I loved lake silence! For very similar reasons too. I like the juxtaposition of the normal world with the supernatural, and I found Vickie very down to earth and utterly relatable.

For me, I look at the humans first/last movement as a bit like climate deniers -- they did not believe that the supernatural forces actually existed, because if you live in a city without a courtyard, you are isolated from the others and they have no impact on your life.

Until...oops. Yeah, that happened. I'm very interested in seeing where it goes.