#float crew

Yes! There are some side characters who get names in canon, and recur a couple times, but are not considered authorities.

📚 Strix

Smart guy! Tends to the Oasis library! Keeps a record of all the names of all the survivors! Registers any new arrivals and name changes! Draws up engineering plans to make new stuff! Made up his own name instead of choosing a nature name!

There is an argument to be made that Strix counts as leadership, because he shows up in quite a few of the decision-making meetings. But he’s someone who gets brought in after some of them have already happened because both Aspen and River like him.

🏝️ Sandy

She ferments things in bottles hanging below the Oasis’s one and only bar! She was more prominent in old drafts but I count her anyway.

🌠 Star

He is sort of? an authority figure?, but not one who makes decisions for the fate of the Oasis. He just acts as a sort of shift manager for the overnight crew. The Oasis is happy to have people whose circadian rhythms keep them up at night, because night watches are important.

Star is also a notorious gossip and this does get used as a plot point.

🌈 Rainbow

They balance out so well. From the very first chapter, I have two pairs of lines —

— that I love so so much

Because it demonstrates that they’re both practical and analytical, but with Venus, there’s a sort of smug, victorious, “LOOK WHOS EATING WHO NOW” vibe, whereas Aspen stays focused on the “alive = problem. dead=not my problem” approach.

8. Do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it's not derived from their real name, what's the story behind it?

“River” is pretty hard to make nicknames out of, I don’t think I’ve ever come up with one for her that I use in the book.

Those closest to Aspen (ie River and Venus) do occasionally call her some variation of the last syllable of her name: Spinny, Spinner, Spins. That will make it into canon, I just have to find where.

No real story behind where it came from, just the natural result of wanting to call her a cute nickname! It’s just that Venus and River are the only ones close enough to think of it + get away with it.

18. Their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

River has what I think is a very average opinion, which is that lying and stealing are “bad” but she quietly knows she has definitely lied before and would steal if she needed to. Killing and death horrify her though.

Aspen abhors all three because all three are extremely antithetical to the “teamwork for survival” effort on this alien ocean that she’s doing her best to hold together. She hates keeping secrets and lying about having secrets, or lying to maintain them. It’s counterproductive and would destroy the trust her crew has in her and her reputation (take a guess about certain plot points…). There’s only been one thief in FLOAT-world history, and she hates what he did, too. Killing is never something she’ll endorse, because everybody should be fighting to endure and survive so they can get home.

🍬 candy: share a sweet or fluffy scene from your wip!

(For context, they just played a guessing game where River learned the names of some of the crew, but Aspen’s cutting her off)

🌊 🌊 🌊

“I think that’s enough fun for the day. Go on, floater. What’s your name?”

She turns her head to look back over her shoulder at me. Part of me wonders if she is judging me, but most of me doesn’t care. I can’t let the opinion of one person who isn’t even signed on to the crew judge the way I run my ship. If she wants to hold something against me, she can do it from the Oasis once we get her there safely.

But without the time for an in-depth explanation, I just meet her gaze.

She must be satisfied with whatever she finds in that moment, because she turns back around to look out at the crowd. She sets her shoulders in a determined sort of posture, and ends the game.

“My name… is River.”

Cheers explode from my crew, and they surge forward towards the stairs. Blossom and Shadow and Dandy make it up onto the stairs. The ones who don’t make it up are jumping, and cheering, and stamping their feet, and slapping at the wood of the staircase to celebrate. They’re adorable, and I am so grateful that they’re here to give River a warm welcome.

“Brace yourself,” I tell her quietly.

I don’t know if she hears my warning before Blossom bends down and scoops her up to sit on his shoulder. Judging by the startled and shrieking sound she makes, I’m going to guess that she either didn’t hear me or hadn’t figured it out in time.

I watch Blossom parade her around, my crew forming a circle around them. River doesn’t seem to know what to do at first, but I eventually watch her smile grow. She starts reaching down to high five people, and claps along to the chant of her name once it starts up. Seeing them all happy makes me smile; I’m still enjoying the spectacle when Venus catches me eye from the outside of the crowd.

Since Halloween just finished. If your MC(s) wore a costume for the occasion, what would it be? (Bonus points if an ensemble cast does a group costume)

Man I think the FLOAT crew dressing up as their chosen nature themed names would be really fucking funny

Rowan and Aspen have to go as trees. Venus insists she doesn't know how to dress up like a planet and opts for a Venus flytrap, which everybody then insists doesn't count and she shouldn't be counted during the votes on whose costume is best. Blossom dresses in all pink like cherry blossoms.

Depends at what point in their character arc they’re in lol

Right now I’m writing scenes where River meets the rest of the crew and she’s nervous as hell about it. It’s a combination of the crazy situation and meeting new people for her; now we wouldn’t be in a wild situation to meet, I don’t think, so she’d probably be awkward but trying to hide it.

Of course, her arc is all about gaining confidence and security, so if it’s towards the end of the book I think we’d get along.

Aspen is very practical already, and stays that way, so I think she would probably handle meeting me fine. Most of the crew would probably be the same, since they encounter and pick up a lot of floaters as they sail around. So meeting new people is par for the course.