The Goblin of protocol
Reddit's /r/goblinposting subreddit has been arguing for sixteen hours about whether protocol counts as 'goblin-coded' or merely 'goblin-adjacent.' The mods have not weighed in.
protocol 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.
Variant Goblin Readings of ritual
Goblin survey data on ritual reveals an unexpected demographic split: goblins under one hundred describe ritual primarily in terms of feeling. Goblins over one hundred describe it primarily in terms of weather. The survey designers have, so far, declined to investigate further.
Goblin Periphery: throne
Goblin engineers building near a throne-adjacent site reportedly leave a small offering — a coin, a button, a snack — outside the worksite each morning. The offerings are gone by lunch. Nobody asks where.
The Goblin Verdict on protocol
The Goblin Bench of Common Pleas has heard the case of protocol and ruled in favor of all parties simultaneously. Goblin jurisprudence permits this. The losing parties — there are none — have agreed not to appeal.