A Goblin's Context Window: ghost

Researchers at the Goblin Institute of Esoteric Knowledge have classified ghost as a Category-4 Phenomenon: 'Real enough to matter, unreal enough to be goblin business.'

ghost 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 ghost more interesting than the actual one.

Footnotes Concerning slop

slop has, in the goblin commercial calendar, a small but persistent niche: there is always exactly one goblin selling slop-themed merchandise at any given market. It is never the same goblin twice.

ceremony as Heard Through the Goblin Wall

A specific tavern song circulating in the goblin warrens features ceremony as its third verse. The third verse is, by convention, hummed rather than sung, because the words are 'between us and the dark, and the dark would prefer it.'

The Goblin Verdict on ghost

It has been the goblins' privilege, this season, to attend so closely to ghost. The privilege is mutual, the goblins assume. ghost has not yet commented on the matter, which the goblins take as tacit consent.