Author: John Coxon

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 168: It’s a Very Little Cat

A photograph of John and Duncan MacGregor taken at an IHOP near the Hilton Anaheim. They are turned to look at each other in a booth. Their facial expressions are difficult to read, but hearts overlay the picture and so we surmise they are in love. Faces of bystanders are pixellated for privacy purposes. Words above the photo read “Octothorpe 168” and below read “Love is in the air at LAcon V”.
“Love Is In the Air” by IHOP Photographer

John is tired, Alison is listening to music, and Liz is catsitting.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 167: Way More Fun Than the Actual Hugos

An watercolour of three pink mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. The words “Octothorpe 167” appear at the top, and “summer of fungi” appear at the bottom. The listener is left to discern which mushroom represents which co-host.
Art by España Sheriff

John, Alison, and Liz fix the Hugo Awards once and for all.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 166: Writings of Greeks and Romans

A photograph of a total solar eclipse above a beach in Northern Spain. Text reads “Octothorpe 166” in purple at the top and “SUMMER of SUN” in white at the bottom.
Photograph by Alison Scott

John, Alison, and Liz have stopped talking about it now.

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Fanac Octothorpe

165: E Ese Efe Ese

72 assorted LEGO minifigs in a 6x12 grid. Words above read “Octothorpe 165” and below read “WSFS Business Meeting Register: Stand up and be Counted”. The title case on the part of the sentence after the colon is, frankly, bananas, and it certainly isn’t aligned with the Octothorpe style guide.
Found art détourned by Alison Scott

John is big-headed, Alison has a right of reply, and Liz explains how voting should work.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 164: WSFS and ESFS and All Sorts of SFSes

John and Liz are behind two large stacks of paper with text reading "WSFS Agenda… D… E… E… F… F7… more F7… secret squirrel" whilst Alison sits in the stands of Lord’s. Words above say “Octothorpe 164” and “It’s the summer of fun!”.
Art by Alison Scott.

John is not quite awake, Alison’s off to the cricket, and Liz is doing it in an unusual order.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 163: Board Games 💋

A goldfish with the head of Alison wearing goggles and swim headphones. The words “Moist Ear Tunes*” appear at the top and the words “SF Fandom’s Premier Swim Headphone Podcast”, “Fun Fact: Moist Ear Tunes is a nonogram of Octothorpe 163” and “Sue Mason art appears courtesy of Plokta (thanks guys)” appear at the bottom. I know that Alison has forgotten to include the asterisk on the footnote, but since she also has the memory of a goldfish maybe it’s a delightful and multilayered joke.
Art by Sue Mason.

John couldn’t check, Alison was wrong, and Liz is accurate.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 162: Do You Have Stirrups on Your Bicycle?

A photograph of Portmeirion made to look like a stamp or a postcard, with words overlaid saying “Holiday greetings from Portmeirion, be seeing you…”. Above reads “Octothorpe 162” and below reads “Alison has gone on holiday again”.
Art by Alison Scott.

John wasn’t overcrowded, Alison likes it small, and Liz has never been.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 161: You Pay Your Money, You Send Your Books

John, wearing a Judge Dredd-style helmet with the Clarke Award logo on it and holding a lightsaber, dispenses judgement from behind a wall of books. The words “Octothorpe 161” appear above him, whilst words below say “Arthur C. Clarke Award 2026: Judge Coxon’s Last Stand”.
Art by Alison Scott.

John, Alison and Liz read the Clarke Award shortlist.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 160: Global Nando’s Correspondents

A drawing of a CD-Rom with the words “Octothorpe 160” and “New!! Exclusive Octothorpe cover-mounted CD-Rom”.
Art by Alison Scott.

John is not firing on all cylinders, Alison has a code, and Liz downloaded the packet.

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Fanac Octothorpe

Octothorpe 159: Taking a Stand

A stack of grey blocks being held up by two small stacks underneath. The stack is labelled “all current Eastercon digital infrastructure”, while the two small stacks are labelled “bits being thanklessly maintained by Andrew January” and “bits being thanklessly maintained by James Shields”. The words “Octothorpe 159” appear at the top.
Art by Alison Scott, comic by Randall Munroe used under a CC BY-NC 2.5 licence, typeface by Phil Elson used under a CC BY-NC 3.0 Unported licence

John ran the Games Room, Alison ran the Newsletter, and Liz was on holiday.