Task of the Year 2014

^^ Well the task unfortunately is very specific:

Quote:

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travel to Erebor, The Lonely Mountain. Find Smaug the Dragon, and run a spear through the one place on his breast where there is a missing scale

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The only freedom apparently allowed is what your character is. A much more interesting task would be "kill Smaug by any means necessary".

That's right, I forgot. But I think that somehow managing to accomplish the same results, by means of extreme ugliness, should be the wildcard method for any task. Like being so ugly in Beauty and the Beast, that the beast kisses you! Or finding the magic lamp, and having the Genie feel so bad for your ugliness that he gives you three wishes, etc.

I've succeeded at the Aladdin Task! :happy:

Once I was flying on the magic carpet, I spent all of my other precious wishes summoning dream food like cookies and hot chocolate, which I promptly shoved down my pie hole. I regret nothing. :chuckle:

Full dream: Aladdin - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Successfully completed the Hansel and Gretel task.

I've noticed that sometimes my lucid dreams incorporate stuff that happens in previous lucid dreams, as if the very concept of lucidity attaches itself to the image of a place or person. And apparently Benedict Cumberbactch has become one of those people. However, this time it was Benedict Cumberbatch playing the role of Sherlock Holmes while he was undercover as Shezza who was taking the place of Hansel since I don't have any brothers. Got it?

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I decide to try flying since I haven't done it for a while. That reminds me that the last time I flew in a dream, it was when I was trying the Hansel and Gretel task. I wonder if I should try finishing it now…

And just like that, I'm in the witch's house. This time around, she looks just like Snow White's evil stepmother (the animated version, not the Once Upon A Time one). She's complaining that it's taking forever to fatten up Hansel. I get a glimpse of him outside in his cage, except it's actually Shezza from that season 3 episode of "Sherlock." (No wonder the witch is having trouble fattening him up, with Benedict Cumberbatch being so long and lean for the role.) The witch pinches me and comments on how at least I'll be nice and plump enough for a snack, then tells me to go take care of the baby. Wait, baby? Yes, there's a nice chubby baby that the witch is saving for dessert. There's this strange interlude where I'm trying to change the baby's diaper and trying to remember how to fold and pin a cloth diaper.

There is a huge oven in the witch's house, and I complain that the oven door is too big for me to open by myself. The witch grumbles, but she does open the oven door. She's maneuvered herself so that she's between me and the oven. I don't hesitate before kicking the witch's behind and shoving her headfirst into the oven, then slamming the door shut. I grab the baby and run outside to release Shezza from his cage. While we're outside, we can hear the oven timer go off. Shezza says we should go back inside and see how the cooked witch turned out. I'm pretty reluctant to do it (this was the part of the task that I was least comfortable with) but eventually I'm persuaded to go back into the house. Inside, Shezza is pulling a large tray out of the oven with a gingerbread woman on it. We break off a few pieces and, yes, it takes just like a gingerbread cookie. The Baby, The Witch And The Beach (Task of the Year) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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Wow congrats Thena, that's awesome!! I love the addition of a dessert baby, and the poetic justice of the witch becoming a cookie. I think I remember a version of the story where the witch actually turned kids into gingerbread cookies and set them in her front lawn? Idk. Anyway, awesome dream!

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Originally Posted by Thena

However, this time it was Benedict Cumberbatch playing the role of Sherlock Holmes while he was undercover as Shezza who was taking the place of Hansel since I don't have any brothers. Got it?

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Lol I think I got it :chuckle:

Hammer tasking Thena!!
No wishes open - I also love the little additions!

I think this is my first ever task of the year attempt.
I tried Aladdin, and I did everything except flying on the carpet... I hovered, though! Does that count? If not, I'll try again sometime.

My inspiration for this task came from CanisLucidus' two attempts at asking his lamp for a delicious cookie:
- Magic Carpet School
- Aladdin

Here's the task in my DJ:
- The Perfect Cookie for Canis

Spoiler for Aladdin Excerpt:

I was flying high above the ground, and I looked down for a patch of orange that was going to be an Arabian setting. I saw an orange block and descended.
I found myself in a small village, surrounded by a few market stalls, but there weren't many people around.

