Spontaneous Musings

Resting my knee tonight, so didn't do the exercises - did ice it, also did exercises at work. Also took a longer walk than I should have? I wanted to see if Trinity Church, Printemps, and NYSE had been dressed up at all for Xmas. It had, but minimalist in style. The over-blown festive decorations are apparently saved for Dyker Heights, my apartment complex lobby, and Midtown Shopping District. The Financial District is well...not exactly spendthrift when it comes to Christmas decor - and errs on the tasteful and minimalist side of the fence?

( The Financial District, Trinity Church and NYSE at Christmas Time )

After the walk - which included an ill advised journey to Insomiac Cookies, which was alas closed - my right knee/leg was killing me. It was my own fault - if I'd ended it five to ten minutes sooner, I'd have been fine. Plus it was cold outside. ( Would have been nice if Insomina Cookies had warned me that they were closed this week.) And I didn't even get any chocolate chip cookies. I wanted my cookies. Instead I bought a chocolate bar - which resulted in high blood sugar, the cookies were the better bet.

On the plus side (knee wise, at least) - I managed to schedule an MRI for January 4 at the Brooklyn location, and on a Sunday morning, no less. Go me. So not quite as far as the Manhattan one, and less steps. Also a followup appointment with the orthopedist at 2:30pm on January 9 (Friday). I'll probably have to take the day off. Unfortunately. Either that or take two hours of comp time. I only have 10 hours of comp time remaining. Currently have a PT appointment scheduled at 4:30pm after it, which I might cancel or try to reschedule. So got it a lot faster than expected.

2. Gave up on the Larry Silverstein book - the narrator was speaking in a monotone, and I was having troubles following it. Jumped over to Tim Curry's autobiography entitled "Vagabound" - which Curry was reading himself, only one small problem? He'd just suffered a stroke. After about an hour and a half, I gave up. I can't do 10 hours of that - it was painful listening to him. So, I jumped over to Angelica Huston's autobiography/memoir, The Story of Me - which is a two party, and read by Huston, to high acclaim. She has a lovely voice, and it's beautifully written. Also very interesting - since she talks about her parents, the acclaimed actor, film director and writer, John Huston, his wife a prima ballerina, his father, an acclaimed actor, and their friends. It talks a lot about old Hollywood - during the 1950s. I just finished a chapter, where she talks about how her father, along with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, etc - formed an organization supporting the First Amendment - to speak out against the McCarthy Hearings and the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. This also resulted in Huston leaving the US, and filming outside of it, and living outside of it for the remainder of his life. Huston married Angelica Huston's mother when he was 40 years of age, and her mother was 18 years of age, and a prima ballerina at the premier ballet company in the US which later became the NY Ballet.

Angelica Huston doesn't tell so much as show? She relates the facts, and lets the reader figure it out. Reminds me of Paul Newman's memoir in that respect. It's well written.

3. Progressing along in my rewatch of Buffy S5. Some takeaways, after seeing I was Made to Love You and Crush.
( still pondering the contradictions in Crush and in IWMTLY )

Had another PT appointment on Monday, which...went okay, I guess? ( Read more... )

Work party and work in general made me want to walk out the door and retire today. But alas, I can't. I'm not positive, but I have a feeling Breaking Bad felt much the same way.
( Read more... )
Today was my father's birthday - which FB decided to alert me to. Annoying considering my father was never on FB and disliked it. My father, had he lived, would have turned 90. He died in 2022 at the age of 86 just short of his 87th birthday.

So feeling a bit down and out today. Not helped by the bitter cold snap plaguing New York and the East Coast at the moment. It was 18 F degrees this morning, I think that is -6 C. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 45 and possibly rain, practically balmy.
****

Buffy S5 Rewatch

Episode S5.4 Out of My Mind

Definitely enjoying Angel more this go-around, probably because I've watched this season one too many times? That said, the dialogue in this episode for the most part is rather good. And there are some good bits here and there.

The episode is mainly about Riley and Spike.
( Read more... )

Off to bed and other things.

Now, I just have to decide if I want to keep the ENT appointment on Monday. I'm thinking it's probably a good idea, since I've had the vertigo twice this fall - and both times associated with severe sinus congestion and weather fluctuations.

