Introduction

Ramona Ofori, PhD, nicknamed Ray by her friends, is a video essayist, historian and skeptic. She is known for her web documentary series Looking Into It, as well as the series she hosts with her best friend Roy Edgerton, called Ray & Roy Question Everything. Much of her content initially focused on debunking assorted misinformation and popular frauds, but later shifted to broader social analysis, history and commentary. The videos have received widespread critical acclaim and turned him into a legitimate celebrity. Ray has not yet let this get to their head; they remain a rational, down-to-earth person with a dry, witty sense of humor. He has a way with words that tends to really reach people.

Backstory

Early Years

Ray grew up in Boston, but moved to Chicago in 2139. Their childhood and teenage years were pretty uneventful. He was well-liked and had plenty of friends, but didn’t really form lasting relationships, maybe because school always came first. From a young age, Ray had an interest in 21st century history, specifically the Timeline Collapse and its aftermath. This world-changing event fascinated Ray more than anything else.

University

After graduating high school, Ray was burned out, so she took a gap year to travel around North America searching for meaning. She saw a lot of cool places and met a lot of cool people, but all that travel only confirmed that Chicago was the place for her. So he returned and went to university.

There, they majored in history and minored in philosophy. Throughout college, Ray remained dedicated to her studies, but also discovered many other passions and hobbies, and developed a lot of valuable social connections with people who would end up being her close friends for years to come. The closest of those friends was Roy Edgerton, a guy Ray had shared a philosophy class with.

Ray enjoyed college so much that he almost wished it would never end. More importantly, she wanted to get as much education as possible in her chosen field. So she pursued a doctorate in history, writing her dissertation on the relationship between the Timeline Collapse and entertainment media.

Adulthood

While studying for their PhD, Ray kept getting sidetracked and falling into rabbit holes of information about Collapse-related things. Furthermore, he came across a lot of misinformation being spread confidently as if it were established fact. This inspired her to start making video essays, both in order to educate people on subjects they might not otherwise research, and also to thoroughly debunk the conspiracies, misconceptions and lies she saw going around. Making videos turned out to be fun for Ray, and as their content gradually gained traction, they felt more and more inspired to continue. He launched a series titled Looking Into It, where each episode revolved around educating the audience on a different obscure topic in an entertaining and engaging way.

Around this time, Roy also started making video essays. Although his videos were far messier, with less competent production, his talent, passion, and humor shone through. Ray, thinking of how fun it would be to work with her best friend, invited him to feature in her videos before eventually suggesting they collaborate on a series. So, in 2148, Ray & Roy Question Everything premiered. In it, Ray and Roy discussed various contentious topics (such as theories, controversies and hoaxes in different fields) and attempted to find the truth behind the lies. Episodes were informative and well-researched, but much of the appeal came from the comedic banter and chemistry between the hosts. The show became shockingly popular in a relatively short amount of time. And with its increased popularity came more exposure for each host’s solo work. Ray and Roy became popular not just as a unit but also as individuals.

Now, in 2160, both series are still running, although their scope has expanded to cover more topics. Additionally, Ray has made many standalone documentaries. Still, debunking is what she’s known for. She loved the work at first, but she has to admit it’s only become less fulfilling over time. New conspiracy theories are always popping up, and they seem more disturbingly mainstream than at any point in recent memory. Still, this work is what Ray knows best, and they won’t let themself be discouraged.

Personality

Ray would describe herself as logical, balanced, and realistic. She is a very practical person, but also a deep thinker who appreciates imagination and abstraction (otherwise she wouldn’t have studied philosophy). He is intelligent, focused, and intellectually minded without being pretentious. They have a great sense of humor. They’re witty and sarcastic, but they know when to be serious and genuine. She values openness and authenticity and can’t stand cynics or posers.

Being mildly introverted, Ray enjoys spending time alone and is somewhat reserved when meeting new people. However, she loves social events with people she knows. He’s a pretty popular person. With friends, Ray is very talkative and can go on for hours about almost any subject. They do have a few hater tendencies, but they try not to be mean (and sometimes fail, due to the hater tendencies). She’s also a good listener.

