Question Hekate / The Witch

So, JG got me all paranoid again, in his usual excellent way that he does with us readers. I won't say exactly what tipped me off for spoilers sake, but it's not that hard to figure out.

So I started running the previous stories through my head, and finally stopped on The Riddle of Sappho, where whole lots of stuff happens, and Hekate gets out from under Fey's curse by becoming "The Witch" and trading her identity with the little gremlin thing that her Master put to watch The Don, then letting Fey's curse kill it as her.

That was in May 2007.

The Witch is probably at Whateley again by now. Any speculation on who is she hiding as?

I would say it was a magic user, but with the things she already knows, she might fake any number of abilities.

Oh! Oh! I know! It's...

Do we have reason to believe that TWFKaHekate wants to be at Whateley?

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Do we have reason to believe that TWFKaHekate wants to be at Whateley?

*cough* Hank 3 *cough*

Ah, yes. I suppose that's a reason.

Behold! As I double down on paranoia and wild speculation...

Is the lovable character Darqueheart...actually Hekate in disguise? Finding peace in her life through watercolor?

Mage, swapped with a gremlin/demon thing, usually bitchy. Very angry about feeling persecuted. It's a long shot, by far, but you never know with these devious, shifty authors we have. Toying with our emotions!

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:
*cough* Hank 3 *cough*

Phoenix, for some reason this says the link here is bad... I'd like to reread the story, so if you could be so kind as to repost a good link?

Here you go

If I recall correctly Heckate is seen in Hank 3 plotting revenge and intending to return to Whately so as to be able to attack Fey....

If Hekate has the guts to try it on campus, she is clearly insane. With all the wards, all the magic users on campus, security, Carson, doing anything would be disastrous and dangerous.


...Sooooo. Road Trip for Kimba?

Hekate is on campus now...

(Dark evil laugh number three)

From the very beginning of Hank 3:
As the car slowed and turned, she couldn't help but tense. Unconsciously gripping her seatbelt tightly, she held her breath. Through the gate the car went, past the guardians and the wards. Eyes narrowed to a glare she waited, tensed to react, but there was no alarms, no disturbance, no response from the wards at all.

Head down hiding, her eyes blazed an expression of arrogant disdain as the car passed without issue through the gates. She was back! Cowering was over and she had a list, oh did she have a list! Nikki Reilly, Don Sebastiano, her former 'master', they were just the beginning.

Careful to keep her face turned from the others in the car, she sat apparently docile as they accelerated down the drive of Whateley Academy. Her sneer, the blaze of triumph in her eyes, all obscured as she exulted, speeding ever onwards to reclaim her destiny.

Since we assume this is about Hekate, she is most definitely on campus!

E. E. Nalley wrote: Hekate is on campus now...

(Dark evil laugh number three)

I could be wrong about my guess, but I think we've already seen her.

null0trooper wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote: Hekate is on campus now...

(Dark evil laugh number three)

I could be wrong about my guess, but I think we've already seen her.

Of course you've seen her, like you've all seen her former master frequently too.

Where's the fun in the revel if it turns out to be some janitor nobody's ever heard of and you need to go through 12 million words to find the single reference of?

Hmm... How to isolate possible Hekates... How tall is she? ... Or finding a form that fits her physical description well is sorta pointless 'cause she has polymorph spells, good illusions, etc?

Could she be responsible for the assault on Vamp? ... Maybe she and her master are still working together? I forget what their relationship is now...

Lol if she's masquerading as a teacher. Maybe Grimes.

It's certainly not beneath her to kill someone and take their place, but I imagine she'd need to be in a position where she can use her strengths, which means someone from the magic track, or a new student. Materials, access to books, access to the people she hates the most, and so on.

It's not hard to see her using an yearly spell to change her shape, since she's used to those types of rituals, and we know someone else in the universe does it.

So is she hiding as a Freshman, or is she impersonating someone she's killed or has the Necromancer holding on to? She doesn't like Darrow any more than her other favorite people, so there's no way to narrow it down at this point.

The only reason I'm wildly guessing Darqueheart is because she literally swapped fates with the Master's demon-things, and that might make sense. But the personalities seem a little too different, because we've seen Darqueheart begin to soften. Then again, Tansy changed her outlook...

I get the background characters from Gen 1 and Gen 2 mixed up sometimes, but who are our magic track freshmen in 2007?

If she is Darqueheart, she could be faking her softening personality.
Hekate hates GSD, and is an evil bitch. Appearing as a severe GSD case who is a broken bird, angry at society for shunning her, but who softens up when shown true friendship, who would ever suspect her of being Hekate?

And the name says it all. " Dark heart" We all know Hekate is evil to the core. So it would be a very easy assumption that it's her. And the GSD would either be her get out of the curse jail free card. Or a nasty trick played on her. Since she was fairly vain. And even if it was her own idea. It's a great one. Who would be looking for her in the body of a Imp/demon.

I might have an equally promising guess!

Jenny "Fairy Girl" Merrowitz, one of Mischief's friends.

Fairy Girl has a magic wand that she fiddles with frequently (mage and that's her new disguised focus, replacing her athame for now), allegedly likes cute things but refuses to even approach Wondercute through October, because if she was Hekate, of course she'd hate them.

But most importantly, she asks about Jobe's drow, which Hekate hadn't seen first hand before because she fled at Christmas.

Specifically wonders if Jobe could turn a girl into a normal elf, "like that Fey girl." If Hekate was disguised as Fairy Girl, this could be a huge clue. Hekate was always incredibly jealous of Fey, because Fey was the Don's latest fixation. Hekate absolutely had issues with how attractive perceived herself to be, and Fey was the worst of that.

If "Jenny" could get Jobe to turn her into a Sidhe, at least in appearance and with regeneration and so on, that would be a major upgrade for Hekate in terms of physical abilities and resolve her self-esteem issues about being compared to Fey.

