sidesteppostinghours

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⚠️ Guiltcrash flystep baby au

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⚠️ Moar flystep baby au

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Oc Tag Game

im so late woopsie,,, but i got tagged by @arcadia09 on this account! i dont actually know whos been tagged for this already uh. @old-reflexes @reverendlazarus @glass-warehouse (sorry if youve already been tagged adjsjf) and you reading this if any of yall want to take a shot at this? and also passing the tag back to @arcadia09. do it for marsuya 🫵

Rules: cross out anything your OC hasn't done

for caine under the cut

Killed Someone Under Orders (i hc he was mainly used for assassination/infiltration at the farm)

Had Someone Killed On Their Orders

Killed Someone In Self Defense

Spared Someone’s Life

Invented Something (the awteesim)

Been Hungover (doesn't like drinking, partly because they're very lightweight)

Kissed Someone

Slow-Danced (as hark)

Been In A Long-Term Relationship (it depends on the playthrough, but with julia yeah)

Had Sex

Had Sex And Regretted It

Had A One-Night Stand

Had A Threesome

Experimented With Their Sexuality (no introspection on this man. they started dating chen and went "i guess we're dating men now")

Had A Kid

Adopted A Kid

Wanted To Have A Family With Someone

Done Something On Impulse They Regretted (probably at least once, though i don't know the specifics. he's a very paranoid person)

Gone Traveling

Had A Bounty Put On Them

Eaten An Insect

Been Groped By A Stranger

Been Groped By Someone They Know

Been Dumped

Dumped Someone

Smoked (looks at vice. lol)

Gotten High

Flirted With Someone To Get Free Drinks (as hark)

Put Someone In A Headlock

Won a Bet (red 12 achievement baybeee)

Lost a Bet

Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them

Indulged In Petty Revenge (im mad at this. caine get pettier NOW)

Hallucinated

Has A Noticeable Physical Defect

Gotten A Noticeable Scar

Been Permanently Disfigured Through Injury

Kneed Someone In The Groin

Had An Unattainable Crush (ricardo and also argent for like 5 minutes)

Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears (not expressive enough for this)

Been Kidnapped

Been Sexually Assaulted

Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized

Had A Recurring Nightmare

Been Bullied (by the other regenes. he wishes he was a bluegene so bad)

Bullied Someone

Experienced Survivor’s Guilt

Been Tied/Chained Up

Given Someone A Massage

Received A Massage

Been Backed Up Against A Wall (hi mortum)

Shot Someone

Stabbed Someone

Saved Someone’s Life

Cheated On Someone (kissed chen while dating julia)

Been Cheated On

Been In An Open Relationship

Had A Friendship With Benefits

Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship

Had A Stalker (hi ortega)

Been Betrayed (nothing he counts as betrayal, at least)

Been A Traitor

Been Possessed

Been In A Bar Fight

Been Thrown Out Of A Bar

Been Arrested

Broken Out Of Jail

Been To A Funeral

Been To A Brothel

Had Surgery

Broken Someone’s Trust

Broken Someone’s Heart

Had Their Heart Broken

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite (wrecking the farms shit while escaping was the closest he'd ever get to petty revenge)

Gotten A Piercing

Gotten A Tattoo (hm)

Used A Fake Name

Been Beaten Up

Been Tortured/Tortured Others

Been Abused

Been Blackmailed (hollow grounds letter counts)

Gotten Away With A Crime

Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed

Shared A Bed Platonically (with ortega and themmy a lot during the sidestep days)

Been In Love (julia and chen)

Suffered From Sleep Paralysis

Been Forced To Flee Their Home

Learned A New Language (asl once he escaped since he's hard of hearing, but they still sometimes slip into regene)

Joined A Rebellion

Fought On The Losing Side Of A War

Fought On The Winning Side Of A War (both of the war ones are crossed out until i see how their regene rebellion plans pan out)

Become A Godparent

Become An Aunt/ Uncle

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drawing a little something just for me mid artfight as a break

[sidesteppostinghours]

"What uncharitable takes would your OC have about you if they met you?" and "What do your OC and Ll fight about?" for cass and rashad if youre up to answer for multiple steps? (or just rashad if not!)