But, it's nice that it is blessedly gone now. The pills I was taking for it - really did help. Along with the nasal spray.

Already decided to switch the Personal Day from Friday to Monday. Works better all around.

Buffy S4/Angel S1 Rewatch

It's worth keeping in mind that the two shows have definitively different tones and are different genres. Angel is paranormal horror noir, while Buffy is paranormal horror romance (well, romantic horror at any rate).
Angel S1 makes it a lot clearer than I thought, mainly because the Angel fandom kept insisting it was the Classical Hero's Journey (all evidence to the contrary). I can kind of see why they thought that? And Whedon didn't help. But if anything they are undercutting that trope in Angel.

Blind Date, the 21st episode of Angel S1 - is another WRH episode, which are by far the best episodes in the season. And it is an arc episode.
The episode has all the main arc players except for Kate (who I think the writers were re-thinking as a potential romance at this point, Angel isn't really a romance? Nor does Angel really need one?). Gunn is there instead of Kate, in the thankless role of distraction - playing up the stereotypes.

What is interesting about the episode is how cleverly the writers manage to hoodwink their audience. I didn't realize they did it - when I first watched ages ago, when it aired live. I wished I had, I would have kept watching, instead of jumping in and out of it like I did - skipping episodes. When I first saw it live, and even the second time I saw it prior to seeing Season 4, I didn't see the twist. They completely fooled me along with the fandom. I thought the episode was lame and it annoyed me. Now that I see the twist. It's kind of hilarious and rather clever. And perfectly foils the characters. I see it now, of course. After having seen S5 several times, it's pretty obvious - but it wasn't then.
( how they fool their audience )

Buffy S4: New Moon Rising - there's several things the writers need to accomplish in this episode. In a way, Blind Date is easier? I liked it a lot better, because it's nice and twisty, and they hoodwink the lead characters and audience. And once you see it - it's hilarious. I love episodes like that. With hidden twists. Even if I don't see it until years later and I was also hoodwinked. I think I would have enjoyed the series more the first go-around, if I'd seen the twist and not been hoodwinked.

In New Moon Rising - they need to somehow get Adam and Spike together. Also firmly shut the door on the Willow/Oz romance, and open it on the Willow/Tara (also firmly state that this is a romantic relationship and have Willow come out of the closet to Buffy). And, get Riley to cut ties with the Initiative. (Not to worry, he returns in S5. Take the boy out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the boy - which is kind of clear in this episode.)

It's a very plotty episode, so not the best. Much like S3 - the arc episodes aren't as good. The problem here is Riley/Adam and the Initiative, while in S3 it was the Mayor/Faith (although I liked the Mayor/Faith better than Riley/Adam - I like S4 better than S3, mainly due to the characters, and the situation).

That said - this episode is among the better arc episodes, and works better than a lot of the previous ones did in hitting all the crucial points. Not sure who wrote it? Ah, Marti Noxon. (Jeannine Renishaw wrote Blind Date Angel s1). Explains a lot. Noxon wrote Willow/Tara the best.
( Read more... )

Got today off - as a paid holiday, it used to be Columbus Day, and is now officially Indigenous Peoples Day.

I watched two Christian Bale flicks over the weekend that dealt with genocide and indigenous people. One was Hostiles (starring Bale, Rosamund Pike and Wes Studi) - ( Read more... ) The other film was The Promise (starring Oscar Issacs and Bale in a love triangle with another woman whose name I can't remember), - it focused on the genocide by the Turks of the Armenians during the first part of WWI. Turkey has a lot to answer for in WWI. ( Read more... )

I'm seeing a general theme in my viewing? I also saw Penguin Lessons on Netflix - which is adapted from Michel's memoir of teaching at a school in Fascist Argentina during the 1970s. ( Read more... )

Yup. I need to find a film or series that isn't about Fascism? [Still hope to visit the Jewish Holocaust Museum near Battery Park on Thursday, and walk down the pier afterwards.

Speaking of Bale? He's got another movie coming out. Ironically, Oscar Issacs and Christian Bale are in two different films, but they are in the same over all genre, and versions of the same story trope.

Oscar Issacs is playing Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Guilermo Del Torro which takes place in 1800s England, while Christian Bale is playing Frankenstein the Monster in Maggie Gyllenhal's film The Bride - about the Bride to Frankenstein, which takes place in 1930s Chicago.

