The octopus costs too much.

It’s hard to steampunk anything on a budget, but give me a can of hammered copper or oiled bronze spray paint and turn me loose, and I’ll make a go at it!

But this is nothing but a fake feathered bird, a rock I had lying around, and a dried anole I’d had for a few years. Don’t ask me why. I found it and said to the Resident Storm Chaser, “Look at this. A dried lizard.”  We examined it from all angles and then it ended up on a shelf gathering dust with other dainty knick-knacks.  And thus I have my Victorian steampunk explorer’s first find and exhibit, although unfortunately it appears she didn’t make it any farther than the back garden.

It’s not a pickled octopus, but it’s mine.