A xenobiologist decided to study the mating behaviors of many other races from the the weakest havenworlders to the strongest deathworlders. However, when it came to ... ah... HUMAN mating behaviors, well, things just got weird! -- DaniAndShali
It was the study of centuries, greatly aided by just hanging out in various public zones of crossroads stations and people-watching. Of course, the more invasive aspects of the study were a matter for each species individual fictions and documentaries. This study was about the social aspect of things, not the physical act of mating.
If two cogniscents were trying to attract each other, the reasoning went, it was wise to know how all species preferred to do so. One being's flirting, after all, was someone else's deadly insult. A little cultural understanding between various peoples was always a good thing.
As far as sociological studies went, it was doing very well. Havenworlders were generally straightforward with each other, and most species had stopped messing about with various manipulation games by the time they got to space.
When the Humans were welcomed into the Galactic scene... that's when it all went to assorted hells. Humans, as Deathworlders, were expected to be simple, rough, and direct. Nothing more complicated than the essential "I like something about your appearance, let's copulate." The researchers were not prepared for the seemingly needless complexities of Human behaviour.
Humans were closely related to a species of ape that used procreative behaviour between all troop members as social activity. They pack-bonded via sex. This gave rise to all kinds of cultural taboos and the resultant breaking thereof in assorted bright and spectacular ways.
Humans pack-bonded in all kinds of ways, not limited to sex, and the result of all this was a natural confusion about who was mating with whom and whether or not it "meant anything" to individuals within the varied arrangements. There were multiple instances of such behaviours confusing even the Humans who were involved. As evidenced by their dramatic depictions known colloquially as Soaps.
When the researchers dipped their toes into the confounding arena of experience, they discovered a polarised and gender-specific vortex that had taken some corners of Humanity centuries to unlearn. Some were still attempting to unlearn it. Many more hadn't bothered to try.
Worse still were the disparate varieties that Humans appeared to contain. Male, female, identifying as either, presenting as either, not wanting to be either, and attracted or not attracted to any one or selection of the previous options. It was bizarre.
There were species with seven distinct genders who had less complicated relationships than Humans.
Attempts to help the Humans sort their mating-game mess out only resulted in further confusion.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Nuclearlily]
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