Completely Fictitious

Anonymous asked

Hii, you suggested me to read the killing type a while back and I have to say it was AWESOME. The amount of angst was killing me but I loved it. I need more suggestions please

ziamhaze

I’m so glad you enjoyed The Killing Type! I can’t tell you how much I love that fic. There’s a reason it’s my favourite of all time.

Now, I made sure to look back on your first question and you had asked for angst then, so I’m not sure if you’re still looking for that, but I managed to put together a few of my favs that aren’t only angsty, just overall great.

For my recent short word count fic rec click HERE, which is where I included ziam fic’s two most famous authors (jmcats and scottmcniceass) and so I didn’t include them in this list, but their fics are hands down ship favourites - mine included. So make sure to check out those links on the aforementioned post.

I hope you enjoy!

The Bittersweet Between My Teeth by gaysubtexts - Growing up/through the years fic locked on AO3, so make sure to use this link. I remember this being one of the first fics I ever read, and loving it. That was ages ago, but I doubt it’s lost its spark.

But the sun comes up instead by blackwayfarers - Classic frat fic. My tag for the pic spam says it all: “I finally got around to reading this and I must say, it was as great as the hype made it seem”.

Lost For Words by AGreatPerhaps12 - The waterpark fic. Where do I even start? Don’t let the length deter you, this is worth every minute of your time. Liam has a stutter, and yes, this has been done before, but this author DOES IT RIGHT for once. Quite a famous ziam fic imo.

Long As There Are Stars Above You by alienharry - Ok, so this was the simplest of concepts (zayn goes abstinent right as he meets liam), yet the writing made it such a great read. Not sure how I stumbled across this one, but so glad I did.

through the summertime, winter, spring, and fall by taecheeks - Look, there were some good frat au’s back in the day

Be cruel to me (‘cause I’m a fool for you) by frenchkiss - When you need a fluffy kidfic where Liam’s a zookeeper

And finally, what writer would I be if I didn’t promote my own works?

Compartment 451 by @ziamhaze - Harry Potter AU where Zayn’s a muggleborn wizard and Liam’s pure blood. They meet the summer before their first year at Hogwarts when the former’s kicked out of his house after finding out he’s magical and Liam’s family takes him in. Fic takes place during their last year of schooling where Zayn’s egged on to finally let his best friend know that he’s been in love with him for years. Whole thing has one huge undertone about how your environment shapes your identity.

Kick, Push by @ziamhaze - Tokyo 2020 Olympics fic where Zayn’s a world champion skateboarder, representing Great Britain in the sport for its debut appearance at The Games. Liam’s assigned to be a physiotherapist for the athlete, but can he help Zayn get over his crippling performance anxiety enough to take home gold?

Currently working on a kidfic inspired by this AU produced by paynefulperiods and myself. Should be out sometime next month…

Anonymous asked

hello again! thank you for answering my last question. i had so much fun reading your response! finding that familiarity in your stories is always so sweet!! now i’d like know what it is about the ziam dynamic that’s so attractive to you. i’d say i feel the same as you do about them but because i’m not very good with words i struggle making sense of it. so i’d love to hear what you have to say, if that’s okay! :)

ziamhaze

Wow, you’re a diamond in the rough.

This is a really tough question to answer in writing though because the explanation is more of a fuzzy emotion - a sort of blurred batch of comfort that’s become so ingrained in me that it simply lives, it doesn’t require an assignment of words for me to understand it.  I speak of them, separately and together as my characters, as though they’re my friends, with fondness that’s only reserved for relationships that are filled with close secret sharing.  That said, how I view them is not only biased, but also relatively narrow given that I can only learn from what parts of themselves they chose to show the public.

Still, here’s my answer in shortlisted bullet note form:

• The ease of comfort between them that comes naturally within their interactions - I hardly ever need to describe it with words, or how they even got there.  There’s just an easiness that lives within their actions and dialogue that, in turn, makes my job a lot easier, as well as smooth.  Unfortunately, this, along with physical descriptions, will cause lots of rewrites for mainstream publication since readers won’t have previous knowledge of the pair and their dynamic when beginning a story
• Calm energy - generally a side effect of the above ‘easiness’, yet even when you look at their personalities as two different people, they both bring a pretty calm air to the table (most of the time).  Not only does this help me as a writer with easing the reader into that serene, homey vibe that’s (my) goal when writing in the romance genre, it also lulls them into craving that sort of love themselves.  Romance readership retention = self-insertion.
• Complimentary mindsets - I feel as though they strike the perfect balance between being their own people and having certain traits that bring out the best in the other.  When Liam makes a lame joke, Zayn’s there to insert a little sarcasm.  When Zayn wants to go a little off the rails, Liam knows that he should go all out and take advantage of this, not for his own sake, but because he recognizes how rare of an urge it is for Zayn to get.  He’ll do whatever it takes for Zayn to enjoy himself because succeeding in that will be enough for Liam to be happy on his own.  Not only will he do it with zero qualms, he’ll also do it automatically, without thinking.  This sort of built-in 'I know you well enough that I know this request isn’t common, so I’ll kill myself in the process of making it extra pleasing, and that alone will give me fulfilment’ is a part of their dynamic that I would be a fool to not take advantage of.
• The semi-seriousness that’s mixed into their 'quietness’ - if you’ve read anything that I’ve written, you know that I love to base my plots around messages/themes that are prevalent in today’s reality.  Having the window to create dialogue that also seconds as societal commentary is truly the only reason I continue to write them.  I care far too much about takeaways to write about two people falling in love simply because they’re attractive
• How Zayn acts as Liam’s safety net - without fail, Zayn’s always there by Liam’s side, accepting him for who he is and quietly pushing him to explore more of himself/things he so desperately wants to experiment with but is too hesitant in fear of what will come of it (for himself or literal outcomes) to do so on his own.  This is so so so crucial to their dynamic and also how Zayn loves in general.  In my opinion, it’s quite rare to find a male with so much self-confidence and distaste for someone’s personality to go to waste because of possible judgement.  Zayn never bores of Liam, nor does he ever hit the 'off’ switch on the part of his brain that knows when and where to be when Liam needs to be given a small nudge of encouragement.
• How Liam acts on the reverence he has for Zayn’s uniqueness - he truly cares to learn (not just know) about every single cog that turns in Zayn’s head that makes him think and carry himself the way he does.  He’s always there to point out to others the important bits they’ve either a) not been made privy to due to Zayn’s own modesty or b) missed out on because they’ve overlooked Zayn completely due to his quietness.  It’s imperative that I also mention how, despite this introversion being a prime element of who Zayn is, it never, ever diminishes Liam’s enthusiasm for life.  He doesn’t just like Zayn’s introverted tendencies, he celebrates them, cherishes them.  And what writer in the romance genre wouldn’t love that?