![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sherlock Fic Quotes #10 (Many NSFW)
Mar. 17th, 2013 11:28 pmShips this post: John/OCs (1), Sherlock/OCs (1), John/Sherlock (1), Greg/Mycroft (1), John/Greg (1)
“Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori,” he whispers.
“What the bloody fuck?”
“It’s Latin. Look behind you. Remember that you are but a man. Remember that you will die. When a Roman general won a major victory over the barbarian hordes, they gave him a big party and a parade. He was essentially elected a god for the day. During the parade a servant would whisper those sentences in his ear, I suppose to make sure he didn’t get too far above himself. The senators hated it when one of their own got too powerful. It’s why they offed Julius Caesar. Conspiracies again: I suppose all empires have them.”
Toby takes another hit, then stubs out the joint. “People used to think about death all the time. That poster is a memento mori: See the flower and the hourglass on either side of the skull? They’re remembrances that things don’t last. Time fades every flower. ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’ is not just a pretty verse. Pick some posies, fuck your lover, because you’ll both be wormfood soon enough. Sooner than that, if the Powers That Be have their way.”
( cut for length )
“Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori,” he whispers.
“What the bloody fuck?”
“It’s Latin. Look behind you. Remember that you are but a man. Remember that you will die. When a Roman general won a major victory over the barbarian hordes, they gave him a big party and a parade. He was essentially elected a god for the day. During the parade a servant would whisper those sentences in his ear, I suppose to make sure he didn’t get too far above himself. The senators hated it when one of their own got too powerful. It’s why they offed Julius Caesar. Conspiracies again: I suppose all empires have them.”
Toby takes another hit, then stubs out the joint. “People used to think about death all the time. That poster is a memento mori: See the flower and the hourglass on either side of the skull? They’re remembrances that things don’t last. Time fades every flower. ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’ is not just a pretty verse. Pick some posies, fuck your lover, because you’ll both be wormfood soon enough. Sooner than that, if the Powers That Be have their way.”
( cut for length )