Thread: Task of the Month for October 2012

Got lucid last night, but didn't think to do the task. :/

I tried to do the basic task last night, but I couldn't find a vampire.

Failed attempt! This was a great LD and I got really close on the pumpkin head challenge. Love this TotM.

Thanks to the use of a mirror and the pretense that my skeleton is constructed like a Lego man's, I managed to get my head off with minimal gore. Looked really cool. Unfortunately, when I went to grab the pumpkin and took my eyes off the mirror (and my headless body), the darn thing grew back!

Here's the Dream Journal entry: The (Headless) Man in the Mirror - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Also! I have a rules question. I found a pumpkin that first-graders had already carved into a jack-o-lantern. In-dream I wondered whether this counted and decided that I would add something (perhaps a mustache) to try to still make it count. So would the original, already-carved pumpkin be okay? How about if I added a 'stache after the fact? Or do I need to be really careful to find a pristine pumpkin next time?

Anyway, fun times!

I did a basic task this morning! Will blog it in a sec but I wanted to answer that ^^ question first real quick:

I got up, and left the bedroom. (If I remember next time, I'm going to just phase through a wall or window, and skip all this going through the house stuff. It takes up too much time and there are often too many distracting oddities). I thought about doing the trick-o-treat TOTM again. So on my way out I saw Danny in the livingroom, and to avoid a distracting confrontation, I just said, without even making eye-contact "Gotta go outside for a bit baby" and went out the front door. But when I did, I magically came IN to the house from the back door lol. I was a little worried that I might have a problem with this. But I just marched through the house, went out the front door and this time I was in the front yard. And it was night, perfect! I went straight to the house across the street and knocked on the door. A lady opened the door, looked a bit like my neighbor, and I said "Trick-o-treat! Does a DreamViews member live here?" She didn't answer me so I just barged inside. I saw a couple other people, and I said "Are any of y'all DV members?" They all said no, but one of them pointed to a room around the corner and said "He is. He's Greg LastNameUndisclosed" I said "I know him, that's Oneironaut Zero!!" So I ran around the corner, and sitting on the edge of the fireplace hearth was a very sick looking African-American man. Didn't look like O at all really, but I said "Greg?" and he said "Yeah?" I got real close to him, he was wearing a really nice yellow button up shirt, and I asked him if he was ok because he looked sick. I can't remember his answer. Anyway, I left because I wanted to try more houses! I skipped a couple houses down, and knocked on the door and said "Trick-o-treat" when a lady answered. She started to actually give me some candy but I said I don't want it, and asked if anyone from DV lived here. She pointed to a 17-year-old African-American girl sitting on the couch. She said her DV name was 'Trice (like short for Patrice). So I told her I'm so looking that up on DV when I wake up.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Also! I have a rules question. I found a pumpkin that first-graders had already carved into a jack-o-lantern. In-dream I wondered whether this counted and decided that I would add something (perhaps a mustache) to try to still make it count. So would the original, already-carved pumpkin be okay? How about if I added a 'stache after the fact? Or do I need to be really careful to find a pristine pumpkin next time?

Anyway, fun times!

DAMNIT I wanted to be the first to remove my head! Nah but seriously, freaking well done! That was a good idea to imagine the lego thing (I was just gonna use some cheesewire). You know, I wasn't gonna say in case it messed someone up, but I imagined that growing a head back might be a problematic possibility lol. I shall learn from your error and make sure I don't look away from the mirror, my hear nor my headless body!

As for the rules, it says "use any means necessary" so I don't think using a pre-carved pumpkin would disqualify you. I'm still just giddy over the fact that you got your head off already, really far out man.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

I did a basic task this morning! Will blog it in a sec but I wanted to answer that ^^ question first real quick:

DAMNIT I wanted to be the first to remove my head! Nah but seriously, freaking well done! That was a good idea to imagine the lego thing (I was just gonna use some cheesewire). You know, I wasn't gonna say in case it messed someone up, but I imagined that growing a head back might be a problematic possibility lol. I shall learn from your error and make sure I don't look away from the mirror, my hear nor my headless body!

As for the rules, it says "use any means necessary" so I don't think using a pre-carved pumpkin would disqualify you. I'm still just giddy over the fact that you got your head off already, really far out man.

Awesome, congratulations on getting your wings so quickly! On the 4th of the month!!

