I knew the names Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring long before I knew who Heartstopper stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke were.

I’ve been keeping up with the Heartstopper webcomic-turned-graphic novel series (which turns ten this September) for at least eight years. I’ve been reading about the Paris Squad from the time I was a college student and, although I’m older than the characters, I’ve grown up as I’ve read about them growing up. So even though they say all good things must come to an end, saying goodbye to Netflix‘s Heartstopper is particularly tough for me as a longtime fan.

The beloved series, based on Alice Oseman‘s graphic novel series of the same name, came to an end last week with the feature-length finale, Heartstopper Forever. Now, Netflix will say a final “hi” and goodbye to the series today, July 24, with Heartstopper: Ending on a Hi, a 35-minute documentary that explores the series’ “evolution, cultural impact, and lasting legacy.” It will feature never-before-seen behind-the-scenes clips, interviews with the cast and creative team, and even touch on the dedicated fandom around the show.

So, speaking as a true Heartstopper fan, what is the show’s legacy?

That first photo of the two of them in character, which dropped exactly one year before Season 1 premiered, felt, to me, as if they shook the book and Nick and Charlie fell out — and that, ultimately, is what I think Heartstopper‘s legacy will be: the ultimate page-to-screen adaptation.

Obviously, you can’t discount the massive impact that Heartstopper has had on culture, as many viewers saw themselves represented on screen boldly, in ways they may have never seen before. That representation matters, and it will continue to matter as people continue to scroll through Netflix and discover the show anew. Heartstopper is so real, so full of joy, genuinely life-changing for some viewers.

But to me, Heartstopper‘s greatest strength was in never forgetting how it started: as a webcomic.

It’s becoming increasingly common to find out that a book you love is getting turned into a movie or a TV show, but unfortunately, it’s also increasingly common to find that the story you love has become unrecognizable as a result of the choices made in adapting it for the screen. There’s a huge difference between a good movie or series and a good movie or series that is also a good adaptation of its source material.

Heartstopper never really had that problem. The team behind the show, including webcomic author and illustrator Oseman — who wrote all 24 episodes and the feature-length finale — made every right choice. Rarely would you find yourself thinking, “He would not do that,” while watching Heartstopper.

It’s not a one-to-one adaptation, but it doesn’t need to be. Still, not a single major plot beat is missed, and a lot of the time Oseman actually does lift the dialogue directly from the page.

There were no big twists that deviate from the published story for the sake of making “good TV.” A different, more dramatic story would have ended Tao and Elle’s love story after their big fight. Heartstopper leaves us with the hope that they’ll be able to work it out.

The big changes that were made, like replacing book character Aled with Isaac, Charlie’s best friend who always has a book in his hand, or introducing someone brand new in Imogen, as Nick’s friend and “an ally” who goes on a journey of overcoming compulsory heterosexuality, only made the story richer.

Even things I’d never imagined would make the jump to live action simply because there was already so much story to tell, namely Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk’s romance proving its never too late to have your Heartstopper moment, were adapted with such great care.

All of that isn’t even touching on how visually, Heartstopper (the show) reflects the illustrated world so perfectly, from the posters in Charlie’s bedroom (a near perfect recreation of the webcomic) and the scrapbook we see in the final minutes of Heartstopper Forever to costumes designed to match one of the book covers, down to the colors of Nick and Charlie’s shirts and backpacks.

Of course, I’ll miss having new Heartstopper — both on screen and on the page. I’ll miss Nick Nelson, one of TV’s all-time Google users (that boy Googled so much over the course of three seasons and a movie, and every time, it made me laugh). I’ll miss seeing the way Oseman’s characters grew and evolved.

The good thing is, it’s not going anywhere. Heartstopper will always be there as a reminder of what great storytelling — and great adaptation — can do.

Heartstopper Seasons 1-3 and Heartstopper Forever are streaming on Netflix.