nevermeantforheavenslight-blog

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

I thought we all were the children of God .

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

"Wha - ?" he was brought back to earth with a jolt at the sound of Esmeralda's low voice.  Quasi's face was the picture of surprise, his mouth a round o until her words registered.  "Oh!  Yes.  I've missed y - this - talking to you," he stammered, turning slightly to face her.  The young man cast a fond eye over his friend and her dozing daughter before adding, "But...I'm glad I came with you when you asked me, Esmeralda.  When - when I'm not with you, I've met people - and, and I've seen so much.  I never realized that the world was so big," concluded Quasi with a little wistful sigh.  Or that it was big enough to welcome me.

He had experienced the new sensation of going almost completely unnoticed in a crowd, and that alone could have been worth leaving his tower for longer than ever before.  With heavy-lidded eyes (and not just because the sun was so bright), Quasi smiled at Esmeralda.  "When we were in Corona, Rapunzel and I went exploring!  Did you see her, too?"

Birds can fly so high || Quasimodo and Esmeralda

The work needed to be done while on the road was so constant that Esmeralda wondered how she had ever expected this trip to be pleasant. The only solace she had was her friends that so graciously agreed to accompany her on her travels. Without them, she was sure she would have gone mad by now. It was for that very reason that she enjoyed the small occasions she had to sit peacefully for a while and bask in the good company of her friends. Nadia’s fussiness always ensured that those occasions didn’t last long, but she would relish in those few sweet moments regardless.

In this particular moment, her conversation with her dearest friend had ebbed, leaving her to listen to the wind, the birds, and the occasional tiny whine from the child in her arms. “It’s a shame we’ve had so little time to spend together, Quasi.” They, of course, talked quite frequently while on their travels, but chatting together along with several other people in a cramped wagon was very different and far less personal than relaxing on a grassy knoll after a long week.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

How do you feel about the Disney sequel to HOND? Have you seen it?

we don’t talk about the sequel

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Birds can fly so high || Quasimodo and Esmeralda

It was not as though, after twenty years at Notre Dame, Quasi had never seen the sun.  Climbing spires and sliding down buttresses, he'd basked in the sunlight - a feeling he thought to be as warm as love - but in perpetual motion, without being in the sun for long.  Even the gallery between the bell towers, open to the heavens in all their dizzying blue, was not a place Quasi liked to linger: it was too redolent of hurrying from one tower to the other depending on which bells ought to be rung before which Mass.  He was acquainted with the sun, but they had never been close friends.  To step out into the world on the day of the Feast of Fools had been to squint, to raise a thick hand and shield his eyes, to blink in the dazzling light that only coated even more dazzling sights.

But the further he traveled from the cathedral with Esmeralda and the caravan, the more Quasi - after days of sitting patiently in or trudging alongside uncovered wagons - had come to accept the ever-warming sun.  By now it was only a little less than remarkable to him, where before it had had for him almost religious reverence (somebody, probably the soldier himself, had told Quasimodo once that Phoebus's name was also that of a sun god, which Quasi thought was stupid, because of course there was only one God, who belonged to everything not just the sun, and anyways Phoebus was far from being worthy of that kind of name anyway).  Still, he could sit on a hill of sweet-smelling grass next to Esmeralda, like he was doing at that moment, and close his eyes in the sun as if he was one of the dozing stray cats that'd delighted the young man in his travels.  Behind his eyelids, the light was orange and lavender, like a single pane of colored glass.

After the stammering starts and agonized pauses that'd characterized his early interactions with Esmeralda, he was grateful that they could sometimes sit side-by-side in a silence that was, if anything, comforting and warm as the sun above them.  Just then, Quasi happened to be thinking of how he loved her, and so he was glad for the lull in their conversation.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

I would just like to add a little bit to why Quasi is white when his mother wasn't. There are plenty of Romani people that are actually white, so it's possible that Quasi got it from him. Also, he would be naturally pale anyway on account of being locked up in the bell tower for most of his life.

[[Thank you, anon. I did not know this about Romani people but will keep it in mind.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Les Cloches by ~Kitty-Grimm

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

The motion of pushing an oar back and forth through the cool water was strange for him, because it was almost a familiar motion.  Instead of using his weight and his arms to tighten and slacken his pull on the ropes that sent peals of sound through the bells of Notre Dame, Quasi found himself using a push-and-pull motion in front of, instead of above, his body.  Though he could feel himself perspiring and every so often his breath was more of an exhaled grunt, it was all natural enough that soon Quasimodo could concentrate on his companion, instead of on rowing.  He glanced sideways at the slight princess as they kept pace together, wondering how strong she must be, but it seemed too rude to ask.

"Oh, but it's not!" he hurried to assure Rapunzel; Quasi's pride in his home was as immense as the shadows it cast in the afternoon.  "I keep busy when I'm there.  Of course, I ring the bells for several masses every day, and I climb, or paint my figures, or clean..." it would not have been strictly true to say Quasi was never bored, but he didn't want to tell her about talking to the gargoyles, and anyways nowadays he could always go outside if he wanted to.  Which was always difficult for the shy young man to do without taking a deep breath and trying to stride with confidence, but it was never boring!

