Rick and Lincoln are trapped on a literal literary device and now have to "out-meta the meta" to escape.
Don't take it too seriously.
Rick & Morty episode: Never Ricking Morty
Loud House episode: N/A
- Adaptational Context Change:
- The Tickets Please Guy's death. Rick doesn't come near the Tickets Please Guy (even when the Guy insisted), knowing he'd knock his gun away. Therefore, the Guy charges towards Rick, resulting in Rick shooting him dead rather than the Guy's top half floating in space.
- The disabling of the Thematic Seal is different too. Instead of using the Bechdel Test to create a "feminist-based" story unrelated to their situation, Lincoln comes up with a straightforward superhero story in which Lincoln, as Ace Savvy, stops a new villain called the Blank Suit (portrayed by Tammy).
- The musical segment between Rick and Birdperson is a cover of "Airplanes" (in reference to the infamous MordeTwi meme).
- Adapted Out: Since the Tickets Please Guy's death is rewritten, the dream sequence in which he sprays blood all over the Blips & Chitz doesn't take place here.
- An Aesop:
- Near the end of the chapter, Rick flat-out says that while listening to criticism can be taxing, it can also be helpful and let you experience new perspectives.
- Meta-commentary is funny in small doses, but relying too much on it can get tiresome real quick.
- Apology Gift: The Story Train turns out to be a gift Lynn bought from the Citadel for Lincoln as part of trying to be a better sister to him.
- Breather Episode: After the emotionally intense and action-packed "Infinity Balls" saga, this chapter is notably more comical and lighthearted.
- Call-Back: Rick states that Lincoln is "kind of a writer", referencing his comic-book writing skills in "Pulp Ricktion".
- The Cameo: Morty and the Smith Family (Rick's canonical family) make a short-lived appearance in one of the Story scenarios.
- Continuity Nod: Lynn mentions that a Lincoln is running the Citadel of Ricks nowadays.
- Fake Crossover: Given the nature of the Story Train, quite a few scenarios are crossovers with other characters, including:
- One scene in which, once again, Naruto is Lincoln's adopted brother.
- Another scene where Lincoln runs away from home to the Mushroom Kingdom.
- A scenario where Rick's the grandfather of Morty Smith as in canon.
- A scene where Rick and Lincoln team up with Star Butterfly, the Pines twins, Steven Universe, Anne Boonchuy, and Luz Noceda to battle Boon, or rather Noob-Noob who decides to go full-on Thanos, Infinity Gauntlet and all.
- The final scenario involves Lincoln and Rick teaming up with Sonic The Hedgehog, Batman, Goku, Peter Griffin, Superman, Mickey Mouse, John Wick, Iron Man, Luke Skywalker, Saitama and Walter White to stop the evil God of the Universe.
- Foreshadowing: Zig-zagged. Story Lord shows Rick and Lincoln two possible scenarios which could correlate to what has transpired so far in this story. One involves Lincoln being torn between siding with Lori (who's joined forces with Tammy against Rick) or Leni, who begs him to stay. The other involves Rick defeating President/Evil Lincoln, who asks him to end him. Lincoln even asks Rick if it really is the future they're seeing, but Rick states that they're being shown what people want to see, not necessarily what will happen.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Rick and Lincoln meet up, Lincoln says that Rick is the only person he knows who tries to be meta about everything. Rick retorts that Lincoln literally talks to the audience to explain the plot.
- Rule of Cool: In the final meta scenario, Rick and Lincoln decide to just role with all the meta madness simply because seeing all the fictional characters working together is "pretty cool". Ultimately, enjoying it unironically ends up being the key to defeating Story Lord.
- Self-Deprecation: Story Lord points out to Rick and Lincoln that this whole story is a Demographic-Dissonant Crossover Fan Fiction between two entirely different animated shows.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Lynn has ditched her iconic jersey and is now back to wearing jeans and a grey hoodie, signifying her drifting away from sports.
- Take That, Audience!: Right after the death of the Tickets Please Guy, an alien appears and complains that they left out the part in the original Rick and Morty episode where the Tickets Please Guy gushes blood all over the Blips & Chitz (he finds it funny, but Lincoln finds it disturbing). This is meant to poke fun at readers who complain about their favorite parts from the source material getting Adapted Out while they could just watch said source material again.
- Take That!:
- This chapter mocks the original Rick and Morty episode's usage of the Story Train as a device for dismissing criticism and expectations. Lincoln even calls it "kinda petty and childish". In fact, the chapter as a whole can be seen as a critique on the use of meta-commentary (something R&M has been criticized for in its later seasons) and how it can wear out its welcome if overused.
- Story Lord calls out Rick for his cameo in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
- Story Lord takes jabs at the canons of both The Loud House and Rick and Morty for falling off on their respective third seasons. For The Loud House, it's spending more time on Lincoln's "boring" group of friends rather than his sisters. For Rick and Morty, it's the episodes involving "sperm monsters, incest babies, and a horse woman giving birth to [Rick's] hybrid baby".
- Following that bit, there's this little line from Rick:Rick: Jesus, did we devolve into Family Guy-level shock humor or something?
- Following that bit, there's this little line from Rick:
- Rick jabs at "canon" Rick (a.k.a. Rick C-137) for complaining about serialization while incorporating serialization.Rick: I've insulted nearly every other Rick I've ever met. What makes 'canon' Rick so special? If he, or whoever's using him as a mouthpiece, has an issue with things being serialized, maybe they shouldn't have added elements of serialization to begin with.
- With this chapter being his second appearance (even if he's not real this time), Naruto's presence could be a jab at the aforementioned incest baby from Rick and Morty, who would also be named "Naruto".
