[Spoilers] Why Zenos is the most important character moving forward

[Jaywalker]

The Bechdel Test, is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

Now I\\'m completely making this up but:

The Edax Test, is a measure of how well written an antagonist is. It asks:

Can the Antagonist progress the story if they kill the Protagonist? If not, then the Antagonist is poorly written.

I believe Zenos fails this test. If he kills the Protagonist, he loses all motivation and his function in the story becomes obsolete.

Conversely, Emet would be able to continue the story if the Warrior of Light became a Sin Eater since that was a small part of his grand plan. His motivations don\\'t revolve around the Warrior of Light and he has enough development to continue the story without him/her.

Will try to answer the rest properly in a bit, but the Bechdel test and similar are exactly what I mean about superficial systems of evaluation. As a professional and as someone who has examined these types of tests in detail--using either as a serious system of evaluation gives the impression of not having the essentials down yet. Criteria like these act as skill handicaps and distract from fundamental issues of form. They're somewhat arbitrary shortcuts and (for the Bechdel Test) ideologically driven. This is totally divorced from craftsmanship.

I know I've been speaking in somewhat objective terms, and lean toward formal while talking shop. Reading less terse is something I still have to work on sometimes lol. With no faces and resumes on lodestone, stuff like that can raise the question of "what makes you think YOU know better???"

Since I prefer to be just another random player, there's plenty of room not to take me at my word. But I do have over a decade of expertise in pretty notable arenas when discussing this. Didn't intend to come across as mean or dismissive, just had a moment of blending my professional life and my fan life. Only mentioning background at all here because seems like it might help clarify a bit.

A big part of why I defend the devs is because I'm in the same sort of area as them. Not identical, but significant overlap. There is plenty I don’t know about their specific work, but when I look at them I see colleagues. The level of skill and (frankly) care for fans they’ve been exhibiting is off the charts and not something that can be taken lightly or for granted.

There was a point I used these kinds of tests while learning too. Imo it's very normal and doesn't reflect badly on a personal level or anything. I'd argue it's really important to stop though to keep growing as a creator. Might be able to explain a little addressing other points?

Still wanna invite questions and challenges to stuff I say, I’ll do my best to be clear with replies!