help i don't even go here (sabballey fandom)
so, I was wondering what the appeal of Sabballey is (curiosity, NOT judgment—shipping people who never interact is a time‐honored part of fandom that I indulge in myself), and guessed it was something to do with a spy x politician dynamic? Schemer4schemer, the two that pull strings behind the scenes—
and then my brain said "hey you want a fic idea from this"
brain: rhetorical question you're getting one
so imagine, post-movie, the church is considering changing its stance on gay relationships. (This is a calculated move to make the church more relevant and appealing to younger members and in no way a desperate attempt to head off scandal due to Cardinals Bellini and Tedesco's decades-long...that threatening to boil over in an embarrassingly public manner ever since the conclave, not to mention Pope Innocent and his Dean constantly staring adoringly at one another. There's even rumors that Tremblay's attempts to apologize to Adeyemi have become rather...personal. Tremblay and Adeyemi! As if the speculation about just what went down during the conclave isn't bad enough.)
O'Malley is doing research on the issue for Lawrence; Sabbadin is judging the angles. They come to the conclusion that the best way to handle this is to have a pair of cardinals publicly announce their relationship and showcase it on social media. None of the aforementioned pairs, of course; the thing must be done carefully and tactfully and in a fully controlled manner. That's the whole point.
Obviously, the best plan is for Sabbadin and O'Malley to be the pair.
(it's not like Sabbadin's going to get so into the paranoia of it—there could be paparazzi around at any time!—that they agree to keep up the act always, even when alone. Or that O'Malley's overachiever streak will make him determined to be the best boyfriend (fake) Sabbadin's ever had. Or that both of them will somehow fail to realize they should have planned the final stage before their only options are either "First Gay Cardinals Bring Scandal Upon the Church with Public Break-Up, More at 11" or "discussing which one of us is going to propose so we can get married for the bit knowing full well gay marriage is one thing but divorce? good heavens the church can only condone so much". And it's definitely not like either of them is going to be secretly sad at the idea of only being proposed to as a political strategy. Obviously. They are going to be so in control of this situation, guys. This is a brilliant plan.)
anyway, i don't go here and idk even if this is even in character for ray and giulio and i have too many wips as it is, so i am humbly turning this over to the conclave fandom. do with it as ye will.
