Stabilization
is a Simon Boccanegra fanfic by AutumnLeaves. It is a retelling of the canon from the point of view of Paolo Albiani, and his motivations turn out to be quite different from what other characters believe.
The fanfic contains examples of:
- Accidental Aesop: In-Universe. The main lesson Paolo learned after reading The Divine Comedy is the following: if exile makes people so smart they can write such masterpieces, it's risky to exile one's dangerous enemies.
- Adaptational Heroism: Paolo Albiani is an utterly self-serving villain in the opera. Here, it's nothing but pretense: while far from actually heroic, he does everything, including sacrificing himself, for the sake of his city.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Paolo acknowledges himself as an example – honorable people are the benevolent authority figures, while the unsavory side of politics is left to people like him.
- Beneath the Mask: Paolo seems a cartoonish bad guy who only cares for his own whims, complete with Not Good with Rejection, Evil Gloating and two Villainous Breakdowns. Beneath it all, he is cool as a cucumber for most of the time, doesn't in the least enjoy the evil things he feels he needs to do, and genuinely loves 1) Genoa and 2) Amelia.
- Bittersweet Ending: Genoa is on its way to unity and peace, Gabriele and Amelia are married, and Amelia has reunited with her father, albeit for a short while, and learned that Jacopo Fiesco is her grandfather. However, Simone dies, poisoned by Paolo, and Paolo is to be hanged and will go down in history as a vile traitor.
- Conflict Killer: The key part of Paolo's plan involves posing as a hateful, irredeemable enemy against whom the rest of Genoa will be quickly united.
- Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Paolo works for Simone. Until it's revealed he's aiding the rebels. Until it is clear he cares for nothing but personal gain. Or so it all seems to the characters, because in truth, Paolo only works for the good of Genoa.
- Evil Gloating: Paolo loves it, since it comes in handy if you need to pretend to be a despicable villain.
- Failure Gambit: Paolo likes to use it, since it enhances the Stupid Evil image he needs to cultivate.
- While planning Amelia's abduction, he deliberately made sure it would result in failure.
- Likewise, he stirs up a rebellion only to personally and purposefully lead it into defeat.
- Framing the Guilty Party:
- Paolo briefly thinks about exposing Jacopo Fiesco and Gabriele Adorno's plot and planting some fake clues pointing to Gabriele to make the latter look absolutely despicable.
- Later on, done by Paolo to himself. He makes it seem that his own crimes are committed for far pettier motives than in truth.
- Go Out with a Smile: Downplayed, since the fanfic ends before the actual moment of death, but Paolo smiles as he is led to the gallows, knowing that his gambit to unite the people of Genoa has paid off.
- Gold Digger: Paolo's initial motive in asking for Amelia's hand is, indeed, like she suspected, her enormous fortune. What she doesn't know is that he doesn't want the money for himself – he plans to use it for the needs of Genoa.
- Green-Eyed Monster: As much as it annoys him, Paolo is madly jealous of Amelia and Gabriele. Twice, he struggles with a temptation to plot Gabriele's death and proceed with Comforting the Fiancée.
- Half-Truth: A lot of what Paolo says. For example, when he is dragged off to the gallows, he tells Fiesco, like in canon, that he arranged Amelia's kidnapping. He did, except that he made sure she would invariably escape or be released, and it was all part of his plan of uniting Genoa.
- Heroic Sacrifice: What Paolo believes his own death to be. It's left for the reader to judge if he is right.
- Honey Trap: Discussed. The very reason Paolo speeds up his plans is that he is worried that Amelia, after getting used to the intrigues at court, might use his intense attraction to her to get him to reveal his schemes.
- Klingon Promotion: Paolo's plan initially fits the trope. He intends to kill Simon and become Doge himself. Soon, though, he has to change his plans.
- Love Is a Weakness: Paolo has steered clear of romantic and sexual relationships for the past thirty years precisely because of his firm belief in this trope. Since he is afraid he might be weakened by his growing attraction to Amelia, he hastens Simone's demise and his own defeat.
