Asklemmy

Someone in a lucid dream can have different levels of control and awareness.

I've been naturally lucid dreaming since I was six. At times I can be 100% aware, to the point where I'm actively trying to keep myself asleep (figure that out, I still don't understand how it works,) to where I know it's a dream but don't entirely comprehend what that means.

I can experience changes in lucidity throughout a dream, because I'm still not conscious. I'm not controlling absolutely everything I see and feel, I'm just driving the narrative and forming memories while my brain fills in the blanks. In a lucid dream you're not your body, you're a projection of yourself in your mind's randomly generated theater while physiological mechanisms are doing their best to keep you from boxing your cat/partner/wall in your sleep, so it makes sense your body would feel difficult to control in a dream, because you're still just imagining what movement feels like.

How common they are depends on the person and the circumstances around them, because people can train themselves to lucid dream. Medication, drugs, routines, mental health etc. can all impact how someone dreams.

I only have enough lucidity to reverse an incident and prevent a nightmare from taking hold. Like if I drop a fresh lasagna on the floor in a dream, I'll think to myself, "hey, isn't this just a dream?", after which I get time to briefly reverse and the lasagna flies back into its correct place. Then I'll continue with the dream, without the incident and without any further lucidity.

Yes, lucidity is more of a spectrum than a binary

I like lucid dreaming but it doesn't happen nearly as often as when I was younger

I wouldn't describe them as fake lucid dreams, but I've had them from time to time. I usually find them unsettling as I'm used to having more control in my dreams even if I am performing the actions that my dream wants me to do.

I have always had controllable lucid dreams, pretty much my whole life, but I wouldn't call the non-control version "fake," as the realization and knowledge that you're dreaming is what makes it a lucid dream.

"Controllable" and "non-controllable" would be more accurate than "fake" and "real."

Never. Once I realize I am dreaming, I can act on my own. I try not to disturb or actively control the dream world though, always want to explore it.

Hmm. I've never been able to control the dream around me with any accuracy, but I can always control my own actions.

I'm aware most of my dreams are dreams during them, and my interference tends to be on whether or not I like the narrative being told (or if it makes sense). So, sometimes I end up repeating the same "plot points" over and over again until I find something satisfying (which you can argue means I'm dreaming about making a story instead), other times I'm just "sitting back" and enjoying the show of my own dreams where I'm also ~~most of the time~~ the protagonist.

So, I guess all the time?

Man, I fight hard against lucid dreaming. I much prefer letting my brain do whatever wacky shit it wants to do.

……. OP you didn’t a lucid dream….