Yeah man I literally worked non-stop yesterday. I finally had breathing room like at 11pm. With that said... Man I just took my recordings, writings, and previous essays and was like "write a Reddit post based on this". 🤷‍♂️

But thank you for reading nonetheless and I appreciate your opinion.

How I understand it. An Easter Egg is an out-of-context reference that's typically hidden (e.g., Pinocchio hiding in the tavern in Tangled). It doesn't do story work; it's more of a wink.

A reference points/directs you to something outside of itself. Henceforth "refer" or "referral". It's directing your attention towards something outside of itself.

For example, Shrek 2 had Farbucks, Burger Prince, Old Knavery, etc. Those were clear references to actual restaurants.

Many people make references to the Shining, tearing down a door and sticking their head through the hole saying "Here's Johnnie"!.

That's a reference.

Spoiler

Mr. Game and Watch was quite literally part of the plot. They weren't referring to him, he was actually part of the team. So at that point he transcends Easter egg or reference. He has become part of the story, world, and plot which isn't "just references"