Here's the trailers:

The Bride - this is only in Theaters. (Bale's worked with Maggie Gyllenhal before - but when both were actors. And enjoys working with female filmmakers. He hit it off with the filmmaker behind American Psycho.)

AND Frankenstein

I should add Oscar Isaccs to my male actor crushes, also Antonio Banderas.

****

Angel S1 rewatch. Apparently they liked the actor who played Ken in the Buffy episode Anne so much they rehired him - to play the demon fiancee of Doyle's wife Harry in Bachelor Party. I was watching - and thought, wait, isn't that Ken from Anne? I thought Buffy killed him? And why is Doyle's cute human wife marrying him? OR is this just my imagination?

( Read more... )

(It's a horribly written episode with plot holes a plenty. (Example? It doesn't make a lot of sense that Harry left Quinn and hooked up with another demon, when Quinn's half-demon status caused her to freak. It also doesn't make a lot of sense that four-five years later, they are still married. And it kind of drops in out of the blue? There's no real build-up. It's a testament to Glenn Quinn's charm that it works at all.) The writing in Angel S1 is very uneven and reminiscent of Buffy's early seasons. Sigh. Network television - always a mixed bag. Cordelia is fulfilling the Xander role here and not always in a good way. Seriously Cordy can you be any more annoying. I'm reminded of why I didn't watch Angel consistently back in the day and Dochawk had to send me copies of the episodes on VHS - for me to be able to write about them in 2002. The episodes aren't that...compelling? Relatable? Good? And the characters don't jump off the screen or grab me in the same way they do on Buffy.)

Glenn Quinn's story is rather tragic. And what happened to him on Angel is kind of the opposite of what happened with Marsters. ( Read more... )

For Buffy and Angel fans...or rather Tara, Anya, Spike, Cordelia, Dru and Giles fans, and fans of the actors who portrayed them?

Buffy Cast Reunion on Audible - Slayers by Amber Bensen and Christopher Golden

It's basically an interview with Golden, Benson, Marsters, and Chase.

Extensive Interview with Marsters about Spike for the 20th Anniversary with Radio Times

( excerpt )

And..
Inside Joss Whedon’s ‘Cutting’ and ‘Toxic’ World of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ (EXCLUSIVE)


"Interviews that Variety conducted with 11 individuals who worked directly on “Buffy” or “Angel,” or were closely familiar with the productions during their runs on The WB and UPN, painted a portrait of Whedon as a talented, collaborative writer-producer with a pattern of inappropriate, imperious and disparaging behavior toward those who worked for him. Whedon created a “cult of personality” around himself, according to these sources. Those on the inside of Whedon’s circle basked in his attention, praise and friendship; those on the outside got the opposite: scorn, derision and callousness. (Everyone Variety spoke with did so on condition of anonymity, either so they could speak freely or out of concern for their careers.)

Variety also reached out to 40 other actors, writers, producers and directors from “Buffy” and “Angel” — including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku, David Boreanaz and Alyson Hannigan — all of whom declined to participate in this story."

Which is interesting - the actors declined to participate, but the crew and writers did on the condition of anonymity. Making it difficult to know how much of what they state is true? Except this happens a lot - most of Burn it Down - about similar allegations on various television and film sets in Hollywood - were all done with anonymity. However - if you listened to any of the Q&A's at the cons - the actors did verify most of it over the years.

***

I've only been an obsessed or huge fan of a few things in my lifetime, and not in the same way. And it's often fleeting.

We all have something that just jives with us. Don't we? But it also at some point disappoints - when we find out a touch too much about it. Which is too often the case in this day and age.

I find it interesting how fans and folks who worked on Buffy have reclaimed it as their own. They did it by writing their own fanfic.

So, I've been binge-watching Angel S5 on Hulu, with no commercials. I splurged and at 11.95 a month, I can watch any television show that airs on it, with no commercials. It has a lot of old television series. Sort of the TV Land of streaming services.

Anyhow...realized a few things upon re-watching:

* In "You're Welcome" -- seriously can they give Cordy a more revealing shirt? It's unbuttoned to the degree in which her boobs appear to be popping out of it. I swear I saw a nipple in one shot.

