bark's blue fox fursona during his time on DeviantArt in 2005, was initially based on Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog, reflecting Bark's love for classic games, fan characters and fiction. Over time, Zack evolved into the DJ character present in the Caseyverse lore.
-This early narrative introduced Aidan Cheddar, a mouse character, and reintroduced Zack, a fox character originally based on Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog. Zack was Bark's blue fox fursona during his time on DeviantArt and served as the foundation for the DJ lore that would later define him. The initial intent was to use these characters in a web comic initially planned for publication on DeviantArt and shared with his brother. However, life circumstances changed when Bark relocated, leading to a loss of contact with real-life friends.
+Bark's journey into digital art began as a simple endeavor to create a web comic for his brother, which he intended to publish on DeviantArt. However, circumstances shifted when Bark moved, severing ties with his real-life friends and leaving his DeviantArt connections as his primary source of social interaction outside of family. As Sunset never saw publication, the world crafted within its narrative served as the foundation for the Caseyverse.
-As years passed, Bark's DeviantArt friendships gradually faded as well. The unfinished “Sunset” story served as the foundation for Caseyverse, a world created by Bark as he processed these losses and found solace in his fictional creations. Unable to meaningfully use the characters of his former friends, Caseyverse became a space where Bark could freely explore his own narrative without the constraints of external collaborations.
+Bark continued to grapple with the evolving dynamics of his online friendships as they gradually moved on without him, rendering their characters unusable in any meaningful way. This experience instilled a deep-seated fear in Bark, hindering his ability to use characters belonging to others, even within fictional contexts. The Caseyverse was named after Zack, whose surname is "Casey," derived from the reverse acronym of Zc456, Bark's original DeviantArt username. His friends affectionately referred to him as "Z" or "ZC," ultimately inspiring the character's name.
-The name "Caseyverse" itself is derived from Zack's surname, "Casey," which was formed as a reverse acronym of Zc456, Bark's original DeviantArt username. His friends affectionately called him "Z" or "ZC," influencing the character's name and solidifying the connection between Bark's personal identity and his fictional world.
+Bark cherished the creative ways his friends utilized and reinterpreted his character, Zack, during their shared time on DeviantArt. While initial fame from gaining a club surrounding Zack brought joy, it was the feeling of love and connection that resonated most profoundly. Recognizing the evolving complexities of copyright in the US, often perceived as more detrimental than beneficial, Bark made the conscious decision to place his characters and fictional world into the public domain. His intention was to prevent others from experiencing the same pain he endured.
-Bark cherished the creative ways his DeviantArt friends utilized his fursona, Zack. Despite the initial thrill of online fame gained from a fan club dedicated to his work, Bark found greater fulfillment in the love and appreciation his characters received from his community.
+Bark's original DeviantArt-era artwork can be found on a dedicated SheezyArt persona, zc456, representing his original username. Utilizing DeviantArt's "v4" color scheme, with which he grew up, all of his artwork is publicly accessible, further solidifying the copyright-free status of the Caseyverse.
-As copyright laws in the US evolved in complex and often detrimental ways, Bark made the decision to place his characters and fictional world into the public domain. This move was driven by a desire to prevent others from experiencing the pain of losing creative control over their work as he had.  Bark's original DeviantArt-era artwork can be found on his SheezyArt persona, "zc456," reflecting his original username and utilizing DeviantArt's iconic “v4” color scheme. Due to SheezyArt's customizable profile layouts, all of Bark’s artwork is openly accessible, reinforcing the public domain status of Caseyverse.