Thread: My first lu- Wait what?

So, I have no idea how the heck this happened; I'm not sure if it's lucid or a dream or what.

So, I was in a dream. My family went to rob Walmart VIA Sewers (I hope I'm not the only one with weird thoughts) and I stayed behind and slept. I woke up(Still in dream) to my brother saying see ya since he had to go, then my mom saying that she was happy he got to win two turns at a game before he left (last night apparently they played some game) After that, I took a nap (in the dream) and in that dream of me dreaming in a dream, I told my sister "Why are you smiling? Am I lucid???" I checked, and surely I was. Lightswitches, pinched nose and the fingers. She said "No, what are you talking about??" But I knew. I had little to no control though. I said "take me to a city" in reply, someone said "Okay, -insert his smart remark here-" (insert it. Lol.) So, I went to a city and uh... walked. I then went back to my house yard and saw him. I forgot what he looked like though. (By the way, this felt like an hour!) He told me that rubbing my hands together will help me get a dream to stop fading. I asked if he could take me somewhere else, he said "No, you can do it now. You have your town here." But I felt like I had no real control of the dream. Then he said "Oh yeah, you'll hear -how he explained- type of sound when you exit." Then he left, then my -lucid/dream- stopped, I heard the noise, then woke up in a store. I checked for a false awakening and I checked my fingers, yup they were fine. Pinched my nose, yep I couldn't breathe through it. Did a light switch, yup it worked. And pinched my cheek. Ow it hurt. I was talking to my nephew (he was also partly into it, just saying at some part that at home my mom was worried for me.) and he said that he had a weird dream, and I thought we dream shared but he said he dreamed about something else.
Then I woke up.
For real.

So in other words... I had a dream, in that dream I fell asleep into a lucid dream where I RC'd successfully but I didn't actually think. Then I met some guy... is that me? I just felt like I was watching the dream not in it. Then I woke up back into the dream, RC'd and all the RC's FAILED, how???

So questions...
1. Why didn't I actually become lucid in the dream?
2. Who could the guy have been?
3. How did the RC's Fail?
4. Any other questions I forgot. :L

To be honest, lucid dreaming is scary to me now. If my RC's fail, how do I know I'm sleeping or awake?
Thanks

Anyone?

First of all, pat yourself on the back, and tell yourself congratulations for getting lucid. Now, to answer your questions

1. Why didn't I actually become lucid in the dream? Sometimes dreams can be weird. Many, many DJs include people realizing they're lucid, and then didn't continue lucid or whatever. Like I said, sometimes dreams can be weird that way. I think that more lucid dreams will help with this. A lot of it may have been awareness too. When you have more LDs, they'll be more vivid, aware, etc, which will help with this issue.

2. Who could the guy have been? He could have been your dream guide. A dream guide is a dream character which helps you in your dreams with stuff. It changes for different people, but perhaps that person was your DG. On the other hand, he could have been some random person that happened to appear.

3. How did the RC's Fail? RCs failing is also fairly common, even all of them. I also have read multiple journal entries where someone has woken up, did all the RCs, checked for dream signs, and more, and everything seemed normal, but it was a dream. I don't think you can really help it, and it does happen. It's good to have multiple RCs though, so if one doesn't work, others might. However, it seems like all of them failed for you. Try non-action RCs. If you think you're dreaming, walk through a door and tell yourself that when you walk through the door, there will be a lovely pink couch on the other side. Or, try tossing a ball in the air. If it floats upwards or falls too quickly, or anything isn't normal, then you know you are dreaming. I understand how it can be a little iffy whether you know if you are dreaming or not. Always question yourself and what's around you. If you are unsure, ask yourself how you got there. Do you remember everything you did earlier that day, or do you remember just falling asleep?

Lucid dreaming is an amazing thing and is nothing to be afraid of. If you are completely unsure whether you are dreaming or not, act like you would in real life. Go about doing what you would normally do, but keep an eye out for weird things. In your FA, you said that you woke up in a store. If you had thought about how you had got there, you probably wouldn't have remembered, and maybe have remembered the dream before. Just because the RCs don't work doesn't mean that you aren't in a dream, so pay attention to what is around you for clues if RCs fail.

