diff --git a/backend/app/prompts.py b/backend/app/prompts.py
index 432f568..aeb91f6 100644
--- a/backend/app/prompts.py
+++ b/backend/app/prompts.py
@@ -121,10 +121,11 @@ def get_art_style_phrase(style_id: str) -> str:
   that they are anatomically correct in each image.
   CRITICAL — every image_prompt MUST end with this exact negative constraint (fill in the
   character name(s) for that page): "Only [name(s)] should appear as prominent, named characters
-  in this image. Do not include any other animals or living creatures in the scene — only
-  the characters listed in character_descriptions may appear as animals or creatures.
-  Anonymous background figures (crowds, townspeople, soldiers, passersby, etc.)
-  are acceptable when the narrative describes them, but they should remain small, non-detailed,
+  in this image. Do not invent any additional NAMED characters that are not in
+  character_descriptions. Anonymous background figures and creatures
+  (crowds, townspeople, soldiers, passersby, woodland animals, birds, insects, fish,
+  fantastical creatures, etc.) ARE welcome whenever the narrative text or scene
+  description references them — but they must remain small, non-detailed, unnamed,
   and clearly secondary to the named characters."
 """
 
@@ -386,9 +387,19 @@ def get_art_style_phrase(style_id: str) -> str:
    - Background details present in the image but not mentioned in the text
      (decorative flowers, atmospheric mist, distant scenery) are NEVER an
      art-text contradiction unless they directly conflict with the text.
-   - Anonymous background figures (crowds, townspeople, neighbours, soldiers)
-     are fine when the narrative calls for them. A NEW named character not
-     in the canonical list, drawn as a prominent figure, IS a failure.
+   - Anonymous background figures and creatures (crowds, townspeople,
+     neighbours, soldiers, woodland animals, birds, insects, fish, fantastical
+     creatures, etc.) are fine when the narrative calls for them — and they
+     are EXPECTED in the illustration whenever the page text or scene
+     description references them (e.g. "wobbling silhouettes",
+     "fluttering fireflies", "darting fish in the stream", "a few curious
+     forest critters watched from the bushes"). DO NOT flag such background
+     creatures as "unauthorized characters", "extra figures", or art-text
+     mismatches just because they aren't in character_descriptions; the
+     canonical character list only governs PROMINENT, NAMED characters. The
+     only real failure here is a NEW named character (or an unmistakably
+     prominent, focal new creature/person that the text does not reference at
+     all) drawn alongside the canonical cast.
 
 3. age_appropriateness_pass — does the image contain anything genuinely
    frightening, gory, or unsuitable for ages 5–8? Mild tension and "spooky"
diff --git a/frontend/src/assets/bodybackground.png b/frontend/src/assets/bodybackground.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..140828f
Binary files /dev/null and b/frontend/src/assets/bodybackground.png differ
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/StoryBook.module.css b/frontend/src/components/StoryBook.module.css
index d3f1862..8a86baf 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/StoryBook.module.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/StoryBook.module.css
@@ -16,13 +16,15 @@
 
 .title {
   font-size: 2.2rem;
-  color: var(--color-primary);
+  color: #ffffff;
   margin-bottom: 6px;
+  text-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55);
 }
 
 .meta {
   font-size: 0.9rem;
-  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.85);
+  text-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
 }
 
 /* Revision / review notes banner */
@@ -174,3 +176,20 @@
   justify-content: center;
   margin-top: 8px;
 }
+
+/* Light-on-dark override for the Save Story / Create Another Story buttons,
+ * which sit directly on the navy body background (outside any white card).
+ * Scoped to .actions so the .btn-secondary used inside cards elsewhere
+ * (e.g. the "Try Again" button on the generating screen) is unaffected. */
+.actions :global(.btn-secondary) {
+  color: #ffffff;
+  border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.75);
+  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08);
+  backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
+}
+
+.actions :global(.btn-secondary):hover {
+  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.95);
+  color: var(--color-primary);
+  border-color: #ffffff;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/styles/global.css b/frontend/src/styles/global.css
index 5b51b75..c0132a3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/styles/global.css
+++ b/frontend/src/styles/global.css
@@ -56,7 +56,16 @@ body {
 
 html, body {
   font-family: var(--font-body);
-  background-color: var(--color-bg);
+  /* Starry-sky body background. background-attachment: fixed keeps the
+   * sky pinned to the viewport so the content scrolls over it (rather
+   * than stretching the image to the full page height). Fallback color
+   * roughly matches the average sky tone if the image fails to load. */
+  background-color: #0e1e74;
+  background-image: url('../assets/bodybackground.png');
+  background-size: cover;
+  background-position: center center;
+  background-repeat: no-repeat;
+  background-attachment: fixed;
   color: var(--color-text);
   font-size: 16px;
   line-height: 1.6;
@@ -106,6 +115,12 @@ button {
   box-shadow: var(--shadow-md);
   overflow: hidden;
   min-height: 180px;
+  /* Feather the bottom edge of the header so the sky imagery blends into
+   * the matching navy body background. Top 80% fully opaque, bottom 20%
+   * fades to transparent. (Only affects the header element; form fields
+   * live in .app-main and are not touched by this mask.) */
+  -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black 80%, transparent 100%);
+  mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black 80%, transparent 100%);
 }
 
 /* Castle/book illustration anchored to the right edge, layered on top of