"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!" Everyone in the room had sung excitedly as John had blown out the candles on his cake - there were 21 candles, and this was in fact the 21th cake that John's father had baked for the day. Most of them were eaten by Homestuck fans that John's father invited over, but the 21th and last one had to be kept for John.
April 13th was almost coming to a close, and after a whole day in an outdoor party, trying to get themselves familiarized with the new city, the four kids had come together to John's house. They even got Rose's mother, Dave's brother and Jade's grandfather around. And even Calliope, since she and Caliborn weren't celebrating their hatching day anymore. Though, taking Calliope away from Caliborn was... tricky.
"NO. SHE'S WITH ME." Caliborn hugged Calliope as tight as he could. She was like treasure to him, and he was not letting go.
"no! get away from me!" Calliope was trying her best to free herself. They both, once again, had somehow gathered the kids and more Homestuck fans.
All the people inside the house shrugged and decided to forget it. Their birthday experience, after all, was a happy one, and neither Caliborn nor Andrew Hussie could take that away from them.
"oh my god, this is, like, the best present ever. i couldn't thank you all enough if i tried."
"And I couldn't thank you enough for all the friendship that you provided us with if I tried. You go, John, and might we have many, many years bound by friendship." Rose began the birthday wishes.
"for the new beginning! / itll surely be a nice break from being all alone with my grandpa in the island / and well just be able to see each other without needing to go through the trouble that pesterchum causes"
"so i guess thats official / since we live together that means that in some way well have to make kids / quick whos getting dibs on who"
"YOU SEE NOW, SON. THIS IS WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE SECRET. BECAUSE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GIFT THAT WE PROVIDED IS BEYOND ANY COMPREHENSION."
"It's amazing what the power of friendship can do! This wouldn't have been possible if some of you fell in love years ago. Love is only a recipe for sorrow and broken hearts." John's grandmother also had kind words.
"well its certanely a swell party / party like theres no tomorrow / cept pplz had to keep me out from the party cos im too old or stuff / doesnt matter cause well just have an all year long party ou ca mest egal"
"Well the adventure has reached this point. But that certainly doesnt mean the adventure is over! Keep being the awesome friends that you are."
"This isn't even ironic. I am genuinely crying over how there's a happy moment like this. Most stories don't even get one, so one in real life has literally 0% chances of happening. And yet it's happened."
"well, i sUppose other people already said everything they wanted to say aboUt yoU, john! jUst one thing..."
"it's okay, calliope. happy hatching day, and may you spread your wings or whatever the cherubim have and fly away from your terrible brother one day."
"SON. ONE MORE THING." John's father gave his son one more packed present. John ripped it open, and found out that it was a DVD of Data Structures for Assholes: The Animated Edition (in Case You Are Literally Illiterate, Which, believe it or Not, Some of Our Readers Are). John smiled, knowing that he would definitely be making his own destiny as a computer programmer, rather than continuing his family legacy.
"AS YOUR TENTACLE FRIEND SAID PREVIOUSLY, NO AMOUNT OF DISTRACTION CAN TAKE YOU AWAY FROM YOUR TRUE DESTINY. THIS IS FOR ALL TWENTY YEARS WHEN YOU COULDN'T EVEN HAVE THOUGHT OF IT. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU."
And thus, for the first time since first meeting his friends through the Internet, John Egbert felt truly happy. Eventually, the evening had come and the people were let out, but John simply couldn't let happiness out, and it carried him to his newly arranged bed.
Andrew Hussie continued staring through the open window.
He couldn't believe it happened to him. His own characters, on his own adventure's beginning day, April 13th, which was subsequently integrated as the numerals 413 everywhere, just plain left him, while reading the very own webcomic they were in. This was an event almost like his birthday. Hell, it was an event bigger than his birthday, since his birthday wasn't exactly publicly known, yet Homestuck fans celebrated 4/13 with all their might, all over the world.
Each April 13th since 2009, since then, was even marked with a celebration from Andrew's own side. 2010 saw [S] Jack: Ascend, which finally led into the epilogue of Act 4. 2011 saw END OF DISC 1, and a slow transition to events that marked the end of adventure for one characters and the beginning for others. 2012 saw Jane's Myst-style adventure, which was a great way of reminding everyone that the big events were yet to come. 2013 saw END OF DISC 2, as the villains had threatened the medium of Homestuck itself and the battle became increasingly meta. 2014 saw Paradox Space, a way for the lifespan of Homestuck to continue even after the adventure was over. 2015 saw the Act 6 Act 6 Act 5 "Caliborn's Masterpiece", showing what could happen in the future, but also reminding that the end was near. And finally, 2016 brought with it the entirety of Act 7, and thus a fitting conclusion to Homestuck, exactly seven years later in seven acts.
And yet, April 13th, 2017, seemingly supposed to continue the streak of anniversaries, brought him a much darker event. One in which his own characters abandoned him, as if, since Homestuck was over, the characters just wanted to live their own lives, free of Sburb forever, free of Hussie forever. Hussie supposed that they will.
But hell, if they weren't going to read the rest of their adventures, Andrew Hussie swore something really, really bad would happen.
Author's idiotisms (January 20, 2015 & April 4, 2016): I didn't predict anything. The chapter was edited after the fact(s).
END OF STAGE 1