#real even

Headcanon: Magic, Marks and Bone Charms Oh My!

Stride is many things. A cheat, a sneak, violent, sadistic, uneducated and loud. While the list hardly stops there, it also includes paranoid, at least on a minor level whenever magic and related topics are concerned. However, while Lizzy is generally quick to dismiss the notion that magic, the Void and even the Outsider himself could possibly exist, the woman has seen just enough that she knows she knows better. 

Too many times has she witnessed Whalers standing less than a foot away from her, speaking and responding to her in the flesh, only to blink to find her company gone. The whispers about the mad old woman who lived inland, Granny Rags and what she did to those who disturbed her. The attack on her own stomping grounds, the assault during which she observed Daud utilize skills and talents that no man could possibly possess and bearing witness to Witches themselves. Even the rumor regarding the Royal Protector and his heretical nature causes her stomach to churn, whether she admits it to even herself or not.

Magic. Bone Charms. The Void. The Outsider.

Complex wonders that leave just enough evidence in her world that Stride would could never outright deny their existence without painting herself a fool. Complex wonders that, while acknowledging that there are things out there beyond her, that Lizzy often times chooses to blatantly ignore. After all, why bother with thoughts and inquiries about the unknown and supernatural when she, a woman who was hardly special in any way, didn’t have even the slightest connection to any of it?

However, there do come times when she finds herself in the presence of those in possession of these secret, forbidden things and the reality of the matter is that Lizzy Stride has a business to upkeep. While she’ll be clearly wary of her company, perhaps even vocal about her distrust, Stride is hardly one to ruin a business opportunity-... At least if the outcome is far more favorable to her than a simple sack of coins. Favors and friends in certain places…. They had their uses.

Despite her behaviors and fear, the way that she intentionally ignores the presence of these things until it is displayed blatantly before her... There is a certain curiosity that sparks to life within her on solitary evenings.