#3162074 - safe, artist:beesmeliss, gallus, grampa gruff, king guto, oc, oc:gable, oc:gabriel, oc:gemino, oc:gemul, oc:georg, oc:gershon, oc:gisella, oc:gloriane, oc:gorge, oc:graciela, oc:greg, oc:gregory, oc:grenier, oc:gunnar, griffon, g4, backstory, chibi, previous generation, sepia, story included, younger

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“Is it really that exhausting to be around me?”

~~~

Normally, I don’t post this kind of drawings, but I have to explain the backstory based on later artwork, right? Inspired by actual criticism and theories surrounding the character of Grandpa Gruff, leader of the town of Griffinstone and caretaker of the young ones, and a few other cartoon and movie media, I’ve created a backstory arc for Grandpa Gruff explaining his anger. Take your time reading it and let me know what you think! I know it’s quite long.

Many of Grandpa Gruff’s thoughts are… Not very pleasant. Gallus has asked him related questions, but he got brushed off each time. The old Griffon wishes he could listen to what their family therapist said about opening up more to tell his grandson about what’s bugging him, both mentally and physically. But he can’t. It’s amazing how much you hear from people when they think you can’t hear them but you actually can…

Even though every Griffon in Griffinstone seems to be grumpy and short-tempered in equal amounts, Grandpa Gruff tends to be way more aggressive and irascible, to the point of even scaring the Griffons at times. This demeanor has a lot of causes.

Rough Upbringing: The elder’s upbringing had, to say the least, a pretty rough beginning. He was abandoned — quite literally — a minute after his birth by unwanted parents. In fact, he was thrown by his mother in a “lost and found” area with other Griffons’ possessions, with a post-it note reading his birthday stuck on his wing. Some Griffons that aren’t very fond of him believe that this is a lie and that he was “sent to Equestria by the Guardians of Tartarus”, while other more down-to-earth citizens say he was a product of a one night fling between employer and employee that left them both with regrets and one with an egg. But that’s just it. Not even Gruff knows. According to word on the street, a few days after they abandoned Gruff, his parents died in a fire in their house. Some say the fire was an accident and others say they put the fire themselves out of disappointment for when Gruff was born, while some believe it was them who did it because they feared Gruff would try to come back, so they put fire on their house so he wouldn’t find it, but were crashed by the roof on the way out. Gruff’s parents did die in a fire in their house a few days after they abandoned him, for all Gruff understood. However, the cause of the fire is unknown, even to this day.
Unpleasant Childhood: Because of his upbringing, for nearly all his life as a child, Gruff had been alone, an outcast ignored by his people, and left to fend for himself out in the cold Griffinstone streets. When Grandpa Gruff was younger, he was known as the town’s thief, usually being recognised as “Gruff the Gruesome”, and was pretty much in the same status Gallus was. With no family to speak of and nogriff ever willing to take him in, he was constantly locked in a struggle against his own hunger (hence his skinny torso). Fortunately for the young Griffon, doing odd jobs was enough for him to afford the food sold at the marketplace. Unfortunately, there were days where that wasn’t an option, which left him with the choice of ‘borrowing’. In his day, a fair amount of Griffons (especially shopkeepers) were hoarding their bits and batches, despite the existence of The Idol of Boreas, which left Gruff wondering how much those Griffons already took after their ancestors. Whenever he walked through the counters and carts, he often had the shopkeepers either curse and cuss him, shout at him, whack him, or even try to throw something at him. This was basically the reason he avoided going there, unless it was an absolute last option and one of the reasons explaining his touchiness when someone he doesn’t know or sees right after is near him. Viewing him with disgust and distrust, most Griffons would often try to cheat him, but Gruff made sure to know, at least, the basics of haggling and marketing, so it was a lost cause. Eventually, when finding food or bits became more difficult, he felt forced to actually start breaking into other Griffons’ houses to find some leftovers if he had any luck. On the first few times he did that, he was able to get away before getting caught or even noticed.

