The World Will Stain Us

Author's Note & Warnings

Hey, everyone! Look who's back from the dead!

So I finally got a computer of my own, which means I'm free to use this site again! (Which is good, I missed this place.)

I am well aware that both of my most popular stories, Sith Happens and What Should Have Ben, are in desperate need of an update, and I swear I will get back to work on those eventually―but right now, my hyperfixation is entirely Black Veil Brides, hence this fic.

I know, I know―if you've read the aforementioned fics you're probably wondering why I don't just go back to work on those. But the way I'm built, I can only hyperfocus on one fandom at a time―and right now, that's Black Veil Brides. I will get back to the Star Wars fics, but not for a while yet.

In the meantime, we have this.

First thing to note: I'm cross-posting this to my AO3, which is under the same username. If you're a Motionless in White fan, I have stories about both of those bands on there, as well as another BVB oneshot and of course this one. Please be prepared for infrequent or sporadic updates; I'm posting chapters as I finish them on both sites, so depending on my schedule and my level of motivation it could be anywhere from a week to a month between chapters (though I think I've been fairly good about posting weekly or bi-weekly so far).

So. If you're reading this, I'm assuming it means you're a fellow BVB fan, which means you were intrigued enough by the cover and/or the description to check it out. Seeing as this story is very complex and contains a lot of sensitive topics at various points throughout, here's a more detailed explanation of what to expect before we dive into the real story.

As mentioned in the summary, this is a vampire!AU simply because I love vampires and am obsessed with BVB. The inspiration actually came from the Crimson Alcohol series by AO3's burningcrow and Beautiful_Like_You, which is a similar thing in that all the members of BVB are vampires. (Naturally, I took the idea―Black Veil Brides and vampires, two of my favorite things―and created my own world with it. Beautiful_Like_You and burningcrow deserve all the thanks for the inspiration, however. The Crimson Alcohol series is currently undergoing a rewrite, but the original is highly recommended.)

This is primarily focused on BVB, but there will be cameos from members of other bands they interact with throughout the fic (most commonly Asking Alexandria, Avenged Sevenfold, Motionless in White, and William Control). POV will switch multiple times per chapter, since I'm attempting a more omniscient style of narration for this one (my usual style is third person limited). There is angst galore, but plenty of fluff too. Most of the major significant events of this fic are actual events that have happened over the course of BVB's career, but I'm improvising a few as well (mostly the more supernatural ones).

A couple of other important things to note before you dive in:

1. This story takes place over the course of BVB's entire career, plus frequent flashbacks to turnings and the decades before they decided to become a band and leave their mark on the world. This does mean that Ashley Purdy (or should I say Trashley) is in it for quite a bit of the fic. I am going to attempt to leave him out as much as humanly possible, but the fact remains that he's the reason for a lot of the drama in this, and he was a part of the band for a long time. I will be very relieved when we meet Lonny, but that will not be until rather late in the story. If anyone despises Trashley so much that they can't deal with reading about him (and believe me, I'm not judging you if you do), I'd advise you leave now or simply skip scenes with him in them if you want to read the story anyway.

2. This is, though I hate to call it this (and I'll explain why in a moment), technically a Bridecest fic. For those of you who don't know or hadn't guessed from the tags, that means shipping the five of them together as a polyamorous thing. HOWEVER. I feel like usually when you see the term "Bridecest" or really anything that involves all five of them romantically, it's smut of some sort, and that is NOT what's happening here. While I've gotten much more comfortable with the fact that smut exists, I still do not wish to write it, least of all with them. This is still a fic in which they are all being shipped together, but I'm going to be focusing more on the emotional part of it than the physical―how that deep, intricate, unrelenting love they feel for one another affects them in their day-to-day lives, and how their relationship has so far survived the test of time that comes with being immortal. The most physical description of the romance that I'll ever get into is kissing (a lot of it...I'm touch-starved don't judge me), and lots of cuddling (mostly because CC is clingy).

3. Word of warning: average word count for a chapter usually ends up anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 words, most commonly hovering somewhere around 8- or 9,000. (I talk wayyy too much.) It's a lot, but there are breaks every time POV changes.

I think that's pretty much it...now just for the general content/trigger warning, and then I think we're good to go. I will make notes as I go along if I think of anything else, and put in individual CWs on chapters containing sensitive topics.

CONTENT WARNING:
This story will contain graphic descriptions of blood and violence, heavy drinking/alcoholism, implied or referenced drug use, smoking, mentions of rape/sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, and implied emotional abuse and manipulation.

Please enjoy!

- Raina Starkiller