Cosmophage

It's time for a dream roundup! Heads-up: a couple of these dreams contain (non-explicit) sexual scenarios that are a little strange or messed up, perhaps, but that I didn't actually experience as distressing in the dream.


( Dreams from August to October. )


Finally, and unrelatedly, someone responded to my trans Chris Goes Wrong fic by sending me an anonymous question on Tumblr:

The idea of dear Chris Bean as a trans man is interesting, but I also propose to consider: what if Chris was the most closeted trans woman ever to lock herself in a closet?

This is an interesting concept, but it’s also tricky to do much with because Chris is not going to acknowledge that she’s a woman in a thousand years. Chris is obsessed with being respected, being taken seriously, and living as a woman would lower her status in society; she’s going to fight ferociously against letting the thought even cross her mind. Forget the closet; Chris has sealed herself up in a coffin and she’s never letting her out. Annie tries to open a conversation about identity with Chris a couple of times and gets shut down extremely harshly.

There was a cheap front-row ticket available for The Play That Goes Wrong on Saturday.

I cannot do this, I thought. I saw this play less than a week ago. I cannot possibly afford to get into the habit of seeing this play every week.

So I did the sensible, responsible thing: I begged my housemates to buy the ticket instead, so I wouldn't be able to. Tem picked it up, went to the show and had a good time! I enjoyed hearing about xyr experiences afterwards.

Tem had brought a feathery crow-shaped handbag to the theatre. There's a bit before the show begins where the character of Trevor asks the audience whether they've seen a dog, Winston, who's expected to star in the play. Apparently, the exchange between Trevor and Tem went something like this:

Tem: Is the dog still missing?
Trevor: (pointing at Tem's crow bag) What's that?
Tem: It's a crow! Her name's Lenore.
Trevor: That's brilliant, that is.
Tem: Maybe she could play the dog?
Trevor: She could be the understudy? Maybe you could voice her. Can you bark?

When Tem was telling us about this:

Tem: So I started barking, right there in the theatre. Which is not something I usually do.
(Rei starts snickering.)
Rei: You did petplay with Trevor.
Tem: I... yes, I suppose I did do petplay with Trevor. I barked in front of a theatre of people just because a man told me to. (pointing aggressively at me) Put that on your Dreamwidth, Riona.

Afterwards, both Robert's actor and Trevor agreed that, if they'd used Tem's crow in place of the missing dog, it would have saved the play.

A small child in Tem's front row apparently took the missing dog VERY SERIOUSLY. She checked under everyone's seats and asked, 'Has anyone checked backstage?' When she asked Chris how the search for the dog was going, his response was 'The dog's lost? Oh, Christ.'

The same child also very sincerely asked 'Are you okay?' whenever someone was hurt in the play. Which is cute! Although it does sound like she had a very concerning afternoon at the theatre.

After Tem had regaled us with xyr theatrical adventures:

Me: By the way, I'm going to be out on Wednesday evening.
Tem: Oh, what are you doing?
Me: N-normal things.
(pause)
Tem: Are you going to The Play That Goes Wrong again?
Me: ...maybe.
Tem: Riona! I went to the theatre so you wouldn't have to, and then I came back to find you'd bought more theatre tickets while I was at the theatre! So there was no point to it at all! Why did I even go to the theatre? Just to 'have a good time'??

So, yes, I went to see The Play That Goes Wrong for the fourth time yesterday. I'm an embarrassment.

I'd brought a friend of mine, Fedz, who was seeing the show for the first time. 'This is incredibly stupid,' he commented in the interval, 'and I love it.'


( The Play That Goes Wrong, 21 October 2026. )


I thought at first, getting into a theatre fandom, that I was lucky to live in London. I have now realised that it is, in fact, a curse. The Play That Goes Wrong is on almost every day! Counting matinées, I could see this play up to eight times per week! It would bankrupt me, obviously, but it is tantalisingly possible.