#Ortega’s tinfoil theory

[dc-said-bi-robin-rights]

TW: Implied mentions of Canonical Past SA, including (wrongful) assumption of CSA and incest!

There weren’t many things Julia Ortega wasn’t prepared to see each time she came home to her apartment, but a cuffed Sidestep laying on her bed was certainly one of them.

Years worth of instinct take over in the space it takes Ortega to blink. The bags drop to the floor, the groceries they’d contained spilling out beneath her feet. Lightning arcs between her fingertips, her generator pulsing to levels beyond its means as her eyes scan the room as quickly as they dare. Ambush, because what else could it be? The fact that Cyrus didn’t call out—the fact that he is here in the first place—is nothing more than an oddity to be followed up on later. They are under attack, her apartment has been targeted again, and if they’ve already overpowered Cyrus…

“It’s safe.” Cyrus’s voice is like engine coolant being poured over her racing heart, snuffing out her battle-focus as quickly as it had descended upon her. The lighting fizzles out, the roar of her generator slowly fading away back into imperceptibility. “You can put the sparkles down.”

Ortega’s shoulders loosen, before her mind steers back towards the bemusing situation and tense up again. Her brow twists into a frown as she looks down at the shape of her lover and longtime friend, splayed out on the bed in front of her, his hands cuffed to the headboard. In certain contexts, such a situation could be taken as alluring, but… well, this was too weird to be some abrupt booty call. Especially considering what he’s said last time, even with the clothes on.

Thank you for showing me this doesn’t have to be horrible.

A shiver runs through her. She still didn’t like thinking about the implication. “Cyrus… what is…?”

“There’s a key on the bedside table. By the lamp,” Cyrus says, so quietly and tonelessly Ortega instantly knew there was something wrong. Still, she knows a no-nonsense command when she hears one, so she obediently moves to the bedside table and picks up the key. When she moves to unlock Cyrus’ left wrist, though, all he does is shake his head. “Not so fast.”

Ortega draws back, frowning deeper. “Oh?”

“I need you to listen to me, Julia.” Julia. So it’s serious, then. “I’m giving you a choice here.”

Ortega stays silent, wordlessly urging him to go on. She knew better than to interrupt when he got like this.

“Right now, I’m not wearing anything under the blanket.” An exciting thought, if she’d heard it in any other time, but not now, for reasons she couldn’t describe. “Your first option is to unlock the cuffs, leave the room, and wait outside for me to get dressed. After that, we’ll pretend this never happened. Or…”

Ortega’s raised an eyebrow. She didn’t like the sound of this. “Or…?”

Cyrus takes a deep, shuddering breath, his unaffected mask for once cracking. “Or you can pull back the blanket and see for yourself what’s underneath.”

What? Ortega looks aghast. “Cyrus…”

“Don’t interrupt me,” he snaps, taking a steadying breath and continuing before she can do it again. “Every answer you’ve ever wanted from me is written on my skin. Every one. You could peel the blanket back, read what they say, and never have to wonder anything about me again. Okay? I want you to understand that.”

Ortega doubted that somehow. For one thing, she didn’t think there was enough marker space on Cyrus’ short, skinny frame to write down the answer to one of her questions, never mind all of them. And maybe that was a horrible thought, but she was a pretty horrible person all things considered, so it probably balanced out. And horrible she may be… but not horrible enough to consider this, not for one second.

Unless…

Ortega stares down own at Cyrus, licking her lips nervously. She had to pick her words with care, not putting pressure one way or another, because Cyrus had complained often enough about her pressuring him after he came back even in the best of times, and she refused to do that now, not when he looked so… fragile. “Are you… asking me to pull the blanket back?”

If there was even an inkling of hope in her voice, Ortega made sure to crush it. And then, to zap the puddling remains, just for good measure.

There’s a pause. Cyrus meets her gaze steadily. “No.”

Ortega swallows. Her voice is even more careful with the next question. “Do you want me to pull the blanket back?”

A shudder. Slight, but it’s there. “No.”

“Then I won’t,” Ortega says simply, viciously purging any and all hints of disappointment from her voice. She could get her answers another time, preferably when Cyrus willingly offered them to her. There was no hurry. He wasn’t going anywhere, after all—it’s not like he was going to die a second time. The universe wasn’t that cruel.

Right?

