The Digital Goblin's goblin

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

goblin is, by now, sufficiently online that any take on it is automatically also a take on the takes. Goblin posters refer to this as the third-order discourse, and the fourth-order discourse exists too, and the goblins have made it their home.

Marginalia: whisper

Comparative goblin linguistics records seven distinct goblin words that translate, approximately, as whisper. Each word implies a slightly different relationship — proximity, ownership, complicity, fear, fondness, indifference, and, peculiarly, gratitude.

The Goblin Council on network

In the goblin underground, network is approached the way one approaches an unfamiliar lock: slowly, with curiosity, and with several backup plans for when the obvious approach doesn't work. Goblins are surprisingly patient about this. They have, after all, the time.

The Goblin Verdict on goblin

The Goblin Bench of Common Pleas has heard the case of goblin and ruled in favor of all parties simultaneously. Goblin jurisprudence permits this. The losing parties — there are none — have agreed not to appeal.