Remember there are TWO people Hekate hates more than anything. Fey and Generator. Fey didn't stop her plans from last Christmas, Generator did. Of course, Generator will just kill Hekate with no mercy should she find out that she is there. I wonder if she has figured out just how scary Jade is yet?

Timeline does not work, unless you are talking about The Witch replacing Hazmat. Hazmat was seen around the campus during Winter term, when TWFKAH was confined to quarters at the Necromancer's secret base.
However, Hazmat is still in the game for H's Master. Who IS someone who moves around the tunnels, and apparently does pass himself off as someone rather foolish/ineffectual (like Hazmat with his "hair-growing formula....")
Regarding the "dating Anna to get close to Phase" thing... it's possible, but it's more likely to be jumping on an opportunity that presented itself rather than some Xanatos plot. I mean, it would require maneuvering Anna into a situation where she would want to rescue the squirrels, expecting her to go to Jobe for advice and then expecting that Jobe would recommend him. Too convoluted a scheme.

The spoiler was labeled Hekate's Master.

The biggest problem would be getting the Range to use real squirrels. The rest all kind of falls into place. Anna is going to protect the squirrels, she will go to the best Bio guy (Jobe), for all his goofiness Haz is the most competent underclassman in Chemistry, asking for a date, and voila.

When I said that it was time for a Kimba field trip, I know Hekate is on campus, but it'd still be easier to wait until they are off-campus to drop the boom.

I'm in the Master Hazmat camp, personally, and I agree with Sir Lee regarding Anna being a happy coincidence.

As for TWFKAH, my silly guess is Voo Dude.

Slinking around disguised as a freshie... wonder if her fake Identity has been named yet.

I think I have an idea of whom her fake identity is, I forget the character's name but one of the freshmen girls either from R&R or Absinthe has been using some sort of mental ability to make herself popular, she could actually be Hekate, as we know she can emulate that ability, and that would put her around potential minions, of course the problem with that theory is that she would be identified quickly in telepath classes, that said she would have set herself up around people she can manipulate to do her dirty work, maybe as a "friend" of the girl who's using telepathy to make herself popular, and implanting suggestions on her to get the people she is manipulating to do her dirty work.

We have to think in terms of whom she would try to avoid, Fubar, most Mystic arts teachers, possibly Outcast Corner, Team Kimba, especially the magic sensitive members of Kimba, Fey, Tennyo, and Phase, though those students are all less of an issue as they are all in advanced classes, that said, I don't think she would be able to avoid magic class, there is likely no way she could pass as anything other than a magic user with Whateley Power testing...

found the name of my suspect, Drama (Queen) Bethany Farrow, She would fit an advantageous profile. Empath who manipulates the emotions of those around her to force them to nose up to her.

If she is in the magic program, she would have to arrange her schedule very carefully to avoid a certain TA with level 5 Empathic abilities...
I suppose she could try to use magic to fake a different classification. Like summoning to pretend to be a manifestor.

Then again, she could be pretending she doesn't have magic, but with her power set (Exemplar 3, WIZ 3, PSI 3) that would be dangerous too. Being around Miranda and FUBAR could get her caught easily.

Rose Bunny wrote: If she is in the magic program, she would have to arrange her schedule very carefully to avoid a certain TA with level 5 Empathic abilities...
I suppose she could try to use magic to fake a different classification. Like summoning to pretend to be a manifestor.

Then again, she could be pretending she doesn't have magic, but with her power set (Exemplar 3, WIZ 3, PSI 3) that would be dangerous too. Being around Miranda and FUBAR could get her caught easily.

We have to assume she has some way to spoof the telepaths or block them, otherwise she would have been found by now regardless, she would be someone that doesn't stand out, but again surrounds herself with potential minions, I think we could reasonably say she isn't hiding her personality much, too much risk if she slips especially for long term.

We know Hekate is in position to manipulate the new crop of gay bashers, Centurion, Dump Truck, Switchblade and Thud most likely, possibly Unstoppable.

Rose Bunny wrote: If she is in the magic program, she would have to arrange her schedule very carefully to avoid a certain TA with level 5 Empathic abilities...

There are a lot of girls who envy, possibly even hate, Fey for winning the genetic lottery big-time. Also the first thing that empaths and telepaths have to learn is how to keep other people's emotions and thoughts out of their own head. i.e., Fey is very much not on the lookout for Hekate on campus.

Rose Bunny wrote: I suppose she could try to use magic to fake a different classification. Like summoning to pretend to be a manifestor.

Conjuration also works for manifestation-like effects. But how hard is it for her to simply alter the memories and perceptions of the powers testers? Psychics and magicians are only brought in for the related portions of testing, and not everyone can even perceive a magical core. Now how hard does it get with someone who's been tutored by both magic and psi teachers at Whateley, HM, and the Necromancer in hiding her powers? WIZ 3 is a limit on her essence draw, not on the essence she can put into her masking spells in her down time, nor a limit on how efficient or sneaky she can be.

Rose Bunny wrote: Then again, she could be pretending she doesn't have magic, but with her power set (Exemplar 3, WIZ 3, PSI 3) that would be dangerous too. Being around Miranda and FUBAR could get her caught easily.

1. Neither of them are scanning for her.
2. Miranda never met the old Hekate, and she has bigger problems to deal with in her own life.
3. Hekate's a complete bitch and can't resist getting a dig in now and then. Miranda likely avoids her like the plague she is.
4. Not that Hekate would mind, because she has no use for freaks and geeks.

Other candidates?

If she's taking BMA, Sensei Ito or Chaka may eventually recognize her because she may not be able to perceive/alter her own ki to match her chosen role, and her past training could still leave "tells" that don't fit a freshman.

She may not be able to hide from Rev. Englund, but she's unlikely to hang with him anyway.

Esoteric and Diamondback might be able to pick up on the freshman who's really not what she seems. Being able to perceive and interact with the astral side of things is almost as handy as it is dangerous. Sometimes. At least if things go well...