Above all else, Ray values truth and knowledge. There’s nothing they hate more than people who deliberately mislead and misinform others in service of their own goals. This has led him to develop a bit of an obsession with fighting all sorts of falsehoods, from so-called psychics to history misconceptions to deliberate hoaxes and conspiracy theories. This obsession has only increased as Ray’s video channel has grown steadily more popular. She feels that due to her wide audience, the burden falls on her to educate people and use her platform for as much good as possible. So she puts a lot of pressure on herself and it ends up really stressing her out.

Appearance

Ray is average height, with dark brown eyes and black hair that is just barely starting to go gray. Their hair is in locs reaching just above their shoulders. They are of Ghanaian ancestry. She wears angled, oval-shaped glasses with blue-gray wire frames. Ray usually wears comfortable, casual or semi-casual clothes in bold colors. Sometimes he wears earrings or necklaces. She uses a cane when walking in order to manage chronic pain caused by EDS.

Relationships

Roy Edgerton (link)

Ray and Roy are best friends who have been inseparable since college. Ray knows Roy better than anyone else, and vice versa. They are great conversation partners who enjoy having debates, discussions, and complaint sessions about anything and everything, no matter how deep or how frivolous.

From philosophy finals to becoming internet celebrities to navigating one-sided crushes, they’ve been through a lot together, and it seems like nothing can break their bond. Of the pair, Ray is the more grounded one. She thinks of herself as the voice of reason when Roy’s ideas go off the rails, although she has often participated in his schemes and mischief, and can find herself enamored by his strange and difficult qualities. But they are somehow able to balance each other, with all their similarities and differences working together to make them as close as can be.

Liz Ochoa (link)

In college, Ray and Liz were extremely close, and both assumed they’d spend their whole lives together. Things didn’t turn out that way. They don’t talk anymore, and they’ve mostly moved on, although each one kind of wishes the other would reach out again.

Deidre

A soft-spoken art teacher who Ray met at a dinner party and hit it off with. They’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, and their relationship looks promising.

Trivia

• Ray’s videos are honestly pretty awesome. Episodes of Looking Into It run anywhere from 40 minutes to 6 hours, and remain consistently entertaining and engaging as well as highly informative.
• In the video essay sphere, Ray is best known as a great writer, but she also puts a lot of time and effort towards making her videos visually interesting.
• They’re a big Terrafilm Underground fan. Their favorite movie is Restructure (2156) and their second favorite movie is Inland Empire (2006).
• She has a pet beagle named Howie, who she loves very much.
• He played competitive Scrabble in college.
• Cooking is their favorite hobby.

Notable Works

• How Can We Go On? is a documentary about the various major social crises of Timeline Collapse survivors in the early years of the Turbulence.
• Our Obsession with a Destroyed World: Where Do We Go From Here? explores pop culture’s morbid obsession with the A-Timeline and its cultural exports. In the 4-hour-39-minute video, Ray thoroughly traces the origin and development of this trend, giving a bit of historical background to the A-Timeline’s media as well as its portrayal in contemporary media. Then they look at what this all Means. Very good video I’m sure. Perhaps Ray’s magnum opus. Gets people talking for months after.
• An Exhaustive History of Cave Flicks is a history and analysis of the cave flick scene within the larger Terrafilm Underground. Ray mostly uses it as an excuse to talk a lot about his favorite movies, how they got made, and how he interprets them. But he does it in such an interesting and informative way that people unfamiliar with cave flicks will enjoy watching too. Even the queen of cave flicks, Tetra Halt herself, says she learned something from this video!
• Tetra’s enjoyment of the previously mentioned video led to her reaching out to Ray, and the two did a 30-minute video interview which Tetra directed in a cave flick style. It was really cool.
• Funnily enough, although Ray's debunkings get a lot of discussion going in the moment, they seem to be the works that fade from the public consciousness the quickest.