Cyrus takes another shuddering breath and says nothing, his eyes not leaving Ortega’s. Ortega feels awkward, naked under his intense gaze. Is he waiting for her to change her mind? To peel back the blanket, no matter what he wants?

Ortega wouldn’t do that. Ortega would die before doing that. He should know that. He used to.

Was it he who changed… or her? The thought is sobering. Maybe she should back off Cyrus for a little while. Give him some space. Just a little bit. Just enough for him not to ever think she valued her answers more than she valued him again.

She doesn’t do that, because she’s Julia Ortega. Instead, she walks back over to Cyrus—he stiffens—before slowly unlocking the handcuffs, making sure not to disturb the blanket enough to catch even a hint of bare wrist. It was more than a little silly, maybe, but… well, it was Cyrus. Cyrus deserved a little heartfelt silliness every now and then. That had been true from the beginning.

“Idiot,” he mutters fondly as she unlocks his last hand, rubbing it beneath the blanket.

“Only for you,” she grins, which is true also, even if he doesn’t know it.

He’s still looking at her, so Ortega backs away again, walking over to the light switch. “Can I?”

“Free country,” he shrugs, though she can tell she’s touched. “And it’s your apartment.”

The lights flick off a moment later, bathing the room in darkness. Ortega’s clothes drops to the floor one after another, leaving her in just her underwear as she crawls into bed with Cyrus and slowly wraps her arms around him, feeling him wordlessly nestle into her in turn. Despite what he’d claimed, his skin isn’t bare at all. She can feel the soft texture of some kind of thin, full-body fabric under her fingers. Which means he’d lied.

“This is nice,” she says, deciding not to bring it up:

“Mmmh.” He doesn’t acknowledge it either.

“Why the handcuffs?” She tries to make it sound like a joke. “Not that I’m complaining, but it seems like a bit of a jump.”

She chuckles when Cyrus drives his elbow into her stomach. “Ow.

“It wasn’t about that, old woman,” Cyrus mutters, rolling around and closing his eyes, his back to her. His voice is flat, unconcernedly drowsy… but it sounds fake, like he’s deliberately trying to make it sound that way.

“What was it about, then?” she asks, unable to stop herself. She feels like she’s being tested… and like she’s failing, somehow. Or passing. It’s hard to tell.

“You deserve to know,” he mutters. Somehow, she doesn’t think he’s telling the truth. “Even if I can’t tell you.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning it was about giving you the option.” A try at a laugh. “You know, so you’d shut up about me never sharing anything.”

“You’re lying.” She’s careful not to frame it like the accusation it is. “That doesn’t explain the handcuffs.”

Nor the whole… theatricality of writing information down on your skin, but she’s not about to voice that out loud.

“I’m used to being restrained.”

Ortega… wants to dig into that. She does. But she also recognizes it as the deflection it is. It’s a familiar Sidestepism, turning away a line of inquiry by offering another one until she got tired or backed off out of shame.

Dodging, in other words. It’s what he did best. In more ways than one.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Maybe you should stop asking then.”

“I don’t want to argue with you, Cyrus.” She reaches for his hand.

It’s yanked away. “Then don’t.”

“That’s not fair. This feels like…” she trails off, ice cold water settling into her stomach. No. No way. Not with her. Right?

Cyrus chuckles bitterly. “A test? And what if it was?”

“Cariño,” she pleads, resisting the urge to reach out again, to turn him around, to make him look into her eyes as she promised him he would never… how could he even think…? The pet name is new, pulled out of her by sheer shock. “Mi amor. Mi cielo.”

“It wasn’t personal,” he mutters quietly. “I just… needed to know.”

“I…” Thank you for showing me this doesn’t have to be horrible. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Cyrus. If I ever made you feel like…”

“You didn’t,” he interrupts, more forcefully this time. “This wasn’t because of anything you did. I just needed to make sure.”

Needed to make sure if she’d ignore his no. If she’d pull the blanket back. If she’d… if she’d go further.

Ortega’s mouth is dry. “Cyrus… I…”

“Don’t.” She still can’t see his face. “Don’t make a thing of it. It’s done. I know what I needed to know.”

“And what was that?” Ortega asks, even though she already knows.

“That if I was ever helpless around you, you wouldn’t…” he trails off with a frustrated sigh. “You know. Take advantage of it.”

Take advantage of it.

Thank you for showing me this doesn’t have to be horrible.