However, there was one time he was “borrowing” from a home belonging to a family of eight Griffons and he got noticed. In his attempt to dodge the storming ammunition and escape he got caught and was ridiculed and brutally beaten by the family and their pet dogs for being a thief (as thieves or cubs without parents were considered as nothing more than vile, uneducated, and untrustworthy scoundrels). After running outside to escape his tormentors, Gruff broke down in tears, developing a triggering fear of dogs - his tormentors sent their pets after him - and getting attacked. From that moment forward, Gruff vowed to never expose his true vulnerability to others, resulting in the Griffon presenting himself as stoic and unreachable. In fact, his life on the street was also how he was named. For quite a while, he was nameless, until a couple of Griffons started calling him nicknames (“Gruff” for his attitude at times and displeasure ‘he caused’ amongst his passing Griffons and around town; “Greysen” because he was grey-furred/feathered and apparently ‘didn’t really take many things in life for granted.’ So, “Gruff” (lengthened to “Gruffold”) became his first name and last name, while “Greysen” became his middle name. He was alone and unloved, until he met his friends to whom he, at first, debated whether or not to tell them the truth about who he really was, but fearing he may lose them decided instead to hold his tongue… Until he was exposed. But, long story short, the friendship between the six Griffons actually grew stronger, which was honestly one of the best things (if not THE best thing) for all of them in their childhood.

Grief and Aggressive Surroundings: And now, the biggest source of Grandpa Gruff’s anger and apparent grumpiness. Everygriff remembers the Arimaspi’s attack years back, which cost the golden Idol of Boreas, the Griffons’ most precious treasure. But also much more…

This dreadful day to which everygriff refers to as “the accident” was the result of many other destructions; many buildings and areas in the city that were damaged during Arimaspi’s escape from the castle laid in ruin and disrepair due to following decline, including the train station, located at the base of Griffon Gorge; the castle, had now a vacant throne following the disgrace of King Guto; the library, now had books scattered everywhere and a crumbling statue of King Grover; the Abysmal Abyss, remained subject to constant rushing winds… And many Griffons were unfortunately taken, specifically from the first pack of Griffons Grandpa Gruff looked after. Those said Griffons were the king’s soldiers, along with the elder and his friends. They all took part in the fight against Arimaspi and confrontation during his escape from the town all the way to the Abyss. When a sudden lightning bolt struck the thin path that crossed the Abysmal Abyss as the Arimaspi made its way through, both the greedy monster and the Idol fell. Except… They weren’t the only ones that fell. While losing his balance, Arimaspi attempted to grab onto some of the Griffons flying above him to save himself. Accompanied by the Abysmal Abbys’ strong winds, some of them got knocked, some of them struck by the lightning of the upcoming storm, and two — who Gruff was hospitalising with their newborn blue fledgling for a while — were unfortunately dragged along with the greedy monster. Distraught, the elder dived into the abyss, desperate to save his grandchildren, despite his friends’ attempts to stop him. He did everything he could to save them, using everything from his claws to his fire breath while in close combat with Arimaspi. But that wasn’t enough… Gruff only wanted for his grandchildren to make a good living. If he knew this would’ve happened, he’d never have encouraged them to follow their dreams of joining the soldiers.

