Crimson Rivers

by bizarrestars

Summary:
Regulus Black was fifteen the first time his name was called at a reaping. He's twenty-five when it happens to him again. A lot has changed in that time, and one of them is that he's ready to do whatever it takes to make it home. Nothing or no one will stop him, not even James Potter.

James Potter has no plans to stop Regulus Black from making it home. In fact, his plans revolve around the opposite. He has his reasons, but he's made his choice to get Regulus out of the arena, even knowing it'll be the last thing he ever does.

Sirius Black was sixteen when he volunteered to take his little brother's place in the arena. At twenty-six, without the option to do it again, he has no choice but to be a mentor to his brother and best friend, knowing that only one of them can make it back out.

Two names called, a mentor on the verge of falling apart, and more secrets and grief between all of them than they know how to handle. None of them are prepared for what comes next, or how far they'll go to make it through.

Words: 864930 / 350 = 2472 pages

Genres: Fan Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Dystopia, Harry Potter

2472 pages, ebook

First published June 22, 2022

Reviews

[caiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

listen I will use goodreads for fics if I want to.

[walkingtragedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh so the great war by taylor swift

[lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s been months and i’ve still not recovered from this 860k+ word masterpiece so that should say something. i love all of them so much words cannot encompass everything i feel. 😭 all i can say is that james & regulus are literally mirrorball coded & i just love them so much 🧸🎀

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was bigger than the bible, literally a masterpiece

[Clem (Taylor's version)♡➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe I finished it. Over 640k words. Probably more than 24hours of reading.
What am I going to do now ? Life is meaningless without Crimson Rivers.
What am I going to do when I'm bored, now ?
Nothing, not one single book on earth will ever be better than this fanfic. It's impossible. Really, I mean it.
It truly broke my heart to finish it, and I have tears in my eyes while writing this.
I laughed, cried so much during this reading. Especially cried tho. Cried when they were dying, cried when they were living. Cried when they were happy, finally at the end. Cried when I realised that it was the last chapter. Cried when I realised that it was the end. Laughed, when James tried to flirt with Regulus. Laughed, when Regulus tried to reject James. Laughed, when Dorcas was being the best stylist ever. Laughed, when Lily was being the casanova of the Order. Laughed, when Sirius completly fell in love with Remus.
So much emotions.
I'm totally being way too much dramatic rn, but this was so good, how could I not ?
I've read tons of fanfics in my life, I can't even count, really. But this one in particular. This one was *chef's kiss*.
I'm not sure i'll ever read a better fanfic.
I'll try. I'm going to start Just Lovers now, i think. Will let y'all know what I think about it.


(SHORT SPOILER ERA ⚠️⚠️ :
Rest in peace Marlene, Barty and Evan, y'all didn't deserve to die. I love y'all so much. I miss y'all.⚠️⚠️⚠️
Rip to Vanity (deserved better), Frank (him too), Frank's mom (totally forgot her name), Lucius (huh not you), Monty (my baby), Peter (I don't actually want you to rip, BURN IN HELL) and I'm obviously forgetting a loooooot of people. Oh Albus. Fuck you. Mouah. Was so happy when you died. ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Thank you for reading this ❤

[nick ✮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i just went through all stages of grief
but i don't regret a thing

[Alicia Ceasar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I finish this or did this finish me?

[ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s worth the pain i promise

[sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wanted to rant but i don't think im able to.
it crushed me. it broke me beyond repair. it's like it ripped my heart out and then feed it to me. i will never be the same.

his little brother.
always his little brother.

[Nikey · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don't know how to move on from this.

[idusmartiae_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this so much, I do however miss being happy

[gabs ⛤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok….Well
Damn

[Nikolai's Wife · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never cried so much in my entire life. Within the span of a chapter, I have giggled, sobbed my eyes out, and felt every single emotion under the sun. This fanfic owns my heart and I would sell my soul away to read it for the first time again.

[bea ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

who would have thought that my best read of the year so far would be a 865k fanfiction about dead gay wizards in the hunger games

[megan ◡̈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

regulus “i can go anywhere i want, anywhere i want, just not home” and “i didnt have it in myself to go with grace and so the battleships will sink beneath the waves” black

james “and you can aim for my heart, go for blood but you would still miss me in your bones” and “even on my worst day, did i deserve, babe all the hell you gave me? cause i loved you, i swear i loved you til my dying day” potter

sirius “and i still talk to you when im screaming at the sky and when you cant sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullaby” black

remus “i didnt have it in myself to go with grace cause when id fight you used to tell me i was brave and if im dead to you why are you at the wake? cursing my name, wishing i stayed look at how my tears ricochet” lupin

lily “you had to kill me, but it killed you just the same” evans

marlene “you know i didnt want to have to haunt you but what a ghostly scene” mckinnon

dorcus “you turned into your worst fears and you’re tossing out blame, drunk on this pain crossing out the good years and youre cursing my name, wishing i stayed look at how my tears ricochet” meadows

anyway, this has been stuck in my head and it hurts every time i listen to this song so im finally getting it out of my head
~~~~~
excuse me while i go cry over being done with this book after 16ish days of feeling all the emotions idk what to do with myself now
~~~~~
bring on the pain 🤓

this one is for lila🤭

[꡴☙🜚✵ emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

1520 pages? Wow

[Yasmin :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You're hesitating, love."