Thanks, looks like you were completely right on the "head regrowth" problem. That was a good call. It really had not occurred to me! I guess next time I'll have to do pumpkin in one hand, grab myself by the hair with the other...? LOL. I don't know.

Love these tasks!

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Thanks, looks like you were completely right on the "head regrowth" problem. That was a good call. It really had not occurred to me! I guess next time I'll have to do pumpkin in one hand, grab myself by the hair with the other...? LOL. I don't know.

I was just thinking the same thing. You know, RareCola and I should do another TOTM minisode for this month. That way we can cover different possible approaches to these tasks. If we don't do one, I'll definitely share my ideas here in this thread. And I appreciate everyone else sharing theirs as well, I think it's really helpful. That Lego idea was a great way at making self-decapitation much less daunting.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

I did a basic task this morning!

Basic task i, ii, and Advanced task i.

I'm doing them this time. All of them! Great tasks by the way!

Lucid Dream and Task of the Month


Yesterday I realized that it had been a long long time since I had done a Task of the Month. For years I used to complete those faithfully each month. So I decided that the next time I became lucid I would do one. I read over the Tasks and decided that the one I would like to try first was the "Carve a Jack-0-Lantern and replace my head with it" Task.


So I woke up in the night last night and had trouble falling back to sleep. As frustrating as that was I told myself that at least the chance of me having a lucid dream was way up--if I ever could go back to sleep.


And I finally did.


I remember I was in a moving car, and to my horror I noticed that there was no driver. I was in the back seat and I tried to slip up to the front between the seats. I didn't have time to get into the driver's seat. I was coming up to an intersection and I had to get my foot on the brake NOW. I tried to reach, but I was still a little far away. My foot could touch, but it couldn't press down hard enough. My only chance now to avoid an accident was to turn the car to the right so I would miss hitting the car directly in front of me.


My heart was beating fast and I couldn't believe that this was happening to me. Wasn't this something that usually only happened in dreams? How could I have let this happen in real life?


Then it hit me. Maybe I was dreaming. It seemed unlikely since this all felt so real. But since this was a big dream sign of mine--and since I really hoped this was a dream, I decided that I would test things.


I'm not sure what I did, but I remember I was flying. Oh, thank goodness this was a dream. And now that I was lucid I remembered that I really wanted to do a TOTM.


I landed and knew the first thing I needed to do was to find a pumpkin. I had faith that I would find one within seconds of searching. And, sure enough, I came up to one.


Unfortunately this one was old and very soft. I knew that if I attempted to pick it up that it would turn to mush. So I set out again. I was inside now in what looked like a large kitchen. And there on the counter was a rather small pumpkin. It was already partly carved. I didn't care. I grabbed a knife and carved out another eye. The rest of the face was already carved.


Now I needed to remove my head. I had done this before years ago for the TOTM "Stand on your Head" where I had to remove my head and then stand on it. It hadn't been as hard as I had thought it would be, so I was hopeful that I would be able to do it again with just as much ease.


I grabbed my head and started to pull up. At first nothing was happening, and I remembered that last time I had had luck by looking at my shadow. So I turned until I could see my shadow. There. I pulled again. I then felt a very odd sensation as I watched my shadow pull my head from my neck. It reminded me of two different things at once. First it felt like my neck was made from Silly Putty, and as I pulled it stretched a it before breaking off. The other sensation was like that of having a tooth pulled, but being completely numb. I could feel what I thought should have been painful, yet not really feeling much at all.


I then set my head down on the floor. I noticed that my vision was still coming from where my head had had been. I reached over and picked up the carved pumpkin and placed it on my neck. I looked around and didn't really feel any different from before. But I felt quite satisfied to have completed the TOTM so easily. I hadn't lost my touch.


I think I automatically woke up at this point. I had sort of trained myself to wake up after completeing the Tasks so I could re-live them in my mind again as to not forget them.


In retrospect I regret not finding a mirror, so I could see what I looked like with a pumpkin head.

wow girl. I'm speechless

Did the advanced pumpkinhead totm last night within my 12 hours of sleep haha

Spoiler for The dream:

I suddenly remember the task of the month, which is to replace my head with a pumpkin. I also remember trying it the previous night, and failing. I part ways with my sister, who seems to be delighted after finding out it's a dream. I walk along the street, imagining pumpkins popping up everywhere. They do. But most of them are already carved, so I grab one, close my eyes briefly, and imagine it turning into an uncarved pumpkin. Success! I grab a small cutter (which I conveniently find on the ground) and proceed to carve the pumpkin. I cut out big eyes, and an even bigger smile. Now comes the exciting part: removing my head. I had some ideas on how to do it, but never really tried yet.

