Voted #1 Magazine on the planet Vogsphere!*

*results determined by the votes of 14,037 Vogons

Dear reader,

Welcome to the first Otherverse Magazine Newsletter! If you are receiving this by email, thank you for subscribing to receive email updates from us. These newsletters are intended to bring a little science-fiction and fantasy to your inbox, and to present to you the writings of our resident, elusive agony aunt, Ms Majolica Wynter. Read on to find out who has written to her this month, and discover her creative solutions to otherworldly dilemmas…

Issue 2 of Otherverse Magazine was released last month, and is available to read online for free right here! If you’re looking for some brilliant, inventive and rousing tales of magic, aliens and angels, then take a look through the stories featured in this latest issue.

Are you a writer or artist looking for platform to showcase your work? Why not submit to the third issue of Otherverse Magazine by clicking here – the deadline for submissions is 14^th August and we would love to consider your work.

We at Otherverse are working hard and have exciting plans for the future of our publication, which we hope to share with you soon. The interest and support we have received over the past year are invaluable to us, and we hope we will be able to intrigue and surprise you with every issue we produce.

Now, dear reader, we would like you to turn your thoughts to a little cottage located deep in a void between dimensions, named the ‘Inbetween’. In the front garden of this charming stone and thatch home lies a red postbox where, through some twist of fate, magic or an unknown force, curious letters appear as if of their own accord. Penned by many desperate hands, these notes to Ms Majolica Wynter urgently seek her assisance in the most important and flummoxing of matters. It is one such letter that we share with you now, alongside Ms Wynter’s ever-wise response.

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing trouble getting along with a pixie housemate, communicating with the stubborn AI in charge of your spacecraft, or the aftermath of an itchy run-in with an everscratch potion, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at otherversemagazine@gmail.com. We will make sure Ms Wynter receives your letter – it may even feature in one of our newsletters!

Dear Ms Majolica Wynter,

Would I be a bad mother for forcing my daughter to spend the full moon with her family instead of at her new boyfriend’s house?

Ever since the children went through the change, my husband and I have taken them to the forest each month to celebrate the full moon for the protection of the local townspeople. This has been our family tradition for many years and is something I really look forward to as it’s the one chance I get to let my hair down and just be with the kids, no blessed phones or iPads or WiFi, just good old fashioned family fun!

The problem; my youngest daughter has recently got herself a boyfriend. I’ve met him, he’s a lovely young man and I was very happy for her until she came out with the news that she’s planning on spending the next full moon with him and his family to celebrate her new beau’s birthday. Her boyfriend and his family are fully aware of her condition and are very supportive, but I can’t help but worry that it’s all going to go wrong, if you know what I mean. I can’t bear to think of the heartbreak my girl could experience! I sat her down and told her firmly but gently that she wasn’t allowed to go. It did not go well. The RSPCA were called and if it wasn’t for my husband’s quick thinking both of us would be in the doghouse right now.

My daughter is refusing to speak to me, saying I’m a killjoy and don’t trust her. My husband is on her side, saying that the cubs can’t be expected to stay within the pack their whole adult lives. What should I do?  Should I put my foot down or am I being a heartless killjoy?

Yours,

A Concerned Mother

*

To A Concerned Mother,

You’re a protective matriarch of the pack who values family over everything else, I can sense this much from your letter. While your youngest daughter’s request may at first seem harmless, I am inclined to agree with your decision of not allowing her to spend the full moon at her new beau’s.

At her age, budding romances and finding a suitable mate may feel most important in life, but I urge you to teach your daughter to balance the pursuit of a partner with family traditions. No matter how supportive the new beau’s family is to your family situation, the events of a full moon can be a great shock to those unfamiliar with the transformation. Instead of allowing this risky rendezvous to take place away from your territory, I suggest inviting your daughter’s beau to take part in the celebrations next month. This will allow you to oversee the situation on your terms as a matriarch, where you can observe his reaction and protect him from harm should anything get out of hand.

In addition, you may want to suggest that your daughter surprises her beau the day after his birthday. She could bake him a birthday cake, gift him with a token from the celebrations, and personally extend the invitation to join the family on the next full moon. You can even assist her in the baking process, where you’ll gain some much-needed mum-daughter time, and help her make it something special. And though this means your daughter will miss her beau’s birthday, she now has your blessing to invite him to take one step closer to joining the pack. If he truly is as supportive as your daughter claims, then he will recognise the significance of the invitation and accept the gesture in stride.

Of course, this resolution is only fair if I am grasping the full context of your pack dynamic. Have your daughter’s older siblings ever been allowed to miss the full moon festival in favor of a romantic interest? If there is a precedent for this kind of thing happening in the past and being denied only in her case, then I can understand why your daughter and husband feel the way they do.

If I am understanding correctly, then I think. Your heart, and howl, are in the right place. Just be sure to throw a bone to your daughter and replace the missed opportunity for a future special occasion with her beau. Should you navigate this situation with a delicate understanding of her feelings, I’m sure your daughter and yourself will again be playing fetch on the full moon together in no time.

Yours, 

Madame O. Wynter

Lady of the Inbetween

Ms Majolica Wynter is an ageless (and some say immortal) figure, who resides with her pet iguana, ‘Tiggy’. In her past career, Ms Wynter worked as Head Operative for the Office of Unusual Matters (OUM) in the IU (Interdimensional Union). As Head Operative, she was dispatched to various dimensions through time and space to solve curious and unusual problems for the citizens of the Otherverse. Before joining the Office of Unusual Matters, Wynter served in both the 3rd, 7th and 22nd Time Wars (which are actually all the same conflict), where she was first noticed by the OUM. Wynter worked as Head Operative for 10 years, until she took on a case which ultimately trapped her and her home in the Inbetween. Despite her internment, Wynter still uses her expertise on SFF-related problems to advise people throughout the Otherverse.