serena, 22, writer current wip: let sleeping dogs lie | zhongchi | explicit - DISCONTINUEDplease see below a full spoiler of the fic 'let sleeping dogs lie', as well as an explanation to why i stopped writing (i don't know if anyone will ever see this, but there was no other place i could post this haha)1. did zhongli cheat on ajax? no, he did not.2. then what was the video about? was it real? how about the narwhal tattoo? yes, the video is real. yes, the narwhal tattoo is there, and it is something that he got for ajax. however, he got that tattoo one year before he approached ajax.confused? don't be, let me break it down for you. zhongli stalked ajax from afar for about two years before they officially met. the first time zhongli saw him was at an underground fighting rink, when ajax was 19. he was attracted to him from the get go, and watched him for the next two years, his curiosity slowly morphing into an untamed obsession until he simply couldn't control it anymore.he was well and truly addicted, going as far as breaking in to his place in the dead of the night (that's how he discovered that ajax had a soft spot for all things narwhal actually), hiring men to keep an eye on him, and even subtly getting rid of any potential competition and ruining the lives of people ajax spent even a single night with. man was down bad for him. so bad, in fact, that he got a narwhal tattooed on his spine long before they met.ningguang called him out on it, and he didn't like it, didn't like that he was obsessing, that he was head over heels for a man he hadn't even spoken to. it was the firs time he had such strong feelings for another person, you see, so he was scared.his involvement with baizhu came shortly after that, as a way to prove to himself that he wasn't consumed with a certain ginger-haired man, but the single night he spent with baizhu had proved that he was.is he attracted to baizhu? no, it was a no strings attached thing, and he never even looked his way after that. was he aware of being recorded? no, he wasn't, baizhu recorded him without his consent. why? because he was in love with zhongli, which, i don't think anybody would be surprised to know.the night with baizhu made zhongli realize that he had only two options. one, he could let his feelings for ajax fester and choke him to death or he could do something about it. he went for the latter.3. pantalone and ajax? neither of them have feelings for one another. ajax used him out of spite, and pantalone,,, well, he's like a magpie, the shinier the object, the greater his desire to have it. and what would be more magnificent to conquer than the zhongli's husband?4. what's the deal with ajax? he's sick, as many of you may have already guessed.i don't want to go into a full-depth explanation here since the original doc i wrote for ajax's character is over twelve pages... so here's a summarized version.he was sexually assaulted as a child, and he had been repressing those memories until he met the person who did it to him---a high ranking official in the ministry of civil affairs. seeing him triggered his memories and messed him up.psychogenic amnesia would be the official diagnosis.now you must be wondering why zhongli might not have done anything to help him. he did, actually. guizhong conducted multiple sessions with ajax, but they did not go anywhere. he was even hospitalized as per her recommendation, however, ajax much rather preferred to run from his demons than confront them, and he went as far as attempting to kill himself--and almost succeeding--, so zhongli pulled him out despite guizhong warning him that it was not a good idea to do so.truth be told, ajax always knew there was something wrong with him, but he was terrified of facing the truth.5. who stabbed zhongli? it was ajax, during one of his episodes. he doesn't remember it, though. he will, later.6. will zhongli find out about pantalone? yes, and things won't be pretty when he does. imagine this obsessive, territorial man finding out that his husband was seeing another man. yikes.7. who sent ajax the video? baizhu himself. he knew it would cause ajax to spiral, because he had heard rumors about his mental health and his previous attempts, and intended to make full use of it. he was hoping ajax would resort to something drastic (if you know what i mean), but unfortunately for him, ajax has always been a fighter.8. what was the deal with charlotte? and what was ajax's plan? not a single soul in the entirety of liyue would ever dare to expose the video of zhongli. he was a powerful man, and nobody wants to make an enemy of him, so ajax knew that trying to get the video public would only backfire on him, because the media would never publish it and it would be traced back to him.what they would publish however? ajax's infidelity. that would be a great story, wouldn't it? the husband of liyue's most powerful man cheating on him.ajax's plan was simple. he would let charlotte snap a picture or take a video of him being intimate with pantalone. the steambird would be quick to publish it, and by then, he'd have placed divorce papers on zhongli's desk and gone with the wind. he'd travel, maybe to snezhnaya, because pantalone's musings about his hometown had actually interested ajax. or maybe sumeru. or natlan. teyvat was a vast continent, so there were endless places to explore.9. how was the rest of the story intended to go? zhongli would find out about ajax and pantalone at the grand opening for the northland bank. he would confront him, but ajax would hit back harder. they would get divorced shortly after, because while ajax finds out that he was wrong about zhongli having an affair, the decisions he chose to make, and the secrets zhongli chose to keep from him, had ruined their marriage beyond repair. both of them were deeply hurt by the other, and they knew that they needed time to work on themselves before they could work on their relationship.ajax moved to sumeru and got himself hospitalized. recovery wasn't easy, and he wanted to give up multiple times, but he pushed through this time.three years later, he's living his best life in sumeru, made some new friends, and has a job as a florist in one of nilou's shops. it's quiet, it's peaceful, and it's exactly what he needs, but some nights, when he's alone in bed, he can't help but miss zhongli.so when zhongli shows up in the city on a diplomatic meeting---that somehow lengthened into weeks, then months, ajax decided to give him another chance. there would be a lot of groveling, not just from zhongli, but from ajax as well, because... well, he did cheat on him, and stab him, so, he should run a little too i think lol.anyway, they get back together, and it's all happily ever after for these two lovebirds. i was looking forward to writing these chapters so much, but alas, fate had other plans for me.fun fact: pantalone fell out of the tsaritsa's favor because he was caught embezzling her funds, and baizhu went on a trip to the mountains and simply never returned. i wonder how that happened, eh?10. why did you delete the story? due to personal reasons, i wasn't able to continue writing let sleeping dogs lie anymore. it wasn't an easy decision to make, and i apologize to anyone i disappointed with my choices. i can only hope that the explanations i've given regarding the story will satisfy those who were left with more questions than answers.i will pick up the pen again someday, because writing is in my blood, and i cannot go without doing it for too long. i will not, however, be writing anything for zhongchi or the genshin fandom as i have moved on from it, but the time i spent here was nothing short of amazing. thank you to everyone who left the sweetest comments on my work. your support meant everything to me, and kept me going.to all my readers, i hope we will meet again, in another story and another adventure.lots of love, serena.
