Chapter 12: Humans are Weird: Aesthetic Differentiation
The following file has been written by order of the Galactic Council, as well as the 17 overseers in response to new sapient species 0038298-TN (Humanity).
Like almost any race, humans have aesthetic differentiation that can be used to tell them apart. The majority of a human’s body is covered in a non mucus producing skin. Due to the dangers of solar radiation humans have been designed with pigmentation in their skin, with the sole effect of this pigmentation being a varying shade of brown, ranging from undetectable, to sufficient to mask the underlying tissues absolutely. This is the first major differentiation that can be employed to recognize humans.
The most important part of a human’s body for differentiation is their head. Human’s have specialized neurology to pick up on minor structural differences in the face, but for non-Terrans the key differences are the following: colour, size, and shape of the eyebrows, colour, size, and shape of the eyes, ears, and lips.
Each human has a pair of lips. The mucus-membrane of the mouth is turned outwards and slightly swollen for most humans, presumably to remind their prey of their destiny.
However, most humans have a strong taboo against cannibalism, which has since been applied to all image races; they will not eat you. While you enjoy the safety of human pack bonding, observe the shape of their ‘lips’ as these are a useful tool for telling humans apart, with one slight caveat: Touching a human’s lips has very strong cultural meanings in the majority of Terran civilization. If your species lacks a visual input, you will need to use other means of recognizing humans, aside from touch.[1]
We keep the peace.
[1] Addendum 1: Humans moisten their lips with their biohazardous saliva. If your species has a weak immune system, it is best to avoid touching human lips if at all possible, and absolutely flee form the cultural practice of kissing. The primary purpose of a kiss is bonding and immune synchronization, and as humans have a hyperactive immune system this may be fatal for you.
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