Someone had betrayed him, the first time. Someone close enough for it to scar him. A lover. Or a friend. Or maybe even a…

Ortega stops, vile crawling up her throat.

Hollow Ground.

Of course.

How could she not have seen it earlier? Who else could it have been if not him?

She tightens her grasp of Cyrus, feeling her thoughts run a mile a minute. It made so much sense. Why he’d been so hesitant to share his past with her in the early days. Why even the mention of it made him shiver. And, horribly, why his criminal older brother would pluck him from an ambulance after Heartbreak. He’d wanted his toy back.

And Ortega had just let him take it. Take him. Take Cyrus. She…

Cyrus’ drowsy murmur snapped her out of her train of thought. “You okay?”

I should be asking you that question, Ortega thinks but doesn’t say. “Never better,” she says instead, plastering a smile onto her face for fear Cyrus will hear the agitation in her tone if she doesn’t. It was was always easier to be convincing with a smile on her face, even if the other person couldn’t see it. “Just worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Good.” She clutched him even tighter. “That’s good.”

Hundreds of innocents, Hood… and now Sidestep.

Hollow Ground was going down.

[silvery-bluish]

WIP Wednesday

Technically Still Wednesday!! Thanks for the tag @autistic-sidestep it is LATE on my Wednesday so idk who to tag uuuuh @glitchy-npc ? @dogueteeth ?? Idk who’s been tagged or what anybody has cooking

Couple of sketches! Gonna have to like. Put things on BB’s patches and pins. And that sounds like a lot of work. Why did I give him a cool jacket.

And I didn’t do much writing this week because my BRAIN is MUSHY but I was playing with a continuation of my actually-hg’s-sibling AU noir….. thing…… from AU roulette last year. Here’s Ars talking abt when they got boosted in that AU.

[bardicjustice]

The way Ortega's labeled as a conspiracy theorist (mostly by Sidestep) and all of their friends dismiss their investigations (not necessarily their fault but still) like Steel's never-changing position that "Hollow Ground's a myth" and even when Ortega reveals their theory about Sidestep being HG's sibling the achievement you get is "Tinfoil." Sidestep's so adamant about no one believing the truth if they were to tell anyone but they’ve never really humored Ortega.

Ortega's been chasing theories since before Sidestep knew them. And the thing is, their theories either have substantial evidence (Hollow Ground) or are a reasonable conclusion with the information presented to them (Sidestep as HG's sibling).

And NO ONE, specifically with the Hollow Ground case, believes them. For at least a decade, Ortega's had EVIDENCE and everyone around them refused to give them the time of day. And still they pursue it. Even with literally no one on their side, they still continue to try to get justice for Marshal Hood. Ortega continues this case even as everyone around them labels them as a conspiracy theorist or refuses to listen to them. Ortega truly is Cassandra of Greek myth with this stuff, immune to telepathy and therefore the only one able to see clearly on what’s going on.

I can’t stop thinking about how Ortega really is someone who, with the world against them, just keeps going. There’s a lot of narrative parallels here with Sidestep, obviously, who’s attempting to fight the world as a villain. Sidestep tends to think no one would believe them with the truth but there’s a really interesting dynamic when Ortega believes them - as well as when Ortega doesn’t! I just think it’s really interesting to think about Ortega and Sidestep, technically on opposite sides, feeling like no one believes them or trusts them when they’re kind of the only people able to see the truth.

[idlenight]

for edgy ask, 10 and 23 for river!!

questions from here.

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

Not to talk about HG even more but -

I call it Tinfoil!AU, in which Ortega's theory was correct. River is not a Regene, he is Hollow Ground's younger brother. There are two variants of this in my head, one where most of the pre-hb stuff would be the same (River is a hero, etc). And one where River is not a hero, but just a human with a kingpin for an older brother, using his telepathy to help out his brother occasionally but not involving himself too much.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Ooooofff. Uhh hardest to process probably feeling content? It's not a common feeling aha. It's also something that can be pulled from under him, so admitting to it - processing it - means it's real and can be taken from you.

Expressing is probably love. he has trained himself to keep his needy little hands to himself, keep distance. He very much can express it and does so, but it is the hardest emotion to not beat himself up for expressing. It's a weakness. Can't have those anymore.