I reach around the back of my neck and grab a small, metallic protrusion. I pull it, dragging it across my neck until it circles and goes all the way around. I can hear the ZZZZZZZZZZP.

Yep, I just unzipped my head.

I close my eyes push my head off. It goes off easily. I feel around me and grab the pumpkin. I then put it on, push it down (I hear a squish), and I open my eyes. My vision is really....huge. Like everything is in panoramic view. My facial muscles feel strange too. I figure it must be because of the huge smile I carved. My face is stuck that way, and I can't even blink. I feel my head and it feels weird, because I have no hair. Lol. just a slight protrusion at the top of my head, which must be the pumpkin stem. I poke the eyeholes, and it feels legit, like I really poked my eyes. I put my hand in my huge mouth, and there's nothing inside. Feels weird too.

I turn around, planning to walk and explore, but I see my head on the ground. It looks really strange. It has its eyes closed tightly, as if it is anticipating something. I kick it. And it rolls away.

I start walking down the street, and eventually fly a few meters up until I lose lucidity and wake up.

I don't know if it good enough for wings but I let a zombie bite me and I just passed out and woke up. Not much of a transformation. Either way I think I'm satisfied with it. Not sure what I want to go for next.

Spoiler for excerpt of LUCID Hit by cars, Zombie Bite TOTM:

.....Instead of the garage. I ended up in the front yard. I see very large shovel with a shiny blue head on it. It is stuck in to the ground next to a blue wheel barrel. I hurriedly take the shovel because I am still expecting zombies. I hear a zombie growl behind me. I think that it is going to bite me in the neck and I don't want that. I turn around and face it. I cant see detail. Its more like the zombie had a light source behind it and I can't see its face at all but that does not take away from the realism. I can see he was wearing blue jeans and a blue flannel shirt. (whats with the blue?) I quickly decide that what I really wanted was a large, sharp pair of hedge shears. The shovel turns in to just that. I reach up and clip the zombies head off. I hear a loud, wet squishy, gushing sound and his head pops straight up and into the darkness. I watch fascinated as dark blood sprays from its neck. Then I want a shovel again and the shears oblige. The zombie is still walking somehow and I hit it in the chest and it falls over. I see another one now and I with out thinking I stab the end of the shovel into its throat. Then there is a third in my face to my left. I remember that I don't want to kill all the zombies so I drop my shovel.

I do kind of puss out here because I am actually creeped out by the zombies. I force myself to relax a little.I hold my right index finger out to the zombie. Still the same with the lighting here but I see it open its putrid and mouth. I see strings of dark matter on its teeth. I tense up as the zombie takes a bite of my finger. There is no pain just pressure. I feel faint and sick and I collapse to the ground. I wake up.

Wow Paigey you went all out for realism in yours. Very cool!

Oh man I'm so jealous!! What awesome dreams!! It's so weird that everyone is finding pre-carved pumpkins. Guess it's in the spirit of the holidays.

And lmao that you kicked your own head paigey.

Completed the basic task about trick or treating. I never did get any candy, but MelanieB was dressed as Huck-Finn. It was a cute a fun use of an LD and I enjoyed it.

10/05/12 Halloween Challenge DILD - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views


Here is the related part of the entry,,,


As I reach the top of the castle I staart thinking about what I could do that would be good training or constructive. I think about the DV forum,,, no, Matte is not running a competition. Isn't Ophilia Blue doing halloween challenges? I think so. However, I also think maybe someething cool is going on with all these castles, so maybe I should fly higher.

The scene turns dark and stormy and phantom figures are flying around and 'spooky' sounds are on the wind. the castles are gone. I guess that is my clue that I should stay focused on the Halloween stuff, so I land. I am on a busy city street. It looks like Mexico again. A cop car goes by annd is watching me. I ignore it, as I do not want my brain to evolve that thought any more.

I decide on the trick or treat challange as I do not like most spooky stuff. I walk into a store and a DC of my son is there holding a bag. I tell him to hand me a bag. He says he only has one. I tell him another bag is inside his bag and to hand it to me. It works and I now have a trick or treat bag.

