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Beaded cloisonné hermit crab by Amy Kopperude.

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Berglzimmer - one of the apartments in Hofburg palace, painted in 1766 by Johann Wenzel Bergl for Empress Maria Theresia | Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria | photo by Alexander Eugen Koller.

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Mother-of-pearl bookbindings.

(From this fascinating set on flickr)

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From our stacks: Illustration by Paul A. Broste, from Research - Design in Nature. Field Museum of Natural History, School of the Art Institute. Chicago 1924-25. Chicago: John Gilbert Wilkins, 1926. Printed by Field Museum Press.

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Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957) - Interiors (Skull), 1944

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French Art Deco cat lamp, 1920

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The eternal mourner in the snow. I love my walk to work.

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every time i get a migraine i just dreamily think about trepanation

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Destiny 命运; Hand in Hand 牵手

Oil on canvas, 2019, by Pang Maokun

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✈️💍💯💤🚫🤍💘📞🖤🍝😞

for my beloved elize 💖👼

IT WARMS MY HEART THAT YOU CARE FOR MY DARLING SO MUCH THANK YOU NAOMI 😭😭🥰🥰🥰

Elize Pescaro ✈️💍💯💤🚫🤍💘🎻🖤🍝😞

✈️ - Does your oc like travelling, or do they consider themselves a more homey person.

- Elize has left Karnaca fewer times than she can count on one hand - to visit various branches of family north and west of the city - and has never left Serkonos. Quite aside from the expense, she also doesn't see any reason to do so. It's not that she isn't curious about the other isles, but she's very put off by the attitudes of wealthy tourists coming to her city and acting the way they do towards native Serkonans. Even their servants turn their noses up. Why would she ever want to go to isles entirely populated with people like that?

- That said, she doesn't consider herself a home-body, not when she's exploring Karnaca and revisiting old haunts at every opportunity she gets.

💍 - Does your oc have piercings? Do they want any (more) piercings?

- Elize only has her earlobes pierced. If she wears earrings for work, they're usually tiny white shells, or inexpensive silver studs. She wants her nipples pierced because she's heard interesting things about what it does for sensitivity. 😈 (But she won't risk an employer discovering them during an inappropriate advance and coming to unsavory conclusions about her promiscuity or criminal affiliations she has. Any tatts or additional piercings will have to wait until she's President of Serkonos...jk...unless...🤔)

💯 - Share three random facts about your oc that others might not know.

- Allergic to bee/wasp stings.

- Religiously adheres to a stretching routine in the morning. 😏 Hehehe secret yoga mom bod.

- Had a little crush on Mindy at two separate times, once before and once after her transition.

�� - Is your oc a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? How are their sleeping habits?

- Elize works long days, and tends to collapse into bed at the end of them, typically falling asleep fairly quickly and easily. Her sleep isn't always restful; she dreams quite vividly, and stress has a tendency to provoke nightmares. Sleep deprivation is one of those things she's learned to manage for the sake of her employment, but, if allowed to go on for too long, impatience starts bleeding through into everything she says and does. She's lived to the tune of a daily routine for so long that she'll typically wake up at the same time each day, without need for an alarm clock. Occasionally, she'll stir and reach for partners without fully waking up if they come to bed after she's already asleep, and she'll answer them if they start talking to her, although not always coherently and she won't have any memory of the conversation once she wakes.

🚫 - Does your oc drink/smoke? Do they do it regularly, or is it more of an occasion for special events?

- Elize is a regular tobacco smoker, but she limits herself to two cigarettes a day - one in the morning and another in the evening, unless stress/sexual frustration is killing her. She'll smoke whiteleaf tobacco on occasion, chiefly with Mindy for a fun time, but if Mr. Jindosh were so inclined to share his homegrown stash (I know what that rack of plants is in your bathroom, Kirin, you can't hide from me. I know what you are 👀) then Elize wouldn't turn his offer down. *sigh* Please don't ask me how often I think about Elize and Kirin sharing smoke between kisses. It's a lot. It's embarassingly a lot.

- She drinks much less often, reserving that for events like weddings and funerals (or complete menty-b's). As a result, she's a bit of an unexpected lightweight, despite her height and build. Her drink of choice is a Karnaca Libre (rum and whatever the Dishonored equivalent of cola is, plus a splash of lime).

