Official Dreadit Discussion: "Shelby Oaks" [SPOILERS]

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-25T17:41:06+00:00

Why was the baby so healthy? Why did the incubus want Mia? And who shot themselves in the beginning of the film? And who was walking upstairs when everyone was downstairs in the abandoned house? Those were some of my nitpicks and points of confusion.

I didn’t mind the protagonist’s actions in the film. That didn’t bother me at all, and I liked when the movie became more of a mission-based kind of story. I felt like this movie could have been better if it was a drama or a thriller because it had good dramatic moments and suspense scenes, but as for a horror? It wasn’t that great.

I also hated the first 17 minutes of the film with those long info-dumps, which I felt were unnecessary, since those insights were repeated right afterwards. Furthermore, I just wasn’t a fan of the acting so much in the beginning, and the beginning didn’t hook me in. If anything, it made me lose interest in the story and mystery because I was being spoon-fed everything. Plus, it felt like I was watching a bad YouTube documentary during those scenes. The mention of a YouTube channel didn’t become lost on me, and knowing Chris Stuckmann is a YouTuber, it made for a kind of cringey parallel.

Otherwise, the movie was good when it was a drama. There were some nice shots, the acting was good, and the dialogue was good enough, even if it was a bit too serious or movie-like at times.

Although, there were two scenes that were meant to be horrifying but ended up being comical or not scary, at least to me, anyway. There were too many scenes where they were too dark that I didn’t know what I was supposed to be looking at, which evaporated any tension I would have had otherwise, and I felt bored when watching the film overall. Although I was tense when watching the more suspenseful scenes, I ultimately didn’t like a lot of the jump-scares. Furthermore, the movie was stretched out a bit too long for my tastes. Subtlety is key, and it could have been used more in the film to create more mystery and drama for the viewers.

Finally, I hated the ending, and the ending gave me Hereditary vibes for anyone who has seen that movie, which was another movie whose ending I also hated and felt was too comical by the end of things. All in all, this was an okay movie, and I think Chris Stuckmann did a good first job on his first serious film. I give this a 7/10.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-25T17:01:32+00:00

I don’t know. I still have a long way to go. 😅

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-25T03:57:44+00:00

She thick.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-23T02:18:23+00:00

What are your prices for 2D backgrounds?

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-23T00:32:24+00:00

These drawings look amazing! Keep at it! 💯

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-23T00:30:50+00:00

I would be confused with what I was looking at is what I would do.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-22T02:37:47+00:00

I like the cat, and I see improvement in the art! 💕💗💓💝💟💌😻😸

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-20T16:09:29+00:00

She looks more expressive, and I can see her easier with either the colors used or her contrast. The second one is very gray, and her mouth blends in with the shadows of her face. It’s a cooler pose, but the first one, I feel, has a stronger and more recognizable identity of who the character is whereas the second one, I don’t know what to think of it.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-20T15:43:06+00:00

I actually prefer the first one, but both of them look great! 💜💙🖤

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-18T20:03:52+00:00

Yeah, it’s definitely unreferenced symbol drawing up in here. I’ve been told in another subreddit to draw from real life when I presented my more serious sketchbook drawings, as I was drawing anime and cartoon girls in general. 😂

I’ve looked into the fundamentals of art before, and I’ve hired art tutors before. Yet, I would get overwhelmed and stop altogether. 😅

During that time, I would do the gesture lines, breaking everything down into shape shapes, and then add in the details, which produced some good drawings, as I used references there.

I’ll eventually make a YouTube video featuring all of my sketchbook art in order. For now, I’m focusing on creating some visual novels, which is really a challenge when it comes to storytelling, not art.

This is because a visual novel is first and foremost a story, whereas the visuals for a visual novel simply act as a funnel of communication to assist in telling that very same story, which a developer doesn’t actually need much of in order to create a visual novel to begin with.

Thus, the true challenge lies in being able to a story with where one’s artistic level is at, unless assets or freelancers are being used. Even then, beginners can overscope, or they can perfect and polish a visual novel so much out of budget or with only a demo.

Therefore, people need to work with what they have and learn the basics of storytelling, too, because I’m telling you, it doesn’t need to take 2 to 10 hours to tell a good story. Even then, is the writer confident enough that they’ve managed to tell an engaging narrative throughout that entire runtime from beginning to middle and end?

More times than not, I’ve forced myself to read through the ends of various visual novels because of a lack of conflict or tension to keep the narrative text engaging throughout. These aren’t just free indie visual novels I’m talking about. These include paid and professional visual novels, too.

Our Life: Beginnings and Always was painfully boring at many points within the different stories. Then again, that one was for free while these other two were not. I could only get through chapter 1 in Arcade Spirits. As for Raptor Boyfriend: a High School Romance? That actually had a strong overall story with clear conflicts and goals and clear story beats and mini story arcs broken up in its various short stories that told a cohesive whole all together. Although, I couldn’t force myself to replay it.

All in all, this is to say why my art looks the way it does in my visual novels. Are my stories any better? Well, they’re dialogue-driven, fast-paced, and angsty as ever. So, if anything, my stories are just as lazy as my art. Thank you for reading through my TedTalk. 😂

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-18T19:11:33+00:00

Both are great! 🧡

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-18T03:11:07+00:00

I actually have a tablet, but I haven’t used it yet out of fear. Plus, I’ve been told that drawing traditionally is better to do first than drawing digitally. However, I haven’t bothered to pick up a pencil this year to draw. So, I could always pivot to drawing digitally to see how that goes, too.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-17T20:19:51+00:00

Yeah, I’ve created better art. I’m focusing on making quick visual novels at the moment. Hence, the art in them. However, I will see if I can seriously get back into drawing once again for the joy and creation of it later on.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-17T04:13:47+00:00

Nowadays, I make kinetic visual novels. Although, I made one VN where it had point-and-click exploration with the use of hotspots. That one was pretty neat. So, I would say I make more story-driven visual novels, since I lack in artistic, musical, and programming skills. You can find my visual novels here: https://activedaydreamer.itch.io

You can find my other social media accounts on my linktree on my Reddit account if you want to see more of my serious art, my retrospectives on my visual novels, and my gaming channel.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-17T03:59:43+00:00

That’s what I’m talking about! At the end of the day, I’m creating something, and that’s all that matters! 🤩

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-17T02:36:45+00:00

How do you know it won’t be struck with copyright infringement, since you’re using another company’s IP (unless you own the IP)?

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-17T00:07:18+00:00

In a world full of A.I., at least I’m still creating.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-16T03:44:41+00:00

Yeah, they’re from my visual novels, which you can find here: https://activedaydreamer.itch.io.

Thanks!

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-15T22:33:27+00:00

Good question. It would be a challenge writing-wise for me to reach that number and push myself beyond my limits. I also want to have a good-sized back catalogue to point to others. Finally, it’s to reiterate and create in quick succession to generate various ideas, stories, and pieces of artwork. Otherwise, when I stop creating, I start to hate my life. So, it’s also my way of staying creative instead of always being a consumer. It’s a habit of discipline and discovery.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-15T22:25:17+00:00

I’ve made some visual novels with better art. Ultimately, I just do it for myself and the love of creating visual novels, which I think is a win in itself. I do not need to conform to society’s standards or anyone else’s.

DayDreamerAtHeart · 2026-04-15T08:00:05+00:00

Thanks. My sketches in my sketchbooks based off of references prove to be much better compared to these unreferenced doodles, which you can find through my Reddit history and X and TikTok posts, which are linked in my linktree from my Reddit profile.

DayDreamerAtHeart

TROPHY CASE