This time, Lincoln has brought Lisa, Lola, Luan, and Leni. They're going to be reading Nolan's Birthday. Yup, the same Nolan from Lynn's Bruised Hand.
We open on Nolan waking up on his fifteenth birthday. He and his younger sister Sophia have invited everyone to a party at Spunk E. Pigeon's. He goes down and kisses his parents, but Lola is already starting to get bored with a story about a stranger, as is Luan.
Nolan goes out and goes to the Loud house, where, finally, the Loud family shows up in the fanfic. Fanfic Leni calls Nolan "sweetie" and Lisa boasts about how wise she is, even though the real Lisa points out that, intelligent as she is, she's not very wise yet.
Fanfic Luan then, oddly, gets sad that Nolan isn't the same age as her. Fanfic Luna, on the other hand, is stoked that she and Nolan are the same age and Rita and Lynn Sr. greet Nolan. Lana, upon hearing that they'll "party 'til they're purple", claims she loves being purple. Say what?
They prepare to go over to Spunk E. Pigeon's and Lincoln calls Clyde over to help. They realise Leni isn't present and find her pacing nervously in her and Lori's room, where she reveals that Nolan is her boyfriend. This causes the real Lisa to suspect that he is a Gary Stu.
At the mall, fanfic Lori asks Leni what she was worried about despite her spilling it in her very specific lie. Leni admits that she doesn't know what to get Nolan. So, Lori, Leni, and Lola go off to find Nolan a present.
Back at the house, fanfic Luan is still very sad. Lisa asks her what's up and Luan reveals that she's still angsting about the one-year age gap between herself and Nolan. She explains that they're BFF's and she's afraid he'll desert her for Luna. Lucy is trying to write a birthday poem and gets a call from some guy named Craig saying to go to his house for something important. Lucy comes to Craig's house, where they meet up, along with another guy, Jack. Craig appears in smoke and reveals that he needs help with a magic show.
Meanwhile, fanfic Lincoln and Clyde are asked to put the streamers up, while Lana blows up balloons, Lynn and Nolan set the table to music played by Luna over a montage that is acknowledged by Nolan as such.
At the mall, fanfic Lori remembers that Nolan wants a... toy train? Lola goes to buy it, but a woman wants it for her seven-year-old son, so Leni gives it to her. They go home to find Lisa, Lily, and Luan making birthday cards and the latter is still sad, so Lisa tells her not to mope like a "depressed elephant".
Craig is preparing to do the saw-a-woman-in-half trick, only this time it's saw a girl in half: Lucy. Jack is going to be the subject of a disappearing act, and for the finale, Craig is going to make it seem like Lucy and Jack are going to be fused together.
At the pizza place, they finish the decorating and Lincoln and Clyde sit in a rowing machine, Lynn shoots hoops, Lana plays Frogger, while Luna and Nolan play Guitar Hero (and she calls him "bro", angering Lincoln). Lori, Leni, and Lola enter and the former suggests Leni just make Nolan a present.
After Leni's present is made, the kids go into Vanzilla with their parents and the pets and go off to Spunk E. Pigeon's. When they arrive, Craig teleports himself, Jack, and Lucy there. Nolan claims that because he's now as old as Luna, he must have all her skills. Luan bursts into tears, annoying the real Luan, but Lincoln disallows her from banging her head against the wall lest she need to go to bed like Lisa did in Episode 11.
Fanfic Lisa explains Luan's predicament, so Nolan goes in to give her a pep talk and he kisses her on the cheek, which is weird, as they live in America where it's uncommon for platonic friends to kiss. They go back to the party and the guests start arriving. There's Rusty, Liam, Zach, Mr. Grouse, the Yateses, Clyde's dads... Lola jokingly says, "Who's next? Bobby and Ronnie Anne!?" only for them to actually arrive. Not only that, they've brought Maria and the Casagrandes with them! Plus some guy named Brian.
Next, it's time for cake and presents. He gets an Ace Savvy train set from Lincoln, a phone case from Lori, a homemade shirt from Leni, who then smooches him all up, making the real Leni feel awkward, and she tries to bring up Chas, but they're not allowed to mention his name.
Back to Nolan's presents, he gets a mix CD from Luna, jokes from Luan, a Thomas the Tank Engine tennis racket dampener from Lynn, a (badly-written) poem from Lucy, a wrench from Lana, a tea set from Lola, a maths book from Lisa, a finger painting from Lily, an Ace Savvy comic from Clyde, a Thomas the Tank Engine toy from Mr. Grouse, superhero DVD's from Lincoln's other guy friends, a magic kit from Craig, a Percy toy from Jack, a Thomas sculpture from the Yateses, and a TV show collage from the Casagrandes (and presumably, the Santiagos).