http://i.imgur.com/H8RtIMW.jpg

I walked into a small hut. An old Chinese sage was standing inside. He was holding something that looked like a mini creamer from a tea set. He placed it down on a shelf and nodded at me as he left the building. I looked at the creamer. It was really old and rusty, and smaller than I'd expected the lamp to be, so I wasn't sure if this was it. I scanned the room to see if there was anything else that looked like a lamp, but there wasn't. I picked up the creamer and had a closer look. It was glowing slightly, and the lid was askew. Some kind of green vapour was coming from the gap, so I took off the lid and inhaled the vapour. I realised that these were magic fumes that would make my wishes come true. I put the lid back on to trap in the rest of the magic.

http://i.imgur.com/rUCkbbm.jpg

I made my first wish:
"I wish for a magic carpet."
The lamp seemed too small to rub, so instead, I put my mouth on the spout and blew my wish into it.
I looked behind me, and saw a really old, grubby, brown coir door-mat had appeared on the floor. Like this except filthy and worn:

http://i.imgur.com/DWs1Fof.jpg

I thought the mat looked way too heavy to fly, but I tried not to doubt it.
I picked it up and shook it off a bit. I held it in front of me and let go, and it continued hovering in mid-air. I didn't want to distract myself with a big fly until I'd made my other wishes, so I just sat on the carpet while it was levitating. The carpet was having trouble holding my weight - it kept dipping down and skimming the floor every few seconds, but it eventually stabilised about a metre above the ground.

I held the lamp as I sat on the carpet, and made my second wish:
"I wish for CanisLucidus to appear."
I wasn't sure whether he was going to appear before my eyes, or somewhere close by, but I blew my wish into the lamp expectantly.
I was instantly granted the knowledge that CanisLucidus was standing outside the hut.
I raced outside, and saw him standing there with a really cheeky smile on his face. He seemed happy and excited that I'd summoned him. It felt like he'd been waiting patiently for me call on him, like he'd been hanging out elsewhere in the dream while I followed my TOTY play.
I said, "You know you're dreaming, right?"
He seemed more present than his usual DC, but perhaps that just because the whole dream was super vivid and alive.
He said, "Yeah, let's do this! What's the plan?"
He put his arms around me from behind and rested himself into a hug. I was still holding the lamp in my hands in front of me.
I said, "Just wait 'til you see what I've got for you! I'm halfway through a task, come with me!"
I grabbed his hand and excitedly led him back into the hut, where I'd found the lamp. It felt like the magic was tied to that area, so I had to be there to make the final wish.
I looked at Canis and said, "I'm doing the Aladdin task. I'm up to my last wish, and this one's for you."
He looked like he half-knew what was going on, but he wasn't certain.
I held the lamp up and said, "I wish for the PERFECT cookie for Canis."
I looked behind me on the shelf where the lamp had been. There was a big cookie with good sized chocolate chips. It looked fresh and warm, so I picked it up delicately, trying not to squish the shape.
I handed it to Canis, who grinned and asked, "For me?"
I said, "Yeah, eat it! It's going to be perfect, trust me!"
Canis stuffed the cookie into his mouth and made groaning noises like he was really enjoying it... Something like this, haha:

http://youtu.be/FvSoeJfvMh8

He managed to exclaim, "This IS the perfect cookie!" in amongst all the munching.
He licked his fingers after he finished, and I was happy to see that he enjoyed it. :)

I thought we should take the magic carpet for a proper fly, so we started walking outside.
Before we got to the door, I saw some more cookies on a counter. These ones looked like the double choc chip cookies from Subway, which I haven't eaten since I gave up dairy/eggs. I was excited to have a cruelty-free version on offer, so I grabbed one and gobbled it up as I headed out the door. It was delicious!

When we got outside, I started looking around in awe again at how detailed the environment was. I felt like the dream was still really stable, and I was sure that I could keep it going for a lot longer. I decided that I was up for a second chapter this time - I felt like the dream was vivid enough that I would remember the previous part, even if I moved on to a different activity.
While I was having these thoughts, I forgot about the magic carpet.

Wondering how am i going to do the beauty and the beast thing! Probably using a female dream body...never done that before hehe

I've tried the "Hansel and Gretel" TOTY several times since coming back to DV about a month ago, but haven't had much luck with it so far. In my most recent attempt last night I at least managed to summon a "Hans" to match my role as Gretel--though Hans turned out to be a dog. We even made it to the edge of the forest, dropping our trail of breadcrumbs, before naughty Hans woke me up. Maybe he was afraid to encounter the witch! Although the dream ended before I could get anywhere near completing the task, at least I got far enough this time that I won't be embarrassed to describe the attempt.

