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* They very concept of the [[WeirdnessCensor Bystander effect]] produced by Strangers. Every magical, nonhuman creature in this setting cannot be perceived by ordinary people. At all. A monster could be standing in front of you, having just ''ripped off your arm'', and you would have no idea. Bystanders can't even form memories of the supernatural. Someone just told you how vampires came to earth? You'll forget it by the end of the conversation.
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* They very concept of the [[WeirdnessCensor Bystander effect]] produced by Strangers.effect]]. Every magical, nonhuman creature in this setting cannot be perceived by ordinary people. At all. A monster could be standing in front of you, having just ''ripped off your arm'', and you would have no idea. Bystanders can't even form memories of the supernatural. Someone just told you how vampires came to earth? You'll forget it by the end of the conversation.
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* [[CreepyChild Ammon]]. ''Freaking Ammon.'' At first glance he appears to be nothing more than an ordinary, cheerful little boy. Then he introduces himself and makes a suggestion, and [[CompellingVoice you find yourself going along with it]], whether you actually want to or not. It doesn't matter what Ammon suggested, maybe he thinks you should give him a ride somewhere or that you should be a little more mean when you insult someone... or maybe he wants to to hand your gun to that nice store clerk you were just robbing so she can shoot you. After he suggested that you beat the living hell out of her, of course. He has absolutely no consciences and no regard for the lives of others. He just wants to see and do interesting things. But since he's a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] [[{{Sadist}} sadist]], his definition of "interesting" invariably includes ''brutal'' ColdBloodedTorture. Also, he's Flick's half-brother. And he's ''so'' excited to meet his big sister...
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* [[CreepyChild Ammon]]. ''Freaking Ammon.'' At first glance he appears to be nothing more than an ordinary, cheerful little boy. Then he introduces himself and makes a suggestion, and [[CompellingVoice you find yourself going along with it]], whether you actually want to or not. It doesn't matter what Ammon suggested, maybe he thinks you should give him a ride somewhere or that you should be a little more mean when you insult someone... or maybe he wants to you to hand your gun to that nice store clerk you were just robbing so she can shoot you. After you (after he suggested that you beat the living hell out of her, of course. course), or that you should shove a gas nozzle down your throat and drown yourself with it. He has absolutely no consciences conscience and no regard for the lives of others. He just wants to see and do interesting things. But since he's a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] [[{{Sadist}} sadist]], his definition of "interesting" invariably includes ''brutal'' ColdBloodedTorture. Also, he's Flick's half-brother. And he's ''so'' excited to meet his big sister...
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*** [[spoiler: Sariel's stealth infiltration tactics when she was still working for the Seosten. Yes, she doesn't leave her targets prisoner in their own body. Instead, she just rides along and nudges or quickly takes control as needed. Just because you think you aren't the mole doesn't mean you aren't. And you can't even trust that your thoughts are all your own.]]
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*** [[spoiler: The above is not helped by the usual mindset of any of their operatives sent to Earth. Emotional intelligence and awareness is a very rare trait among them. For perspective? The group for the most part doesn't understand that [[MamaBear Gaia]] would take Avalon being framed... poorly.]]
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* The Hiding Man. Oh dear lord, the Hiding Man. A mysterious, unknown Stranger who for whatever reason went on a child abduction spree in Koren Fellows neighborhood when she was ten. It's not just that he (or whatever he is) abducted children. It's also that he seemed to go out of his way to ''terrify'' them beforehand. He would make sure the kids knew they were being stalked days before he actually took them. And we actually get to see what he would do before abducting them in Koren's interlude. He woudl just toy with them from behind the Bystander Effect, messing with their heads solely for the sake of frightening them. Fortunately, he was stopped before he could take young Koren.
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* The Hiding Man. Oh dear lord, the Hiding Man. A mysterious, unknown Stranger who for whatever reason went on a child abduction spree in Koren Fellows neighborhood when she was ten. It's not just that he (or whatever he is) abducted children. It's also that he seemed to go out of his way to ''terrify'' them beforehand. He would make sure the kids knew they were being stalked days before he actually took them. And we actually get to see what he would do before abducting them in Koren's interlude. He woudl would just toy with them from behind the Bystander Effect, messing with their heads solely for the sake of frightening them. Fortunately, he was stopped before he could take young Koren.
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** [[spoiler: He was stalking Koren for ''seven years.'']]
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** [[spoiler: He was stalking Koren for ''seven years.'']]'']]s
* Mateo was once captured by homophobic werewolves and tortured by being shocked [[GroinAttack in the dick]] to [[CureYourGays turn him straight.]]
* Mateo was once captured by homophobic werewolves and tortured by being shocked [[GroinAttack in the dick]] to [[CureYourGays turn him straight.]]
