Plagueis and Palpatineās relationship pretty much followed almost all of the characteristics of a traditional pederastic dynamic if you think about it.
Yāall have to hear me out on this. Iām not just referring to the act of pederasty, but also the practice of it. The practice of pederasty was widely spread and varied across many different cultures, so for simplicity Iāll be only using ancient Greece as a reference.
In ancient Greece, pederasty was used to describe a sexual relationship between an adult man usually over 20 years old (erastes) and an adolescent boy that ranged from 12-18 years old (eromenos). While it had undeniably sexual elements, its main purpose was the erastes providing education to the eromenos, acting as the teacher. Then the eromenos would grow up under the tutelage of the adult and hoped to become a great man when reached to adulthood.
Quite similar to the dynamic between Plagueis and Palpatine. You can insert Plagueis (100+ y/o) as the erastes and Palpatine (17 y/o) as the eromenos. Especially when you take into the account the reason why teenage Palpatine sought out Plagueis (who was known as Hego Damask at the time) because Palps recognized him as a powerful, influental, and knowledgeable man unlike his father. It's clear that Palpatine saw knowledge and experince as something important and sought after as this was reflected in one of their early conversations when the youth remarked how envy he is of Plagueis' old age.
Though there are more vulnerable and emotional reasons; Palpatine had a troubled relationship with his father, both son and father shared a mutual hatred for each other. As a result, Palpatine became easily attached to Plagueis (the man whom he just met btw) simply due to gaining attention and validation from him which the boy had never really gotten from his father. He was willing to spy for him as long as he could report directly to Plagueis, indicating he wanted more of his company. In the DP novel, Plagueis reported that the conversations they had throughout their partnership had āopen emotional floodgatesā in Palpatine.
It showed Palpatine considered Plagueis as a companion and possibly a replacement of his father. Plagueis knew and took advantage of the conflicted feelings Palps had by grooming and goading him into killing his family which trapped the boy into a situation where he had no choice, but to be dependant on him. And thus, successfully making the orphan into his Sith apprentice (by an extension claiming his ownership on the boy).
Since then Plagueis technically raised his new apprentice (who was only 17 y/o) to adulthood, teaching him about the Force, the Sith, politics, etc in exchange of his apprenticeās submission. But by no means their relationship was filial, it developed into a more intimate relationship (erastes/eromenos). There's a throw away line in the novel about Palpatine being somewhat a "loner" after his family's death, it is reasonable to assume Plagueis may play a part in Palps' isolation to make him more susceptible the dark side (and the grooming). Heck, I'd argue Plagueis might be the sole cause of the isolation considering by Naboo's laws Palps was an emancipated man therefore it was easier for Plagueis to have "access" to him without going through trouble of dealing with a legal guardian.
Which doesn't seem to be far-fetched considering Plagueis' behavior in the novel Maul: Lockdown where he weirdly acted clingy, possessive, and obsessive to Palpatine (he'd touch him inappropriately and crossed over his boundaries to undermine Palpatine's autonomy).
Despite Plagueis' words that they were "equals", he still emphasized his possesion/ownership to Palpatine and made no effort of hiding this fact. Palpatine got sick of it and eventually killed him. Though, there was this great feeling of loss after he killed Plagueis which seemed to be a result of trauma bonding. Overall, it was a messy ending to this fascinating, yet messed up and abusive relationship.
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