Zouis
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Zayn Malik/Louis Tomlinson |
| Alternative name(s): | Zouis |
| Gender category: | m/m |
| Fandom: | One Direction |
| Canonical?: | no |
| Prevalence: | secondary |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Zouis is the ship name for One Direction member Louis Tomlinson and former member Zayn Malik. With 2044 fanworks on the Archive of our Own, it is the 3rd most popular intraband pairing for Louis, and the 4th for Zayn.[1]
Tropes
There are a number of canon details that shape fandom characterization of Louis and Zayn as stoner dudebros. They were the two band members present in the May 2014 weed video; Louis and Zayn canonically own a Scooby-Doo "Mystery Machine"-styled van together;[2] and Louis and Zayn have matching "Bus 1" tattoos, a reference to their "chill" tour bus.[3]
Post-Departure
Despite initial assurances that both sides were amicable, after Zayn's departure from 1D in March 2015, Louis took to Twitter multiple times[4] to express his dislike of Zayn's friend Naughty Boy (which fans applauded), but these eventually led to Zayn's harsh May 6 tweet to Louis (which fans grieved).
Louis confirmed what many fans had long suspected when in a few interviews in late 2015, he admitted that of the lads, he was probably closest to Zayn, and that Zayn leaving was hardest on him. [1][2][3]
Many fans have applied Louis' lyrics from Made in the A.M. to Zayn, as in this Zouis gifset[5] featuring the bridge from "History".
Example Fanworks
- tumblr gifset of an interview by sthgr8 (March 25, 2014) and an earlier version of the same interview (original post deleted)
- untitled fanart (direct link) by rubycurls (24 Feb 2015)
- fanart by maybelle-art. (10 Sept 2015)
- If it wasn't for you meddling kids, fic by becka: Louis is distraught to learn that Harry's at a party with David Beckham. Zayn distracts him with weed and sex in the Mystery Machine. (8 Oct 2013)
- Podfic of conjure up a second heart (to house your sweet pain) by ofjustimagine: Eleanor breaks up with Louis. Louis doesn't know how to cope with the reality that he did nothing wrong, or with the feeling that he still wants to be punished. Zayn helps him get what he needs. Set during the Where We Are tour. (25 Feb 2014)
- Spinning by StormDancer: Fine, Louis thinks, when the announcement comes. Fine. If he doesn’t need them, they don’t need him. Louis certainly doesn’t. (23 April 2015)
- "we've both got bus 1" :((, short vid by itsmutualarry (26 November 2015)
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fan Resources
- The Zouis Library
- 2015 Zouis Fic Exchange
- A masterpost of Zouis masterposts by zouistalik on Tumblr (not updated, several links are dead ends, but there are a few gems there)
- ZOUIS MASTERPOST: TWITTER by zaynomlinson
- zouis tag on Tumblr
- Zayn/Louis fanworks on AO3
References
- ^ As of March 18, 2019; Zayn/Louis on AO3
- ^ sugarscape, Remember that random Mystery Machine car that Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik decided to have built one day? Yeah, that was weird.
- ^ Louis talking about the chill bus, Tumblr audio post and transcript by tommosloueh (11 Oct 2014)
- ^ Archived, March and May 2015
- ^ Archived, November 8, 2015