“Regulus reaches up to cradle his face, staring into his eyes. Those pretty eyes of his. "I love you, James. I loved you from the start, I love you now, and I'll love you for as long as love is something that exists—and, if it ever stops existing, I'll reinvent it just for you."

"That's how they work; it's always James and Sirius, and Sirius and James. Never one without the other."

"Sirius, I love you more than anything. You're the first person in this world I ever loved at all. Not Mother, not Father, not James; it was you.”

"Even the best climbers can fall, lover boy.”

“His little brother. Always his little brother.”

"I'd die for them, but l'd live for you."






I CANT BELIEVE THIS FIC IS OVER😭

I've been reading this beautiful beautiful fic since it first started and I've literally read every update on the day it's come out since. I'm so emotionally attached to this. It's embarrassing.

I will never get over jegulus. Or wolfstar. Or marylily. Or doomed dorlene. The ending was so perfect. Tragically perfect. Regulus having to let go of Evan😭.

What am I supposed to do with my life now😭😭. What will be the next atyd, the next choices, the next crimson rivers? My heart hurts :')

Edit- 3rd reread

[layh · Rating 5 out of 5]

⸺ AN UPDATE FOR ALL MY MARAUDERS GIRLIES! Crimson Rivers and all other zeppazariel (bizarrestars on ao3 now) works are now back up on ao3, and all you need is an ao3 account to read them as they’re available to ao3 users only! the writer has asked to no longer spread the fics without his permission, so if you do need the fics, please read on ao3 and ao3 only! that's all 💖💗💕💞

⸺

i am so terribly sorry for anyone who’ll never have the pleasure to read this masterpiece ☹️

[Una · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow this fan fiction is the most gut-wrenching piece of literature I’ve ever had the chance to lay my eyes upon.

[riri · Rating 4 out of 5]

— 4.5 stars

this fic changed me and split me into pieces. i don't think i'll ever recover from this and i'm not even mad??? it was so angsty and it made me cry and scream and feel. will 100% re-read this just to feel something again, because you WILL feel while reading this 😭 this book is all about love, hatred and war. so yeah, the pain just never ends. irrevocably damaged, would still recommend 😋 i'm insane

i tried so hard to write a proper review with all my thoughts about this fic but nothing would do crimson rivers justice. i loved the characters soso much (even the side characters!!), and the sibling relationships???? so well-written, i'm in love <3

it's the marauders x hunger games, what more can i ask for 😩 honestly, you don't even have to be a marauders fan to read this so i'm just here telling everyone to add this to their tbr because it's a jewel. and you're going to LOVE it if you love the og hunger games books!!

would've given it 5 stars if the povs were a bit longer, i'd get attached to a certain pov and then boom, it'd change 😔 so, i might have skimmed through some parts

— some of my favourite quotes 🫶🏻

"life is just death and rebirth, consistently, over and over in small capacities that build into something noticeable over time."

"eyes so bright that the star he's named after must dripping with jealousy at the moment."

"he's not sure if he'll ever lose the urge to eradicate anything and everything that could ever make james unhappy. he thinks he would bleed the world dry if it meant james was never sad again."

"he is the manifestation of longing built up with nowhere to go, and he craves, he yearns, he covets."

"and i'll love you for as long as love is something that exists—and, if it ever stops existing, i'll reinvent it just for you."


(thank you lila for recommending this and bearing with my jegulus rants haha, love you 💘)

[Gabriela (taylor's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i would marry this book with paper rings

Idc about the hype, this book is worth every single praise and more.

[౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

need to process everything fuck

[Emily Sale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly this is very poorly written, I know it’s a fic etc but that doesn’t make it exempt from criticism. Maybe it was just too hyped up to me so I had higher expectations. Repeated phrases/ wording and excessive POVs. The main characters were fun, and good development throughout (a bit insta-lovey though), and good concept/ crossover but this wasn’t enough to save it for me. This just massively suffers from telling instead of showing with themes/ feelings/ internal dialogue and it became a slog to get through it.

