John is self-promoting, Alison ”doesn’t have COVID”, and Liz is distracting. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: large power and age differentials in sexual relationships (John’s pick) Letters of comment Chris Garcia Niall Harrison Adam Roberts on romantasy A website called “pudding.cool” Geri Sullivan Bridget Bradshaw TrishEM says congratulations Dave Mansfield Upcoming conventions which aren’t Worldcon Triple Time!, the 34th filk convention (2–4 February 2024, Buxton) Picocon 41 (23 March, London) Gallifrey One (16–18 February 2024, Los Angeles, USA) Levitation 2024, the Eastercon (29 March 2024–1 April 2024, Telford) FunCon (31 May–2 June 2024, Buxton) Glasgow 2024, the Worldcon (8–12 August 2024, Glasgow) Three Black Halflings Hotel bookings open on 22 January 2024 Novacon (8–10 November 2024, Buxton) Send us your Hugo recs while there is a chance we might read/watch them and mention them China Miéville and Keanu Reeves are collaborating Picks John: Poor Things Exhibition of costumes at the Barbican Alison: Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul B. Rainey (hardback, ebook, Amazon) Liz: Chants of Sennaar (PS4, Steam, Switch, Xbox) Relevant Penny Arcade Cracking the Cryptic play Chants of Sennaar Credits Cover art: “Glasgow Hotel Board Game” by Alison Scott Alt text: A board reminiscent of a well-known board game about property trading. There are three purple properties (Campanile, Village, Moxy), each of which has one hotel. There are two teal properties (Crowne Plaza, Marriott), a replacement for “In Jail” called “In WSFS”, a Statue square featuring a man on horseback with a traffic cone on his head, and a square called Telephone Kiosk with a depiction of a police box. In the middle of the board, the words “Octothorpe Episode 101”. Each property has asterisks for the rent and the words “Rates coming very soon but not quite soon enough for this cover” appear at the bottom. Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)