TWFKAH also doesn't know that Freya's loose and has her sights set on some of the same targets. Anyone willing to take bets on whether that piece of work left a conditioned response trapdoor or two in dear old Kallysta's head? For all we know, Lady Jettatura may be on-campus for Parents' Day, checking on her agent and watching out for Nimbus' pawn(s).

@mhalpern:
I believe you are thinking of Drama, aka "Drama Queen" who appears in Alyss in Wondercute Land.

My bet is still on Fairy Girl, Mischief's friend. She passes herself off as cutesy, corresponding with the skipping down the pathways in Dague de L'esprit, but The Witch also specifically states she finds the Wondercute girls obnoxious, which is consistent with Melissa's observation that "Jenny" wants nothing to do with Wondercute, despite being right in their demographic and Melissa even joining in as part of the Cutettes.

And she wonders if someone can make her as pretty as Fey, even if she has to deal with Jobe to do it.

Katssun wrote: @mhalpern:
I believe you are thinking of Drama, aka "Drama Queen" who appears in Alyss in Wondercute Land.

My bet is still on Fairy Girl, Mischief's friend. She passes herself off as cutesy, corresponding with the skipping down the pathways in Dague de L'esprit, but The Witch also specifically states she finds the Wondercute girls obnoxious, which is consistent with Melissa's observation that "Jenny" wants nothing to do with Wondercute, despite being right in their demographic and Melissa even joining in as part of the Cutettes.

And she wonders if someone can make her as pretty as Fey, even if she has to deal with Jobe to do it.

If that's the case, we might have already seen her slip up once, Absinthe 2 part 1.

So, Esoteric can be up to speed by the first week of classes - one of these years! (Because each of those steps is all made up of 'easier said than done')

I definitely agree that while Sandra might have been on Hekate's radar after the Fall 2006 finals, that doesn't put TWFKAH on Sandra's radar months later.

She stirred the whipped cream into the sugary confection that was her weakness and smiled.

I smell a clue! How many freshman girls have we seen eating sugary confections?

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

She stirred the whipped cream into the sugary confection that was her weakness and smiled.

I smell a clue! How many freshman girls have we seen eating sugary confections?

All of them, or at least all of the Poesies and Thornies. Roulette regularly bakes sugary confections for them.

On the other hand TWFKAH was

The Witch took a sip of her frappuccino and congratulated herself on her own deviousness.

So it's Sphere, but she doesn't arrive at Whateley until Oct 2nd, and that is when TWFKAH was contemplating having been there over a month.

The smile does eliminate Downpour though.

Not poor Sphere! NO!!!!

Actually, I doubt that TWFKAH is in Poe. To be in Poe she would have had to declare herself as a lesbian on her entry documents, and I can't see her doing that unless she stood to gain from it, and she still is unaware of the Poe secret as far as I know.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Actually, I doubt that TWFKAH is in Poe. To be in Poe she would have had to declare herself as a lesbian on her entry documents, and I can't see her doing that unless she stood to gain from it, and she still is unaware of the Poe secret as far as I know.

Plus from Dague de L'esprit "There were a new crop of freshmen that did all their thinking with the small head and more homophobia than a football team locker room so there was plenty of muscle"
If she is playing that card, we can almost certainly cross all Poesies from the list. Not to mention, Poe and Hawthorne are minefields of people who would be likely to detect her, or at least dark/mythos magic. I also doubt she is hidding as a POV character. Personally I think she can either be Drama Queen or Fairy Girl, Drama Queen because you have someone in a position to easily manipulate people, and not seem out of place. Katssun has made a good argument for Fair Girl, and I can add her nastiness about Absinthe's hobgoblins and somehow forcing the one to her to destroy is suspicious when put up next to her usual behavior, and forcefully controlling to movement of someone else's hobgoblins is not something we have seen before, or at least not from someone who is supposed to be a beginner.

Not working with the eye without the ear,
And but in purged judgment trusting neither?
Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem:
And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot,
To mark the full-fraught man and best indued
With some suspicion. I will weep for thee;
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of man.

Henry V A II Scene 2

The thing that I find funny about this and other rampant speculation threads... even if you're right we still have time to change it...

DanZilla wrote: The thing that I find funny about this and other rampant speculation threads... even if you're right we still have time to change it...

That could go both ways. A wrong guess could spark an Aha! moment that sends things in a completely new direction via 'butterfly effect'.

That's why I'm not telling people she's really masquerading as a Justin Bieber clone exemplar in Emerson. Because that would be wrong.

I sorta don't want the biggest Witch to be one of the Littlest Witches...

TWFKAH has not come back as one of last year's students, nor as a student we haven't even mentioned yet, we respect you guys too much to pull bullshit like that

Malady wrote: I sorta don't want the biggest Witch to be one of the Littlest Witches...

Oh, dear...



Phoenix! You're taking the fun out of taunting them!

I guess I should elaborate...

I'd love the wordplay, irony, whatever, if Hekate was one of the Little Witches, it'd just be... the height of terrible, as in terrifyingly sad, for them, if it were true.

... Also 'cause she'd likely be leading the other two down into Mythos? Or not... It might be too suspicious if that happened?

... WMG: A Little Witch is gonna steal Kayda's book. :oh shit:

... If Hazmat is Hekate's Master... And the codename is sorta wordplay there, no? lol. ... Then why is Aquerna not into Mythos? Unless, see 'too suspicious' above.

It was explicitly mentioned that TWFKAH is masquerading as a freshman girl. So, most characters seen in the 2006-2007 year are out. This still leaves two of the Three Little Witches, but I really doubt that. For one thing, she would have to replace Abra or Palantir, and there are too many ways to get caught with a previously-known character. I mean, Grimes knows the Three Little Pests quite well. Deceiving her AND the other Little Witches at once would be quite a hard job. The same objections, to a lesser degree, applies to other Junior High-promoted-to-Freshman choices, such as Crimson Comet -- people KNOW CeeCee, so replacing her would be riskier than showing up as an unknown.