Good luck and don't be afraid. Be excited about future LDs and always pay attention to your surroundings

1.It sounded like you were actually lucid, you just didn't have any control. In lucid dreams you will have varying amounts of control; some you'll have quite a bit, others you'll have none.
2.The guy could have been anybody. From the context of the dream though, he might have been a dream guide-a special type of dream character that helps you with dream control/stabilization throughout your dream(s).
3-The RC's most likely failed because you subconsciously expected them to fail. There's little you could do about this except expect your RC's to work when you do them. Even if you do this though, not all RC's are 100% reliable. The nose plug is my favorite but even that one has failed me a couple times. If all your RCs fail in a dream you should check out where you are in the dream and where you've been the last couple minutes. Basically, ask yourself if the dream has perfect waking life vividness and if the events that have occurred the last couple minutes are reasonable. If you do this, the majority of the time it'll be become obvious if your dreaming or not.
4-In order to have more lucidity and control, whenever you can, try to take a moment to gather your thoughts upon becoming lucid. Before going to bed, think about what you want to do in your lucid dream and try to recall these goals upon becoming lucid. You could come up with a routine upon becoming lucid, saying something "I'm lucid. (deep breath) What are my goals?"

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks to both of you!

Congratz on your first lucid dream I guess TwilightShawn and Dragonmaster21 have already answered your questions very well, but I might as well try and say something... Even though I'm just a newbie. ^^

1. Lucid dreaming & controling your dream are not the same things. You can be lucid, but not able to control anything. I had my first lucid dreams this night as well, and it was very hard to control stuff. In the second dream it was already easier... So controling is, I guess, just a matter of practice. There also degrees in how lucid you actually are, and you don't stay lucid all the time... Complicated!

2. As the others said, the guy might have been your dream-guide. But I think (personally) that's also important to keep in mind that dreams are created by your subconscience. So I think dreamguides or dream characters telling you stuff about your dream are actually your own subconscience, telling you what you know about dreams. This night, in my lucid dream, before I flew through the window, I asked my mother (in my dream!) whether I could fly through the window. She answered: "Of course you can, but there is a price to pay." (She meant good nightrest and my health, she's kinda against lucid dreaming). When I tried to fly through, but failed, she told me that I should remember to be very convinced that it would work. I'm sure she was actually just an expression of my knowledge of lucid dreaming. Maybe the dreamguy telling you dreamstuff was the same sort of thing?

3. My RC's failed as well. But I manipulated my dreams in such a way that the RC's had the proper result. I grew an extra finger and manipulated my mirror reflection. Later in the dream, I crossed another mirror... And this time, my head was gone without I had to manipulate it. It was bizarre, creepy and awesome at the same time. So maybe you should try to manipulate the RC's in your next dream?

Again congratulations, and I hope my newbie-knowledge was of any use to you... But again, I'm just a newbie and these are just my thoughts on your dream, not saying it's an infallible answer. Good luck with your next lucid dream!

Even if I'm not the OP, I want to thank DragonMaster21, TwilightShawn and Nihal for their answers.
I actually didn't know that RC's could fail so much, and I learned a lot of things reading your answers. It makes me want to have another LD even more (I just got two - very short - LDs, that occured inadvertently). I hope it'll happen soon...

Yeah I didn't either
Well I had another short lucid.
I was in the car with my mom, questioned how I got there, then looked at my fingers (already knowing I was lucid since I didn't remember) and I had 7 fingers. It was pretty cool haha. So I tried to bring a water bottle to my hand, I saw it a little bit but then it faded and I felt sleepiness or something then it just all went away. I didn't wake up, but I probably continued the dream. I wish I could of stayed lucid for a little longer, but oh well.

Just sharing that, instead of making a new thread =p

Nice!
Great the reality check worked this time ^^ And you might find it easier to summon objects not directly, but VIA something. I think that's great fun! Like... looking under your carseat and expecting to find a bottle of water there It's way easier than summoning objects directly.
Sounds to me like you went in another, deeper dreamphase... I had the same problem in my second lucid dream :p I was flying outside and I could just feel that I was slipping into a non-lucid dream, so I rubbed my hands. That worked for another minute, and then I fell into the non-LD. Ah, well Practice makes perfect?
Good luck with your next LD!