Things became even harder when he had to explain what had happened and could hardly utter a word. Many close friends of the poor Griffons fell ill from their grief and some of them couldn’t cope with the pain and sorrow. This led a couple of their own relatives going down the same path for the same reason. This caused reactions from many perspectives, mostly from the old Griffon’s first pack of protégés. There were those who held no grudge against him and were instead very supportive and understanding of him; there were those who were pretty grief-stricken but warmed up to the old Griffon over time, although some of them still treated him quite coldly as they were not really over what had happened; and then there were those who became extremely darkened and grew further consumed by grief, anger, and even paranoia, taking it out on Grandpa Gruff and blaming him for all the damage. Hence why, when King Guto announced his retirement and named the Senior Group, his six best friends and only Griffons he trusted, as his heirs and leaders of Griffinstone, many Griffons were pretty reluctant to the idea of having Gruff as their leader, antagonising the elder and openly questioning his capabilities, considering his past as the town’s “street rogue”. Grandpa Gruff’s first protégé pack eventually warmed up to elder. Their relatives though, not as much. Quite frankly, they wanted him gone. And it was their hostility and constant blaming towards the elderly Griffon for that terrible accident that eventually made him start to blame himself too. This led to Griffons conflicting with one another about it and those flared tempers eventually made many Griffons lose trust in one another. Some of them were able to reconcile but others are still very stubborn and angry to change their views and let go, even to this day. Some even began hoarding their bits and treasures like their ancestors before them, either out of trying to fill their emotional void or due to being greedy by nature. Other Griffons got thinking about spreading out because of it, but even if they decided to stay afterwards, Gruff still believed it was his fault.

Losing the children and love of his life during Arimaspi’s attack, his home, and everything he knew and loved traumatized Grandpa Gruff so much that he swore it would never happen again, determined to preserve it. Because of it, he became overly protective of his grandchildren, rarely ever letting any of them go anywhere outside of Griffinstone; if it was because of going to an educational institution like Gallus or Gerard, or helping their community (and being kept away from bullies) like Gabby, the elder didn’t mind much as he knew it was for their own good, and additionally, where they were, and that they’d come back home after a while. If, however, it was because of actually wanting to leave and never return like Gilda wanted before, that he could not bear. He’d already lost many of his grandkids. He wasn’t willing to lose more. But despite this, he never tried to stop them from following their dreams and doing what they wanted, as long as it wasn’t something dangerous. Even in his hardest times, the old Griffon continued to care for Griffinstone’s Griffons, young and old, like he always had since childhood, and, while admitting he’s bothered by the insults, he chose not to show it and tried not to hold any grudges to anyone, no matter how harsh they treated him.

As another result of this experience, coupled with his other misfortunes, Gruff declared that if the world viewed him as nothing more than a vile and untrustworthy scoundrel, like in the past, he should not only accept it but embrace it, subsequently doing so by becoming a successful but very strict and snarky leader and caretaker whose walls only cracked on a few occasions, vowing once again to never expose his true feelings to others, including the care he had for his grandcubs. If something bad were to happen to any of them, he would claim that he’s concerned because he needs them in one piece in order to receive the check for them — but that would simply be a convenient excuse to be worried about them.

Music and singing were cut out for the most part (at least at the beginning) as many considered it a form of disrespect to the deceased. The vulture-like Griffon was seen as the source of many of Griffinstone’s problems and as the one that held Griffinstone back so much. But, despite all of this, his grandchildren express their disagreement about the elder being at fault for the accident and tell him what his friends have told him many times now: it wasn’t his fault if the lightning broke the bridge as there was nothing he could’ve done. It was a terrible accident and he was only trying to help. They trust that their grandfather is a sweet Griffon deep down that would never do something to hurt other Griffons, even viewing him as a hero for taking care of all of them even in grief and taking down a big goat-like monster completely on his own. Although there are times he believes he doesn’t deserve their comfort, Grandpa Gruff is actually glad to know not everyone in Griffinstone is angry with him.

Thus the reason why Grandpa Gruff, while he seems so seemingly randomly attached to the particular tale for a number of other reasons, ends the story on a quick and dry note out of the blue; as he doesn’t like continuing the story after that part and wants to get it over with before his mind starts playing tricks on him. This is also the reason “Bygone Griffons of Greatness” ends with the coronation of the fourteenth king of the Griffons, King Guto. Being the historian and keeper of all precious Griffon legends and lore, Gruff was the one who wrote the book. He chose not to include Arimaspi’s attack and twist the truth a bit on purpose because of bad memories, reluctance in the idea of other creatures pitying their species, and because of his belief that youngsters might read it (because, you know, those aren’t exactly things for children to hear). If anyone wanted to learn how Griffinstone became miserable, they had to turn to him. Apparently, Pinkie Pie was right. There was probably more to the story than just a missing hunk of gold and no one would like to record a sad history, not even the one who recorded it. But little did the party pony know that this story was sadder than she thought…

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"Is it really that exhausting to be around me?"