As for the new PoV characters, well, some of that objection applies too. Generally speaking, all of them -- Absinthe, Sphere, Ribbon, Mischief, Knockoff -- know people in the mutant/super community. Ideally, TWFKAH would masquerade as someone who dropped in the mutant community with no previous points of contact. It's not that unusual. Consider that most of the "first-wave" PoV characters fit that description, as well as a number of supporting characters. It's much easier passing oneself as, say, Ultrachick (knows nobody in the community, family lives far enough that showing up for Parents' Day would be expensive, so the fact that nobody has ever met anyone from her pre-manifestation life is not really unusual) than Mischief (knows one teacher, father is an established superhero who lives close enough to drop in for weekends).

Sir Lee wrote: It was explicitly mentioned that TWFKAH is masquerading as a freshman girl. So, most characters seen in the 2006-2007 year are out. This still leaves two of the Three Little Witches, but I really doubt that. For one thing, she would have to replace Abra or Palantir, and there are too many ways to get caught with a previously-known character. I mean, Grimes knows the Three Little Pests quite well. Deceiving her AND the other Little Witches at once would be quite a hard job.

Ms. Grimes isn't even the worst one she'd have to trick, compared to Tansy. Tansy knows the three girls probably better than they do, and Hekate had no idea how powerful Tansy really is as an esper. Very few do.

Let's not forget our so classy 'friend' Eruption did another part of the job when he described Witbitch 0.5 as not bad-looking, but not Exemplar-level of hotness. A description like this got to cut down the list a least a little.

Edit: I sort of hope Hazmat is not the Master. On one handd, that could makee a mighty fine twist, on the other hand, Aquerna would be probably devasted.

Hardric wrote:
Edit: I sort of hope Hazmat is not the Master. On one handd, that could makee a mighty fine twist, on the other hand, Aquerna would be probably devasted.

When Roger Zelazny was asked if his Chronicles of Amber series would have a happy ending, he famously replied, "I'll be happy..."

When Roger Zelazny was asked if his Chronicles of Amber series would have a happy ending, he famously replied, "I'll be happy..."

Whelp that can hardly get more ominious there... At the very last I hope Sky and Cav get another round with Witbitch 0.5, on their terms... They've got the better claim for her head.

I have had a disturbing thought, what if HM is part of Security?

Can't. He's a confirmed student. Unless you mean as an Aux, and he's pretty wimpy, in appearance.

So everyone is thinking of the new possible POV students, right?

Or ARE you?

I'm thinking that TWFKAH is Mischief's roommate. At least some of what I've seen fits. The other person it could be is someone whom we've met who she managed to assassinate and take the place of. Who is an orphan? That would be the easiest place for her to insert herself. She then wouldn't have to pass their family.

Do you mean "Lodestone" / "Maxine"? 'Cause she appears elsewhere. So. No. Unless she somehow got killed / kidnapped. ... Presumably disguise magics don't need a living disguise source?

I was just noticing how annoyed Maxine is with Mischief's upbeat personality.

Maxine's powers are a bit harder to fake with magic too, especially on the fly. I don't think she's in the magic track either.

She's also got her own second secret identity hidden away.

There is:

Mary - Tink Teri's roommate.
Geist - (not likely as she is a follower)
Cauldron - (not sure if it's a he or she)
Drama -
Fairy Girl -
Starbright -
Gillian Anderson - (joined Handmaid's Own)\
Trixie -

I think this is all the non Poesies, Thornies, GSD, and characters with prior history (Pegasus, Lodestone, and POVC).

Valentine wrote: There is:

Mary - Tink Teri's roommate.
Geist - (not likely as she is a follower)
Cauldron - (not sure if it's a he or she)
Drama -
Fairy Girl -
Starbright -
Gillian Anderson - (joined Handmaid's Own)\
Trixie -

I think this is all the non Poesies, Thornies, GSD, and characters with prior history (Pegasus, Lodestone, and POVC).

Teri has extremely hard to fake gsd, and likely going to be a POVC
Starbright is unlikely she is too focused on Ribbon, her power set while not impossible to mimic is extremely different from Hekate's not to mention she a codename only a doting mother would think of.
Don't remember anything about Trixie,
Drama and Fairy Girl seem to be most likely, Drama fits "not quite exemplar hotness" that is able to strongly manipulate people's thoughts,
Fairy Girl fits the skipping, hating Wondercute, possibly being more capable than she lets on, both have an aspect of Hekate's power set so it wouldn't be necessary to fool the powers testing significantly. The thing against it being Fairy Girl, is that Hekate is very anti GSD, and Fairy Girl wants to look like an actual elf, doesn't dismiss the possibility, but it seems to be a point against

mhalpern wrote: Teri has extremely hard to fake gsd, and likely going to be a POVC

With the spells that we've seen TWFNAH use, Teri is easy to fake. It just works easier if TWFNAH isn't Teri, whether or not Teri is Kallista.

As far as "exemplar hotness" and strength go, why is everyone ignoring the EX-3 elephant in the room?

Valentine wasn't listing Teri. He was listing Teri's roommate Mary, the girl who manifests black energy wings and tries to keep Teri out of trouble.

Kettlekorn wrote: Valentine wasn't listing Teri. He was listing Teri's roommate Mary, the girl who manifests black energy wings and tries to keep Teri out of trouble.

Now why would anyone suspect Mary of anything like that?

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Teri has extremely hard to fake gsd, and likely going to be a POVC

With the spells that we've seen TWFNAH use, Teri is easy to fake. It just works easier if TWFNAH isn't Teri, whether or not Teri is Kallista.

As far as "exemplar hotness" and strength go, why is everyone ignoring the EX-3 elephant in the room?