🤍 - What are three of your oc's neutral or questionable traits?

- Reserved/Hard to Read - She is considered cold and aloof as often as she is considered grounded and dependable. She avoids a lot of unnecessary conflict with her poker face, but the trade-off is that people will conflate her silence with passivity or a lack of opinion, which frustrates her when she isn't consulted on matters she considers important.

- Commanding/Unyielding - Given power over others, Elize is not a tyrant but she takes her role of command very seriously and does not appreciate having her expertise questioned. In her capacity as a housekeeper, she is extremely strict about the standard of behaviour she expects from subordinates, not only because it reflects on her leadership but for their own safety; she has seen what can befall domestic workers who displease (or entice) their employers. She will not hesitate to sack someone if necessary.

- Calculating/Mercantile - If you're not family (or a close friend, or a lover), Elize ain't doing shit for you unless she gets something out of it for herself. She isn't greedy, or cruel; she doesn't believe in screwing people over, but as far as she's concerned there is very little of herself she can afford to give away for free.

💘 - What and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

- Elize would do anything for her family, and freely admits that she would be dead, or worse than dead, without their love, protection, and support.

📞 - I wasn't sure if this emoji was an accident or you selected another emoji and it just shows up as a phone for me, but the closest emoji by proximity was the violin so...

🎻 - Does your oc play any instruments? What is their skill level?

- Elize does not play any musical instruments with any degree of proficiency (unless you count lightly tapping a random arrangement of keys on the piano in Jindosh's guest area when she knows she can get away with it) and is slightly regretful that she's never had a proper chance to learn, nor the time to devote to practice.

🖤 - Has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? Have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

- Oh she sure has! Elize has personally killed two men with a hammer in an act of self-defence (this is an event I've actually written, just as of yet unpublished because the chapter's not yet finished 😔). While she hasn't killed any of Paolo's "housecall" victims for him, she still considers herself responsible for their deaths because she's the one who facilitates her cousin's entry into their houses. She has made her peace with these deaths (because most of them she thinks deserved it), and they don't haunt her nearly as badly as all of Mr. Jindosh's test subjects.

- Please, nobody be alarmed by the fact that I'm establishing Jindosh definitely has a heart, contrary to what he thinks. Nothing to worry about there in the future, I'm sure. 😅

🍝 - What is/are your oc's favourite food(s)?

- Elize is a lying liar because, if her grandmother asked, Elize would swear until her face turns blue that her favourite meal is pit-grilled eel or clay-baked fish or fresh oysters. She enjoys all of these but her favourite food isn't seafood at all; it's ropa vieja (spicy meat stew with tomatoes, peppers, and olives - ideally the meat should be blood-ox but she's not picky about substitutes) and fried, breaded plantain. She doesn't have much of a sweet tooth but she is partial to an orange cake from time to time.

😞 - Does your oc attract others, or do they tend to be left alone?

- Most Karnacans are busy just trying to live their lives, but Elize has a few traits that draw people's attention - heterochromia and height, primarily - but not necessarily for positive reasons. The superstitious accuse her of witchcraft, and a certain kind of bored troublemaker down in the Canal District often sees her as a challenge, whether they want to fight or fuck her. As a result, she does her best to blend into the background and go unnoticed; for the most part, she succeeds. She wears tinted glasses to hide her eye-colour - making the generally-accepted excuse that it's to protect her eyes from the sun - and has trained herself to stand a certain way so she looks smaller than she is, and doesn't loom menacingly over people.

- In a comfortable social setting around the people she likes, Elize still isn't particular extroverted, nor the life of the party - preferring one on one interactions to large groups - but she does have a compelling, conversational warmth. If you're sat at her table, she's listening to your stories with interest and asking questions. She's always flattered and pleased to have a captivated audience for her own stories, and she particularly enjoys making people laugh unexpectedly.

- She's probably her most magnetic and attractive when she dances, as she is at her most free and unreserved.

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The moth and the flame. Divine emblems. 1867.

Internet Archive1k

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Sardines brooch by Hattie Carnegie (1880-1956)

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'Snake' wooden spoon carved in Sapele wood.

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Enfants Riches Déprimés | ph. Ryley Paskal