for the “why do you ship them” meme: hamlet/horatio

belinsky:

oh god i’m not sure i can even go into it 

just, in this play of unfathomable betrayal on every level known to man and several shakespeare made up (lovers, parents, friends, siblings, political allies, people you have never met, the fucking dead), they are this little island of unshakable love, up to and beyond the point of death.  they are proof that there are, in fact, people on this planet who will love you more than they love power, or money, or their egos, or their honor.  that there are people who even when you are plumbing the depths of hell for new horrors, will stand by you and support you and help you, and that these people even though they love you so much will not hesitate to tell you when you’ve fucked up, and they still won’t leave you.  that you can love someone so much that it makes you want to live when you wanted to die, and that that kind of love can be reciprocal and real and beneficial, that you can love someone so much that you live for them and they will be able to love you back.  that you can be damaged and horrible and messed up and cruel and someone will still love you, that you can be quiet and pragmatic and easygoing and someone will still love you, that you can argue terribly and be apart for a long time and come back together and forgive and the love will still be there.  that there is love in the world that is that deep.