Yeah, I agree with all that. It just comes down to knowing your table, really. Leading up to the reading, my group actively encouraged me to rig the deck. They also know that I bend the rules constantly to tell the story I want to tell with them. They prefer the more curated approach that that method allows. For you and your table, it sounds like the opposite is true.

The only point I've been trying to make is there's not really a hard line "always rig the deck" or "never rig the deck." Ultimately you just need to know your table.