I've wondered this about LDs for a long time

If LDs are just normal dreams, and you aren’t actually conscious.

I like comparing dreams with daydreams in this regard - you daydream very often, over an hour a day, and you tend to be rather unaware of this; but sometimes you can find yourself doing it, and from there you can decide to alter the daydream in any way you like, or at least as much as you can imagine without being hindered by logical thinking (for example, even in a daydream it is hard to imagine what it would feel like to walk through a wall, simply because you have never done it in real life).
I believe lucid dreams work the same way - you suddenly realize that you are in a dream, and from there you can change it by using your imagination.

From this perspective I consider lucid dreams to be just like any other dream, with the only difference that you are more aware of your situation than normal.

So my answer is that lucid dreams really are dreams where you understand what’s going on - after all, if you realize that you are in a dream and can even recall waking life and decide what you want to do, then there is a real awareness involved.

Not really sure what you mean by this question. Could you add a little bit more detail?
From what I understand from this question you are saying that: LD is the same as a ND, and the sensation of conciousness is just an illusion from when we wake up? If that is what you are saying then my answer is… I think you are concious in a LD otherwise it wouldn’t be a LD. Also the way lucid dreaming was proved real was by (I think) Stephen Lebergh having eye sensors connected to him and when he was lucid he moved his eyes left to right, which would show up on the graph back in the lab (RL). So yes I do think that you are actually concious in a LD.

This question makes no sense. You are conscious only in waking state. In dream, you are unconscious, therefore you are dreaming. In LD you are AWARE of yourself dreaming, but you are still unconscious.

And if you are asking if you are actually aware in lucid dream than yes, you are.
Difference between ND and LD is like between Watching movie and Being an actor.

Lets not forget the FLD’s too. You may be in control of your dream self, but not really aware that you are in a dream.

The only difference between my ND’s and LD’s is that I am aware that it is not this reality. Otherwise, there is absolutely no difference. I believe it’s perfectly in anyone’s power in their ND’s to do anything they can in their LD’s. They just dont try it, because it’s not normal to them… For me, apparently flying, telekinises, summoning lightning and giant birds is perfectly normal to me.

I’m actually a bit more creative with my abilities in ND’s than I am in LDs. But that could be because I generally think that LD’s can be a little boring, due to lack of content feed.

I know. shoot me for speaking the unspeakable evil.

I guess you haven’t experienced true lucid dream, in a true lucid dream you can’t mistaken your awareness and consciousness for something illusional for something that is not. It’s the same to say when you make a decision in waking life that is not conscious but you are aware of yourself making that very decision.

So then you wouldn’t have this awareness in that you have in LDs…

How do you mean? You mean that your body is unconscious in terms of not responding to external stimulants or that you are unconscious in a dream?

It’s true that you are not directly aware of the real world while you are dreaming.
However, I believe there is an important difference between “awareness” and “consciousness”.
In my mind, awareness means that you are mentally present in your environment and can interact with it, whereas consciousness simply means that you can respond to stimuli (please correct me if I am wrong about this).
If you were unconscious while dreaming you would essentially be in a coma, which you obviously are not.

I believe a more accurate term would be “subconscious”.

Well, almost.
a ND is still like a dreamworld with you as a character, but it might feel like a movie because you are still fairly unaware.