ah. thats what it is. a complete and total incompatibility of morals.
the words that come to mind when i think of jiraiya and hiruzen are notĀ āhonorableā orĀ āheroicā orĀ ālaw abidingā or evenĀ āwiseā
the words i think of areĀ āsexual predatorā,Ā āchild abuserā,Ā āselfishā, āweak-willedā, andĀ āuntrustworthyā
and time and again the narrative excuses their bullshit and praises them for it. and that pisses me off to no end. and it pisses me off when fan authors buy into it too. and because so much of the english speaking fandom is american there is ZERO awareness or understanding of the concept of an unreliable narrator, or looking that what we are shown instead of what we are told.Ā
so when the narrative saysĀ āfeel pity for these twoā the vast majority of the fandom feels pity. when the narrative saysĀ āthese were good people who did good thingsā the fandom nods its head in agreement. when the narrative saysĀ āhow naruto was treated while he was supposed to be under their care was tragic and entirely out of these menās handsā the fandom makes a few sad noises and mumbles something about tragedy and fate and being unlucky.
these men had the power to do better, to be better, and failed, not because they couldnāt but because they didnāt even bother to try. and that? that is the key bit that i keep smacking into when i try to find good shitty ninjas fic. people keeping the inherent toxicity of kishiās fucked up morals and that being the primary reason iāve sworn off canon in the first fucking place.