[Jazhara7]

I was reading through the timeline pages of the Alt.Fan.Pratchett website, and found this thread .


I thought that it would be a nice idea to open a similar thread here. People familiar with the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett will probably know what I am talking about, but here is an explanation for those who haven't read the books.

Every individual has a lifetimer (A lifetimer is basically one of those hourglasses - like those eggtimers, with sand. But it must not be limited to that.) in the home of Death. By the sand in the lifetimer, Death reads when an individual dies. Each lifetimer is different.


Here you can describe what you think your lifetimer looks like.

Here is what I think my lifetimer looks like:

My lifetimer is one of those bubble-toys, which you sometimes see. It is filled with a clear liquid, and a different liquid of another colour (in this case dark blue) drips down in regular intervals, and rolls small ramps inside the object, until it reaches the bottom, where it is collected in a similar container as is at the top (In the case of the toys, you turn them around when all the liquid has dripped out of the top compartment, and the whole story begins again).

Only in the case of my lifetimer, the whole thing is constructed of glass, and is two metres tall, to emphasize the sillyness of the whole construction. Also, my name is engraved on it in an Epic (note the capital "E") font (probably the Folkard*-Font, which also shows creativity.), juxtaposing the rest of the lifetimer.

* The Font used for writing the title of "The Longest Journey".

Now it is your turn.

-

[Fairygdmther]

What I picture is a tall apothecary jar with many layers of fluid in it, all different colors, and all immiscible liquids so the layers don't mix. There is a ruby red layer, a bright blue, an emerald green, and a deep violet as well as a clear one. In the bottom is a watery liquid. Occasionally from the top a small rock of something like Sodium Bicarb is dropped and it slowly sinks to the bottom, where, when it reaches the watery liquid, it causes bubbles to rise up through all the layers. The layers aren't as bright as they used to be, the colors are muddying, and the bubbles don't come as quickly as they used to.

FGM-Lyn

[Sage]

Mine is like an immensely complex antique mantel clock, with separate dials for day, date, phases of the moon, and signs of the zodiac. It's in a mahogany case with brass fittings and ornate carvings on all sides. It rings in each new hour with slightly off-key chimes.

ScottMate

[Wormsie]

Picture a lava-lamp-lifetimer (metallic ground, green lava) that rotates around and plays Claude Achille Debussy's Clair de Lune. Yes, slightly strange... Of course, the lava wouldn't go up and down, only down.

[RLacey]

I was trying to think of something creative to put here, but the truth is that my lifetimer would almost certainly be small, gnarled and ugly looking. Imagine claws round a standard sand timer, only with very rough grains of sand.

Not a pretty picture.

[Talas]

I picture mine looking like a big plain hourglass that wouldn't look any different than a normal one... until you start getting closer and start looking at the complex machinery inside doing a repetitive sequence to get a rounded grain (like a really small marble) from one compartment to the other.

And sometimes I see the machinery changing, adapting itself when a special grain start going through it, almost like a organic thing, evolving.