#quarriefam

[hidingupatreeorsomething]

Homeland snap fanfic No.4 – Cookies and hot chocolate

As requested by @keepcalmandquarrieon...!

Quinn is sitting on a rickety chair in the garden. Staring into space. Maybe rocking slightly, rhythmically, to himself. Franny appears at the door to the main house, holding a cookie, a little shy but curious. He sees her.

QUINN             Hello.

FRANNY          Are you Peter Quinn?

QUINN            I am.

FRANNY          My name’s Franny.

QUINN            Hello, Franny. Pleased to meet you.

FRANNY          My mommy said you were in the hospital. Are you better now?

Thinks.

QUINN            Not really.

FRANNY         What are you doing?

QUINN            Nothing much.

                       What are you doing?

FRANNY         Eating a cookie.

QUINN            That’s… very nice.

Pause.

                        Do you have a cookie for me, too?

She looks shy and awkward.

FRANNY          They’re my cookies!

QUINN            I might feel better if I had a cookie.

FRANNY          I know where mommy keeps them.

QUINN            You wanna bring me one?

FRANNY          Come and have it in my house. You can have hot chocolate too.

QUINN            Ah I don't think so. I'm not supposed to come up there.

FRANNY          Why not?

Thinks.

QUINN            That's your home. And mommy’s. I live down here.

FRANNY         But I said you could.

QUINN            Where's your mommy?

FRANNY         She's on the phone.

Thinks.

QUINN            OK.

He pulls himself up, walks, with difficulty, towards her. She walks towards him a little, on his left-hand side, looking at him.

FRANNY         Why do you walk like that?

QUINN            Because my leg doesn't work, I guess.

FRANNY         Shall I hold your hand?

QUINN            My hand doesn't really work either.

She's stumped. He holds out his right hand.

QUINN            This one does, though.

She walks round, takes his right hand, and they walk up the steps to the door, hand in hand...

[wthomeland]

Starting at 6x5 as you suggest. Seeing Franny so much on screen fills me with sadness, it reminds me of Brody and all the struggle and sadness associated with that character, however you feel about Brody. It is a constant reminder of the sadness of his story, although I have learned to expect no sympathy from you in that regard. However, I have a question for you. You speak often about the importance of narrative and narrative function. What narrative function does the Franny fulfill?

Ah, ok. Well, I’ll try to be as sympathetic as I can, then. Believe it or not, I have a good friend IRL who is a hardcore Brody fan, so I’ll give you the same well-meaning advice I gave her recently: if you are still watching Homeland for Brody, you are going to be disappointed. He belongs to a closed chapter of the story. They will continue to insert references to him here and there for old-time’s sake, but he is no longer a character who is influencing the narrative. 

As to Franny, I am one of those rare persons who was actually excited that they made Carrie a mother. Maybe because I found out I was pregnant right around when Carrie did; I guess I felt some kind of odd pregger-sisterhood with her LOL. 

In terms of function, for Carrie’s character arc, Franny has very clearly served as a stabilizing influence. Look back at the reckless Carrie from S1-3 and look at her now. She is mature; she is compliant with her treatment; she is (mostly) sober. She is responsible for the life and well-being of another human and she is taking that responsibility seriously. Carrie’s “want” has always been a normal life, with normal relationships, and normal concerns. Franny represents that ideal for Carrie. She is striving to be the mother that she wishes she had had. 

Franny has also served a narrative function WRT to the Carrie/Quinn romance arc since S3. It’s no coincidence that Quinn was the first one to find out that Carrie was pregnant. Quinn as a character has the the same exact “wants” as Carrie: a normal life. He believes he fucked up his chance at that, but he’s always encouraged Carrie not to do the same. Quarrie’s conversations about parenthood over the seasons and, more recently, Quinn’s bonding with Franny has helped cement the intimacy between Carrie and Quinn. Franny represents the “normal” family they both want. 

Finally, this season Franny is also serving a plot function. Dar has intervened to remove her from her home in order to distract Carrie from her investigations into the bombing. 

[wthomeland]

Since C will do everything necessary to recover Franny, do you believe that this may be the external factor that separates her from Quinn? Maybe she decides not to see Q anymore or ....how interesting would it be if they became lovers and find themselves in hiding?

Anonymous 2 said to wthomeland: I´m worry about the idea, as it is suggested in the still of episode 9, that Carrie enters into a more denial mode regarding her feelings towards Quinn given that she has to recover Franny no matter what it costs. How do you think these two issues are going to weigh on her?