[just-a-tiny-goldfish]

What does Oro think about hollow ground looking like her? Does it freak her out at all? 👀

😂 yes but not too much. She doesn’t work those brain cells out unless she has to. She does think it’s a little strange but she doesn’t care too much about it. Walking in as Blue Jay and seeing her was like

She didn’t give it much thought after though. she doesn’t know about ortegas tinfoil theory either. That would have caused her to think about the similarities a lot more than she currently does.

Sometimes people just look similar🤷🏽‍♀️

[autistic-sidestep]

squinting at sidestep's [redacted]/sidestep's age/timeline stuff, not very coherent but throwing it together in one place (obviously massive retri spoilers)

We’re assuming Sidestep is (unless there’s a weird curveball the author’s going to hit us with in books 3 or 4) a Re-gene. What i’m going off of is the article mentioned in the timeline’s claim the Re-gene project dates back to the 70s which is probably connected to the hero drug research going underground given that Re-genes are boosted:

They have memories from someone else:

The sibling matches the gender of (if relevant) a binary trans sidestep, ortega suspects hg arranged a legal gender marker change for them:

The Venice Beach memory sets them as at least 7 years old before the big one, but the juvenile detention photo is from before “puberty [...] kicked in fully”. That puts the sibling’s year of birth as at least pre-1973, and HG is thought to be at least Ortega’s age or older (Ortega was born in 1982). For the sibling to be younger than HG, HG’s date of birth has to be before that, maybe 1960s? To self declare as kingpin of LD in 1999 they’d need a lot of influence that a teen doesn’t have, (i have a separate tinfoil theory wrt the hood/HG connection given that Hood’s power was geokinesis, maybe Hood was affiliated with hg’s family before going straight?)

So officially the youngest sibling died in custody, but given the ethics of the project and the Farm’s interests in telepaths/maybe connected to why telepaths keep disappearing… maybe the sibling took the hero drug at a young age and was a telepath? Or they were experimented on at the Farm, or its predecessor, if the in-universe article’s claim is true, and the sibling became a Boost after being officially listed as dead. There’s definitely a crime family link there from Ortega’s tinfoil theory, maybe related to the sibling being in juvenile detention. 

See: ‘the old man’ probably HG’s father? Looks like they’re the only surviving child left if what ortega found abt their siblings is real, probably other relatives involved if it’s crime family’

There’s a mention that sidestep suspects sunstream might’ve been disappeared and taken for experiments after she quit the rangers b/c of interest in her powers, and sidestep can also be concerned about a romanced argent for the same reason post-crash if they went to the meeting

Anyway this aside i think this debunks Sidestep being the sibling cos of the big age difference (on that note, ortega, how old do you think sidestep is??? They’d have to be in their late thirties for it to make sense, unless ortega thinks they have really good genes + supposedly the boost process slowed their ageing but even then…), since they should be late 40s-early 50s, not early 30s. Sidestep’s physical age places them as born in the late 80s, wayyyyy after the big one. The only thing that works here is that they’re cloned from the sibling’s genetic material. I’m wondering whether the sibling is actually still alive and captive, that might be interesting

Sidestep says they were decanted as a physical teenager

Hasn’t been implanted with the chip yet when they say no, since regenes are androids – probably memories carried over from the sibling? Word of god says they take a few months to grow to maturity iirc

sidestep is familiar enough with the special directive to know their tactics and how they work, as we know from the psychopathor warehouse fight, so a while (no more than 3 years, ofc), which was (“officially” anyways, take with a pinch of salt) formed in 2005, so their escape has to be between its formation and their debut, and i think another word of god is that regenes age normally after they’re decanted? 

Nine years ago (from rebirth, 2020), on the date of the nanosurge in 2011, i’m guessing ‘being twenty’ as meaning early 20s, given that two years later HB happens and sidestep says they were about the same age as herald is in retri (25) - maybe the author lost track of dates a bit?

that would make sidestep’s year of birth from their body’s physical age (assuming that’s what they’re referring to) as late - putting their debut as physically just hitting adulthood? think their decanting is early 00s so they’re the right age.

Anyway. Uh. yeah.

[maegalkarven]

So, cause enjoy being complicated on purpose and also because I read someone's post about the possibility of naming Puppet the same name as Sidestep, I've decided to give it a go and had a playthrough where both Sidestep and Puppet are named "Matthew".