Rashad Basri

What uncharitable takes would your OC have about you if they met you?

Hmmm....that's a tricky one. Rashad mostly tries to give people the benefit of the doubt. They might think my standard vocal tone is too sharp, makes me sound angrier than I actually am. Or maybe they'd think I have a poor work-life balance, but that'd be hypocritical of them.

What do your OC and Ll fight about?

Rashad and Ricardo fight about a lot of things. Or, at least, on the surface, they appear to fight about a lot of things. What they're actually fighting about is how much their relationship has changed, they're just not saying it explicitly. Ricardo doesn't like that Rashad is keeping him at arm's length and Rashad wishes he'd stop trying to come back into their life when they know they're not going to be in it for much longer.

Rashad and Wei rarely fight about anything. Mostly because the things they would fight about, they avoid bringing up at all. They occasionally bicker about misunderstandings of tone and intent because they are both very monotoned, reserved individuals who don't always say things as they mean.

Cass Barrett

What uncharitable takes would your OC have about you if they met you?

Oh, gods, she'd have so many. Too pent up, too reserved, fangless. She'd think I let too many things slide, that I'm a doormat. I don't solve my problems by taking my fist or a missile launcher to them, so obviously I'm doing something wrong.

What do your OC and Ll fight about?

Cass and Herald are another example of less fighting and more bickering, but that's more due to their dynamic. Cass gets angry at the drop of a hat and there's a part of Daniel that suspects it's due to something that happened during the fall, so he tries not to upset her too much.

Where he usually can't bite back his own anger is the topic of Sidestep the Villain. He and Cass fight about Sidestep a lot. He doesn't understand how she doesn't care about her own reputation and she can't fathom why he gives so much of a shit.

Find more Ugly OC Asks here

[sidesteppostinghours]

I've been kicking my feet and WAITING thank you @autistic-sidestep I owe you my LIFE

Get ur ass over here @sidesteppostinghours @obsolete-stars-if @kidhellion and if you did it do it AGAIN 🫵

Cross out things they haven't done for Mitchel Becker my dipshit of a man

Killed Someone Under Orders

Had Someone Killed On Their Orders

Killed Someone In Self Defense

Spared Someone’s Life

Invented Something (small toys for himself :) )

Been Hungover

Kissed Someone

Slow-Danced

Been In A Long-Term Relationship

Had Sex

Had Sex And Regretted It

Had A One-Night Stand

Had A Threesome

Experimented With Their Sexuality

Had A Kid

Adopted A Kid

Wanted To Have A Family With Someone

Done Something On Impulse They Regretted

Gone Traveling

Had A Bounty Put On Them

Eaten An Insect

Been Groped By A Stranger

Been Groped By Someone They Know

Been Dumped

Dumped Someone

Smoked

Gotten High

Flirted With Someone To Get Free Drinks

Put Someone In A Headlock

Won a Bet

Lost a Bet

Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them (Forget but never forgive baby!)