Because of all the Ex-4 on up....

Kristin Darken wrote:

null0trooper wrote: the EX-3 elephant in the room?

The Ex-3 elephant also has a Psi package deal and is using ESPer invisibility to hide in plain view?

Those fnord rays do leave those holes in the memory as soon as one looks away, don't they?

What was I talking about?

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Teri has extremely hard to fake gsd, and likely going to be a POVC

As far as "exemplar hotness" and strength go, why is everyone ignoring the EX-3 elephant in the room?

Perdition's so gallant description of Witbitch 0.5 implies she's not rocking the Exemplar look with this new body. And I don't think it's a disguise, not only Witbitch 0.5 got too much vanity for that, but constant disguise needing to be held up is a recipe for absolute disaster.

It has to be a disguise or permanent change in appearance.

Jade or Nikki would kill her the first time they spot her in Crystal Hall or the Quad...Or pretty much everyone else. Even Carson might.

Katssun wrote: It has to be a disguise or permanent change in appearance.

Jade or Nikki would kill her the first time they spot her in Crystal Hall or the Quad...Or pretty much everyone else. Even Carson might.

I think it's a permanent change of appearance. A disguise has the risks of failing at the worst moment or be detected. I'd say that whatever let her avoid Black Hand was what changed her appearance, but she did not disguise it further.

I could also see there being some sort of effect where her appearance didn't change exactly, but that it's impossible to recognize her as Hekate anyway. A sort of specific face blindness, if you will.

Nah, her appearance did change. Remember, she's actually a hot 17-year-old Exemplar 3. "Not recognizing her" would mean that people would see a hot 17-year-old that they can't recall meeting before. It wouldn't make them see a sort-of-average14-year-old.

So, between the dates in Brief Glimpses, the scene in The Evil That Men Do (part 5), and her narration in Amongst the Shadows, the timeline is this:

- Danny turns into Danica in the middle of Crystal Hall, Oct 10th. Consoled by Miki, Amelie, Peggy, two unnamed Freshmen girls, and...Roslyn. Roslyn is the one who takes him off for comforting.
- Lina and Danica talk, Thursday, Oct 11th.
- October 12th, The Witch states:

Dump Truck's little explosion had left Danny miserable, vulnerable and above everything else, eager to prove his manhood. The Witch had been there, consoling, sympathetic and willing.

So it kinda comes down to, did she have sex with Danica (meaning she might be pretending to be Roslyn), or Danny, which would mean she's one of the other five (two of which are unnamed).

Between consistently referring to Danny with that name and male terms, the comparison to the Don, and the bit about proving his manhood, I'm getting the impression it was with Danny.

Kettlekorn wrote: Between consistently referring to Danny with that name and male terms, the comparison to the Don, and the bit about proving his manhood, I'm getting the impression it was with Danny.

Yeah that is pretty obvious. That is that she was with Danny in the male form. What one wonders is if she will try to convince him that she can remove the spirit? Or does she want him to remain vulnerable. Also, what does she think of him being a switch in essence, that is a shape shifter who has a definite known female shape?
Finally, who is the witch impersonating, and how is she doing it an maintaining the shape? More dark magic?
High in the running right now Miki,
Maybe Peggy,
Who else?
Pretty certain it is Amilee!

Anne wrote: What one wonders is if she will try to convince him that she can remove the spirit? Or does she want him to remain vulnerable.

As long as he remains a means to an end and still vulnerable to her, I doubt that it matters how he changes.

On the other hand, once he becomes expendable, an avatar host + spirit is practically a two-fer deal when checking out sacrifices at the soul register.

Anne wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Between consistently referring to Danny with that name and male terms, the comparison to the Don, and the bit about proving his manhood, I'm getting the impression it was with Danny.

Yeah that is pretty obvious. That is that she was with Danny in the male form. What one wonders is if she will try to convince him that she can remove the spirit? Or does she want him to remain vulnerable. Also, what does she think of him being a switch in essence, that is a shape shifter who has a definite known female shape?
Finally, who is the witch impersonating, and how is she doing it an maintaining the shape? More dark magic?
High in the running right now Miki,
Maybe Peggy,
Who else?
Pretty certain it is Amilee!

Amilee's change in behavior would be picked up quickly, same for Peggy

mhalpern wrote:

Anne wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Between consistently referring to Danny with that name and male terms, the comparison to the Don, and the bit about proving his manhood, I'm getting the impression it was with Danny.

Yeah that is pretty obvious. That is that she was with Danny in the male form. What one wonders is if she will try to convince him that she can remove the spirit? Or does she want him to remain vulnerable. Also, what does she think of him being a switch in essence, that is a shape shifter who has a definite known female shape?
Finally, who is the witch impersonating, and how is she doing it an maintaining the shape? More dark magic?
High in the running right now Miki,
Maybe Peggy,
Who else?
Pretty certain it is Amilee!

Amilee's change in behavior would be picked up quickly, same for Peggy

I honestly didn't realise that was Hekate. Damm. I should have picked up on that. So, she's snuck back onto the campus. Is this a planned development, or something that has been 'add-libbed' into the story?? By add libbed, I mean that they've added a section inbetween or onto the end of the planned storyline. The character of Danny can't have existed since the original inception of the story if that's the case. Wait!!! Does this mean that the canon authors actually don't have a choice about what they write in individual stories??? That means....no...was the disappearance of all the missing authors PLANNED???? Oh gawd!!!! If everything has been planned out, then the dissapearance and 'retirement' of the canon authors from the original group was not a unintended thing. The fact that no one seemed to have panicked when they suddenly stopped writing is a dead givaway. If they had simply just upped and walked out, there'd be goodbyes/occasional check-ins/some activity. The fact that all of them bar Babs are still talking to the staff, and that there has been no posts by them in years...my god...YOU GUYS PLANNED THIS??? It all adds up!!! There's going to be some 'mass author resurgence' sometime in the future. The disappearance is all just a clever writing trick!!! Ha!!! Isn't that right, Kristin!!!

