Post-NFA
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | post-finale |
| Related tropes/genres | futurefic, fix-it |
| See also | post-Chosen |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Post-Not Fade Away, or more usually post-NFA, refers to Angel stories set in the wake of the S5 finale, 'Not Fade Away'. In this episode Team Angel destory the Black Thorn, but bring down the ire of Wolfram & Hart's senior partners. The survivors, Angel, Spike, Illyria and a severely wounded Gunn, meet in an alley and face down an army of demons with no chance of victory, determined to continue fighting.
The tone of Post-NFA stories ranges from fix-its giving a relatively happy ending to the NFA cliffhanger, all the way through to apocafic. Although even in dark fics, some of our heroes made it out of the alley and they are often on the run from the Senior Partner, or otherwise in hiding.
In many works, (most of) the remnants of Team Angel survived the fight. Angel and what's left of his team often return to the Hyperion Hotel and restart Angel Investigations. Many Post-NFA works are also Post-Chosen fics; Chosen was the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Characters from the wider Buffyverse often appear in Post-NFA works, although usually such works ignore the subsequent comics.
Post NFA fics can be ship-centric, and focused on the reconciliation of a previously doomed relationship; usually Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike or Spike/Angel, but other pairings also appear, including Spike/Illyria. These stories can also be gen character studies. There are post-NFA works about Connor's return to school at Stanford, or his reconciliation with Angel. There are many stories focused on character's attempting to process their grief and trauma.
Popular Tropes
- Buffy, Faith, other slayers, Willow or other Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters turn up and save the day
- Dawn acts as the Key to close the portal
- The Shanshu Prophecy is fulfilled and either Angel or Spike gets to become human
- Fix-it AUs in which Illyria prevents Wesley from dying
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- In The Alley: How It All Comes Down by Nyxie. Buffy, Willow and an army of slayers turns up to help out. One of the earliest post-NFA stories, published on 24 May 2004 and recced on the Better Buffy Fics list the following day (2004)
- Things Left Undone by Minnow. Frequently recced set of 12 ficlets mainly addressing the fate of minor & peripheral characters after NFA. Another very early example (2004)
- Big Exit by Amerella. Angel/Spike. Another very early example (2004)
- Wings Across the Cancelled Skies by Doyle. Apocafic. Another very early example (2004)
- Amoral Boundaries by Wisdomeagle. Ensemble, Dawn & Illyria centric; Dawn as key (2005)
- Second Hand by Kita, a Spike and Connor centric story, featuring the dragon (2005)
Archives & Links
- Post-Episode: s05e22 Not Fade Away works on Ao3