Indulged In Petty Revenge

Hallucinated

Has A Noticeable Physical Defect

Gotten A Noticeable Scar

Been Permanently Disfigured Through Injury

Kneed Someone In The Groin

Had An Unattainable Crush

Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears

Been Kidnapped

Been Sexually Assaulted

Been Brainwashed/Hypnotised

Had A Recurring Nightmare

Been Bullied

Bullied Someone

Experienced Survivor’s Guilt

Been Tied/Chained Up

Given Someone A Massage

Received A Massage

Been Backed Up Against A Wall

Shot Someone

Stabbed Someone

Saved Someone’s Life

Cheated On Someone

Been Cheated On

Been In An Open Relationship

Had A Friendship With Benefits

Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship

Had A Stalker

Been Betrayed

Been A Traitor

Been Possessed

Been In A Bar Fight

Been Thrown Out Of A Bar

Been Arrested

Broken Out Of Jail

Been To A Funeral

Been To A Brothel

Had Surgery

Broken Someone’s Trust

Broken Someone’s Heart

Had Their Heart Broken

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite

Gotten A Piercing

Gotten A Tattoo

Used A Fake Name

Been Beaten Up

Been Tortured/Tortured Others

Been Abused

Been Blackmailed

Gotten Away With A Crime

Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed

Shared A Bed Platonically

Been In Love

Suffered From Sleep Paralysis

Been Forced To Flee Their Home

Learned A New Language

Joined A Rebellion

Fought On The Losing Side Of A War

Fought On The Winning Side Of A War

Become A Godparent

Become An Aunt/ Uncle

[sidesteppostinghours]

af attack of @b33tlejules 's rhan!!!! they're coping things are fine don't worry about it

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title: concatenation

rating: M

warnings: depersonalization and derealization. This is dealing with nightmares and warped perceptions of events so just be mindful if you decide to read!

summary: Ortega’s dreams are no fun place to be.

You’re climbing the stairs.

Feet scrape against concrete, echoing louder with each dragging step. Four sets, making this damned trek.

Until four becomes three.

(you heard the scream)

(Did I?)

A blur shoots past you; a flash of black-blue running higher. Rounding the corner to slip out of sight.

And three became two.

You can’t feel it.

Can’t feel the hurt. Can’t feel what’s ripping your team apart, piece by piece. Word by unheard word they are rendered to shreds. Is it better this way? Did you wish you could hear them, too?

(do you wish you’d suffered too?)

One. A lone man left to make this journey. Up higher, until there’s no way but forward.

A hall, stretch, stretched, s t r e t c h i n g ahead. No doors but the one at the end. Pass by water-yellowed paint, walls with holes pocketed in them. Signs of the life this building once held.

One door.

One choice. Always just

one.

Open it (don’t, not again) and finally see. Always a second too late, just one step too many behind.

A flash of green. A spray of red.

Erin always was one step ahead.

Ahead.

A head.

Two bodies, one a head lighter. Both fall. One you cradle, while one watches on. Hold her like it will keep her together, like you can make up for your failure. Cold, life already gone, skin like plastic under your hands. You don’t look - if you don’t look, you won’t see, and it won’t be real.

But you know.

(you know that this isn’t how it happened,

don’t you?)

You are climbing the stairs.

(Where?)

Always climbing, they never end. No more footsteps echoing except your own; where are you, Ricardo? What were you doing?

(were you always alone?)

Another door. Another choice. Metal instead of wood. A hospital facade; wolf in sheep’s skin, hiding away the rot. Swing it open with a grinding creak, step inside and-

Faceless figures clad in all white. As featureless as the room they stand in. They do not see, as if you no longer exist.

They do. This did.

Erin, scooped off the pavement and stolen away; they existed. Brought here to be spread out on a gurney like a sacrifice on an altar. Cut up and peeled open - wings of an insect pinned to a board. Alive but dead. Killed and resurrected.

They’re crying, but nobody hears. Here.

Here, nobody cares.

Throw yourself at them (stop, stop, STOP) but one step forward is two more back. Never getting close, making no progress. Couldn’t save them before, you can’t save them now.

They’re crying, and you are screaming. Threatening. Then pleading: please don’t, please let them go, please just stop. Knees hit linoleum, you beg for forgiveness; you’re so terribly sorry, you never meant for any of this. But the figures don’t see you. Their white runs red and they move like you don’t exist, because you were never here to begin with.

(you

never

came)

You are running up the stairs.

Chase your black-blue blur. Go after them, hero. Maybe this time you’ll save them. Maybe this time, things will be different. Things can change.

