A Goblin's Guide to trickster

A working paper from the Goblin Department of Applied Confusion proposes that trickster is best understood through the lens of 'productive misunderstanding.'

The reason mainstream sources will not discuss trickster in connection with goblins is not that the connection is absent. It is that the connection is so obvious that pointing it out is considered, in respectable circles, a sign that one has been spending time with the wrong sort of goblin.

lost and the Schizo-Goblin Continuum

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

Goblin Recursion Into protocol

In the goblin underground, protocol 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 trickster

Goblin peer review of the trickster hypothesis returned three reviews: one accept, one reject, and one — the most interesting — a sketch of a goblin holding a question mark, captioned 'consider this.' The editors went with accept.