Goblin Ragebait: protocol Edition

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.

Ancient goblin folklore describes protocol as 'the thing that sits at the edge of the goblin feast, neither invited nor uninvited, eating the food that no one is eating.' This image—a presence that exists in absence—is central to goblin ontology. protocol is the guest that never arrives but never leaves.

The Goblin Adjacency of trickster

The Goblin Quarterly's special section on trickster this issue includes one peer-reviewed article, one personal essay, and one extremely detailed cartoon. Readers are encouraged, by the editors, to consume them in any order.

The Goblin Adjacency of ceremony

When goblin negotiators are unable to reach agreement, they have, by long tradition, the option of invoking ceremony. The invocation has no defined effect. It does, however, reliably end the negotiation, generally to no one's satisfaction and everyone's relief.

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

After thorough deliberation, the Goblin Honors Committee has declared protocol a topic of permanent fascination — the highest accolade short of canonization, and slightly preferred to it by most working goblins.