(Can they?)

Erin is fast, but you are faster.

They’re racing to their end, and you’re hot on their heels.

No flash of green. No red, no stench of burning skin. But remember.

(Remember?)

(not the gun, Sparkles.)

A body hits the window; glass rains, glimmering under bright afternoon sun. You lunge, push your body harder than ever. A body you’ve broken and mended, bent it to your own will; you’ve defied the odds before.

You are just fast enough

(you know.

you know you weren’t)

Glove finds glove, hand grips hand. Hold tight now. Fighting gravity and even heroes can’t prevent inevitability. A (not dead) weight, dragging you both over. Down. Down

D

O

W

N

Falling.

You are always falling.

Cityscape fades, mountainside rushing by you both. A bad jump (faulty equipment, always too reckless, old man). Four storeys up, five, ten. Were you always this high? You know.

You know how this story ends.

You never left those stairs. A ghost haunting a gravesite that isn’t yours. Walking. Running.

Lunge. Miss.

Try again.

[sidesteppostinghours]

Oc Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @kidhellion !!! I'll taggggg @localcryptic @firststrikerr @drymouther @verymuchwowperson @darkfire1177 and YOU 🫵 (no pressure ofc)

Rules: Cross out the things your OC hasn't done.

Rhan shenanigans under tha cut

Killed Someone Under Orders (Farm days)

Had Someone Killed On Their Orders

Killed Someone In Self Defense (Second Farm escape)

Spared Someone’s Life

Invented Something (They love repurposing old tech and frankensteining machines with no purpose)

Been Hungover

Kissed Someone (Argent 💕)

Slow-Danced (Farm training)

Been In A Long-Term Relationship

Had Sex (#freakiestvirgininlosdiablos)

Had Sex And Regretted It

Had A One-Night Stand

Had A Threesome

Experimented With Their Sexuality (Thought they were bi, then ace, then full on lesbian)

Had A Kid

Adopted A Kid

Wanted To Have A Family With Someone

Done Something On Impulse They Regretted (Leapt from a fire escape and broke nose on the way down post second farm escape, hence nose scar)

Gone Traveling (Farm days)

Had A Bounty Put On Them

Eaten An Insect (Sidestep days, on a dare)

Been Groped By A Stranger

Been Groped By Someone They Know

Been Dumped

Dumped Someone

Smoked

Gotten High

Flirted With Someone To Get Free Drinks (as Eden)

Put Someone In A Headlock

Won a Bet (Finally won a chess game against Steel after 30 games, bet was less than 50)

Lost a Bet (Had to do karaoke as punishment)

Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them (The first song on Rhan's new playlist)

Indulged In Petty Revenge

Hallucinated

Has A Noticeable Physical Defect

Gotten A Noticeable Scar (Top surgery + Autopsy scar. And nose scar i guess)

Been Permanently Disfigured Through Injury (Lets see how book 3 plays out)

Kneed Someone In The Groin

Had An Unattainable Crush (ORTEGA‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️🦅🦅🦅)

Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears

Been Kidnapped

Been Sexually Assaulted

Been Brainwashed/Hypnotised

Had A Recurring Nightmare

Been Bullied (Early regene years)

Bullied Someone

Experienced Survivor’s Guilt (Anathema...)

Been Tied/Chained Up

Given Someone A Massage (Sidestep days, Ortega)

Received A Massage (For maybe 10 seconds before they realized they hated it)

Been Backed Up Against A Wall

Shot Someone

Stabbed Someone

Saved Someone’s Life

Cheated On Someone (Puppet moment)

Been Cheated On (Puppet moment pt 2)

Been In An Open Relationship

Had A Friendship With Benefits

Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship (Anathema, but they definitely didn't have a label for it)

Had A Stalker (.... Does Argent tracking down Revenant count?)

Been Betrayed

Been A Traitor

Been Possessed

Been In A Bar Fight (thanks ortega.)

