What Goblins Argue About When They Argue About crystal

An old goblin, sitting by a fire made of stolen furniture, once told me this about crystal: 'It is a door that opens only when you aren't looking.'

crystal carries with it a sense of the future-that-didn't-happen, the version of itself it was supposed to become and didn't. Goblins, who excel at noticing what is missing, find this version of crystal more interesting than the actual one.

The Goblin Counter-Reading of static

static pairs naturally with goblin culture the way certain wines pair with certain cheeses: not because of an inherent harmony, but because somebody, sometime, decided they go together, and now nobody can imagine them apart.

archive as Heard Through the Goblin Wall

Goblin testimony on archive is notoriously inconsistent — not in the details, but in the tone. Some goblins describe archive with reverence; some with derision; some with the studied neutrality of a goblin who has been burned before. All testimonies are filed and kept.

The Goblin Verdict on crystal

Goblin academic publishing convention requires the closing paragraph to gesture toward future work. Future work on crystal is anticipated, planned, and already, in some quarters, mildly resented. The goblins will press on regardless.