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*** But what's really horrifying about this conversation is the sheer glee with which Zeke describes the tactics his mother uses on a regular basis. It's more than a little disturbing to see a teenager get so excited about wanton slaughter.
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** Certain aspects of the Heretic ability to absorb Stranger powers are really fucking creepy. Namely, the fact that when a Heretic kills an Alter absorbs their power, the transition is accompanied by a wave of intense pleasure. That's right, Heretics basically ''orgasm'' when they kill things.
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** Certain aspects of the Heretic ability to absorb Stranger powers are really fucking creepy. Namely, the fact that when a Heretic kills an Alter and absorbs their power, the transition is accompanied by a wave of intense pleasure. That's right, Heretics basically ''orgasm'' when they kill things.
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** One of Flick's classmates, Zeke Leven, at one point describes the "tourist-busters," Heretics who stake out travel hubs like airports, bus stations, etc, to kill any Strangers they find preying on human travelers. Or just any Stranger they find, period. Flick quickly notes to herself that there undoubtedly ''are'' murderous Alters that actually prey on humans, but most are probably just trying to travel. Zeke then says mother Sophronia, a Committee member, likes to joke that the duty is sometimes like "shooting fish in a barrel."
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** One of Flick's classmates, Zeke Leven, at one point describes the "tourist-busters," Heretics who stake out travel hubs like airports, bus stations, etc, to kill any Strangers they find preying on human travelers. Or just any Stranger they find, period. Flick quickly notes to herself that there undoubtedly ''are'' murderous Alters that actually prey on humans, but most are probably just trying to travel. Zeke then says his mother Sophronia, a Committee member, likes to joke that the duty is sometimes like "shooting fish in a barrel."
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** One of Flick's classmates, Zeke Leven, at one point describes the "tourist-busters," Heretics who stake out travel hubs like airports, bus stations, etc, to kill any Strangers they find preying on human travelers. Or just any Stranger they find, period. Flick quickly notes to herself that there undoubtedly ''are'' murderous Alters that actually prey on humans, but most are probably just trying to travel. Zeke then says mother Sophronia, a Committee member, likes to joke that the duty is sometimes like "shooting fish in a barrel."
*** Sophronia also invented a proximity spell that causes Alters who activate it to need to use the bathroom. Then Heretics lay in wait in the bathrooms to murder them when they can't fight back... Flick puts it best when she hears this:
---> ''Honestly, it sounded more like horror movie stalker-type tactics than heroic guardians, but I wasn’t going to tell Zeke that.''
*** Sophronia also invented a proximity spell that causes Alters who activate it to need to use the bathroom. Then Heretics lay in wait in the bathrooms to murder them when they can't fight back... Flick puts it best when she hears this:
---> ''Honestly, it sounded more like horror movie stalker-type tactics than heroic guardians, but I wasn’t going to tell Zeke that.''
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*** And that comparison only grows more apt as more is revealed, like the fact that a disturbing number of Bystander-kin recruits have traumatic pasts that tend to leave them socially isolated and more likely to accept the establishment's view of things.
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** [[spoiler: His name is Fossor, and he's so dangerous and feared that the pre-Crossroads Heretics tried to banish him from earth rather than actually kill him. They failed. Why? Because's he's a necromancer that had already conquered his homeworld at that point, which had a population big enough for him to use the inhabitants to circumvent the curse they saddled him with. How? The curse made it so he could only walk on earth by stepping on the ashes of his enemies. So he farms his homeworld for ghosts that disintegrate into ashes he can step on. The Hereteics thought [[EvenEvilHasStandards he wouldn't so easily sacrifice the lives of his servants to walk around]]. [[SubvertedTrope They were wrong]].]]
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** [[spoiler: His name is Fossor, and he's so dangerous and feared that the pre-Crossroads Heretics tried to banish him from earth rather than actually kill him. They failed. Why? Because's he's a necromancer that had already conquered his homeworld at that point, which had a population big enough for him to use the inhabitants to circumvent the curse they saddled him with. How? The curse made it so he could only walk on earth by stepping on the ashes of his enemies. So he farms his homeworld for ghosts that disintegrate into ashes he can step on. The Hereteics thought [[EvenEvilHasStandards he wouldn't so easily sacrifice the lives of his servants to walk around]]. [[SubvertedTrope They were wrong]].wrong]].
** At one point he gets his own mini-interlude, which opens with him casually turning terrified woman to become a zombie while telling her how lucky she is that he's "saving" her from an endlessly dull life in a boring job, all after murdering her coworkers. Why is he doing this? [[spoiler: Because it's a dentist's office. Specifically the office of ''Flick's'' dentist, on a day when she was twelve and scheduled to get some teeth pulled. He then proceeds to amuse himself by prompting her to discuss how much she hates Joselyn before sedating her, taking pictures of her while unconscious to show Joselyn, and then actually pulling her teeth, all while she has no idea who or what he is.]]