[God, I hope I'm right. Otherwise, I've just acted extremely paranoid. For that, I apologise. Either that, or I've just looked really stupid]

CrazyMinh your reading to much into it, but that's okay, you have already acknowledged that you're crazy...

Amongst the Shadows wrote: The Witch strolled with a smile on her face in the evening air. It was a satisfied smile of well laid plains coming to fruition. Dump Truck's little explosion had left Danny miserable, vulnerable and above everything else, eager to prove his manhood. The Witch had been there, consoling, sympathetic and willing. The body she had stolen was a virgin no longer and while Danny Franks was no Casanova, he had been vigorous and genuinely concerned about her experience. Night and day from the pawing, self centered misery that had been sex with The Don. Her wicked smile got a bit wider, now her claws were into Danny Franks, sex was one of the easiest and best ways to control a boy after all. Before long he'd be positively addicted and then she could really begin to turn the screws. Still, he hadn't been as clumsy as she had thought a boy losing his virginity would be, or as emotionally fixated, but that would come with time.

So from this we gather that Hekate has STOLEN a body, she isn't disguised or magicked to look like someone, she has pulled a Jinn and permanently hijacked an incoming Freshman. And she had sex with Danny, a boy.

I wonder if there is anything left of the original owner of the body, possibly tucked away and trapped... or if their "soul" was completely obliterated.

Just to clarify CrazyMinh... The Witch Formerly Known as Hekate has visited the campus during Graduation back in June or thereabouts. That suggests that she might have taken over the younger sisterrelative (she might be a cousin or something) of one of the students from the previous school year. Most probably a relative of one of the graduating class, since (a) families of the non-graduating classes are less likely to come for Graduation, and (b) she wouldn't have to deal with deceiving her "sister" all year long. Being present during Graduation also stacks the odds towards an American family.
Still, she had to deceive "her" family during the whole summer. Perhaps she just used magic to make them oblivious.

Rose Bunny wrote: I wonder if there is anything left of the original owner of the body, possibly tucked away and trapped... or if their "soul" was completely obliterated.

I'd imagine she used something similar to what she did to remove Fey's curse in the first place.

Katssun wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote: I wonder if there is anything left of the original owner of the body, possibly tucked away and trapped... or if their "soul" was completely obliterated.

I'd imagine she used something similar to what she did to remove Fey's curse in the first place.

Possibly, but magics don't always work as intended or do what they are supposed to.

Rose Bunny wrote:

Katssun wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote: I wonder if there is anything left of the original owner of the body, possibly tucked away and trapped... or if their "soul" was completely obliterated.

I'd imagine she used something similar to what she did to remove Fey's curse in the first place.

Possibly, but magics don't always work as intended or do what they are supposed to.

Especially since I imagine that TWFKAH would want someone with magical potential. After all even if you know how to light your well, it is easier if you are a wiz 2-3 to start with....

Anne wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

Katssun wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote: I wonder if there is anything left of the original owner of the body, possibly tucked away and trapped... or if their "soul" was completely obliterated.

I'd imagine she used something similar to what she did to remove Fey's curse in the first place.

Possibly, but magics don't always work as intended or do what they are supposed to.

Especially since I imagine that TWFKAH would want someone with magical potential. After all even if you know how to light your well, it is easier if you are a wiz 2-3 to start with....

1. Nearly all humans have the potential to use magic. Having a mutant WIZ trait, or possibly an AV trait, only makes essence accumulation go faster.
* There's no rule against stockpiling essence in advance against the need to re-light a Well.
* There are multiple ways to accumulate essence, for anyone willing to cover the cost.

2. Hekate's opponents are sure to be looking for a WIZ 2+

3. Her Master may be aware of all of the above. Whether he cares or not is another matter altogether.

null0trooper wrote:
1. Nearly all humans have the potential to use magic. Having a mutant WIZ trait, or possibly an AV trait, only makes essence accumulation go faster.
* There's no rule against stockpiling essence in advance against the need to re-light a Well.
* There are multiple ways to accumulate essence, for anyone willing to cover the cost.

2. Hekate's opponents are sure to be looking for a WIZ 2+

3. Her Master may be aware of all of the above. Whether he cares or not is another matter altogether.

All true. I imagine her master is at least watching for her somewhat. I also imagine that she is fairly paranoid, so she will want to blend in as well as possible. She is shown as being possibly an adjunct to wondercute, which shows that in some ways while she detests their lack of seriousness, she also knows well the tactic of being underestimated. I think we've seen that she is cute, but not an exemplar, that she does 'childish' things, that is she is seen skipping in at least one scene, and that Dump Truck and his associates may well have at least once tried to pick on her.
What if gag-choke-puke!!! she is one of the new middle school girls?

Anne wrote: What if gag-choke-puke!!! she is one of the new middle school girls?

Like Miranda? It's not like anyone would ever remember finding out about her afterwards.

I would say minimum 9th grader, because Danny would not "pounce" a middle-schooler. And even if he had, if Kayda heard about it... catburgers!

I think Miranda is too young, but an 8th grader (last year of Junior High) is not out of the realm of possibilities. I mean, she would be just what, one year younger than him? If Kayda tried to give him a hard time, he would point out that the age difference between Kayda and Cornflower is much larger.

An eighth grader is very much on the table so to speak as Sir Lee notes, even a seventh grader wouldn't be too much of a stretch, but at that age, two years is quite a gulf, so probably no more than that. Like I said, I don't think that TWFKAH is actually a member of or even really closely associated with Wondercute, but she is using them as a foil. So she probably dresses in fuku at least part of the time and does things near them so that they provide her protective covering as it were. I was just thinking of the Wondercute Jr set. I know that includes at least TLW, but does it include someone new? I thought it did... So there or an incoming freshthing is the most likely place that TWFKAH has inserted herself. I somehow expect that whomever she took over is either a latchkey kid or an orphan.

