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--- takma:body_language [2023/11/02 09:49] – shyriath
+++ takma:body_language [2023/11/02 12:00] (current) – shyriath
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 The licking of the muzzle and the region around the eyes overlaps somewhat with the forms of licking involved in [[takma:behaviors#grooming]], but is distinct in that it serves different functions. Although it //can// be, and often is, used for hygiene and social bonding, it is just as often an emotional reaction, occupying approximately the same range of connotations as hugs and embraces do among humans.
-It is generally interpreted an expression of affection or emotional attachment, although this may be performative rather than literal (as in meetings between distant cousins).
+It is generally interpreted an expression of affection or emotional attachment, whether spontaneous or performative. Formal or perfunctory face lickings tend to involve fewer and alternating licks, whereas expressions of genuine affection tend to involve more licks and more simultaneous licking by both participants. (If simultaneous licking goes on for an extended period - not strictly defined, but the longer it is the more it is held to be true - it is generally considered an expression of romantic feeling, akin to kissing or snogging.)
+If one person is licking and the other is not, it is usually assumed that the licking partner is providing comfort and emotional support to the non-licking partner, who may be tired, in distress, or merely distracted. Nonconsensual face licking is rare, since a recipient has few reasons to let it pass unchallenged and a giver has few reasons to force it.
+Face licking is not always a positive reaction. The pace of licking is an indication of worry or urgency, and while slow licking indicates a relaxed situation, fast licking may be performed in times of stress for mutual reassurance. Frantic face licking is roughly equivalent, in this sense, to a human clinging to or squeezing another in an embrace.
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