A ray of sunshine || Quasi and Rapunzel

"Everything is going to be just fine- you’ll see!" Rapunzel smiled and then grabbed a pair of oars as the two sat down, and handed one to Quasimodo. "It’s really easy to use, don’t sweat it!" She grinned and showed him how to row first, pushing their little boat farther out into the Corona waters. Thankfully they weren’t going too far, and they would be there in no time!

She grinned and then watched Quasimodo get the hang, or try to, of the row thing. Rapunzel remembered when he father had showed her how to work a boat- he’d taken her fishing. She’d caught four whole fish on her first rime out- after messing up five times and letting them go because she felt bad for them. She had ‘had a talking to by her father’, though, and he explained that fish were okay to eat and catch. It was more of an adventure than a capture. 

"Notre Dame is boring if it stayed in one place!" Rapunzel joked, trying to lighten the mood and make her friend feel more comfortable.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

[[I'm sorry I'm so lax about logging on here - it's an abuse of how patient Erin and Bridget are with me!  But I will definitely be getting down to replies in a second.  (There's also a message in my inbox, but I'm gonna reply to threads before checking it - please don't feel I'm ignoring you.)

I hope my having been gone for so long doesn't discourage people from approaching Quasi for plots - on the contrary, the more threads I have going, the less likely I am to disappear.  Don't be a stranger!

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

If Quasi's a gypsy, why is he white?

Belatedly it’s occurred to me that anon might have been just making an oblique Mean Girls reference, but again, this is something I’d like to sit down and address anyway.

I’d like to start by reminding my followers that the word “g*psy” is a racial slur and so you won’t often find it in my IC writing, let alone OOC; that it is thrown around constantly in the movie is, I think, the result of a lack of understanding on Disney’s part but it does heighten the movie’s sense of racial discrimination against the Roma people, for viewers who know that it is a slur.

So, if Quasi is Romani, why is he white?  

In “Bells of Notre Dame” it’s strongly implied, though never made clear, that the woman who dies to save him is his mother.  In the novel - which, again, I haven’t reread in a while (help me, Bridget and Erin) - I think the Roma leave him on the steps of the cathedral in exchange for [spoilers].  So I’m almost certain that we’re never given concrete proof that Quasimodo is Romani, as it’s demonstrated in the book that the group of Roma who leave him in Paris have a precedent of abducting children; but I think it’s safe to say that in the movie, the woman Frollo chases down is Quasimodo’s mother.

The identity of his father is less clear.  Again, it’s implied in “Bells” that the Roma man traveling with Quasi’s mother is her husband/lover/partner/what have you, but much more vaguely.  He could be Quasi’s father…but with two parents with dark skin and hair, how did Quasi emerge pale-skinned and red-haired with green eyes?  I think it’s plausible that (assuming Quasi is half-Roma on his mother’s side) his father was actually white European, not Roma.

P.S. I don’t think Quasi would say he identified as Romani if you asked him about it, though.  Unlike every other Romani character in the film, discrimination against Quasi is not racially-based - he looks white and presumably passes for full-white, since nobody but Frollo ever refers to his heritage.  Quasi’s tormentors are being ableist due to his bowleggedness, hunched back and disproportionate face.  Quasi has not been raised Romani, and he is learning about being born Roma from Romani who have grown up in the culture they were born into, i.e. Esmeralda and her caravan (much as I’m learning from Bridget/Esme, who is not Romani but brings to the table both acceptance of that fact and a desire to research as much about the Romani as she can).

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame + Natural Lighting

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Quasi bit his lip as he stepped gingerly into the boat.  The Feast of Fools had been a wonderful clamor of color and noise and excitement; yet all on her own Rapunzel dazzled the young man every time she spoke - exclamations, questions, reassurances, unexpected compliments one after another - so that often he didn't know what to say or do first.  Added to this was the worry of falling into the water, which was a bluer shade of blue than even the sky but which Quasi had never seen so much of at one time.  He fared all right in the bath tub, but was sure he wouldn't do so well in the ocean around the island kingdom.

"Thank you," he said modestly.  The boat rocked under Quasi's feet - alarmingly, he thought - and he flung his arms out to either side, as if gripping the boat's walls tightly would keep it upright when they were in danger of capsizing.  "But...at least Notre Dame stayed in one place.  I - this is the first time I've been in a boat.  Yes."  Whereas he'd been climbing the walls of the cathedral since before he knew to fear falling from them.  Quasi supposed that likewise, maybe if he'd been born a fish he wouldn't be afraid of the water!

A ray of sunshine || Quasi and Rapunzel

She was thrilled that he was willing to go with her, and Rapunzel thrilled was easily a sight. She beamed and bounced a bit, taking his hand and leading the pair through the streets of Corona, waving to people as they passed. Sooner than ever, Rapunzel and Quasimodo had reached the docks, and the princess had commandeered a boat the two could use. 

"Have you ever been in a boat before, Quasi?" She asked, wondering if he had. She had only just been in a couple, and knew it was hard to get the hang of at first. "Don’t worry- we won’t fall or anything….I think." She added a smile at the end, so he wouldn’t be worried or afraid. 