Also, Cordy doesn't really do much in the episode, except give Angel a pep talk and say the PTB are still behind him, he still has a destiny, he's still the chosen one. To such an extent -- that I couldn't help but wonder if the Senior Partners of WRH had woken her up to get their gig back on track. Lindsey had successfully begun to push it off the rails. And they needed someone to come in there and expose Lindsey, so they can grab him.

The reason I don't think she was working for the PTB upon re-watch (outside of the fact that I know what the writers had planned down the road, and have read the comics) is two-fold, ( Read more... )

* An interesting pattern has emerged from each and every episode...in every single one, someone in the lead cast is being manipulated or is manipulating someone else -- pulling their strings. And usually the manipulation is being done through the character's desire to be a hero, to be great at something, to have a destiny, to be important. It's all about their egos and insecurities. Every single episode. And in Destiny, Damage, and Why We Fight -- we are reminded at what a master manipulator Angel is, and was -- he enjoyed breaking people down, using their weaknesses against them, and pulling their strings. As he tells Spike in Damage -- "He was in it for the EVIL."

Hmmm.

* The episode after Whedon's "Hole in the World" by Stephen Denight, is actually the better episode.
It has better lines here and there, and is a little less over the top. Whedon goes overboard in Hole in telling the audience how important Fred is to everyone. And then we get the longest death sequence on record...( spoilers )

[This brings up a few difficulties with the series -- ( spoilers )

[Note -- this is my first read of the comics. I'm not re-reading them. I know I'm behind everyone else. But I despised the last five issues of Season 8 Comics, and the first six issues of the Season 9 comics. So gave up. Then accidentally hit upon some excellent panels from Season 10, and thought okay, will give them a second shot. So word to the wise, if you want to read these? Skip Season 9 Vol. 1 Freefall, Season 9 Vol. 3 - Guarded, the Last Six Comics of S8, and go from there. Also grab the last two volumes of Angel & Faith S10 -- which are a great character back-study of Giles, and also provide much fodder for the Angel/Spike and Spike/Faith relationships. Since Angel doesn't evolve at all in the comics, he remains the least interesting character in them. I get why they did that, but, it's a tired trope and the writers really need to shake the character up a bit.]

Review of Buffy Season 10 Comics.

With a few weak spots here and there, these are by far the best comics of the series. They do a marvelous job of building two key relationships, Dawn and Xander, and Spike and Buffy. Also a rather good job of continuing to evolve Giles, Andrew, and Willow. Andrew FINALLY is established as gay.
We also get some closure with Jonathan and Anya.


The weak spots are mostly in regards to art. Meghan does a good job with pretty much everyone but Spike, who has the same nose as my Dad. I found this odd. And her art is heavier lined, more cartoonish in character and not quite as smooth as Rebecca Isaacs. I wish Rebecca could have done all of it. I agree with Whedon that changing artists can be jarring.

Xander -- if you are a Xander fan this season is a must. His character is by far the most developed that it has been in the series. And the writers have apparently infused his character with some of Nick Brendan's actual issues. Various issues delve into Xander's anger management issues -- and how his issues with anger have caused problems in his relationships. He also spends a lot of time discussing these issues with Anya's Ghost (which admittedly got repetitive after a bit), and Spike.
The Xander/Spike scenes are by far the best.

Spike -- for the most part is well-utilized in this season. While he spends most of his time with Buffy, working out their issues and building their relationship, we do get bits with Harmony, Xander, and Dawn.

[Also Angel, who makes an appearance, and would be a heck of a lot more interesting if the character had evolved. The writer's justification is that Angel is immortal and his status really hasn't changed all the much. He's either cursed with a soul, or not. I actually think one of the weaknesses here is that the Angel character can't evolve or change -- for both the television series and the comics. I think something major has to happen to motivate Angel to do something -- instead of letting forces around him manipulate him, or manipulating those around him to appease those forces and obtain their approval. He's also so self-centered, he honestly sees everyone's behavior as a reflection of his own, and is somewhat deluded regarding his own. Shame he can't see his own reflection.Anyhow, he's barely in it, and his purposes seems to be to shake up Willow, Buffy and Spike a bit.]