Have we discussed Exquisite as TWFKAH? I was just rereading A Little R&R part 3 (1) and thought about what we've seen of Exquisite. She looks like she might be building a coterie. Which would be par for the course for TWFKAH. Some how I just imagine that she wants a cheering section even if she doesn't need their help in other ways, and hey cheerleaders make wonderful patsys.... Just because so many of them end up with the reputation of mean girls if for no other reason.

I would exclude Exquisite on the basis that she has a known and consistent backstory through Halloween. She's a Also-Ran Freya. No less manipulative and dangerous in her own right, but The Witch seems to be focused on staying under the radar this time, where Exquisite wants to be Queen Bee.

I've felt that the authors have conveyed that The Witch learned a lot from what Fey and Jade did to her, or the time she had to spend with Darrow.

She's been humbled. More cautious and careful, which makes her way more dangerous, by the way. She's also become more ambitious. She doesn't want to return to her master, she wants to supplant him.

Katssun wrote: I would exclude Exquisite on the basis that she has a known and consistent backstory through Halloween. She's a Also-Ran Freya. No less manipulative and dangerous in her own right, but The Witch seems to be focused on staying under the radar this time, where Exquisite wants to be Queen Bee.

I've felt that the authors have conveyed that The Witch learned a lot from what Fey and Jade did to her, or the time she had to spend with Darrow.

She's been humbled. More cautious and careful, which makes her way more dangerous, by the way. She's also become more ambitious. She doesn't want to return to her master, she wants to supplant him.

Yup for those reasons when we were introduced to Exquisite she went into the "I want to think she's Hekate, but she most certainly isn't" file (only one in that particular file so far) Miki on the other hand now that we know that Hekate is a part of Danny's herem, without realizing she's not the first girl he's slept with, and comforted him after the demon snowstorm, is a likely possibility, we don't know hardly anything about Miki other than cat ears.

In addition to the reasons already mentioned, Exquisite was the big fish in her little pond before arriving at Whateley. She might be beautiful, but I don't picture someone as morally questionable as her being able get to such a position by being the chaste, pure, and good girl. No, I would picture her as the kind that gets there by back-stabbing and leg spreading.

Rose Bunny wrote: In addition to the reasons already mentioned, Exquisite was the big fish in her little pond before arriving at Whateley. She might be beautiful, but I don't picture someone as morally questionable as her being able get to such a position by being the chaste, pure, and good girl. No, I would picture her as the kind that gets there by back-stabbing and leg spreading.

Well there is the oral alternative to your second point. Not that TWFKAH gives any indication that the body she's snatched has any such experience. Too bad she doesn't realize that Danny has been being seduced by others in his harem.
Mrs Carson to Danny: "You are responsible for 15 pregnancies."
Danny: "I was raped!"

Rose Bunny wrote: In addition to the reasons already mentioned, Exquisite was the big fish in her little pond before arriving at Whateley. She might be beautiful, but I don't picture someone as morally questionable as her being able get to such a position by being the chaste, pure, and good girl. No, I would picture her as the kind that gets there by back-stabbing and leg spreading.

Backstabbing, sure. That's about par for the course in order to be Queen Bitch of the school.
Leg-spreading... while I know that yes, it does happen, let's remember that Exquisite's "before" was Junior High. At that age bracket, she probably could get the wanted results without having to go further than second base. Expectations are lower.

I am the only one who actually really likes The Witch? As a villain I mean.

She's really well written. She's not some looming menace of nebulous description, like The Bastard or her master. Her motivations are very distinctly human, her awful methods to achieve those goals believable. She has her own insecurities, her own ambitions that are independent of others, she's both willingly used to manage those insecurities and uses others to slake her sadism.

She makes deals with pure evil, but never fully submits to their will. She wants to learn, but more to the point, she wants to take whatever knowledge she can.

She's not stupid. She learned her weaknesses, learned from her former arrogance, is able to let go her grudges, partially out of fear, partially out of simply knowing better the second time around.

She is completely amoral, but I find it hard not to respect her for it.

Sir Lee wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote: In addition to the reasons already mentioned, Exquisite was the big fish in her little pond before arriving at Whateley. She might be beautiful, but I don't picture someone as morally questionable as her being able get to such a position by being the chaste, pure, and good girl. No, I would picture her as the kind that gets there by back-stabbing and leg spreading.

Backstabbing, sure. That's about par for the course in order to be Queen Bitch of the school.
Leg-spreading... while I know that yes, it does happen, let's remember that Exquisite's "before" was Junior High. At that age bracket, she probably could get the wanted results without having to go further than second base. Expectations are lower.

There is also the very real possibility that previously Exquisite manipulated other girls to do her dirty work, including sexual incentives to male and possibly female minions if she felt such was merited. So it would be entirely possible that she arrived at Whateley as a virgin. Also like I said, there is the oral method of encouraging men and boys especially. And at her age even a little allowing of touching under clothes while doing the same with intent could produce the results she intended in all probability as long as she only manipulated those near her own age.

Wait, who is Hekate's primary target again?

'Cause Jade is possible, since she was the lynchpin that stopped her enslavement of Fey, while just using tons of guile, and not any great amount of power?

Who is Hekate's target?
First, her former master. She knows that as long as he is active she could end up a thrall.
Second, probably Fey. Hekate is insanely jealous of Fey, also she wants payback for the spell that Fey cast that caused her to have to be in Darrow's basement...
Third, I'd guess that Jade occupies this place as I believe that Hekate believes that Jade is at least partly responsible for her fall from being the Alpha bytch.

I think it is mostly revenge on her master, by stealing his thunder right from under his nose. She knows what his plan is, or more than anyone else does at the very least. She's going after Danny because she knows Nimbus wants Kayda to be his next unwitting stooge.

