Zoe Ravenwood's Questionnaire

Living in Los Angeles County, Zoe has access to museums, Hollywood, multiple nerdy conventions, libraries, colleges, and so much more. She grew up there, going to the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, SCA events, Ren Faire, the Huntington Library (and art museum and gardens), the Natural History Museum, etc. She's studied at multiple colleges (Cal Tech, CSUN, etc) without quite managing to get a degree in either folklore, cosmology, music, or robotics. She had hoped for a gymnastics scholarship, but had a sudden growth spurt at 17, throwing off her center of balance for a few years, which she regained via dance classes.

In addition, she feels a responsibility to personally take care of the family home she inherited from her mother. After all, they both grew up there, and it was already her house in essence ever since her parents moved to Massachusetts (her father is now a tenured MIT professor, teaching subjects such as robotics, programming, and the history of science and discovery).

Her house on a hill is a bit big for her alone, but multiple guest rooms and large living & dining rooms simply mean she can invite friends and family to visit. Occasionally she also hosts small parties of friends, some of which are really more marathon gaming sessions than conventional parties. The pool on the downhill side is also excellent for parties, as is the basement that's open on that side. The basement is exclusively for entertaining company, and therefore not connected directly to the rest of the house. The gathering space down there is circled by small bedrooms and a kitchen, so it was almost certainly servants' quarters decades ago.

The highest point of the house she calls a 'turret' like the observation tower of a castle. It has views on all sides and a telescope she /usually/ uses for stargazing, but is high enough to see both north into the San Fernando Valley and south into Los Angeles proper.

Zoe has two primary income sources. The steady one is her book shop south of her home in Laurel Canyon, where she specializes in hard to find science fiction and fantasy. The less steady one provides a lot more at once (but intermittently), which is her career as a novelist. At least once a year she receives a lump sum for a new book, and a bit from royalties as well. Like her shop, her novels are both science fiction and fantasy, sometimes one or the other but a few incorporate both genres. Her sci-fi incorporates space exploration, cyberpunk, and Jules Verne inspired inventions (she refuses to call this steampunk), while her fantasy is usually either light and full of magic and wonder like Oz or Narnia, or "dark and gritty" magical worlds with adventuring heroes like Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser. Her combination works include a series involving dimensional travel to an assortment of worlds, both similar to her other work as well as some that are very different.

Her primary expense is traveling to conventions, and not just ones she's a guest or panelist at. Secondarily, she probably spends the most on books (her personal collection is more impressive than her bookstore, but she's willing to sell pieces to customers in need), but also on food. She loves learning about other cultures, especially through their cuisine.

"I long for a way to explore worlds like my characters have, and if I can't discover that, I will find a way to make worlds. Perhaps I could create a 'pocket' dimensional plane, or at the very least design some inventive virtual realities. Why though? Well, this world is full of injustices, and people like me rarely grow up without trauma inflicted by awful people. Can I fix it? No. So, if I -- no, /when/ I discover or create somewhere safe for outcasts, I will invite them there. It may not be paradise, but it will be nicer and kinder than what we go through living with capitalism. It won't be just for the nerds of course, but a safe haven for the 'rainbow mafia' as well, but especially children and teens who have nowhere else to go. When the only options are foster care or living on the streets, I want to provide a third choice."

"I haven't had to take a life, but if I had to I'm sure I could. Especially in defense of others, even more in defense of children. I'd prefer to find another way of course, but sometimes there isn't one. When your only options are bad, you still have to choose."

"That would have to be my first visit to LASFS (the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society), when I first met Forrest J Ackerman, and where I was privileged to meet so many of the best living writers in the genres all of us love so much. I ended up volunteering in the club library, eventually impressing Forry enough that I was invited to my first party at the Ackermansion. His collection of memorabilia fascinated me, as well as hearing of the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939. Some argue that when Forry and Morojo wore 'futuricostumes' to that convention they personally kicked off the phenomenon of convention cosplay.

I read a bit of Oz and Asimov before I went there with my mom when I was still small, but not a lot more in other genres. After going? I devoured So Much More."

"First, my mom. She was born in California, but her parents immigrated from Cymru (Wales to the English) not long before, just after they got married. Mom loved linguistics and taught me a bit of it, but this also resulted in a passion for literature. Both of her parents spoke Cymraeg, so both mom and I got to learn it as well. She brought me to Cymru a couple of times, which I mostly loved apart from the time she insisted on a three day camping trip. I never wanted to go camping again, but I learned a lot that could help me explore new worlds. Although she's deceased, she still plays a large part in my life through what she left behind, both physically and in my memory.

Then my dad, they met through a common interest in science fiction at a book signing or a convention, or a book signing at a convention. Anyway, his passion? Science and technology. He's one of the rare ones who read Asimov's science texts before his fiction, and even uses one of Asimov's books as a textbook when he teaches the history of science and inventions. He went to CalTech but now he teaches at MIT. I wonder if he's the only black professor there. We're not close, but there is love there.

Third, my uncle. With my mom cremated and my dad a couple thousand miles away, he's my only relative still living nearby. Sometimes he comes over to repair something for me, or we watch movies together on the wall via my projector. His place is too small for a good projector, but he spends most of his time online at his desk anyway. Sometimes I come over to help him clean, he gets distracted by his online social life and forgets. His only in person social life is at LASFS, where he meets regularly with his ttrpg buddies. He taught me how to play when I was little, and sometimes I join their games. I love him dearly."

Zoe had a relatively happy childhood. Growing up an only child without many friends, she was very close with her family as well as her friends. Compassion and loyalty were important for all of them, and she knows not everyone values these qualities.

