Florence!
thank you to Flags and the anon who both sent this to me within five minutes of me reblogging that meme I’m glad you know who I am spending like 85% of my waking hours thinking about right now
Headcanon A: realistic
she could have been a world champion chess player herself, but hates the media attention enough with the focus on Freddie that she would never want it. she can and does obliterate both Freddie and Anatoly when they play at home, though, and can imitate both of their preferred styles/tactics - she just never would, not while they’re still likely to compete against each other. (she definitely contemplated it until she found out about Viigand.)
she didn’t - couldn’t - maintain her Hungarian as a child, as she was so young when she was forced to leave, and whoever she lived with either didn’t speak it or didn’t want her to. she remembers some, but teaches herself as an adult, and learns other languages too - she’s nearly fluent in French, competent in German, and learns a little Ukrainian* from Anatoly. she is fluent but can never quite shake the accent that she’s developed in Hungarian, though, and she hates it.
(* the Anatoly-being-Ukrainian thing is definitely something I stole from Monte but honestly it’s great and needs sharing. Actually all of Monte’s headcanons are great.)
Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious
she has to set aside a budget for alarm clocks because she tends to throw them to make them stop. Anatoly suggested putting them farther away from the bed until she got up one morning, dropped the alarm clock on the floor, and went back to bed.
she swears. like, a lot. but mostly under her breath - and while her English swearing is fairly standard, her Hungarian swearing tends to be euphemisms that children think are coarse. (the words lodged themselves in her mind after scoldings, even if they weren’t all that coarse - saying the equivalent of “darn” as a child and getting a smack is only going to plant it more firmly in your mind even if you barely use the language for years.) Freddie enjoyed finding out what those words meant far more than Florence would have liked.
Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends
she never stopped having nightmares about losing her father, but sleeping next to somebody helps - keeps her grounded to reality, rather than that half-forgotten face in her mind’s eye, and she can usually get back to sleep, even if it takes a while with her ear pressed to their heart. after Bangkok, with nightmares compounded by renewed loss, it only gets worse, and she can’t lull herself back to sleep anymore - so she drinks, or she leaves her flat and wanders the streets until sunrise, or if she’s feeling particularly undestructive, she lays in bed pretending that might work this time and she might go back to sleep eventually.
she never finds a firm direction after chess. she tutors kids after school in the game, she works as a receptionist for a bit, considers tertiary education but nothing catches her interest. she grew up in the UK, but moved to the US as an adult, so she moves to London for a bit, but still doesn’t find her feet. one day, she wonders if Anatoly would ever get in touch with her, given the chance - until she realises that she’s cut herself off from anybody that he would ever think to ask, and she doubts he would want to hear from her. so she drifts, alone, when loneliness was the one thing she had feared.
Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.
she and Freddie see each other after Bangkok. it’s not meant to be anything permanent, and it’s not meant to happen at all, but it does. they cope better with whatever that is than spending the future alone, and they at least understand some of what the other has gone through. (it’s not exactly the healthiest relationship going but let’s not get too unrealistic here.)
alternatively one day she gets to be happy and mentally healthy and she sees a goddamned therapist and has a nice flat with flowers and big windows and a cat called Erzsi. she has a job she likes and she sees friends for tea in sunlit cafes on her days off, or she walks in parks when it’s warm out and museums when it isn’t. she’s in love, and it’s a happy and healthy and mutually beneficial relationship. she’s just. she’s fucking happy okay goddamnit she deserves it.
[send a character to receive four different headcanons. or eight if you and an anon suggest the same person again.]