Here's the relevant excerpt from my DJ entry:

Spoiler for Hansel and Gretel:

After going back to sleep, once again I was doing stuff around the house under the impression that I was awake when I noticed once again: am I dreaming? Yep, pretty sure I am. Okay, well, back to work then. I remembered that I had taken the bread from the counter in the last dream, briefly worried that I might not find any more, but casually "expected" to find another loaf and sure enough it was there. I started dropping crumbs while I was still inside the house again, then went out the door to the back patio. I was still anxious about destabilization (I have tried this task several times before and haven't gotten very far, and tonight's previous episodes demonstrated that waking up abruptly was indeed a hazard) I so thought, okay, I'll just walk around the pool in circles and continue dropping crumbs until the dream shows some receptivity.

So I began circling the pool counterclockwise, dropping crumbs as I walked. When I reached the area just behind the pool I noticed the place where I had encountered "Boneface" in a previous dream and wondered if anyone would be waiting there, but no DCs were visible. However, the dream was starting to respond: already I was no longer circling the pool but on a path, walking through an environment that no longer resembled any place I know in waking life. The path led me through a dense suburban neighborhood, but I saw trees in the distance and figured a forest must be out there somewhere. I needed to reach the forest to proceed with the "Hansel and Gretel" plot.

I continued dropping breadcrumbs as I walked along the path, but then I remembered—hang on, if I'm doing "Hansel and Gretel," then obviously I can be Gretel, but I'll need a Hansel! I tried to summon him, calling out "Hans! Hans!" and "Little brother!" The dream responded promptly but unexpectedly: a little dog showed up, with long wavy fur in brown and white patches, and started trotting along with me. It looked just like a toy spaniel, but smaller, about the size of a chihuahua. I shrugged and figured, "Okay, good enough." Maybe he would turn into a boy later on, or if not, whatever. (I've always been able to summon animals easily, but have less success with human DCs, so the results weren't that surprising.)

To get more into the spirit of things, as we continued to walk along the path I started singing a song about our journey—how we had left our parents' house because there wasn't enough food, and hoped to find some in the forest. (I just realized a discrepancy in the story: if food is so scarce that they have to leave home lest the family starve, why are they wasting bread by dropping it on the ground? Or is that why mom wants to kick them out, the flagrant bread wasters!)

The dream felt very stable but I knew I couldn't be in very deep because I was having trouble with the song: rhymes weren't coming easily, like they do in deeper dream, and my melody was very simple (The Hobbit was on TV last night, and my song ended up with a similar tune and rhythm to the "goblin town" song from the movie, though naturally with very different words). When I got to the end of a line and couldn't find a rhyme, or even a suitable word, I just sort of hummed over the blank spot and kept going. Improvise! So I sang a number of stanzas in this haphazard way, dropping the bread in smaller and smaller crumbs since I was getting near the end of the loaf, while little Hans the dog trotted beside me on his tiny legs.

Finally we made it to the edge of town, and there it was ahead of us! The forest! Would we go in and find a gingerbread house, a threatening witch? I was looking forward to what we might discover. But I felt sorry for Hans and wondered if he might prefer to be carried. I picked him up and put him on my right shoulder (he was so small). No sooner had I perched him there then at once I clearly and distinctly heard a voice saying my name in my right ear—it was my RL name, and it woke me up. This happened immediately after I put the dog on my shoulder so I had the impression that he had been the one speaking, but the voice was clearly a woman's and, as far as I could make out, it sounded like my own voice.

These TOTY challenges are quite extensive. I like how you just let Hans be a dog in the short term.

Another elaborate but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at a TOTY. I'm enjoying the complexity of these tasks even if I'm not getting very far yet. My dreaming mind can be nearly as fussy and overanalytical as my waking mind, so I'm probably making these harder than they need to be!
:hrm:

Full dream entry here. Excerpt relevant to TOTY:

Spoiler for Jack and the Beanstalk:

I had actually come across a sandwich bag containing a handful of Giant White Beans in my RL kitchen the other day, and thought that these would be ideal to plant outside to grow the beanstalks. So after getting lucid, I headed straight for the kitchen and grabbed the bag, then went outside to plant them in the little plots of soil that abut the wall of the house. I felt like I was rushing, but the dreamstate felt shallow and unstable so I was motivated to act quickly.

In the dream it was drizzling lightly, so the soil was soft and easy to work. I planted the beans by hand, three in the first plot, and then went to the next plot to plant three more. But by the fourth bean I realized that they might take a long time to germinate if I didn't hurry things along. Fortunately I had a plan for this. I had been meaning to work with the Ars Magica Form "Herbam" for a while anyway, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Would "Creo" or "Rego" be the proper technique for this case? I decided to go with "Creo" since I was growing the beanstalks from seed.

