This is beautiful and intelligent and everything I wish I could do with my own writing. Thank you!

That was the story I needed to read after watching the film, and didn’t find until now.

It reads true. Beautifully written, entirely believable, and emotionally cathartic. Gwen deserves to be taken seriously, to be furious, to grieve, and hurt and feel and love and choose, because her inner world is shattered while the outer one rolls on, because the person who could have helped anchor her against it all /isn’t there/, because no reason is as important as that truth…and forgiveness doesn’t negate it.

You did a beautiful job of fleshing out her character in this, as well as giving her the right to her own emotions, her own choices, and the memories of a father which make him three dimensional too. She and Peter together are painful and fragile and tender…but again, they read true.

Thanks for the read – impressive writing.

You know what? I think I love you too. At least I love your words. Gahhhhhh. I should be cleaning but here I am, listening to your words reverberating in my head, slithering down down down until they reach my heart and land there with a thump, pushing, pulling it, being it. My heart belongs to your words now. Not you. I mean, not that I don't think you'd be a nice person or anything...but yeah. Your words. I hope this isn't too weird.

"It's just that she wouldn't mind the rain so much if he were there to keep her from drowning."

I say words are beautiful a lot but this is one the times I completely MEAN it. Everything about this is emotional and raw and real and perfect. It made me cry about twenty different times. I can't explain how subtly incredible it is. Just- keep writing.

I loved this story! That was so beautiful!

severely awesome. i loved it. :)

Gorgeous! You captured all of their chemistry in the film with words. Absolutely perfect and heartbreaking.

Oh no, my feels.

Oh, this is perfect.

Great story!

OKAY. So, 1: LOOK who finally is not the worst friend in the world anymore!

And 2: Wow, Leah. Just. Ouch? I'm never good at this, because I get kind of emotionally attached to things, but whatever. Here we go.

I love that you have made Gwen as ANGRY as she is in the film, that you didn't back away from that. That you let her HAVE that. Because of COURSE she would be angry-at her father, at Peter, at everything. Of course she would. And I think it's incredibly nuanced that you note WHY she's angry at her father. It's not because he's dead; he was a cop. She always knew that this was part of his job. But it's because in his last moments he could have said anything, and what he chose to say was something that would take Peter away. It's not, in this moment, about Peter; it's about fathers and daughters. She's mad that Peter was gone, but more than that, she's mad that it was HER FATHER who made him be gone.

And I love, love, LOVE that you didn't let Peter's "promises" statement just wash everything away. Because uhhh, Peter? no.

AND LASTLY: the thing about the college applications was perfect perfect perfect perfect perfect.

so goood aaaaaaaaah

OMG THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! just one request, please don't killf of gwen, because then i will hate you , but really this is helping my feels :)

Wow.

Just wow.

I love when I read a story, and every line feels like poetry in prose.

And sometimes there are lines, like:

"Peter Parker is like a foreign film in a language she doesn't understand, but his touch subtitles all the things she can't hear him saying. And maybe hers is the same for him."

that make my breath catch in how simple but beautifully they're written.

This is the kind of story I'm gonna reread over and over because it feels like there are so many nuances in each line. You've captured the emotion perfectly, and the details you've added are perfect. (I loved the line about Gwen being a feminist, for example, and Peter's fantasy about singing Gwen a song.)

So just, wow. Thank you!

flawless story, 'nuff said.