I have this scene in progress where I m

[buoyant flume]

I figured out how to change the sort order when entering a collider. But now I'm also trying to have the sprite ignore the colliders on the stairs via changing the layers to ignore the staircase

    {
        sprite = GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>();
    }

    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        if (insideTrigger == true)
        {
            gameObject.layer = LayerMask.NameToLayer("IgnoreElevationColliders");
            sprite.sortingOrder = 0;
        } else
        {
            gameObject.layer = default;
            sprite.sortingOrder = sortingOrder;
        };
    }

    void OnTriggerEnter2D(Collider2D col)
    {
        Debug.Log("Character is entered trigger zone of " + col.name);
        insideTrigger = true;
    }

    private void OnTriggerExit2D(Collider2D col)
    {
        Debug.Log("Character exited trigger zone of " + col.name);
        insideTrigger = false;
    }
}```

When i run this, the Layer changes and ignores the colliders properly but then the sorting order doesn't work...

it basically keeps switching between the if & else nonstop