Been Thrown Out Of A Bar (THANKS ORTEGA.)

Been Arrested (Sidestep days)

Broken Out Of Jail (Farm)

Been To A Funeral

Been To A Brothel

Had Surgery (Like you wouldn't believe)

Broken Someone’s Trust

Broken Someone’s Heart (Sorry Mortum...)

Had Their Heart Broken

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite

Gotten A Piercing (Ears in sidestep days, tongue and eyebrow in retribution)

Gotten A Tattoo (Not by choice. Orange ones)

Used A Fake Name

Been Beaten Up

Been Tortured/Tortured Others

Been Abused

Been Blackmailed

Gotten Away With A Crime (For now.)

Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed (Early Sidestep days)

Shared A Bed Platonically (Sidestep days, Ortega, didn't sleep the entire night due to gay panic)

Been In Love (Unfortunately!!!!)

Suffered From Sleep Paralysis

Been Forced To Flee Their Home

Learned A New Language

Joined A Rebellion (Villainy counts as a rebellion imo)

Fought On The Losing Side Of A War

Fought On The Winning Side Of A War

Become A Godparent

Become An Aunt/ Uncle

[sidesteppostinghours]

OC tag game

Got tagged by @darkfire1177 (thank you!!!)

I’m not sure who’s done this and who hasn’t, so if you’re double tagged I’m sorry! Passing along to @lalizah @agentnatesewell @grapecaseschoices @grey-gravy @verymuchwowperson

Rules: cross out anything your OC hasn't done

Erin Becker:

Killed Someone Under Orders [Definitely had to during their Farm days]

Had Someone Killed On Their Orders [the few times they’ve killed post-escape, it’s been with their own hands]

Killed Someone In Self Defense

Spared Someone's Life [Stupidly so]

Invented Something

Been Hungover [Nowadays they probably spend more time nursing a hangover than they’re sober]

Kissed Someone [Only Ric (and Wren in the AU) were willing]

Slow-Danced [As Eden]

Been In A Long-Term Relationship [Non-AU, but in the trio universe then yes, with Wren]

Had Sex

Had Sex And Regretted It

Had A One Night Stand [Again, as Eden. They wanted to feel human and normal. Ended up just hating themself worse after the fact]

Experimented With Their Sexuality [I guess? Sexuality is confusing for them]

Had A Kid

Adopted A Kid

Wanted To Have A Family With Someone [Not in a nuclear sense, but yes]

Done Something On Impulse They Regretted [Too often]

Gone Traveling

Had A Bounty Put On Them [Hi Regina]

Eaten An Insect [They used to dig for meals in the trash, so I’m sure bugs were consumed here and there]

Been Groped By A Stranger [As themself, only by Farmhands. As Eden, a handful of times that usually ended in fights]

Been Groped By Someone They Know

Been Dumped [RIP Eden, Erin really wasn’t expecting Ortega to pick them over you]

Dumped Someone

Smoked

Gotten High [A couple times in their Sidestep days, when they felt safer]

Flirted With Someone To Get Free Drinks [Plenty of times as Eden. Why pay for drinks when they don’t have to?]

Put Someone In A Headlock

Won a Bet

Lost a Bet

Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them

Indulged In Petty Revenge

Hallucinated [Frequently during their second stay at the Farm]

Has A Noticeable Physical Defect

Gotten A Noticeable Scar [Heartbreak: their caster ruined their right ear and left burn scars on that cheek, as well as the other scars from going out the window. Has a Y-incision scar from the Farm, and an I shaped one down their spine from the reconstruction surgery. Got three long scars added to their back from the warehouse fight in B1]

Been Permanently Disfigured Through Injury [See above]

Kneed Someone In The Groin

Had An Unattainable Crush [I’ll count Ortega since they thought it was unattainable. Also had a tiny, misguided one on Sentinel during their baby Sidestep days]

Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears

Been Kidnapped

Been Sexually Assaulted

Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized

Had A Recurring Nightmare

Been Bullied

Bullied Someone [Ortega, lovingly]

Experienced Survivor's Guilt [Anathema :( and sort of fucked up post-Nanosurge for awhile]

Been Tied/Chained Up

Given Someone A Massage [Ortega and Anathema, they actually give pretty good shoulder/back massages]

Received A Massage [Don’t like being touched]

Been Backed Up Against A Wall

Shot Someone

Stabbed Someone

Saved Someone's Life

Cheated On Someone

Been Cheated On [Never dated]

Been In An Open Relationship [They’re too jealous and insecure for this (outside of very specific AU’s)]

Had A Friendship With Benefits

Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship [They wouldn’t know what it was at the time, but this was them with Anathema]

Had A Stalker [Hi Ortega]

Been Betrayed [They thought Ortega did, then found out Chen actually did. Not having a great time]

Been A Traitor [People just don’t know it yet as far as they’re aware]

Been Possessed [Hello ??? hitching a ride in their skull]

Been In A Bar Fight [Hoots]

Been Thrown Out Of A Bar [Also Hoots. Owl did NOT like them]

Been Arrested [Good luck catching them]

Broken Out Of Jail

Been To A Funeral [too many]

Been To A Brothel

Had Surgery [Never consensual ones :/]

Broken Someone's Trust [Not yet at least]

Broken Someone's Heart [Not in a romantic sense, but yeah]

Had Their Heart Broken [Would they ever admit it? Absolutely not]

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger

Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite

Gotten A Piercing [6 in their left ear, 3 in the parts of their right ear they can still get them in, 2 in both eyebrows, 1 in each nostril, a septum piercing, and their tongue. Piercings are one of the only bits of self expression they feel safe doing]

Gotten A Tattoo [:/]

Used A Fake Name [They’ve got a backlog of fake identities saved up]

Been Beaten Up [More than they’d like to admit]

Been Tortured/Tortured Others [been more on the tortured end than doing the actual torturing]

Been Abused [Hi handler Monroe]

Been Blackmailed [The single positive of being a skittish little shit is there’s not a ton of blackmail material out there]

Gotten Away With A Crime

Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed [Sorry Lotus]

Shared A Bed Platonically [Crashed at Anathema’s a lot]

Been In Love [Fuck you for that, Ortega]

Suffered From Sleep Paralysis [Most nights nowadays, hence the drinking]

Been Forced To Flee Their Home [“forced” is kind of a strong word. They got nervous a few times before they were fully settled as Sidestep, and fled from various motels they were squatting in]

Learned A New Language [They don’t have the time, they’ll just stick with the ones they were programmed with]

Joined A Rebellion [Started one]

Fought On The Losing Side Of A War [They know they’re losing, and they’re likely going to end up dead, but that won’t stop them from trying]

Fought On The Winning Side Of A War

Become A Godparent

Become An Aunt/Uncle

[sidesteppostinghours]

i adopted this habit from fhr into other ifs i play, but it's so interesting to me to think about how a differently gendered ro might affect an mc's relationship with them. there are the obvious ones like sexuality changing the compatibility of a relationship, but there's also the more subtle ones that poke around a character's preconceptions around gender. for my sidesteps, cyrus is largely the same regardless of ortega or mortums gender (which is interesting to explore in its own right!). while cecilia's relationship with ortega wouldn't change if she had julia, ace wouldn't have dated mirlene, which would've led to her experience in ace being a lot more bearable as she wouldn't have to question her sexuality the whole time she hung out with mortum. she might even start Enjoying being in ace to hang out with mortum more, which is a ceci first. i also think the first time she meets mirlene, she's going to have a heart attack realizing she's kinda hot. which is Not the time to be having that realization ever at all. (putting the rest under the cut because it gets long)