After the party, Nolan goes to the Loud house for a sleepover and they watch a movie.
Now, the fanfic is over, the bemused Louds leave, wanting to read stories about them.
This episode provides examples of
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Fanfic Leni and Carlota are best friends. The real Leni has only met Carlota once or twice and they barely know each other.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: When Nolan asks what his shirt is, Luan says, "A toaster".
- Bathroom Stall of Angst: Fanfic Luan cries in the bathroom about being younger than Nolan.
- Big "YES!": Fanfic Clyde says, "YES!" when he hears about the birthday.
- Birthday Episode: The fanfiction is about, well, Nolan's birthday.
- Blatant Lies: Fanfic Leni states that she isn't nervous, despite pacing and talking nervously.
- Continuity Nod: When Luan wants to bang her head against the wall, Lincoln remembers that when Lisa did that (back in Episode 11), she had to go to bed, and he'd rather not have to do that with Luan.
- Fusion Dance: One of the tricks is fanfic Lucy and Craig appearing to be fused together.
- Informed Attribute: We're told how awesome Nolan is, but we never see him do anything out of the ordinary.
- Joke and Receive: Lola says, "Who's next [to arrive]? Bobby and Ronnie Anne?!". Two seconds later, they do arrive.
- Kiddie Kid: Nolan wants a toy train for his fifteenth birthday.
- Lame Pun Reaction:
- Luan critiques fanfic Luan's pun, not because it's a pun, but because of the bad rhyme in it.
- Leni, Lisa, Lola, and Lincoln boo at fanfic Luan's cake pun.
- Left the Background Music On: Invoked when Nolan asks Luna for "montage music".
- Medium Awareness: Nolan acknowledges the events as a "montage".
- Neologism: Fanfic Lily is said to babble "questionly".
- Noodle Incident: Apparently, at Becky's sixteenth birthday, something happened which led to Lori going to jail and keeping a diving helmet as a souvenir. We never find out the details.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: The show's floating timeline is lampshaded when Luan questions why her fic counterpart is so upset about being younger than Nolan.Luan: Really? I'm gonna get all broken up because one of my friends isn't the same age as me? That doesn't even make sense.
Lincoln: Especially since you'll be fifteen soon enough.
Leni: Will she? 'Cause, like, she's been fourteen for the past three April Fool's Days. Is it just me, or are none of us getting any-
Lincoln: [Points to the screen] Hey, look! More story! - Obviously Not Fine: Fanfic Leni denies being nervous despite pacing and telling a specific lie.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fanfic Luan becomes "too sad to make a joke".
- Original Character: As well as Nolan, there's also his parents, his sister Sophia, and two guys named Craig and Jack.
- Out of Character: Luan wouldn't be so sad about her friend being a different age than her like fanfic Luan is.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Fanfic Luan and Nolan, who are apparently best friends, say, "I love you" to each other.
- Platonic Kissing: Nolan kisses his best friend Luan on the cheek, then later Lori kisses him on the cheek.
- Pun:
- Luan jokes that the bathroom closet is a good place to "dump" the birthday invitations.
- When the real Lincoln wonders if Nolan is Lola's godfather as well as Leni's boyfriend and Luan's best friend, the real Luan says, "Minus the father!".
- When fanfic Lincoln and Clyde are put in charge of setting up the streamers, Luan quips that all they have to do is wait for them to get off Twitch.
- Luan makes a pun on "hanging the streamers", acting like they're being executed.
- Fanfic Luan makes the old "What did the cake say? 'You want a piece of me?'" joke, then says, "What did one candle say to the other? 'Don't birthdays just burn you up?'".
- Self-Insert Fic: Nolan represents the author.
- Shout-Out:
- Nolan likes Thomas & Friends.
- Fanfic Lana plays Frogger.
- Fanfic Lori's present to Nolan is an Ed, Edd n Eddy phone case.
- After the party, Nolan and the fanfic Loud siblings watch Captain Underpants.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Fanfic Leni says, "Who? Me? Nervous? No, I'm not nervous. What makes you think I'm nervous? I mean, it's not like I don't [know] what to give my amazing boyfriend for his birthday! No! Nothing like that."
- Teleportation: Craig appears in smoke, and apparently he can "poof" people places.
- Toilet Paper Substitute: Joked about by Luan, who jokes that the woman in the fanfic wiped her butt with a dollar.
- Too Upset to Create: Fafic Luan's sadness prevents her from thinking of jokes or birthday messages.
- Unnamed Parents: Nolan's parents are referred to only as "Mom" and "Dad".
- Wangst: Discussed In-Universe, when the Louds point out that fanfic Luan is being unreasonable being so sad about being younger than Nolan.
