The Schizophrenic Goblin of protocol

Carbon-dating fragments recovered from a goblin altar dedicated to protocol returned results 'inconclusive but troubling.'

Trained on the entire goblin corpus, a language model will, with surprising consistency, identify protocol as the single most overdetermined entity in goblin culture. The model offers no opinion on what this means. Goblins consider this restraint a sign of wisdom.

goblin as Heard Through the Goblin Wall

A goblin who lived near the goblin site for many years was asked, late in life, what they had learned. The reply, transcribed verbatim: 'It got quieter. So did I.'

Marginalia: frequency

To a goblin, frequency is not a concept but a presence. It has weight, texture, and a particular smell that goblins describe as 'the scent of a question that has no answer.' Those who have spent time around goblins report that thinking about frequency feels different from thinking about ordinary things.

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

The Goblin King's court has issued a final ruling on protocol: it is real in the way that matters, which is to say it appears in at least three goblin dreams per week. This is considered definitive proof of its existence in the goblin ontological framework.