LISTEN TO ME TEAR DOWN THE ENTIRE FANDOM AND / OR LITERARY CANON MEME
this one – unlike the ‘ Gren is always angry ’ thing – is one i really, honestly DO NOT get. a lot of people seem to assume it, and there’s just … so much fucking evidence for the contrary that i can’t. wrap my head around it.
Grendel is very high empathy. he FREQUENTLY endangers himself to protect others, and when Grendel is the only one hurting, he shuts his mouth.
everything Grendel does is selfless.
this man got his fucking arm ripped off defending the safety and integrity of his friends. this man actively, at several points, puts himself in-between vulnerable people and potential threats. this man got SHOT protecting Holly, Nerissa, and Snow. he nearly lost his LIFE for them.
even the arguments he pitches into aren’t just to ‘ make himself feel better ’ – Grendel argues because he isn’t the only person who’s been mistreated by the government. Grendel raises a fucking stink, and is outspoken about the injustices Fabletown is ripe with, because he isn’t the only one affected by them. he watches people suffer constantly; he’s seen ( and experienced ) what poverty does to people; he knows slipping through the cracks – e.g. Lily – can be fucking fatal.
Holly’s mourning was put before his own. his friends’ safety & comfort is put before his own. he forgave the man who fucking MAIMED HIM because he just wanted JUSTICE to finally be served, and he was willing to silence his own ( legitimate ! ) objections & set his own trauma aside in order to let Bigby do the right thing.
anyone who claims Gren lives selfishly just doesn’t fucking understand him at all.
Grendel’s anger does not equate to Grendel being self-centered or having a rotten heart.