\~\~\~

Normally, I don't post this kind of drawings, but I have to explain the backstory based on later artwork, right? Inspired by actual criticism and theories surrounding the character of Grandpa Gruff, leader of the town of Griffinstone and caretaker of the young ones, and a few other cartoon and movie media, I've created a backstory arc for Grandpa Gruff explaining his anger. Take your time reading it and let me know what you think! I know it's quite long.

Many of Grandpa Gruff's thoughts are… Not very pleasant. Gallus has asked him related questions, but he got brushed off each time. The old Griffon wishes he could listen to what their family therapist said about opening up more to tell his grandson about what's bugging him, both mentally and physically. But he can't. It's amazing how much you hear from people when they think you can't hear them but you actually can…

1) Rough Upbringing: The elder's upbringing had, to say the least, a pretty rough beginning. He was abandoned — quite literally — a minute after his birth by unwanted parents. In fact, he was thrown by his mother in a "lost and found" area with other Griffons' possessions, with a post-it note reading his birthday stuck on his wing. Some Griffons that aren't very fond of him believe that this is a lie and that he was "sent to Equestria by the Guardians of Tartarus", while other more down-to-earth citizens say he was a product of a one night fling between employer and employee that left them both with regrets and one with an egg. But that's just it. Not even Gruff knows. According to word on the street, a few days after they abandoned Gruff, his parents died in a fire in their house. Some say the fire was an accident and others say they put the fire themselves out of disappointment for when Gruff was born, while some believe it was them who did it because they feared Gruff would try to come back, so they put fire on their house so he wouldn't find it, but were crashed by the roof on the way out. Gruff's parents did die in a fire in their house a few days after they abandoned him, for all Gruff understood. However, the cause of the fire is unknown, even to this day.

2) Unpleasant Childhood: Because of his upbringing, for nearly all his life as a child, Gruff had been alone, an outcast ignored by his people, and left to fend for himself out in the cold Griffinstone streets. When Grandpa Gruff was younger, he was known as the town's thief, usually being recognised as "Gruff the Gruesome", and was pretty much in the same status Gallus was. With no family to speak of and nogriff ever willing to take him in, he was constantly locked in a struggle against his own hunger (hence his skinny torso). Fortunately for the young Griffon, doing odd jobs was enough for him to afford the food sold at the marketplace. Unfortunately, there were days where that wasn't an option, which left him with the choice of 'borrowing'. In his day, a fair amount of Griffons (especially shopkeepers) were hoarding their bits and batches, despite the existence of The Idol of Boreas, which left Gruff wondering how much those Griffons already took after their ancestors. Whenever he walked through the counters and carts, he often had the shopkeepers either curse and cuss him, shout at him, whack him, or even try to throw something at him. This was basically the reason he avoided going there, unless it was an absolute last option and one of the reasons explaining his touchiness when someone he doesn't know or sees right after is near him. Viewing him with disgust and distrust, most Griffons would often try to cheat him, but Gruff made sure to know, at least, the basics of haggling and marketing, so it was a lost cause. Eventually, when finding food or bits became more difficult, he felt forced to actually start breaking into other Griffons' houses to find some leftovers if he had any luck. On the first few times he did that, he was able to get away before getting caught or even noticed.