*** [[spoiler: This happened not long after Flick's friend Miranda moved away. Fossor is happy to hear that's she's left, as it means "his prize" has been further isolated and that he won't have to expend the effort to remove Miranda himself. He then considers tracking Miranda down and abducting her to surprise Flick with once she's old enough to collect.]]
** At one point he gets his own mini-interlude, which opens with him casually turning terrified woman to become a zombie while telling her how lucky she is that he's "saving" her from an endlessly dull life in a boring job, all after murdering her coworkers. Why is he doing this? [[spoiler: Because it's a dentist's office. Specifically the office of ''Flick's'' dentist, on a day when she was twelve and scheduled to get some teeth pulled. He then proceeds to amuse himself by prompting her to discuss how much she hates Joselyn before sedating her, taking pictures of her while unconscious to show Joselyn, and then actually pulling her teeth, all while she has no idea who or what he is.]]
*** [[spoiler: This happened not long after Flick's friend Miranda moved away. Fossor is happy to hear that's she's left, as it means "his prize" has been further isolated and that he won't have to expend the effort to remove Miranda himself. He then considers tracking Miranda down and abducting her to surprise Flick with once she's old enough to collect.]]
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* The mercifully brief description of what a gang in Colombia almost did to Sean when he was twelve is a terrifying reminder that humans can be just as bad as any supernatural monster.
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* The mercifully brief description of what a gang in Colombia almost did to Sean when he was twelve is a terrifying reminder that humans can be just as bad as any supernatural monster.monster.
* The Hiding Man. Oh dear lord, the Hiding Man. A mysterious, unknown Stranger who for whatever reason went on a child abduction spree in Koren Fellows neighborhood when she was ten. It's not just that he (or whatever he is) abducted children. It's also that he seemed to go out of his way to ''terrify'' them beforehand. He would make sure the kids knew they were being stalked days before he actually took them. And we actually get to see what he would do before abducting them in Koren's interlude. He woudl just toy with them from behind the Bystander Effect, messing with their heads solely for the sake of frightening them. Fortunately, he was stopped before he could take young Koren.
** [[spoiler: Except not really. It turns out that the Hiding Man is a Fomorian who engineered his entire terror spree for the sole purpose of convincing Crossroads to accept Joselyn Atherby's granddaughter as a student. Which he reveals years later, on Thanksgiving just a few days after he murdered and replaced her father, hooked himself up to sixteen kidnapped infants to use as human shields, and implanted Koren's arms into her own mother to force her to ''manually pump Abigail's heart''.]] Talk about fucking BodyHorror. [[spoiler: Oh, and what the Heretics ''thought'' was the Hiding Man from Koren's childhood was actually just some poor sap the Fomorian modified to the point of being nonhuman to use as a patsy.]]
** [[spoiler: He was stalking Koren for ''seven years.'']]
* The Hiding Man. Oh dear lord, the Hiding Man. A mysterious, unknown Stranger who for whatever reason went on a child abduction spree in Koren Fellows neighborhood when she was ten. It's not just that he (or whatever he is) abducted children. It's also that he seemed to go out of his way to ''terrify'' them beforehand. He would make sure the kids knew they were being stalked days before he actually took them. And we actually get to see what he would do before abducting them in Koren's interlude. He woudl just toy with them from behind the Bystander Effect, messing with their heads solely for the sake of frightening them. Fortunately, he was stopped before he could take young Koren.
** [[spoiler: Except not really. It turns out that the Hiding Man is a Fomorian who engineered his entire terror spree for the sole purpose of convincing Crossroads to accept Joselyn Atherby's granddaughter as a student. Which he reveals years later, on Thanksgiving just a few days after he murdered and replaced her father, hooked himself up to sixteen kidnapped infants to use as human shields, and implanted Koren's arms into her own mother to force her to ''manually pump Abigail's heart''.]] Talk about fucking BodyHorror. [[spoiler: Oh, and what the Heretics ''thought'' was the Hiding Man from Koren's childhood was actually just some poor sap the Fomorian modified to the point of being nonhuman to use as a patsy.]]
** [[spoiler: He was stalking Koren for ''seven years.'']]
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* The mercifully brief description of what a gang in Columbia almost did to Sean when he was twelve is a terrifying reminder that humans can be just as bad as any supernatural monster.
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* The mercifully brief description of what a gang in Columbia Colombia almost did to Sean when he was twelve is a terrifying reminder that humans can be just as bad as any supernatural monster.