compared to the relatively minor adjustments of cecilia and cyrus, caine and chance's relationship to their ros will look Vastly different depending on gender. caine doesn't have a relationship with mortum outside of business partners, and that's unlikely to change with genders. Ortega on the other hand. with ricardo, caine has been harboring a crush on him since their sidestep days, but was completely oblivious to it up until retribution. in a universe with julia though, he's been flirting with her since his sidestep days and openly considers her his girlfriend. while they're very close to ortega in both routes, the way they treat the two is Night and Fucking Day. he's dry, blunt, and generally touch averse with ricardo. julia???? they're so lovesick it hurts. if they're not holding hands right now he's going to implode in a million pieces. pecks whenever possible. he's sleeping on her lap. julia has a big dog basically. this difference in attitude comes from One place: ✨heteronormativity✨. caine's always been taught that straight was the default and never had good reason to really question it. throw in ortega's need to be seen as straight and ricardo never stood a chance. caine has always been bad at picking up hints, especially when deprived of his telepathy, but it's easier to recognize julia's flirting because he's already operating under the idea that julia is a straight heartbreaker. ric doesn't have that. any attempts at flirting is flying directly under the radar. sorry ricky.

as for the difference in behaviour, that happens because of what caine thinks is appropriate to express in a romantic vs platonic relationship. when they're close to somebody, they will get More stubborn and argumentative, because they're comfortable voicing their opinions instead of shrugging and going with whatever. ortega was the first one to breach his walls enough to coax this out of him, so they tend to get it the worst. that said, caine's got the vague sense that since julia is their girlfriend, they should be nicer to her, which is why the impulse to be stubborn is tamped down. he also gets clingy with julia because he's fully in control of that sort of touch and it does not occur to him that he could just. do all of that shit with his friends. he'd be casually initiating physical affection a lot more if he realized that was fine and normal to do with friends actually.

(and just for funsies because im Always thinking about him, in a butch chen au, i like to think caine would figure out they weren't cis a lot sooner than in canon. not because he got pushed to do any real introspection, but because of that thing that sometimes happens where somebody of a certain sexuality gets attracted to another person with an "incompatible gender" that turns out to be an egg. chen gets a crush on caine and caine goes like "now hold on a second. mr chen the lesbian should not be having a crush on a man. what's going awn here." it's either that or chen clocks them as nonbinary and caine picks up on that suspicion. both are very in character for caine.)

chance is definitely the most complicated when it comes to this though. with julia, she's bitter and betrayed and has her as his rival. she needs to burn down every stupid thing julia thought she could build with him. with ricardo there's just... none of that. nothing at all even. she is unnervingly detached to things. when chance has julia, yeah he's quiet, but you can tell there's something bubbling under the surface, even if that something is barely contained rage. chance with ricardo is just. quiet. resigned. his rival is replaced with her current self, and she's not nearly as prickly or caustic as he was back in her sidestep days. it's a real point of concern for ricardo, he doesn't know what to do about the fact chance is a ghost now. like caine, this had a lot to do with ortegas sexuality, but it was because of chance's expectations of ortega rather than an expectation of sexuality. chance flirted with both ortega's back in the day, but it was a different experience depending on their gender. flirting was wonderful with julia. to put it simply, she felt special. she was the first woman julia ever dated, and the fact julia was willing to potentially put her reputation on the line for him left him giddy every time she thought about it. sure, julia had a string of boyfriends and kept up the player act, but he was the one she would go back to at the end of the day. it was that belief that she meant something to julia that made her believe the promise they would always have eachothers back, and made it hurt all the more when she broke it. ricardo was an Entirely different story. he was always kissing women, so their fling wasn't anything truly important. a la that one line in the game, "what made you special? nothing at all. just another mouth to kiss." she was convinced he was going to leave her once he got bored, so the fact he really did leave him behind at the farm had no fanfare. there was no betrayal. only confirmation.

