They go right up to the edge of what it means to be alive, and look over it and down at the huge immeasurable void below, and feel joy because they're not in the void but above it...I know it's a bit different for me....The void, for me, has stuff in it, so it's not a void anymore; and the cliff is engulfed by a black and measureless haze. Still, I like to push my body towards its limits. Or, rather, I like to pretend my body has limits.
-- Lydia (Chapter 1)

Importance: This profound quote establishes Lydia's fundamental alienation from human experience and her complex relationship with mortality and embodiment. While humans derive meaning and joy from their proximity to death—standing at the "edge of what it means to be alive" and feeling vitalized by their awareness of the "void" below—Lydia's vampiric immortality transforms this existential landscape entirely. For...