Quasme

Quasme is the het ship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame fandom.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
When Quasimodo wanted to go to the Festival of Fools for the first time in his life, he ended up falling into the tend of a young dancer named Esmeralda. Though Esmeralda was only wearing a robe, having not changed into her costume yet, she's not angry at Quasimodo. She realizes that it was an accident and asks him if he's alright, she then helps him up. When Quasimodo leaves, Esmeralda compliments his "mask", causing Quasimodo to smile at her. Since he started thinking, his adoptive father Frollo had told him that the world is wicked, thus he is surprised at Esmeralda's kindness.

When Esmeralda performs, Quasimodo watches her happily. Later when Clopin announces that they are choosing the annual King of Fools, Esmeralda sees that Quasimodo would like to attend and helps him climb on the stage. As they are testing the various citizens of Paris making grimaces, Quasimodo is the last one standing and Esmeralda prepares to pull his mask off. She then jerks away from him when she realizes that the "mask" was actually his face, but then takes a moment for the shock to wear off and accepts Quasimodo's unusual looks remarkably quickly. As Quasimodo is crowned King of Fools, his happy moment is ruined when the guards pelt him with tomatoes to make fun of him, which leads to the entire crowd tossing vegetables at him. As Quasimodo begs his father to tell them to stop, only to receive no help from Frollo, Esmeralda is horrified and puts herself between Quasimodo and the crowd. She directly confronts Frollo for his horrid treatment of Quasimodo, likening it to how horribly he's treating her people. But Esmeralda is forced to flee when Frollo sends the guards after her.

Finding sactuary in Notre Dame, protected from Frollo and his goons for as long as she stays in the church, Quasimodo sees Esmeralda praying for everyone but herself, saying she can get by. As soon as Esmeralda notices Quasimodo, she chases after him, apologizing for what happened and saying that she would've never pulled him onstage if she knew what the crowd would do to him. Quasimodo makes no attempt to stop her from entering the belltower and Esmeralda is amazed at the miniature version of Paris he built in the 20 years trapped up there. As she praises his talents as a woodworker, Quasimodo wants to do something nice for her in return and shows her around the belltower, helping her up to share the view of Paris at sunrise. Esmeralda cannot understand how Quasimodo could turn out so wonderful under cruel Frollo's care, but Quasimodo tells her that Frollo keeps reminding him that he is a "monster". Esmeralda guesses that Frollo also told him that her people are evil, asking him if Quasimodo thinks that she is evil. Quasi denies that completely, so Esmeralda tells him that maybe Frollo is wrong about both of them. Quasi offers her to live in the belltower with him, but Esmeralda tells him that she feels trapped in the Notre Dame. As Quasimodo takes her and her goat down the Notre Dame by climbing and jumping down, Esmeralda offers to take him with her to their hideout, the Court of Miracles, to be free of Frollo's abuse. Quasimodo still feels like he owes Frollo his life, so Esmeralda lets him make that decision himself and gives him a woven necklace where the location of the Court of Miracles is shown through a riddle, telling him that she hopes she'll meet him again.

As Quasimodo returns to the belltower, he takes a wooden block and carves it into Esmeralda's image. He places his Esmeralda statue next to a statue of himself, never expecting for anyone to fall in love with him and compares it to being blessed by heaven's light.

However, the next time Esmeralda meets him is in an emergency, her friend Phoebus has gotten wounded trying to escape from Frollo after disobeying him, Esmeralda takes him to the Notre Dame knowing that Quasimodo will help them. As Phoebus is laid out in Quasimodo's bed, Esmeralda cleans his wound with wine and then kisses him right in front of Quasimodo while in the moment. Quasimodo is heartbroken at seeing the love of his life kiss another man, but Esmeralda had no idea that Quasimodo loved her. Esmeralda trust Quasimodo to take care of Phoebus while she has to escape from Frollo, Quasimodo heeds Esmeralda's request and hides Phoebus from him until he wakes up. As Frollo brings dinner for Quasimodo, he seees the Esmeralda statue and realizes that she's been up here. Quasimodo hears Frollo's plans to find the Court of Miracles and eradicate Esmeralda's people after capturing them. As Phoebus wakes up, the two of them realize that they need to work together to save Esmeralda and her people and use the necklace Esmeralda gave Quasimodo to locate the Court of Miracles.

Though initially mistaken for intruders and Frollo's spies and sentenced to be hanged in the Court of Miracles, Esmeralda comes to their aid and prevents their hanging. As soon as Quasimodo and Phoebus tell them about Frollo's plan, Frollo himself ambushes them, having followed Quasimodo to their hideout. Frollo then orders to put Esmeralda, her people and Phoebus in cages to be burned, but only puts Quasimodo in chains to force him to watch. Quasimodo is so angry at Frollo that he uses brute strength to destroy two pillars of the Notre Dame and break free from his chains. Then he swoops down on a rope to rescue Esmeralda just as before the flames get to her. Putting her back in the belltower, he tries to tell Esmeralda about Phoebus breaking free and fighting Frollo's guards, but is horrified at her lack of a response. It seems that Esmeralda died anyway from inhaling the smoke, causing Quasimodo to cry over her motionless body. Frollo appears with a knife behind his back to make sure she's dead, but Quasimodo fights him by using a candle stand as a weapon, having grown fully disillusioned with Frollo. Esmeralda wakes up in the middle of the fight and Quasimodo takes her to the balcony, with Frollo pursuing them. Quasimodo uses his acrobatic skills to hang onto the Notre Dame, Esmeralda holding onto him as he tries to climb back onto the balcony. But just before Frollo could land the killing blow, he boasts over God smiting the wicked and plunging them into the fiery pit, giving just enough time for the gargoyle he's holding onto to give way and doing just that to Frollo himself. Esmeralda is holding Quasimodo off the balcony, but isn't strong enough to hold onto him much longer, however, Phoebus catches him falling at just the right time, Esmeralda is relieved and reunites with her two friends downstairs.

As they stood amongst themselves, Phoebus wordlessly offered to step aside to allow Quasimodo to be with Esmeralda, but Quasimodo grabs both of their hands and pulls them together. Quasimodo smiles as he sees them kissing, realizing that he doesn't need Esmeralda's love to be happy. As the three of them leave Notre Dame cathedral, Esmeralda and Phoebus face the crowd, but Quasimodo stays behind, worried that they won't accept him. Esmeralda reaches out to him and pulls him into the sunlight, allowing for the people of Paris to embrace him and him finally getting what he always wished for.

Fanon
Whether Quasimodo and Esmeralda should've ended up together is still a topic of debate in the fandom nearly 30 years later. Those supporting it grumble about how refreshing it would've been for the beautiful female lead to choose a deformed man over the conventionally handsome options she had. Those against it argue that they respect the solution the movie offered, Quasimodo didn't get the girl, but he got what he always wanted instead, which makes for a far more powerful and less shallow ending. Some people took a third option and argue that Esmeralda should've died like she did in the book, keeping in mind that the fandom almost universally loves Esmeralda, but often thinks that the love triangle overshadowed the actual message of the film.

Fandom

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