Franny was removed from her home through Dar’s machinations as part of S6′s larger conspiracy. The conspiracy will be resolved by the end of the season and so will the situation with Franny. This is not a long-term obstacle. 

Anon 2, assuming you mean the promo video, those are edited in a way that they are often misleading. Also, there is no context. It is pointless to try to decipher them and even more pointless to become anxious because of them. 

[wthomeland]

Hi! I feel the great intimate personal separation between C and Q, from C point of view, will be the fact that C has heard that Franny was terrified and that she was afraid of dying. I think listening to those words broke her heart. So, all that words entail, will be what separates C from Q. I mean, how can C desarm that idea inside her?

While it was hard for Carrie to hear this, she knows her daughter better than anyone. She may have been shocked to hear Lonas’s claim, but Carrie knows Franny is a strong girl; that she’s not afraid of Quinn; and that she wasn’t traumatized. (We know this, too, BTW. There’s a reason we were shown Quinn saying “you’re always safe with me” and Franny asking after Peter when they got home.)

No one can just come along to a mother and feed her stories about her child, LOL. It doesn’t work that way. 

In any case, Carrie will certainly ask Franny about this when she sees her. She’s not just going to take some random person’s word for it. 

This is not going to be a lasting obstacle for CQ, just like Dar planting doubts in Quinn’s head about Carrie’s love for him won’t be either.

[wthomeland]

What is Quinn thinking when he is taken away from his girls by the FBI, just look at his face and the way he stretches his neck to have a last glimpse of them?! Is he afraid to have scared Franny and upset Carrie ? Or do you think he is afraid to leave them unprotected? I just love his alpha male protectiveness towards his little family. I think he feels like they are his family now.

Since Quinn fully believed “they” weren’t going to let him leave (eg, he thought they would kill him), I assumed he was thinking this was the last time he would ever see them. Hence why he was straining so hard not to lose sight of them. 

[wthomeland]

C saves Q again!!! The scene where C lands on top of him - I can't stop watching it. I screamed "Don't hurt him!!!" to the TV same time C did - LOL. Also, the part where they were taking Q away and C closes the door - pretty sure Q saw it as another rejection from C, but C was just trying to keep Franny from seeing all that because C doesn't want F to be afraid of Q or see him as a bad guy. As a mom, I really loved how C handled the whole situation.

Love!!!

I agree, Carrie’s calm words and demeanor were very reassuring to Franny through the whole thing. A+ parenting moment, Carrie!

“Pretty sure Q saw it as another rejection from C” - Um, Quinn’s feelings are not that easily hurt, Anon. Remember how everyone was up in arms at Carrie’s “rejection” of him after the hug scene and the very next scene we saw he was like, “you’re 14 minutes late!” Quinn is a tough guy! No need to feel offended on his behalf every other scene.

As far as the door, I don’t know if it was so much that C didn’t want F to see Q as the bad guy as much as she just didn’t want her to see him getting taken away like that so she wouldn’t worry about him (F seems to have inherited her mom’s protector instincts - “Is Quinn safe?”, “He needs me.”) 

As to the significance from Quinn’s perspective (remember we saw the door closing from his POV), it’s basically him seeing the door close on his little family fantasies. I think Quinn believed that was the last time he would see ever them, given how sure he was that “they” would never let him (or Carrie) leave alive. How sad was it that he was straining his neck to see them the whole time he’s getting taken away? 😭

[wthomeland]

1/2: Can't stop watching 604 Quarriefam snack scene! The more I watch, the more I love it. It's fast paced, but everything ab it is just A.DOR.A.BLE! Q waiting impatiently for his family to come home. Greeting them at the door. Entire Q/F interaction. The way Q smiles at F and says hi. Q so openly and innocently scolding C for being late and making him worry (and C's meaningful smile).

2/2: Then following her everywhere like a puppy, turning his head back and forth to C and F as they talk, waiting for his turn to tell C ab his discoveries. So heart-warming, so cute! Like coming out of a fanfic! I am all for cool, sexy badass Q, but while eagerly waiting for the old Q to come back, I'm enjoying the cute huggable Quinn. 😘🐶😍

“I am all for cool, sexy badass Q, but while eagerly waiting for the old Q to come back, I'm enjoying the cute huggable Quinn.” - 

Amen, Anon. Quinn 2.0 is a gift!

[wthomeland]

OMG loved how Quinn and Carrie looked like a couple in 6.04 😍 he was worried because she was late, she made fresh coffee for both of them. Simple things that normal couples do everyday (but the sex 🙄).

Yeah, we love it, too! They didn’t even say good morning or anything, just like family members often don’t. It’s like it’s his home, too, now.