#inspo: float

[incandescent-creativity]

…the creature’s irises aren't flatly colored white, but contain flashes of opalescent highlights as they move: teal, yellow, green, pink. Similarly, the skin isn't actually monochrome black, but has the same variations.

…

The remnants of River’s latest form are mostly made of bone and skin. There are spines along the shredded back meat that now lies flayed open, gathering rainwater in pink puddles.

A fun prompt to do a pink FLOAT moodboard from @poore-choice-of-words ! Featuring two instances of pink from the first half of the book.

I went kind of heavy on the creatures for this one, but I found so many that I liked that I couldn’t help myself.

And that warped reflection in the water photo??? With River’s themes of personhood as she turns into creatures in the water??? Chefs kiss. This led me to so many fun photos.

[incandescent-creativity]

Giant squid kraken VS shapeshifter, who wins

The kraken, obviously

The shapeshifter, obviously

They tear each other to pieces in a mutually assured destruction

Voting ended onOct 28, 2025

[incandescent-creativity]

“My name is Aspen.”

“You’re on the ship Endurance. We sail around, picking up lost and drifting sailors like yourself.”

“Don’t worry if you don’t remember anything about your life; that’s normal here. The important thing is that you’re safe now.”

A fun one with Aspen in River’s color! I did limit myself to one (1) ocean water picture, which was more difficult than I expected.

But im quite pleased with the elements I did manage to find. Her rescue missions are represented in the supply photos on the far right, the ship elements like the rope and sails are in there, I even got to include something a little more symbolic in how Aspen keeps everybody afloat.

[incandescent-creativity]

“I’m River. River Bilal.”

“You only need one name here. Attempting to—”

“I’m not attempting anything. I’m telling you, I know that my name is River Bilal, just like I know what my life back on Earth was like. I remember it—all of it. Including my name.”

A very fun time making River a moodboard in Aspen’s color!

The moment I found that golden ratio spiral shell picture was really the moment this one came together. It’s a great combination of River’s mechanical engineering background (also seen in the architecture photo) and her shapeshifter status (thus the creature photos).

After I locked those elements in, it was just a matter of the photos meant to reference the FLOAT world — the watery ones — and her role on the crew, the diver and one who navigates them home (sort of via the stars… it’s complicated).

The lifeguard sign is mostly just a cheeky nod to the danger of the ocean world lol

[incandescent-creativity]

What is one of the weirdest pieces of information you learned while researching for FLOAT?

Did you know! Squids! Do not have eyelids!

I don’t know why, exactly, I thought they would? But it occurred to me to double check, and it was weirdly difficult to confirm, but I did see enough that I felt confident to write it the way I did.

[incandescent-creativity]

Happy STS!! Maybe I should change the name of my asks to Storyteller Weekends atp

Anyways, here's the question: how would you sum up your story or story arcs in a clickbate YouTube video or article title? Making more than one clickbate title is highly encouraged hehe

ALIENS WANT TO KILL US (NOT CLICKBAIT)

or

PROOF THAT SHAPESHIFTING IS *NOT* THE BEST SUPERPOWER

or

YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW THESE PEOPLE RECYCLE OLD BOATS

or

THEY FOUND A PORTAL — WHERE IT LEADS WILL SHOCK YOU

[incandescent-creativity]

7 and 12 for the end of year asks! :D

I don’t know how to tell writeblrs I don’t have wip playlists 😭 anyway

12. if your character(s) had their own new years resolutions, what would those be?

River’s would be to get her grades up, even though she already puts that pressure/expectation on herself so it doesn’t really count imo. She may have others like Making more friends and Going to Pride though and I think those count a lil more!

Aspen… is harder to answer, because I already think of her as pretty confident/secure/wouldn’t see the need for resolutions. I think perhaps she’s too practical for them; if she wants to do something, she’ll just… do it! Maybe she could be convinced into doing a sort of “do one relaxing thing a day” resolution by those who care for her though.

[incandescent-creativity]

happy storyteller saturday! what monster have you created for FLOAT you think is the coolest/is your favorite?

I think the one that hits the hardest for me is the screamers / the crinoid zombies.

The FLOAT world is difficult to survive in. Even in a stable, looped current, there are storms, starvation, dehydration, sickness--people die. And rather than let their bodies float around in the current with them, the Oasis chooses to sink their bodies.

This wasn't a problem until a spawn of passive parasites got caught in the current. Passive in the sense that they reproduce the way jellyfish do: blasting out a bunch of gametes into a current and hoping they match up. And parasitical in the sense that they hijack the brain of whatever they land on!

Their whole life cycle is based on getting eaten, like other parasites. Here's Aspen's explanation of them:

“They latch onto whatever creature they bump into and sink their tendrils into the brain. Most of the time, it’s supposed to happen while the victim is alive, but they can also work on dead things before the muscles have hardened.” “Okay, gross. Also, why?” “They make distress sounds that get the attention of predators." That's when I figure out what their references to "screamers" earlier means. I don’t know what kind of distress sounds fish make, but I know what humans sound like. “There are screaming zombies down there?" "Get eaten, then lay their eggs in the predator’s internal organs, and then the little baby screamers burst out of its corpse once they’ve grown up.”

For reference, this is a crinoid:

You're going to tell me that thing doesn't look ready to skitter onto your skull and dig those tendrils into your brain? Because that's what it looks like to me.