And it's hilarious and also a nice touch of Puppet being a Mirror of Sidestep; the New, Better version, but also just a reflection. That, combined with Villain's name being Sidestep (which WILL come bitting Matthew in the ass later bc he forgot, in his utter desire of being found, what Special Directive can catch clues he's sending to Rangers as well) and Villain having a reflective/mirror helmet, making anyone who battles him essentially fighting themselves, and adding what Matthew's Nemesis is himself, is deliciously complicated, repetitive and yet makes perfect sense.

Add to that what Matthew (OG one, see how complicated it gets? The stats page is A MESS) is a trans man and that, combined with being Re-Gene, makes him feeling "like a real boy" in other Matthew's body (we're approaching the Coraline-escue territory here, folks).

I'm actually affectionately calling him Pinocchio bc: a) Not a real human. b) Wants to be "a real boy" BADLY.

Also the flavor of convos is delicious, starting from Ortega wincing when he has to speak about Sidestep (the Villain), to Danny adding "the imposter" everytime he mentions Sidestep (the villain, which is also. HA! Matthew might be impostor in so many ways, but this case is not one of of them). To Sidestep, whose main motivation is making the world see the truth, being absolutely enraged what Rangers and others are not picking up the clues, HE LITERALLY USES THE SAME NAME. To using "that's my name" in interview with Maia and it coming to bite him back in the ass in the epilogue (Regina being like "well, that's an open invitation". She is not wrong about someone becoming too cocky).

The dichotomy of the hero Sidestep/ the villain Sidestep and Pupetter Matthew/ Puppet Matthew is EVERYTHING.

The dream sequence of the choice with the mirror had me howling over the "the face in the mirror is Matthew" in two separate choices. Like no matter what he does and what body he is in, he's still his worst enemy. Also the "date" (I use to quotation bc Ortega is a friend for Puppet!Matthew who Matthew spies on, so it's not really a date) went greatly with Ortega calling out "Matthew" and both Matthew and Ortega having a brief existencial crisis over it. Once again, Matthew is giving Ortega so many clues, WHY WON'T HE PICK THEM UP AND CONNECT THE DOTS.

(Meanwhile Ortega is busy will his tinfoil theory. SIGH)

Also Mortum's line "Matthew, or should I call you...Matthew" had me crying. DUDE! Do you hear yourself??? "You...or should I call you you?" this is how you sound. The fact what he named himself and his Puppet the same name should have been a clue he is Not Alright. Too much baggage for one body indeed.

"Trying to keep yourself sane by riding another brain/body, only to slowly make another body/brain as traumatized as your OG one" cursed narrative.

Keep in mind what I'm planning to claw out a happy ending for him, even though Matthew himself is just hanging by a thread and clinging to Dr. Finch's help bc he is SO suicidal, help him. He tried to make Herald drop him. The only thing what keeps Matthew going is what he needs to get the truth out and he can't die before that, or it all was pointless).

My fav ending for him so far MC going to Hollow Ground, getting into his mind and seeing moray, telling Ortega he is Sidestep (DUH) and then getting Puppetstuck and asking Mortum (who he revealed the truth to and was asked for a week long timeout) for help.

A real "getting what you want and realizing this wasn't what you needed" conclusion. Matthew saw himself as a fraud and an enemy and tried to run away from himself, only to be stuck outside himself and panicking bc THIS IS WRONG, this is not real him but a mirror, he needs to go back! To the broken and Re-Gene body with top surgery scars and Regina on his trail. The wise thing would be let Regina and Co take the very likely Heartbreak in OG body and use it to reveal the truth, while staying safe in a new, Real Boy!body, only it doesn't feel right. It feels like betraying himself, and so many people/circumstances already did, he can't bring to be the last, final nail in his own coffin, not when he looks at himself from a new perspective. He doesn't want human body, he wants HIS body, ruined as it is. He doesn't want to be cis, being a trans man is too big part of him and he reinvented himself and his body for that.

Oof.I can't wait to see how Revelations will play out.

[tired-and-swordless]

I think Kiyo's cannon run is going to be puppet meeting hg just because I want to hopefully see Kiyo and Chen tag team Ortega's tinfoil theory

[aro-ortega]

That’s completely fair! It will be fun seeing what theories you come up with before book 3

im guessing that it will be at least another five years for the next game to be ready, so i definitely have lots of time to string board theories ! i have stolen ortegas tinfoil conspiracy hat

[autistic-sidestep]

staring very intently at sidestep's resemblance to hg thing/ortega's tinfoil theory

i'll pull together the screenshots and some of my thoughts later cos it's a bit long