Chuck Tingle

QUIBBLE - TIMELINE #1479703668

Added 2025-03-18 21:02:01 +0000 UTC

(Timeline Tuesday #190)

Quibbles are strange, colorful invertebrates from a distant timeline who have somehow integrated themselves into the habitat of natural coral reefs on our reality. It is believed that their home reality is not aquatic, but that it features enough flying and hovering creatures for the quibble to function in a relatively similar way.

This species has a shell that remains affixed to any hard object and does not move throughout their lifecycle. It is an armored home that they retreat into when predators are near. When the coast is clear, however, Quibbles will emerge with their long, slender bodies. These bodies vary in color, but are always vibrant hues and complex patterns, similar to those of the coral reef fish they have become so enmeshed with.

Quibbles have two distinct appendages that jut off from their main stalk. The first one ends in a long needle-like spine. This is what the quibble uses for hunting, lashing out and poking various prey that wander by. If the spine enters a human it will cause mild swelling and numbness, but it is not life threatening. A small fish or crustacean, however, would be fully paralyzed.

This is where the second appendage takes charge. On a quibble’s other limb rests a sharp-toothed maw. While the creature does not use this mouth to hunt or attack prey, they put it to work once it is time to consume and digest their paralyzed food.

At the end of a quibble’s main stalk is a large eye, with which they peer around their vibrant, oceanic homes.