- Malicious Misnaming: Rarely does Paolo mentally call Gabriele Adorno anything other than "the boy". But after Gabriele and Amelia actually get married and Gabriele is proclaimed the new Doge, Paolo inwardly calls him by his first name, for the first time, implying he has let go of his jealousy.
- The Man Behind the Man: Paolo would have preferred to pull Simone's strings, but Simone isn't so easily controlled. After Simone's death, Jacopo Fiesco becomes a benevolent version of the trope towards newly-elected Gabriele.
- Manipulative Bastard: Being extremely perceptive, a careful schemer, and a brilliant actor, Paolo is adept at manipulating people and does it almost all the time. He manages to get Genoa's political parties united in less than a week.
- May–December Romance: Discussed, since that's what Paolo and Amelia's marriage would have been – Paolo is fifty-two and Amelia twenty-nine. In fact, Paolo realizes that age difference can lead to problems and is relieved that she isn't even younger than that.
- Morality Pet: Paolo has two, but both times the trope is downplayed.
- Amelia. Paolo is willing to kill Amelia's father, though he knows it will devastate her, and he deliberately provokes Gabriele into jealously quarrelling with her and attempting to murder Simon. However, all of it is done due to The Needs of the Many rather than any personal feelings. Further on, when there is a chance for Paolo to do away with Gabriele and marry Amelia, he realizes that he has deceived her so much he wouldn't have been able to live with it.
- Pietro. Paolo is a Benevolent Boss towards him, always praising his loyalty and even making sure Pietro's involvement in his schemes is hard to be proven. However, when Pietro gives himself up after the rebellion, Paolo only thinks he could have been useful for many more years at court.
- The Needs of the Many: Paolo takes no pleasure in killing Simone, especially after the latter is revealed to be Amelia's father. However, he reasons that it's the only way to ensure a peaceful and stable future for Genoa.
- Not an Act: Paolo's selfishness, pettiness, and hatred towards Simone are all faked. However, his passion for Amelia and resulting jealousy of Gabriele, as well as his horror at having been forced to curse himself, turn out to be real.
- Not Bad: When Paolo hears Gabriele admit and strive to correct his mistakes, he thinks that "the boy", under Fiesco's mentoring, might eventually become clever.
- Nothing Personal: In fact, Paolo has nothing whatsoever against Simone, viewing him as a good man caught up in a bad situation. However, he believes Simone needs to die for the good of the people of Genoa.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Paolo pretends to become a case of Stupid Evil, all for the sake of giving the political factions of Genoa a very despicable but easily-defeated common enemy.
- Patriotic Fervor: Paolo's defining quality. He is willing to do anything for the sake of his beloved city.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Very downplayed, especially since it never goes beyond proposal stage. Paolo asks for Amelia's hand because she is incredibly rich and the city treasury needs money really badly, but once he meets her in person, he is smitten. Amelia, however, wants nothing to do with him.
- Perspective Flip: The plot as viewed by Paolo Albiani, who in canon is the main villain and, weirdly enough, a secondary character.
- Precision F-Strike: There is no profanity at all throughout the work… except for two moments – "damn it" when Paolo hears Amelia is in love with someone else, and "bloody" when he muses he has grown "too bloody attracted to her".
- Shout-Out: Paolo recalls an epic poem he read in his youth – The Comedy, by a Florentine exile of the Alighieri family.
- Thanatos Gambit: Paolo plans his own downfall and likely death to stabilize the political situation in Genoa.
- Together in Death: After Simone's death, Paolo thinks that Simone and Maria Fiesco are perhaps reunited in Heaven.
- Tragic Dream: After falling in love with Amelia for real, Paolo longingly wishes he could win her love and marry her, but he knows it can never be because she already loves Gabriele and Paolo feels his own duty is to sacrifice himself for the sake of Genoa.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Paolo does everything for the good of Genoa. Including murder, stirring up a rebellion only to set it up for failure, and abduction (although the latter is deliberately planned to enable Amelia to escape).
- Xanatos Speed Chess: The only part of Paolo's plan that remains unchanged throughout the fic is "kill Simone and restore Genoa's stability". The rest is constantly altered as new unforeseen circumstances arise (the first of which being Paolo's own unexpected and unrequited affection for Amelia).
