another fanon thing i really can’t stand sometimes is this idea that grendel is deceptive, or actively / compulsively a liar, when he’s canonically been shown to just ... not talk at all, or not address something at all, if he doesn’t intend on telling the truth. Â
when he isn’t fucking with somebody, he’s not good at lying. he doesn’t like it.
and i don’t like people depicting him as openly venomous to everyone around him regardless of who they are or what purpose he’d have for which to act like that. that’s not supported by canon, either. grendel lashes out when he feels you’ve deeply wronged, or had a hand in wronging, the people he loves. otherwise, grendel’s tolerant so long as you’ve afforded him his personal space.
this isn’t to say that grendel is friendly or kind to everyone, and most especially not to implicate he’s polite; he isn’t. he’s very abrasive if you give him a reason to be. but he isn’t sadistic, he isn’t a Bad Man, and he most certainly is not a liar.
i’d even go so far as to say that one of grendel’s biggest flaws is brutal honesty.
and i’d also say that he’s an exceptionally fair man -- that, while sometimes misguided in his judgement of others, he won’t go out of his way to treat you poorly just because he, personally, doesn’t like you. i’d say he’s a decent man -- one who loves just as fiercely as he’s capable of hating; who is devoted, loyal, and moral, and who almost always retains his humanity &  his treatment of others with humanity + basic respect so long as you return it in kind.
he’s not always fun to be around, but he’s a good man. he’s a fine man. so if grendel decides someone deserves to be treated badly, there’s probably a kernel of truth to it.