However, there was one time he was "borrowing" from a home belonging to a family of eight Griffons and he got noticed. In his attempt to dodge the storming ammunition and escape he got caught and was ridiculed and brutally beaten by the family and their pet dogs for being a thief (as thieves or cubs without parents were considered as nothing more than vile, uneducated, and untrustworthy scoundrels). After running outside to escape his tormentors, Gruff broke down in tears, developing a triggering fear of dogs - his tormentors sent their pets after him - and getting attacked. From that moment forward, Gruff vowed to never expose his true vulnerability to others, resulting in the Griffon presenting himself as stoic and unreachable. In fact, his life on the street was also how he was named. For quite a while, he was nameless, until a couple of Griffons started calling him nicknames ("Gruff" for his attitude at times and displeasure 'he caused' amongst his passing Griffons and around town; "Greysen" because he was grey-furred/feathered and apparently 'didn't really take many things in life for granted.' So, "Gruff" (lengthened to "Gruffold") became his first name and last name, while "Greysen" became his middle name. He was alone and unloved, until he met his friends to whom he, at first, debated whether or not to tell them the truth about who he really was, but fearing he may lose them decided instead to hold his tongue… Until he was exposed. But, long story short, the friendship between the six Griffons actually grew stronger, which was honestly one of the best things (if not THE best thing) for all of them in their childhood.

3) Grief and Aggressive Surroundings: And now, the biggest source of Grandpa Gruff's anger and apparent grumpiness. Everygriff remembers the Arimaspi's attack years back, which cost the golden Idol of Boreas, the Griffons' most precious treasure. But also much more…

This dreadful day to which everygriff refers to as "the accident" was the result of many other destructions; many buildings and areas in the city that were damaged during Arimaspi's escape from the castle laid in ruin and disrepair due to following decline, including the train station, located at the base of Griffon Gorge; the castle, had now a vacant throne following the disgrace of King Guto; the library, now had books scattered everywhere and a crumbling statue of King Grover; the Abysmal Abyss, remained subject to constant rushing winds… And many Griffons were unfortunately taken, specifically from the first pack of Griffons Grandpa Gruff looked after. Those said Griffons were the king's soldiers, along with the elder and his friends. They all took part in the fight against Arimaspi and confrontation during his escape from the town all the way to the Abyss. When a sudden lightning bolt struck the thin path that crossed the Abysmal Abyss as the Arimaspi made its way through, both the greedy monster and the Idol fell. Except… They weren't the only ones that fell. While losing his balance, Arimaspi attempted to grab onto some of the Griffons flying above him to save himself. Accompanied by the Abysmal Abbys' strong winds, some of them got knocked, some of them struck by the lightning of the upcoming storm, and two — who Gruff was hospitalising with their newborn blue fledgling for a while — were unfortunately dragged along with the greedy monster. Distraught, the elder dived into the abyss, desperate to save his grandchildren, despite his friends' attempts to stop him. He did everything he could to save them, using everything from his claws to his fire breath while in close combat with Arimaspi. But that wasn't enough… Gruff only wanted for his grandchildren to make a good living. If he knew this would've happened, he'd never have encouraged them to follow their dreams of joining the soldiers.

Things became even harder when he had to explain what had happened and could hardly utter a word. Many close friends of the poor Griffons fell ill from their grief and some of them couldn't cope with the pain and sorrow. This led a couple of their own relatives going down the same path for the same reason. This caused reactions from many perspectives, mostly from the old Griffon's first pack of protégés. There were those who held no grudge against him and were instead very supportive and understanding of him; there were those who were pretty grief-stricken but warmed up to the old Griffon over time, although some of them still treated him quite coldly as they were not really over what had happened; and then there were those who became extremely darkened and grew further consumed by grief, anger, and even paranoia, taking it out on Grandpa Gruff and blaming him for all the damage. Hence why, when King Guto announced his retirement and named the Senior Group, his six best friends and only Griffons he trusted, as his heirs and leaders of Griffinstone, many Griffons were pretty reluctant to the idea of having Gruff as their leader, antagonising the elder and openly questioning his capabilities, considering his past as the town's "street rogue". Grandpa Gruff's first protégé pack eventually warmed up to elder. Their relatives though, not as much. Quite frankly, they wanted him gone. And it was their hostility and constant blaming towards the elderly Griffon for that terrible accident that eventually made him start to blame himself too. This led to Griffons conflicting with one another about it and those flared tempers eventually made many Griffons lose trust in one another. Some of them were able to reconcile but others are still very stubborn and angry to change their views and let go, even to this day. Some even began hoarding their bits and treasures like their ancestors before them, either out of trying to fill their emotional void or due to being greedy by nature. Other Griffons got thinking about spreading out because of it, but even if they decided to stay afterwards, Gruff still believed it was his fault.