"Boats are fun! And we don’t have to row very far, which is also awesome." She shrugged and then hopped into the boat, holding out a hand for her friend. "I won’t let you fall in, Quasi- but you’re pretty nimble, right? Esmeralda said you carried her and her goat all the way from the top of Notre Dame to the bottom! That’s really impressive!”

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Hips

Quasi likes to watch others (cough: Esme) dance, but he’s too shy to try it himself.  He knows he’ll be ungainly without even trying, and can’t see how some day with practice he might improve.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

In your head canon, are the gargoyles real?

This is actually one I considered not answering because the headcanon I have about the gargoyles has never been one I can fully articulate, but I guess I might as well sit down and do that right now.

There’s a part in the book - I think I’ve even reblogged it here - where Hugo describes his hunchbacked protagonist as carrying on one-sided, quasi-imaginary (I tried very hard to make this pun happen and you cannot judge me for it) conversations with the gargoyles:

His cathedral […] was peopled with marble figures of kings, saints and bishops who at least did not laugh in his face and looked at him with only tranquillity and benevolence. The other statues, those of monsters and demons, had no hatred for him – he resembled them too closely for that. It was rather the rest of mankind that they jeered at. The saints were his friends and blessed him; the monsters were his friends and kept watch over him. He would sometimes spend whole hours crouched before one of the statues in solitary conversation with it. If anyone came upon him then he would run away like a lover surprised during a serenade.

Now, a) of course it’s not enough to say WELL IT WAS IN THE BOOK *WAVES A HUGO NOVEL* because for example, in the book Quasi is also deaf, Frollo is also the archbishop, everything goes to shit in proportions that the Disney movie does not quite reach, etc.  And b) “But Cammy,” you may be asking, “if Disney actually enlarged the original role of the gargoyles, why don’t you just get rid of them altogether?”  

But what strikes me about that quote is how - growing up alone and apparently unloved - Quasi feels comfortable in the “company” of the statues…such as it is.  And specifically the company of the more grotesque statues: who would perhaps elicit the same horrified reactions from people if they walked down the street, as he would (though my Quasi has been proven mostly wrong about that so far).  This quote has stayed with me since I first read the book - which admittedly was years ago and I need to reread it.

So TL;DR - he does speak to the gargoyles, and imagining what they might say back does help him to mull more deeply over whatever the topic of “conversation” is just then.  But they’re not, like, inanimate figures brought to life like in the movie, which is hugely because they’re annoying as hellfire (now that I’m older.  I can admit I liked them as a kid) and I think they detract from the cloud of drama and epic in which Quasi lives overall.

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

[[Like I mentioned last time I logged on Quasi, for some reason I have a lot of asks to answer here, so I'll finish those as well as work on my reply to Punzie :)

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Chest, stomach, cheeks

Quasi is very protective of the people he cares about, but I wouldn’t call this necessarily a paternal instinct.  He knows what it’s like to be the underdog, and sometimes surprises himself with the courage to defend both his privileged and marginalized friends.

"do you feel confident in your body image" do u think this is a GAME SON YOU JUST CRASHED GOOGLE CHROME, WITH HOW UNCONFIDENT QUASI IS IN HIS BODY IMAGE.  GET OUT.

GOOD THING I ALREADY ANSWERED “CHEEKS” BC U ARE DEAD TO ME

[nevermeantforheavenslight-blog]

Quasimodo nodded at the princess in fervent agreement.  Not only would he cheerfully have gone to the moon if she had thought it was a good idea, he really was looking forward to the caves she spoke of.  On the one hand, Quasi had little experience of caves, and the last time he'd been in one he had narrowly escaped being garroted by friends of Esmeralda.  On the other hand, it would be much different in the daytime, in Corona, and Quasimodo liked to think that the odds of finding himself suddenly surrounded by apparent ruffians were next to none (the gypsies had not been ruffians, exactly, but that was beside the point).  And he had never seen the sea.  Some of the Romani that he traveled with...his people, that is...had seen the sea and mentioned it in passing, but Quasi was too shy to ask them more questions about it.  

They could come back to the church later, but Quasi thought he would feel like an explorer the most when he saw the caves at the sea.  "Lead the way, Rapunzel!"

A ray of sunshine || Quasi and Rapunzel

Rapunzel beamed at Quasimodo and pulled him outside, ready to explore with him in tow. She’d seen a lot of Corona, of course, but there were some places she hadn’t ventured to just yet. She’d heard along the beach of some caves that people had visited, but she had never enough time to go there. So, naturally, that was the very first place she wanted to go with Quasi! They could visit around the church even more once it got darker in the day, but the caves had to be visited when they could, right?

"I know exactly where we should go," She told him as the two ventured around town, Rapunzel waving to anyone who waved at her, and then some, happy to have Quasi with her. She had missed him very much.  "There’s a whole bunch of cave along the shore, I think, and I’ve never been to them. So, I think we should start there, and the come back later in the evening to the church! Exploring the church might be more fun with torches and lamps- like real explorers!" The brunette grinned at her friend, hoping he would agree.