I am going to link the three parts of the conversation I had with another redditor, tell me if there is a part you disagree with or your thoughts.

The real big consequences are one the suicidal thought and basically suicide into Orsted, the future self describing all the horrible things his life can become so he basically lives in always paranoid mode(think victims of assults), he becomes the victim of himself but a version that doesnt grow up in Gisu. You also have both of his sisters who see him as their father which causes friction like crazy. His mother is crippled and he is trying to prevent his wives from becoming that. He has to protect Eris because of his own incompetence and Hitogami never helping him grow up which really is the cherry on the perversion and social ineptitude sundae.

It seems intentional that alot of the symptoms of rape or pedophilia victims are symptoms that Rudeus gets and overcomes/deals with. Loss of sexual pleasure and sexual fear -> Solved by Slyphie. Depression -> Roxy. Fear of Commitment -> Eris.

Rudeus is not perfect but he is basically a person trying his hardest vs people giving into their own fears, desires, or urges(his old self).

IIRC his first major breakdown was about Zenith, and that's relatively early. And that's an interesting parallel with the symptoms.

First was his sexual impotence from Eris leaving him. He latches himself so much to women that he cant handle his emotions at all. To which he runs away.

Slyphie gives him the confidence to finally shows he will take control of his life and do what he feels is right. Only to loses it again with Paul dying and Zenith being mentally damaged and relys on Roxy to get him out of it. This causes the real big decision point: to hurt Roxy or turn to others be honest and tell them his mistakes and that he needs help.

Okay I do not feel like I am doing a good job describing this because its is really hard to describe growing up in such a strange way.

Although that's a nice detail, I don't think it's fair to put him on the same category as other abused. His struggle is different, and I would've liked if the author had more "Who knew making money would be this hard" type of lines towards his oft perverse sexual tendencies

There are alot of parallels. It is hard for me to not see this as intentional. Hitogami is gaslighting Rudeus like a typical abuser, telling him lies and the world will be all good as his worst nightmares are brought to life by his abuser. Rudeus feels isolated and terrified because he has no idea who he can trust and he believed his ally was a villain(which lets be frank psychologists are not thought of well especially when this was written because talking to a psychologist makes you crazy(I how wrong it is but society is not always right)). He faces a horrible choice: either accept Hitogami's offer and be slowly worn down or go against him and risk your own life.

Maybe I am off: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_and_aftermath_of_rape#Psychological_impact_on_men but this is eerily close to what Rudeus goes through. It will be very interesting if in the face of Rudeus turning it around people will say "But Rudeus is a pedophile" or "But Rudeus is so perverted he deserved what happen to him". Especially because Rudeus is not doing what he does for the world or to be a hero, but because he wants to protect his family.

What are your thoughts? Am I off? Any time I think of this novel I always get a new ethical question. Last one was "Can a Pedophile ever been redeemed/Is there a crime that is truly unredeemable?"

Also thanks for the chat hopefully you had a great weekend.

That's right... the three goddesses earned their place because of their significant impact in his life, and that's the reason why he loves them all so dearly. You're doing a fine job relating his lows in life to the people he used to mostly lust over. From the beginning, he probably never imagined that he'd end up feeling so fulfilled because of them.

He starts from such a shitty point that you would have expected him to be perverted and blow up in his face. Part of why it works is Hitogami, part of it is he changes, and part of it is Sylphie, Roxy, and Eris all want to help him through what became his super messed up life. When you are fighting something that makes the Dragon God look like a fool, there is never enough help.

And yeah you're right, gaslighting is a tool of an abuser. I keep forgetting this since the author doesn't explicitly bring it up after the beginning, but Rudeus was horribly bullied and abused in his past life, so those mental scars would resurface HARD after also losing those people who've made him feel safe. And adding Hitogami in the picture completely alienates him, since Rudy already sees things differently as an outsider. Now that you mention it, Hitogami really was like a therapist to him until the real MVP Nanahoshi came along.

True I always forget about Nanahoshi because she is basically the foil of Rudeus who just wants to get back home(and also gets messed up be the world). This novel has such heavy emotional whiplash when you think too much about certain characters.

And to answer your last couple of questions with my general opinion, a crime is only irredeemable if you never let them get the chance to redeem themselves. What pedophiles do to children gives me a very bad taste, but they deserve a chance to work through it. I think Rudy is a good person overall, but (to my memory) his pedophillic tendencies haven't been addressed at all. He even mentioned "liking" his sisters, if they weren't family, at some point. Yeah, it's good he doesn't act on his urges anymore, but he doesn't feel any guilt at all (historical accuracy be dammed)

I would contest this because he starts asking for consent and stops doing the typical perverted Rudeus things. He is not assaulting his sisters, Cliffs wife, or the beast twins. He is still perverted but he understands what is okay vs not okay. The fact he doesnt get a 4th->10th wife does also show sexual maturity because with how much power he has he could probably bed most women in his world.

but he doesn't feel any guilt at all (historical accuracy be dammed)

I wonder on this one. Would it have been better if it explicitly said "And Rudy stopped acting perverted on loli's when he had his own kids" or something similar. Or do his actions show that change.

FUCK, you just made me think "Do we know if Pedophilia or fetishes actually able to be cured?" Welp I dont have an answer to either of these two questions.

Same. MT always has some really fun ethical questions that I dont know if there is an answer but it is always fun to talk through. No worries if you ever need someone to bounce the more controversial off feel free to pm me. We will have a very good weekend watching people lose their minds at the rift.