Losing the children and love of his life during Arimaspi's attack, his home, and everything he knew and loved traumatized Grandpa Gruff so much that he swore it would never happen again, determined to preserve it. Because of it, he became overly protective of his grandchildren, rarely ever letting any of them go anywhere outside of Griffinstone; if it was because of going to an educational institution like Gallus or Gerard, or helping their community (and being kept away from bullies) like Gabby, the elder didn't mind much as he knew it was for their own good, and additionally, where they were, and that they'd come back home after a while. If, however, it was because of actually wanting to leave and never return like Gilda wanted before, that he could not bear. He'd already lost many of his grandkids. He wasn't willing to lose more. But despite this, he never tried to stop them from following their dreams and doing what they wanted, as long as it wasn't something dangerous. Even in his hardest times, the old Griffon continued to care for Griffinstone's Griffons, young and old, like he always had since childhood, and, while admitting he's bothered by the insults, he chose not to show it and tried not to hold any grudges to anyone, no matter how harsh they treated him.

As another result of this experience, coupled with his other misfortunes, Gruff declared that if the world viewed him as nothing more than a vile and untrustworthy scoundrel, like in the past, he should not only accept it but embrace it, subsequently doing so by becoming a successful but very strict and snarky leader and caretaker whose walls only cracked on a few occasions, vowing once again to never expose his true feelings to others, including the care he had for his grandcubs. If something bad were to happen to any of them, he would claim that he's concerned because he needs them in one piece in order to receive the check for them — but that would simply be a convenient excuse to be worried about them.

Music and singing were cut out for the most part (at least at the beginning) as many considered it a form of disrespect to the deceased. The vulture-like Griffon was seen as the source of many of Griffinstone's problems and as the one that held Griffinstone back so much. But, despite all of this, his grandchildren express their disagreement about the elder being at fault for the accident and tell him what his friends have told him many times now: it wasn't his fault if the lightning broke the bridge as there was nothing he could've done. It was a terrible accident and he was only trying to help. They trust that their grandfather is a sweet Griffon deep down that would never do something to hurt other Griffons, even viewing him as a hero for taking care of all of them even in grief and taking down a big goat-like monster completely on his own. Although there are times he believes he doesn't deserve their comfort, Grandpa Gruff is actually glad to know not everyone in Griffinstone is angry with him.

Thus the reason why Grandpa Gruff, while he seems so seemingly randomly attached to the particular tale for a number of other reasons, ends the story on a quick and dry note out of the blue; as he doesn't like continuing the story after that part and wants to get it over with before his mind starts playing tricks on him. This is also the reason "Bygone Griffons of Greatness" ends with the coronation of the fourteenth king of the Griffons, King Guto. Being the historian and keeper of all precious Griffon legends and lore, Gruff was the one who wrote the book. He chose not to include Arimaspi's attack and twist the truth a bit on purpose because of bad memories, reluctance in the idea of other creatures pitying their species, and because of his belief that youngsters might read it (because, you know, those aren't exactly things for children to hear). If anyone wanted to learn how Griffinstone became miserable, they had to turn to him. Apparently, Pinkie Pie was right. There was probably more to the story than just a missing hunk of gold and no one would like to record a sad history, not even the one who recorded it. But little did the party pony know that this story was sadder than she thought...

https://www.deviantart.com/beesmeliss/art/Grandpa-s-Thoughts-904761235

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