Her parents have already been mentioned quite a bit in earlier questions and influenced both her interests and perspectives. Her father was led by logic and her mother by emotions, and she has learned to use both in equal measure. They were good parents and did their best to teach her everything they knew.

One way she's different from them is her fascination with fantasy media, which started when her uncle gave her the second Oz book as a birthday present. He said that everyone knows Dorothy's story, but few know that Oz kept going. She's much more interested in fantasy than her uncle though, as he mostly sticks to sword and sorcery, anything close to his favorite games.

One of her favorite activities that none of her relatives shared is parkour. She was never very good at executing the moves she intellectually understood, but was good enough that she got into gymnastics. Perhaps she'll get better as a contractor.

Due to a combination of tutoring by her parents and potential hyperlexia, Zoe aced most of her school subjects, struggling mostly in history and geography. To get her past this, her mother got her involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism, playing on Zoe's love of fantasy.

All of that combined meant that she skipped grades occasionally, but didn't fit in well at school. Her teachers adored her love of learning, but other students didn't understand or appreciate her. She kept to herself while there, but shone socially in activities outside of school. Some thought it was strange that she preferred to be around adults and her only younger friends were prodigies like herself. As an adult, her favorite people are both children and adults who share her love of learning.

"In love? With a real living and breathing human being? No. Plenty of crushes on imaginary characters, though most of those were entirely platonic. I understand love, and I give and receive it as often as I can, but I don't understand how 'in love' feels. I suppose it's good, and I might experience it someday, but if not I'm fine with that. As for the private activities people tend to share in private when they're in love? I'd rather not. If it makes me as uncomfortable as it does when reading or watching fiction, I seriously doubt that I'd enjoy participating in it. I encourage others to do it themselves if they like it, but please do it safely and don't hurt anyone when you do."

Being trapped and being unable to help others, even worse when combined. It doesn't have to be a room or a cage, a wheelchair can be almost as confining. If my mind goes in years to come, that would feel much the same. Memory loss and dementia would have me feeling so lost and stuck in my mind and life that I don't see how I could manage.

I mention body and mind as prisons because I don't want to be a burden. If I feel like I'm more trouble than help, that might be worse than solitary confinement. I don't necessarily have to help anyone caring for me if I can still reach out with my voice or through text and be an aid to someone.

It is because of this that I strive to keep others free and safe, more than just that though. I help, and am willing to accept help when I need it, but if anyone feels that they owe me for that, I would rather they help someone else in turn. If I let them "pay me back" then have they truly learned what's important about aiding others? It's not about an exchange of favors, it's about doing what you can without expecting them to do anything at all. If they insist on repaying me, it should be in such a way that it helps me help someone else.

Sometimes you've got to ponder, I have plenty of ways to answer this. Is it my first sword? My mom bought me that so I could practice fencing for SCA events, but no. Is it my first edition copy of The Marvelous Land of Oz? I bought that myself, though my uncle gave me a paperback copy first. But it's not those. I think it's the collapsible spyglass my dad gave me. He wanted to encourage my interest in astronomy, and I did use it to observe the Moon and planets firsthand, but rather than getting me to study stars it got me interested in sailing. Specifically interested in pirates. My interest in cosmology and astrophysics came later.

With a proper spyglass and a big backyard, I would imagine myself a pirate most afternoons, while reading about them after dark. I knew most movies and television got them wrong, especially how they talk. That was all based off the man who played Long John Silver in a movie of Treasure Island.

I wanted to dress up as a pirate for going to SCA events with mom, but she didn't feel it was appropriate, neither for the era nor for a young girl. My uncle though, he suggested I take my homemade pirate costume with him to the Renaissance Faire. People loved it, and I got better costume pieces there while adults didn't just encourage me in play, they listened to me tell them everything they didn't know about pirates!

While I'm certainly not a pirate now, and have learned so much about so many things since then, I think it influenced my decisions to learn a few things in the years since. Notably why I studied lockpicking and parkour. No, I haven't used those to steal anything or flee pursuit, but I'm starting to think that might be necessary one day.

Honestly? I'd guess my biggest problem is that I keep getting hurt during missions, sometimes pretty badly. It makes it tough to choose to study anything other than healing. There are so many options, but I keep thinking "what if I get hurt worse next time?" Armor, weapons, these are helpful, but what if I have to put an arm back on? What if I need to cure someone's crippling mental issues? Although, maybe I should work on some way to get out of trouble. Flying isn't feasible til I'm quite a bit stronger, but maybe I should get faster, or jump higher? I already can sort of teleport, but all I've used it for when there's danger is to try and protect others, and got hurt doing it.

Maybe my real issue is being too selfless. I even arrange for my shop to be open when I can't be there, who even does that? If I ask my uncle to cover for me again, I really should probably pay him.

Before all this new excitement and danger? I used to enjoy getting ready in the morning, choosing whatever outfit suited the tasks of the day, looked good, and felt right. Now, I wash up and put on fresh clothing pieces for my 'emergency uniform' just in case I get called away without time or warning. Once dressed, I grab my messenger bag, and make sure it's at hand even while fixing and eating breakfast. I've been eating a bit less lately, that's probably not good.

On days when I'm heading to the shop or getting groceries, I check the tires on the car, the fluids too if I haven't in the past day or two. I worry about the car more than the motorcycle, which I take when I'm going pretty much anywhere else. I'm glad I got one where I can lock up the helmet instead of taking it with me. Those days I usually braid my hair, since otherwise it's a mess when I take off the helmet. Maybe I should bring the helmet with me on missions, in case I need to hide my face fast.