Lydia emerges as a profoundly complex protagonist whose vampiric nature serves as both literal reality and metaphor for the experience of existing as a perpetual outsider in human society. At twenty-three years old, she embodies multiple forms of otherness—mixed-race heritage connecting her to Japanese and Malaysian cultures she cannot fully access, vampiric needs that require constant deception, and artistic aspirations that struggle against practical survival concerns. Her character is defined by a fundamental tension between her desperate desire for normalcy and belonging, and the impossibility of achieving these goals given her supernatural nature. Lydia's photosensitivity, her need for blood rather than food, and her enhanced sensory abilities create constant barriers to integration, forcing her to live in a state of perpetual performance where every social interaction requires careful calculation and concealment. This exhausting existence shapes her personality as someone who is simultaneously hyper-aware of others'...