Hey everyone,
My thoughts now that the story is over:
About six years later, I'm letting go of the story. I told myself and you that I would seek the end of the story, I didn't want to leave it unfinished because that can suck if someone is too engaged with the story being a told, I know that very well as a reader, we all do for sure, and there's no shame in doing so because every writer puts up with different things in life, it's far from easy. I confess that there were moments where I thought I had no juice left with me in order to move the story forward, especially when new plot points were being introduced because I knew there was a long path yet to pursue before they ended properly. Something similar happened with this last storyline, nowadays I don't have enough time to spend coming up and finishing stories, so I had to wrap things up, it was needed. I got to tell the story and beats I wanted to tell, for sure, could have we used three more chapters? Maybe, but I believe the important bits of the plot were there at the end.
When I began writing this story, I was about to leave high school, then I got into college, got a partner, and eventually a proper job. It's tough to bear all of this at the same time, this story has so many characters and plot threads to tackle that I couldn't afford the ideal time to move them forward. Thankfully, we got to the end.
Regarding the story, I think that it's kinda known that I initially intended to do one-shots. It was some sort of self-therapy after watching the second movie. I think a lot of people feel the same here as well. At the start of the story, I added bits of possible storylines here and there, but things quickly escalated once I realized that I wanted to do something different when compared to what was being told back then, with these characters. So, I decided to cover their lives and some special moments they would go through together, happy moments or not. I hope that I succeed with that. We got to see many things, England, weddings, children, character growth and more. I also wanted to give these two main characters what they didn't have in the comics and movies, a life. That became the main goal. Why not shake things up without having to kill this character and that other character again? What could happen instead? Hopefully, it worked. We had three main storylines in the story to keep things moving, I'll admit I now feel like I could have done some things better back then, I feel like I became somewhat better with time, but maybe I can change one thing or other in eventual chapter revisions, I'll be editing some old chapters again, but nothing will drastically change.
The dynamic of Peter and Gwen was something that had been in my head for six years, I wrote them for six years, it's kinda hard to let them go now, but at the same time, I feel a huge pressure I once placed on myself now off my shoulders. I aimed to do justice for their movie parts, I tried to get in their heads and write the story from there. The story began with them, and the very last scene is about them. It was always about them.
I felt like bringing Harry back as the main character because I thought, why not give him something else to do and cope instead of just being a main baddie? He could do both, and for a time, he did. I felt like his character became much better once he came back, there was already a lot of untapped potential in the character from the movie. Let's explore him better this time around. The same could be said about Flash. He's a character, from the movies, with so much presence that I couldn't take him out of the story, he was important to every main character near him, and he's pretty awesome too. Some things just had to happen, though. Ezekiel is a reimagination of the same character in the comics, he's very different here and he was crucial to establish the gifts of Elizabeth, I also enjoyed how his arc came to an end, hopefully, most people did too.
Elizabeth is a character I really grew attached to. She's just light-hearted and genuine, a mix of her parents, yet with her own personality. She's essential to the story as a whole, that was always intended to happen. At some point, she was more important to the story being told than Peter and Gwen, for example. I loved aging her up more, her interactions in the last chapter were a joy to write, especially with Miles. Again, I felt like stirring up some things and doing something slightly new with the powerful daughter of Peter and Gwen. I wouldn't mind continuing her story, there are some interesting things on the air by the time things end, but again, time's short these days. More on that later, though. I felt like doubling down on Elizabeth's character at the end, to show how she, as a powerful teenager, reacts to the world and people around her.
As for the twins, I wanted to age them more to show a late stage in their lives, but I didn't want to miss prom night and it felt better to end the story in the same night. We got glimpses of their future dynamic here and there. They are one well-bonded duo.
Regarding the last chapter, we started with a scene with Eddie, he was a character that disappeared at some point in the story and then came back, I can say that was intended, he would be part of the whole final symbiote arc. Again, it was one of those things where I decided to try something else in the mythos, so I gave him a niece, Olive. We were aware of his sister early in the story, I just expanded on that later on. Quentin took advantage of all of that. He's also one character whose door was left open at the end of the Sinister Six storyline and then he came back indeed. The final battle was meant to be intense and gritty, there has to be weight to these conflicts, it needs to have an impact on the characters and not just be a playground for some minutes of action.
For this last chapter, also the biggest one, I wanted to give everyone a fair farewell, I wanted to wrap up their respective arcs and give them a satisfying exit. I also felt like being ambiguous with some plot points, I didn't want to show the fate of Peter as Spider-Man, that's up to you. The same could be said about Elizabeth and Miles' friendship or the spider in his hand, and so on. I wanted to have this vibe in the ending where you feel like life goes on even if there won't be any new chapters, it's not the end of everything. There were some throwbacks to the movies, I won't mention them but they aren't really hard to find. I felt like I did the best ending I personally could with what I have today, after so many chapters, I feel like it ended well. Also, I added another scene that is pretty much some more content about Peter and Gwen after I published the chapter. It serves more like a bridge to the porch bit as well.
As for future stories, I can say that I plan to cover that party story that was mentioned by the characters in the last two chapters, the party Flash and Petter attend when the latter hadn't been dating anymore during the second movie. Flash plays guitar, Peter and Gwen talk a little, etc. I feel like it can be a decent one-shot. There's a chance I get to write that well-requested smutty one-chapter. I actually already have the background in my mind, those fancy trains in Europe, in my mind, it almost sounds like a romantic Spider-Man story with a spy touch. Still, I don't know for sure, but it could be interesting. These two first stories would be part of the main one, This Is Our Path. I once speculated that I would write a novelization of the second movie with the original story/scenes in mind, but that's the one I would consider unlikely to happen at this point. For the Spider-Man mythos, I think that would be it. There's a chance I might write something for different franchises, but I would most likely write a one-shot as well. These long stories can be very exhausting because of all the things going on with them, I don't feel like doing anything similar anytime soon. Still, the first stories I mentioned above are likely to happen at some point. You can also let me know what you think of them.
Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone that read the story, and the people that stuck with it until the very end, including the guests I can't thank directly because I don't have a proper name, but it's okay, your words were always welcome.
Special thanks to, spidergwen, queenbandit, verrother, Benjamin tefanovi, Marieforyou, .923, Movie guy 94, AliciaRoseFantasy, eggman and many more. I know some of you have been reading the story since the very first chapter.
Thank you all for the comments, suggestions, and criticism. We live in a rough time due to the pandemic, so please, be safe.
My second story based in this timeline, Perseverance, is out.
Take care.