I tell him about the challange and that the neighborhood ahead will be full of people from DV. We enter an apartment building and go up the hall. I am joined by other DV members who are trick or treating. I think Linkzelda was there and maybe Gab (but they looked genericly like tricker treaters). We started reading the names. The first two doors had Adrj001 and some other user name on them, but no answer. The room we went to next was Nitro-something and the door opened, but he was on the bed and a woman was on top of him. He yells out "No one home- no candy here!"

Wwe go to the next with some random user name, but no answer. Now MelanieB is with us. She looks like her avatar, but wearing a Huck Finn costum and with a fishing pole that has her candy bag instead of a hook. She is frustrated that no one is giving us candy. I tell her that I will go with her if she wants to leave and try another area outside of the apartment building.

My real life physical mouth is getting dry and the need is pulling me from the dream. I partially wake up and loose the dream state. Dur of lucid portion ~5 minutes.

Loving the tasks! But your new avatar got me the most, OpheliaBlue. Very kinky.

Its a shame I was so lazy last night and hardly recorded any dreams. I actually attempted pulling my head off but failed

Something triggered lucidity. I remember trying to stabilize a lot in a neighborhood. Something about houses. I was on the ground feeling the grass and rubbing my hands on the grass. I really wanted to feel the texture and hear the sound. I remember trying so hard to focus and gain clarity. *memory gap* Now I remember I had my hands under my jawline. I was outside and it was sunny. I remembered that someone on here looked at their shadow. So I turned until I saw my shadow on a concrete wall. (seeing my shadow in a dream is a first) It looked normal and I had my hands were I expected. I started pulling but my head would not give. It felt as solid as real life. I guess I didn't put enough prep work into it. Then I destabilized really fast and before I could do anything about it I woke up. I think I tried to DEILD but failed. That must be why I forgot to record it.

Originally Posted by Xanous

Its a shame I was so lazy last night and hardly recorded any dreams. I actually attempted pulling my head off but failed

I think that's the most exciting and challenging part. Just having the guts to remove it is hard enough, not to mention actually doing it!

Woop, think of this as a trial run! Good luck Xan

Originally Posted by paigeyemps

I think that's the most exciting and challenging part. Just having the guts to remove it is hard enough, not to mention actually doing it!

Woop, think of this as a trial run! Good luck Xan

Yeah I think next time I will have to use more conventional methods. Plus I think I forgot all about the pumpkin anyway!

Attempted the basic task this morning, but wasn't successful:

Quote from my workbook, since I didn't type out my dream in my DJ

Also, there was this vampire dude who was showing off his skills, putting us in danger (apparently I was one too). I remembered the TOTM and asked him to bite me, but he said I was already a vampire so it wouldn't work. Lost lucidity shortly thereafter.

Awwwwww paige, stupid tricksy Vampire DC.

Next time you see him you can give him a bite from me. "This is from ophelia you bitch!" *CHOMP*

Tried the basic task but I somehow didn't remember that I needed to be bitten for it to count. *facepalm* Here's the DJ excerpt:

"I somehow got lucid (can't remember how), and remembered the task of the month, turning into a werewolf. However, I didn't remember that I needed to be bitten for it to count. I threw my arms back, trying to feel power, then thrust my left arm forward, willing my fingers to turn into claws. Didn't work. I felt some warping, but not much, and they snapped right back to regular hands. I tried again, this time focusing on the whole body rather than a part. Still no luck. That time I felt like I got a few inches taller, but again I snapped back to my original human form. I gave up, and lost lucidity shortly after."

Edit: I just recalled seeing a realistic werewolf lawn decoration earlier in the dream (I even poked it) and not going lucid. I should have gone back there and made it come alive or something.

done TOTM with a pumpking. Thanks everybody for good ideas how to do it))
Totm - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Originally Posted by she

done TOTM with a pumpking. Thanks everybody for good ideas how to do it))
Totm - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

A very creative approach to decapitation she, well done! I'm glad your shadow became more like a mirror, I think that's pretty handy.

Well, chalk up another (enjoyable) failure for me! This time I was trying to trick or treat. I managed to find a DV member's townhouse in a sky fortress and imagined that all of you good folks were partying there. Unfortunately, I failed to get let in, as the party was being guarded by an uncooperative prairie dog in a bath tub. (Are all DV parties like this?)

My attempt: Halloween in the Sky Fortress - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views