now for the part where it gets complicated: chance's past relationship with ortega had a lot of repercussions in the present. like. a Lot of them. as in, chance's relationship with the different genders of mortum is directly affected by the gender of ortega. the relationship table goes:

mirlene w julia: chance feels "safe" enough to date mirlene, as eden is a man and thus he wouldn't fall into the same trap as last time. she couldn't help comparing mirlene to julia at the start, and she was always on guard and very flighty. i think mirlene picked up on this despite chance's efforts to hide it, but she couldn't really put a finger on the cause. the fact she noticed how tense he was, though, alongside mirlenes general respect for boundaries lead to such a gentle experience chance couldn't help but relax. he's fully aware she's fallen for the trap again, but he can't bring himself to cut it off. she's waiting for the entire thing to explode again.

mirlene w ricardo: mirlene met eden relatively early into chance getting a foothold on eden's personality. unlike with julia, where chance is strong-willed enough to just inject her own personality into him, eden needed a push to prevent him from becoming a wallflower. mirlene's flirting drew out the chance from the sidestep days, the one that was stubborn and laughing and teasing. it was a surprisingly welcome adjustment, and it made him prefer being eden over being chance. she'll always be grateful to mirlene for dragging her out of her apathy.

merle w julia: No flirting. none. nada. she refuses. he is perfectly fine being friends with him. she is Not pining, he is Not staring wistfully at his hands from across the room or laughing a little too hard at the jokes with a scotch in hand. and even if she was doing all of that, it doesn't matter because they're friends and He's Not Pining. this scenario is the only circumstance where chance actually wants to reveal the truth to mortum. not because she's wondered if he'd ever want her in her own body though. obviously not. (never tell her about lover's triptych, he'd sink julias bike if he found out she flirted with merle. THIS ISN'T JEALOUSY GUYS IT'S ANGER ON BEHALF OF A FRIEND)

merle w ricardo: he was slightly startled at merles initial attempts at flirting with eden, but wasn't against it. like with mirlene, merle helped coax out chance's old personality. the biggest difference was that chance was a bit more wary about letting loose since she wasn't sure how to act as a man dating another man. this got remedied pretty quickly as merle began showing off his less glamorous sides. it was comfortable calling his boyfriend a dork.

anyway. aside from being an excuse to talk about my sidesteps and their ros, this was my long winded essay on how exploring gender is an incredibly interesting way to gain an understanding of a characters mindset . 👍

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precious treasure (the other half of you)

I realize I've never posted him anywhere so here is Salim, Juna's beloved puppet

Juna sees Salim as his own person but also the extension of himself. Salim brings comfort and security that Juna's own body often fails to provide that's why he's so deeply attached to him. He can do things he's always afraid of confronting in Salim's body (like letting his hair grow long or be charming and relaxed like old days, confronting HG. But not pursuing romantic relationships, though. That's a boundary Juna doesn't want to cross. It doesn't feel right to use Salim like that. Besides, he'd rather people fall in love with Juna, as foolish as it sounds).

Juna takes care of Salim's body better than his own, provides him nicer clothes, gave him an actual apartment, tenderly took care of his wounds. If Salim crashed and Juna jumped back to his own body, the first thing Juna did was to look for him.

(and I just realized how Salim literally means safe, secure, intact or sound so. That Got Me Thinking.)

tldr this is Juna Sanjaya's core

[sidesteppostinghours]

art fight attack for @bastardnoodle ! of their sidestep Eve :]

[sidesteppostinghours]

My sidestep <3 Nguyen Ngoc (or Ngoc Nguyen)

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another artfight attack! this time i'm mauling @firststrikerr 's marion for fun and sport <3

and yes this is a nge reference :3

[sidesteppostinghours]

Seen someone say “I can’t die, I got graves to dance on that hasn’t been dug yet.” And honestly, that goes hard. We need to keep that energy.

[sidesteppostinghours]

Is feeling like “I’d date you if you asked but I’m fine being friends so I won’t make the first move” count as a crush or is my arospec brain just fried