The writers do a marvelous job of building Spike/Buffy as a relationship here -- they address what happened in Season 6 and 7 pretty much in depth between the two characters. Along with all of their issues and the fans issues regarding them. Finally we get a discussion of both the BDSM sexual relationship and the attempted sexual assault. It's well-handled. Kudos. We also have Buffy address with Spike her prior involvements with Angel and Riley and why neither worked. Along with Spike addressing his with Harmony and Drusilla -- and why they didn't work, and how bad he felt about Harmony. (Although Harmony doesn't care -- being a soulless vampire, she's moved on to using Clem like a whipping dog.)


Buffy -- is also well-done. It really delves into Buffy taking responsibility for her role in the verse, as the holder of the magic book. Also responsibility for her inter-personal relationships, instead of just running away from them.

Dawn -- the powers of the key are finally explored. And Dawn is given a chance to grow up a bit more.

The plot is okay, it gets a little convoluted in places -- and the main villain appears to be D'Hoffryn, which is an interesting choice. The most frightening villain is the Soul Glutton, who also appears to be a social commentary on well vegetarianism? There's a lot of social commentary in here, although not as blatant as in the previous series.

Overall, a good read. I highly recommend.

I skipped Angel&Faith, mainly because I'm not interested in any of the characters. It's not worth the money. These cost between nothing (if you can borrow) to $16.99. The Angel & Faith are pricier actually.

Well, I flipped from Romance Novels (finally got burned out and sort of fed up to be honest), to comics -- this round the Buffy Comics. Last round it was the X-men comics. Thinking of reading "The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman" at night, because I'm not supposed to looking at blue screens prior to bed. I'm reading the comics on my spanking brand new Amazon HD Fire. It's perfect for reading them, although I get annoyed at times with the guided method -- have to do it, the print is too small for the regular. And really annoyed by all the frigging ads. Amazon - really? You're motivating me to buy another ipad, and I don't want to.

1. What I just finished reading?

Buffy S9 Freefall Vol #1 and Buffy S9 - Apart of Me".

Apart of Me is better than Freefall, which has a lot of meandering about and expository stuff.
Both focus on Buffy struggling with the events of S8, and the end of magic. Also, once again she's trying for a normal life -- you'd think she'd realize by now that having a witch, a vampire, a magical sister, as friends and family would sort of contradict that possibility. But no.

My difficulty with this bit of storyline is it feels repetitive like Whedon is treading over old ground. A problem I've had with Whedon's writing of late -- he keeps going over the same territory.
The first issue of Freefall is written by Whedon, and the second one is co-written by him. Jeanty's art, to be fair, has improved, or they've hired a better inker and colorist? I'm thinking the later.
Comics is a collaborative art form for the most part (unless you are Frank Miller or Kate Bechdel and do both the art and the writing yourself, and don't color anything in). I like the more collaborative works to be honest.

I could tell when the artist changed, and I liked the new artist a bit better. What can I say? I have my preferences.

"Freefall" is the set up of "Apart of Me". And the story syncs rather well with the Spike series that immediately follows it. Buffy and Spike much like Angel and Faith, their counterparts, are struggling with the same things. Spike wants a home and family, connection. Now that he has a soul -- he desires it more than ever. I can't help but think he yearned for it without one. Buffy also wants this in her own way. Buffy also is struggling with what she did -- she feels ending magic was the right thing to do, but it hasn't made the world better, exactly, just different. The problems are different ones. This is a nifty commentary on the theme -- that no matter what you do or where you go there you are..or rather, you can't fix the world or save it, you can only fix a few issues at time. No one can play god. And when you use power -- in this manner, it will blow up in your face, because you can't see the bigger picture. All you see is this one spot or one thread in the tapestry -- so how will you know that pulling a strand may unravel it or change it into a way you never intended. People who think there is no pattern to the universe are rather arrogant in a way, believing that what they see or perceive is all there is. It's not. There's more. I think the writers here are intuitive ones, in that they write to figure things out, not because they know it. They try this and they try that..and think whoa...didn't know that., alrighty then. Which may be why I find there stories appealing?

Anyhow from a plot standpoint? ( spoilers )

2. What I'm reading now?

Spike - Into the Dark -- Season 9 miniseries. (I have a feeling the spin-offs and miniseries didn't do as well as expected, so they brought everyone back to home base and gave up on it? You don't see as much of it in the later two seasons.)