I held my hand over the soil where I had just planted the fourth bean and intoned, "Creo herbam." After a little concentration it readily responded, a thick sprout emerging from the earth. It didn't look so much like a beanstalk as a huge stalk of asparagus, at least six inches in diameter. I figured that would be okay, as it would turn out sturdier this way... and I like asparagus. I quickly planted the other two beans in the second plot, but the stalk was growing rapidly and was already a few feet tall. There were still two more beans in the bag but I decided to save them... what if I needed to plant another stalk to get back down? Jack probably saved a few beans if he was smart.

Remembering how much trouble I had experienced attempting to climb in the previous NLD, I came up with a better idea. While the stalk was growing past chest height, I grabbed onto it and let it lift me as it grew. I wondered if this would still count for the TOTY, but figured probably, in terms of altitude I was certainly climbing, even if the stalk was doing all the work!

We went up and up. I was waiting to reach some kind of surface or platform that I could step off onto. How did this go in the story? I don't think I've ever actually read the original, and started to regret that I hadn't done a bit more research, because it was hard to imagine what kind of solid ground Jack could have encountered at the top of the stalk. Did he step onto the upper surface of the clouds? Or was there some kind of floating island? I may have been overrationalizing, but it annoyed me that I couldn't remember how this was supposed to work.

The dream seems to have responded to my confusion, because the space around me became ambiguous. I had started outdoors but now felt like I was indoors again, still on the beanstalk, which was still growing. However, it was now "growing" through what was effectively a visual loop: I noticed the same attic space passing by again and again in front of my eyes, like a skip in a record. I attempted to wait it out but it just kept repeating, so finally I figured, okay, I'll take the hint, I'll get off here.

Around this point the dreamstate was feeling very thin and shallow, and my senses felt poorly integrated. I had to focus my attention for a moment on just on staying engaged in the dream. When this awkward passage resolved, I was back in a room that somewhat resembled my RL bedroom, only now the beanstalk seemed to be growing from the middle of the bed and burst right through the ceiling. I didn't have the impression that any giant was in the vicinity. Maybe I needed to climb it again? But the hole in the ceiling was only big enough to accommodate the beanstalk. I would have to widen it if I wanted to crawl through.

This reminded me of my separate and fallback intention to work on Hansel and Gretel if the beanstalk idea went awry. My new strategy involved breaking off pieces of a house and eating it, to encourage it to turn into the gingerbread cottage of the story. I reached up with my hand to tear a piece from the edge of the hole in the ceiling. It broke off easily in my hand like rotten wood. I took a bite: it has the texture of a dry crumbly cookie but not much flavor. I tried to conjure the taste of gingerbread but I don't notice much change. I went wandering through the house looking for a witch but there's no one else home.

There's a vague section here. I can't remember if I actually ended up climbing the first stalk to end up outside on the roof, or if I just walked outside to check on the other beanstalks, but at some point I am outdoors again, and I observe that the other beanstalks I planted also grew at some point but are now brown and withered. I can't remember what became of the first one, but evidently it couldn't get me any farther than the roof. Still no giants, but I see what looks like a higher platform on top of a neighboring building. I break off a length of one of the dead stalks and try to use it to pole vault myself up onto the platform. It gets me almost to the top but not quite.

Occupying the center of the wall leading up to this platform is a very tall bookshelf, only about three or four feet in width but running all the way up to the top of the thirty or forty foot wall. After my second or third attempt to pole vault up, I realize that I can't make it all the way to the top using this method, so I get off on one of the uppermost shelves. I don't think I can finish the climb directly from here, but I have another idea. My weight is already destabilizing the bookshelf, pulling it down and me along with it, so I realize that I might be able to use the rebound effect to launch myself onto the platform. As the top of the bookshelf sinks all the way down to ground level, I climb over the top and position myself on the back of the shelf (which is level with the ground and facing up after the bookshelf has fallen all the way down). I anticipate that the whole shelf is going to rebound back into its original place, and sure enough it does. Using the force of its rebound, I jump off when I'm near the top and finally make it up onto the platform... when the dream ended.

I like how you added even more magic to the beans to make them grow faster. I never thought to try that. That particular task sounds like a lot of fun. I like the freedom to defeat the giant using any means necessary! I'm going to try to defeat him in a funny way instead of a more serious way in this case :-)