[Dorthe Sofie · Rating 5 out of 5]

over 800,000 words later…

[fertuads · Rating 5 out of 5]

zar: y'all....... crimson rivers completed at 860k words
me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[uselessreverie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i genuinely would have given this 5 stars up until the second reaping and after that it just started to fall off till eventually i didn't even wanna finish it, the ending chapters were painful to get through and not because they were sad i just hated the writing

[☽ nyx ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay so rn I have a lot to process but like this fic altered my brain chemistry

"Another flower in bloom
it speaks for you - soft
softer than you've ever spoken
there is strength your voice
loud and shameless - bright
so bright, like the sun, even now
the flowers grow towards you
I hear you - and I
listen, listening, I am listening
I cannot drown you out
I no longer wish to try
like the flowers in bloom
I grow towards you
I grow - if I cannot climb."

I GROW IF I CANNOT CLIMB !!

I felt especially connected to regulus - he's so me, it's crazy - and to see him grow and climb made me soo emotional bc it makes me feel like I can do it too, yk?
It was even tougher for me then with jegulus just because there's so much love between them and to think it could exist for someone like regulus - someone like me, is enough to make me sob. I just feel everything so so deeply abt him and all of them.

Another person I was actually surprise to relate to that deeply was Lily (Remus and James too tho), I saw myself in her in so many ways, she felt so real to me. In the way she always felt like she didn't deserve to be loved and didn't let herself love in return but she still had so much love in her and she just doesn't know what to do with it, doesn't know where to put it, doesn't know how to do it right and how to not make her love violent. I think she's a lot like regulus in that way and maybe that's what made the connection to me.

Throughout this fic the dynamic between James and Sirius is often described as breathing together, in the same rhythm - "I know. Every breath, in and out. I'm with you, you're with me." - and for me, that's such a strong connection that I feel like I personally grew with these characters throughout the fic. It's just like they're entangled in me, like they're in the way I breathe, in the way I talk and think. I carry so much of them around with me that it hurts, but in a good way.

Another big thing for me in this fic are Sirius and regulus, it's a story about them more than any romance.

"Because he loves Sirius like a brother, a mother, a father, a friend, an enemy, a reflection, and like no other. He can't stop that any more than Sirius can stop loving him as a brother, a son, a daughter, a friend, an enemy, a reflection, and like no one else."

Another thing I have to mention are dorcas and marlene bc they're just so important to me, their love being so fierce and showing how much love can hurt and destroy but that doesn't mean it's bad and you shouldn't love but you should let yourself heal from it because it's beautiful while it lasts, and maybe especially because it doesn't last forever.

"Until she sinks into the earth and grows flowers through her cracked open ribcage in memorial of the woman who planted them there."

I love how often it's mention to try - to try not for the "right thing" but just for something better. And trying and healing isn't always easy, most of the time it's actually really damn hard and fucking exhausting and you want to give up but the important thing is still to keep going, even if it hurts, even if you don't want to, even if you're tired and there's no point, even if you have nothing left in you but fear - you keep going, and hoping, and loving.
And if you cannot climb - you will grow.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly have no idea how this book is compared to the other top-tier HP fanfics like AYTDs. There is literally zero comparison in my mind. This so badly needed an editor, almost a million words is absolutely bonkers. I thought up through the first games, and even the second games was highly entertaining, but by the time we reach the third "book," I wanted to claw my eyes out. There are so many useless perspectives I simply do not care about...why do I care about Aberforth exactly?? It also just got overwhelmingly predictable. I went into this thinking that it was Marauders characters in a Hunger Games universe, but no it's Hunger Games exact plot. Thus, nothing was really original for me. It got to the point where I knew exactly what characters would die and by whose hands by just substituting Katniss for Regulus and Peeta in for James. Besides the romance between James and Regulus, everything was so insta-love and coupled up so, so quickly. Again, I did really like the first games, and I probably would have given it 4/5 stars if it ended there. I thought the connections between the universes like the "Horcrux Hornets" were fun and clever. It just got to be way, way too much, and I think it was so overhyped that I was really let down by the writing and lack of originality.

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do I explain to someone that I’m sobbing over a story where two characters who never spoke a word in a seven book series, because they were dead before book 1 began, fall in love in the hunger games universe?!? How do I tell people that Taylor Swift actually wrote All Too Well about Regulus’ hat that is still in James’ drawer?!? And of course how do I even begin to explain the depth and substance this author added to the hunger games by brilliantly expanding on points from the original book in ways that genuinely made me think deeper?!? Crimson Rivers is a masterpiece, idc what anyone says or if even the fact that I've read it makes me insane🫡

[aurora torelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

non ci credo che è finita. non ho mai letto qualcosa di così assurdo. sono 860 mila e passa parole di arte pura.
devo ammettere a me stessa che è finita per sempre but i’m hesitating (, love)