lacylu42
Before he got his own book, I pictured Jerry as something like Klaus from The Umbrella Academy.
You aren’t alone! I had a lot of people say that when Jerry actually showed up in Fete he wasn’t what they expected from the discussion of him earlier, but in a good way.
I think there is a sense, probably from the last few dozen years of television, that someone who is...not necessarily antagonistic to the hero, but at the very least antithetical to their character, has to be a specific way. You can’t be the slightly-shiftless, always-in-trouble, charming-regardless character unless you are also specifically making problems for the hero. And it’s a shame, because antiheroes like that are super fun and yet I absolutely cannot stand that plotline, where the entire conflict comes from one person being a selfish dickhead. (As is perhaps evident, I found Klaus intolerable.)
The thing is that I really like the type, because it’s fun to write someone who is likable in spite of their flaws. So Jerry is the other option, the guy who is fun and enjoyable to read about and feels deeply even if he clearly hasn’t got his shit together...but is also earnest, and doing his best to be helpful. What he has which a lot of other characters of his archetype don’t is the ability to be reflective, which made him a real joy to write about. Gregory has 99 problems but Gerald ben Eitan ain’t one.
niennanir
An amusing story to write would be Gregory and Eddy presumed dead in some sort of accident and Jerry suddenly being thrown into succession only to be "Oh no, their fine" at the point where he decides he really wants to nope out of this but he'll do it for the people he loves.
It would be super hilarious if Gregory and Eddie were temporarily indisposed -- say, a car accident that didn’t severely injure them but did put them out of commission for a bit, and the palace lawyers are like “Uh, Alanna, something you should know that we just discovered in consulting the constitution for precedence, turns out if the King and his consort are both incapacitated, technically the Grand Vizier takes over...” and Jerry is like “I realize this is poorly timed but we are in an emergency room, can I have an emergency Valium.” (”No, you can’t mix Valium and Adderall.” “Curse my unique royal brain chemistry!”)
Meanwhile Michaelis is like “I am...right here. Forty years of kinging, standing here. I’m here. Do we need a king? There’s a king in the room. King since I was twenty years old. Right here,” and the lawyers are like “Uhhhhhh technically once you give up the crown you can’t take it back, on account of rules about former kings trying to seize power again.”
Be even funnier if Jerry does a really good job of it. Like, gets a bill passed that Gregory’s been trying to get into law for months, finds a couple of budget line items that can be reduced, hosts a goodwill visit from the royal family of Norway* that goes so well they decide to buy a summer home there.
Gregory: What....did you do?
Jerry: Took an Adderall and opened some spreadsheets. You’re lucky I wasn’t medicated five years ago, I’d probably be king now.
Gregory: Fair play, I guess. No coups, Jerry.
Jerry: Who has the time for a coup? I have shopping to do. While I was king my whole entire wardrobe went out of style.
Gregory: That’s the spirit.
* My mother used to be an avid follower of the British Royal Family but after the nonsense of the last few years she simply can’t, so I suggested that we be fans of the Norwegian Royal Family instead. They’re more photogenic and appear to be a good deal more useful. Also the name Harald is fun to read and to say.