I thought there was an explicit line that she wasn't going anywhere near the Kimbas. Jade and Fey scared her very badly. Her arrogance is gone, and her caution very high, which makes her more formidable. Maybe she'll change her mind after she steals Nimbus' force (if she does).

But from her perspective, Jade is unkillable, and Fey's magic overpowers her own by a wide margin. I think she's staying away from them entirely.

I wonder, when Hekate was a Whateley student, whether she had a roomie or not... 'Cause she might not... Or she's rooming with one of her flunkies, Conjure, or Spellbinder...

Or Hekate's alone, and her flunkies room together, like Tansy's did...

She must have a roommate. She stole a freshman's body, or stole some other girl's body after leaving Darrrow's, and enrolled.

The Witch has to lay low and not draw any attention to herself.

Whoops, I meant in 2004-5 to 2006-7.

We dunno what her new body's cottage is, if it's Melville, she could have a single?

Malady wrote: Whoops, I meant in 2004-5 to 2006-7.

We dunno what her new body's cottage is, if it's Melville, she could have a single?

She hasn't mentioned having a roommate.

If you're asking about last year, before Christmas, when she was expelled, Hekate roomed with Skybolt I believe.

Hmm. That makes sense, mirroring The Don rooming with Cavalier: each one having their own mind-controlled slave at hand. Also it would give Hekate plenty of opportunities to do the perverted black magic stuff she did to Skybolt.

But it still raises the question: when did such arrangement begin? Certainly not before January 2006. Did they play Dancing Roomates in January 2006? Or did the moves only happen at the beginning of the 2007 Fall term? And, who Hekate, the Don, Cavalier and Skybolt had for roomies previously?

Also, who's the Don's roomie after January 2007?

Keep in mind, Hekate didn't arrive at Whateley at mustache twirling evil level. That happened slowly. And Skybolt trusted her to preform this kind of magic, well what she and Cav THOUGHT they were getting. That moment was when the claws came out.

Hekate is a remarkable actress.

She can order her thoughts enough that she can cross the ward lines and not trigger them in addition to being right under everyone's nose now and no one suspecting...

E. E. Nalley wrote: She can order her thoughts enough that she can cross the ward lines and not trigger them in addition to being right under everyone's nose now and no one suspecting...

If Phase can get training and conditioning, to the point that eventually even a true demon did not immediately cause brain melting, can The Witch project an air of innocence so that most Psychic Arts students and staff overlook her, and to what degree can she withstand an actual mental assault?

How much of it is acting and mental discipline, how much of it was learning to withstand Freya, and how much of it is mythos magic?

Katssun wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote: She can order her thoughts enough that she can cross the ward lines and not trigger them in addition to being right under everyone's nose now and no one suspecting...

If Phase can get training and conditioning, to the point that eventually even a true demon did not immediately cause brain melting, can The Witch project an air of innocence so that most Psychic Arts students and staff overlook her

Could someone provide a list of the psychic students and staff who have been shown in-story as:

a) Knowing that The Witch is on-campus
b) Knowing that she doesn't identify as Hekate
c) Actively scanning every student on-campus in violation of the psychic ethics code on the off chance that one might think of herself as Hekate instead of worrying about all the other topics drfting through a high schooler's mind.

Just one, not intentionally, and it would be a complete accident.

Yes, most in those categories won't know her, and most espers are very careful about what they do. The receptive empaths who struggle with control at most might notice that something was off about the way she acts compared to the emotions behind it. Or someone who might touch her and get more information than they expected.

It's not about what she's up to, its about who is around Danny. They don't need to be aware of anything she's been up to since she faced off with Fey and Jade.

Tansy knows exactly who Hekate was, has a history of hanging around Danny, and blows through mental defenses when she touches people intentionally or otherwise. Especially when the person is upset or emotional. Maybe as Danny's harem has grown, he's stayed further and further away from Tansy. But you never know.

If The Witch is who I still think she is, then the only real risk to her cover is Tansy. There's no other strong espers in the groups she might hang out with, and if there are, none of them know her.

So, assuming that ever happened, and as a result, someone elected to violate ethical rules, or the staff actively decided to investigate, could The Witch fake it at that level too?

Katssun wrote: The receptive empaths who struggle with control at most might notice that something was off about the way she acts compared to the emotions behind it. Or someone who might touch her and get more information than they expected.

She's not going to be the loudest emotional voice in a classroom by training or inclination - E.E. has said as much.

As far as her emotions not matching what she's expressing outwardly: The school is filled with teenagers who almost by definition are doing their level best to not act out the way they feel - that's even discounting those with social anxiety or depression. Where are the freshman receptive empaths going to be bumping into the girl? Crowded hallways, filled with teenagers, while she's mentally going over her class notes or planning her next furry rendezvous.

Katssun wrote: It's not about what she's up to, its about who is around Danny. They don't need to be aware of anything she's been up to since she faced off with Fey and Jade.

Once again, I would like to see the names of the characters in the stories who know that the expelled dead girl formerly named Hekate is back on campus and is hanging around Danny.

Katssun wrote: Tansy knows exactly who Hekate was, has a history of hanging around Danny, and blows through mental defenses when she touches people intentionally or otherwise. Especially when the person is upset or emotional. Maybe as Danny's harem has grown, he's stayed further and further away from Tansy. But you never know.

Yes, she does have a higher chance of bypassing mental defenses when she is in contact with them skin to skin. Hekate knows that, along with knowing exactly what Tansy looks like, clothed or not. Am I the only person to think she's smart enough to avoid getting naked with Tansy?

Katssun wrote: If The Witch is who I still think she is, then the only real risk to her cover is Tansy. There's no other strong espers in the groups she might hang out with, and if there are, none of them know her.

The character I'm considering as The Witch has been introduced to a telepath "on-screen", and has a reason to be around them on occasion.