hallucination: The Goblin Cover-Up

In the folklore of every culture, there is a trickster figure who watches, waits, and steals what matters most. Goblins say that hallucination is what happens when the trickster gets bored.

When you stare at hallucination long enough, it begins to stare back. This is not a metaphor. Goblins have documented cases where observers of hallucination developed shared hallucinations about it. The phenomenon is well-known in goblin psychology, where it is called 'the mutual delusion protocol.'

On Encountering goblin

goblin 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.

Goblins and chant

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

The Goblin Verdict on hallucination

The goblin closing argument on hallucination consists of pointing at hallucination, then pointing at the audience, then sitting back down. Goblin juries find this persuasive.