West of the Moon, East of the Sun

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Fanfiction
Title: West of the Moon, East of the Sun
Author(s): KnifeEdge
Date(s): 2010
Length: 376,650
Genre: Het, Fairytale AU, Canon Divergence AU
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
External Links: FFN

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West of the Moon, East of the Sun is a Buffy/Spike fic by KnifeEdge

keep having the strangest dream. Every night it's the same thing: a dark room, a big bed, and a silent vampire that I can feel, but not see. I'd be wigged, except it's just a dream, right? It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever willingly sleep with a vampire again...
Author's Notes: Story takes place almost immediately following the season 4 finale "Restless" and goes AU from there. Glory and Dawn (and any other related characters: Ben, the monks, etc.) do not exist in this universe.

It was heavily influenced by a Norweigen fairytale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Reactions and Reviews

This fic is (partly) written from the POV of a first person narrator, which is quite unusual in Spuffy fics. For the first part Buffy is the first person narrator. For the second part it is Spike. Those two parts stay quite close to season 5 and 6 canon although there is neither Dawn nor Glory in this Alternate Universe. Every night in her sleep Buffy dreams about a dark room where she is trapped with a vampire she can`t see and who does not talk to her. Sounds creepy? It isn`t, don`t worry. The narration gives us a deep insight into Buffy`s feelings, emotions, thoughts, doubts and fears. The third part will take us completely in AU territory with an original Big Bad and a plot driven story. This story is the most favorite story on my favorite Spuffy fanfic site, Elysian Fields, and the ranking is truly deserved.[1]

I recently re-read one of my all-time favorite fics, West of the Moon, East of the Sun by KnifeEdge. One of the great things about this fic is how gradually Buffy and Spike move from enemies to lovers. The insight the reader gets into both characters' thoughts and feelings all the way along this spectrum adds so much to the intensity and complexity of the romance. [...] P.S. If you haven't read WOTM, EOTS, it's up here on the Spuffy Realm and I can't recommend it highly enough.[2]

Discussion, What's The Greatest Work Of Fan Fiction Ever Created?

“West of the Moon, East of the Sun” by KnifeEdge.

It is a novel length, total reworking of Season 5, which was amazing to begin with, but somehow this actually made it BETTER. Keeps a lot of the canon in, removes Glory, Dawn & all related characters, gives us a scary big bad, and eventually winds up Spuffy in a way that is both logical and healthy. I’ve read it at least 10 times so far and recommend this one to any and every Buffy fan.

There are not enough stars in the universe to give you for this fic rec. I just finished reading this (started on Thursday after seeing this post) and am still a bit shell shocked by how amazing it was. There was a time many a year ago when I literally lived and breathed for Spuffy fic, but I am pretty sure I never read this piece, a really terrible oversight that has thankfully been righted. To be honest, this fic was so good that I feel that it should completely replace the actual in show canon, and I was never even of the hate Dawn camp; however, I did intensely hate how badly they handled the entire Spike/Buffy relationship in later seasons.[3]

Reddit Discussion

I've been reading Buffy fanfics since like 2007 (fuck I'm old)

West of the Moon, East of the Sun is hands down the best fic I've ever read period.

I had the pleasure of reading it as it was being published and have reread it numerous times over the years and its phenomenal every time. Characterization is perfect, the plot is original and fits within the universe fantastically. The entire fic feels semi-professional in quality and is so polished

I wont say its equal to a TV season but it's a way better read than some of the canon comics imo.

came here to say exactly this - hands down best fa fic ever. I also was reading it as it was being published (2010 - how is that even possible??) and also re-read it fairly frequently. It is beautifully written with perfect characterisation and amazing attention to detail.
I think the author KnifeEdge went on to publish original fiction which sadly meant she never finished her other long fanfic "DUST" so its forever a WIP - sad face[4]

Related Works

Fanart

Meta

References

  1. ^ Flow's Spuffy fanfiction recommendation list by LJ user flowspuffy, 2019-04-27
  2. ^ SpikeLuver.com/Forum, Slow build from hate to love, comment by snowsister, 2013.
  3. ^ io9.gizmodo.com, discussion on What's The Greatest Work Of Fan Fiction Ever Created?, 2015
  4. ^ What are some of the saddest, most depressing or most moving Buffy fanfics you have read? discussion on Reddit, 2019.
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