This isn't bad. It's about Spike finding out about the shards of the seed that everyone is hunting, and returning to the Hellmouth in Sunnydale again. Also realizing he needs to be connected to someone.

3. What I'm reading next?

Probably Buffy S9 - Core. Then S10 again, because I'm not crazy about S9. There's more volumes in 10. Nine was a shorter season and struggled apparently.

Whedon is apparently coming back along with Jeanty (oh joy - not) to write S12, which I may skip. Since he wants to hook it up with Fray. I don't know why. I disliked Fray. Keep the two separate please and let Buffy have her happy ending.

1. Saw Lucifer -- while Tom Ellis was extremely hot in it and the story for the most part was really interesting, particularly in regards to Lucifer and his relationships, and motivation.

I find Welling's Pierce extremely vomit worthy and unwatchable. I don't know why. And fast-forwarded through most of his scenes. I don't know why he makes my skin crawl but he does, he didn't when he was playing Superman in Smallville, but he does now. I can't watch him. It's not as if I'm a Chloe/Lucifer shipper -- I'm not. Frankly, Chloe has been annoying me lately -- she's extremely dense. Also, I've realized I don't like Pierce with anyone and his scenes with Chloe make me cringe. This is a problem or will be a problem if the series doesn't kill him off and soon. We only have two episodes left, I think? So not a lot of time. Shame, I like everyone else, except when they have scenes with him.

On the other hand, it's possible ...( Spoilers and continued rant on dislike of Pierce/Welling )


2. Tired. Have been sleeping poorly. Averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep a night, which is making me cranky. Culprit? Dreaded heat flashes and nightsweates which either keep me awake or wake me up in the middle of the night. Also allergies.

Climate changes haven't helped. Since arthritis is acting up, I think. My right knee is bothering me and my lower back. So, I'm irritable.

Also buried at work. But doing one thing at a time. It's actually better when I'm busy, when I'm not I get antsy and anxious. I don't handle boredom or down-time at work well. I'd rather have a lot to do. None of it is overly stressful, since none of the projects are political. Which means management leaves me alone for the most part. Management doesn't handle stress or politically sensitive projects well.

I've come to the conclusion that most human beings do not handle the following well: fame, excessive wealth, and power. Seems to be toxic to the human consciousness.

3. What is in a name?

Not a hell of a lot. ( Read more... )

4. Resisting the urge to do a Buffy/Angel rewatch. When in reality, I just want to watch certain episodes featuring Spike and ignoring others. Like all television series, Buffy and Angel had episodes I loved, and episodes that made me want to run from the room screaming or with an odd desire to hunt down the writers and either strangle them or shake them, asking repeatedly "what were you thinking??"

In the case of Buffy, I remember getting annoyed and a tad disappointed half-way through S6, when I figured out where they were going and had really hoped they'd do something else. ( Read more... )

The other shows I'm resisting the urge to watch are Gilmore Girls and Dawson's Creek (which I didn't really watch when it aired, because it irritated me). Also it's not like I don't have enough television to watch. Barely getting through the shows saved to my DVR, and haven't made it to the one's on Netflix.

1. ( Weekend Television )
2. The whole bit about a Soul and Spike has come up on LJ again via rahirah, who has some interesting things to say about it, and I sort of agree with. (For example, it's pretty clear I think that any theory expressed by the Watcher's Council or Giles can be summarily discounted as hogwash, mainly because the writers go out of their way to either make fun of Giles/Watcher's Council, contradict them, or demonstrate how silly it is. [Consider how many times Giles was knocked unconscious prior to providing information, and how often his information backfired on him. Similarly, Wesely's information was often wrong or back-fired on him.] This is a standard theme in Whedon's writing - any rule provided by an authority figure is circumspect and should not be trusted. Whedon has serious issues with authority.) That said, I looked at it a little differently than a lot of folks appear to or examined it differently.

Below is the essay that I wrote examining the meaning of a soul and the writer's intent regarding it in Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series.

( Soul Metaphors in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series )

3. Distinction between Sympathy and Empathy. [I'm wondering if the writer's intended unsouled vampires to express sympathy, and souled to express empathy?]

Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw