Not ones that talk to them. I think this one wasn't right, out of the box.

That, or there's a protocol for medical deaths and something got screwed up, trapping her there. Now she's suffering and the only way out she sees is to kill OP to be fully released.

Could be a bit of both.

My guess is that her "life" cycle revolves around the person she guards. OP managed to screw it up in a way where the guardian was caught in a limbo that drove her insane and she's coming apart at the seams. That is now spilling over into OP's physical reality.

The miracles of modern medicine.

I detest Bluejays. The image in the OP perfectly shows the unwarranted balls on a Bluejay. I remember a story where one pinned down a smaller bird and pecked its eyes out, then just left it like that. Come in my territory and lose your eyes?

No.

I'm a mega "bleeding-heart, love all the things, give everyone a chance" type. I honestly hoped your story would end with you savagely murdering that thing.

Sweet catch, by the way.

>most people feel as if their current self-image is how they will be forever

This explains a lot about why people are so okay with their flaws. Everyone is flawed, but if it can be fixed, fix it. You can stop when you die.

Username does not check out, JOE.

Homo is Latin for human, so yes, that's correct.

Edit: apparently there are debates about this, too.

Not to be confused with homo in Greek, which means same.

12 at a time.