#and gain the trust of his highest circle before assuming a new identity not tied to clutch anymore

[lemurballing]

i know everyone is onboard with mimic onscreen murder via whisper BUT; here are a couple nonlethal ways you could also make him less of an issue (under the assumption that IDW can deal with killing him accidentally, but that a main character outright personally killing him is unlikely…)

1: blinded - it’d restrict his reaction time and awareness in combat, and remove his ability to become aware of current appearances and colors; he wouldn’t be able to mimic anyone accurately anymore at a certain point. he’d lose his most effective tool, and if he gets anywhere he’d have to learn how to be actually imposing or effective.

2: loss of limbs - 1-2 arms or legs, in a permanent loss he can’t regrow or shapeshift around (though he probably could be given octopus regeneration…). similarly would restrict his ability to fight, and since he can’t shapeshift a new one, he wouldn’t be able to imitate anyone accurately at all unless they also have lost the same limbs. (i don’t think this option would work canonically, considering mimic can imitate things like tangle’s tail, when he doesn’t have his own tail - but maybe with the phantom pains/whatever mental trauma from losing limbs?)

3: my favorite: burn damage (ie from an explosion) - scar his skin over, removing his ability to shapeshift (assuming it is tied to his skin). he’d still have his own body, but would be entirely incapable of shapeshifting as well as in immense pain.

my own thoughts? i’m tired of mimic hanging over the storyline, especially when all he does over and over is try to kill whisper secretly. i am sympathetic to tangle not being willing to kill - but yeah, mimic can get killed, i’m cool with that.

it’s going to drive a stake between tangle and whisper until tangle can come to terms with what it would actually say about whisper and herself if she managed to kill mimic - or between tangle and silver, if he did the deed itself - which would likely mean separating them for a time… i’m thinking the big reason tangle is so against killing isn’t because of any practical reason or any belief mimic could reform, but she’s afraid of ‘falling’. she’s a little flexible, but tangle DOES have strict morals, and ‘no killing’ is high among them; it would make her or whisper a Bad Person if they killed anyone, even mimic. additionally, tangle is the sort of person who would regret it - her stopping whisper is either trying to spare whisper from feeling that guilt (even though whisper wouldn’t), or herself from feeling it in proximity.

of course, with mimic dead and whisper finally at ease, tangle would see why it worked - i think she could change her mind. it’s just in the interim while they pursue that goal that she’s going to be conflicted and/or hurt.

also - with this mimic plot being started in T&W, released to take place around issue 16 iirc, and lasting up to issue *76*, mimic has been around and been a problem for SIXTY issues - a longer stay than starline had!! mimic doesn’t deserve that sort of linger, even if he’s only sparingly been present IN the comic - he haunts whisper like starline haunted surge. (additionally, starline is a more compelling villain than mimic ever was - the guy who just killed his teammates for a bribe? the guy who’s just chronically such a sellout coward he betrayed multiple other people before the DC and even after reflecting on his own actions in shame, did not stop himself and turn to a better path? he’s a coward, not really a ‘villain’ - a scary mask and a tiger lying in wait, scared off if you turn eyes on him.)

last little aside - as hilarious as mimic’s fumble (“wrong number…?”) in 75 was, that storyline REALLY didn’t deserve that ending - a rugpull accidental reveal when mimic had already been leaving SO MANY CLUES to his true identity. he’s genuinely such a bad actor i don’t know why he ever considered it as a career path - he should’ve gone for runway model or special effects or something. not being given away by his wishy-washy, halfway-presence despite saying he was enthusiastic to be helping out, missing during critical moments, being captured on live footage as the phantom rider wearing duo’s scarf instead of the glowy scarf? honestly, mimic, just leave the scarf off - if the real one’s all glowy, it’s not going to make a difference that you have this dull knit scarf on, just pretend you can disable the scarf to remove handholds!! this guy has a flair for the dramatic and he’s the sort of guy to be the Most Obvious among us importor, has never won a single game except for the other 9 year olds in the public lobby beefing the vote. especially since tangle and whisper had prior experience with trapping him, it would have been FAR more satisfying to see them setting up casual tests of trust to throw suspicion on him… nyeeeeggghhh