Chapter Text
Every fic writer has daydreamed about getting isekaied into their favorite pieces of medias.
How can you not? Having the encyclopedic mish-mash knowledge of canon and fanon makes a ripe breeding ground for the imagination.
Otto has always envied those who could write self-insert fic. He grew up on Y/N RPF and had written his fair share of 1D and MLP:FIM self insert fic on Quotev back in 2013. But at 23 having written over 450 fics in his 7 years on AO3, the concept of doing something so self-indulgent, so personal, something that feels inherently silly but he knows has the potential to be brain altering if written well, it's just so daunting.
He's lamented on it on his Discord servers, how he's wanted to write self-insert fic, and his friends told him: just write it! But it's not that simple. Not when his brain is wired to write crossovers, where some may think to put an OC, he instead defaults to characters from other medias.
So, writing one became a distant dream, an idea that has lived in the back of mind and collects cobwebs in his docs.
Otto stares at his blank Ellipsus page, brain foggy from a long day of work and a short evening of doing absolutely nothing, beginning to type a sentence and only ending up with bland filler.
With a sigh, he swipes into Discord, pulling up his DMs with his online friend, Emily.
He'd known Em since they met on a Spider-Man server he used to own as a teenager and relinquished ownership of when he fell out of the fandom. They put up with his constant messages about everything from fandom to IRL.
intrerritus: its actually so fucked up that the only way my fics can exist is if i write them
ilove_hues: so messed up
intrerritus: i think this is a sign
intrerritus: i need to retire my fic writing and be a busker
ilove_hues: wtf is a busker
ilove_hues: wait i know what that is. that was in the musical episode of game changer
intrerritus: lmao i love how thats the only reason you know wha tthat is
ilove_hues: did You know what it was before that episode
intrerritus: …….capiche
ilove_hues: i think you're thinking of touche
intrerritus: FUCK
ilove_hues: anyways which one of your children is giving you a hard time
intrerritus: this star wars fix it fic. i just can't figure out how to start it. like, i know all the things i want to change but i don't know if it should be a time travel fix it or a crossover fix it or a plain old rewrite AGH
ilove_hues: u got this
intrerritus: at least one of us believes in me
ilove_hues: i will let the idea marinate in my brain but i've gtg to bed
intrerritus: oh shit when did it get so late
intrerritus: night night!!
ilove_hues: gn!!!
Otto sets down his phone, knowing that he's got to be an actual adult in the morning and go to work, and wills his racing mind to sleep…
…and is awoken by the sound of gunfire.
And, listen, he lives in the city. He's used to hearing gunfire-like things outside of his window.
But they're not usual this loud… or as close…
His usually groggy rousing from sleep becomes a quick snap to awakeness, realizing that he is no longer on his squishy matress cover but instead on dirt.
Beside him is a person who looks vaguely familiar but his tired mind can't piece together who it is and his faceblindness doesn't help.
In the distance he sees something impossible: robots with guns. Not just any guns. Guns with glowy bullets.
"What the fuck?!" Otto shouts.
His shout startles the person beside him awake and they freeze at the sight of him.
"Otto?"
Otto scoots away, perturbed at being recognized. "How do you know who I am?"
"Otto, it's me. Em."
And it finally clicks. Em. Someone he's only seen in photos but never in real life.
They look around in confusion. "Where are we? And how did we get here?"
"I have no idea," Otto says. "This is not how I thought we'd meet." He stands. "And I'd love to catch up after we get away from the gun weilding robots."
"The what?!"
Otto gestures wildly into the distance and Em lets out a strangled scream, grabbing Otto and pulling him into a sprint.
Now, look, Otto's not in the best shape and with asthma and funky hyperextended joints, running has never been his best friend, especially not on the uneven terrain that they've seemed to have found themselves on.
But, adrenaline is a powerful thing, and Otto finds himself not even stumbling as he keeps up with Em.
The robots' firing gets more and more distant and the exhaustion hits Otto all at once, his knees buckling underneath him as struggles to get air in his lungs.
"Otto!" Em shouts, lowering beside him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he wheezes. "Just… need a… second." He coughs and feels it rattle in his chest. "God… this is… just like… the fucking pacer."
"You haven't done the pacer in like a decade."
He flips Em off as he continues to gasp for air. "I… get it. I'm… old."
It's a running joke between the two of them, Em being a few years younger than Otto and Otto having the paternal urge to adopt all of his online friends.
It takes a few minutes for his breathing to even out and when he stands it's on shaky legs. "I don't think I can run anymore."
There's an explosion in the direction of the robots.
"I don't think you've got a choice," Em says with a grimace.
Before they can run, a rough voice shouts out to them. "Hey! Who's out there?"
"What do we do?" Em whispers.
Otto almost suggests to hide but with nothing but flat terrain around them, there's nowhere to go.
Emerging from the dusty distance is…
"Hayden Christensen?!" Otto says, confused and jaw dropped. "I know he was going to be around for GalaxyCon but that's in April."
"And we're definitely not in your city," Em says. "I mean, unless I know a lot less about geography than I thought I did."
"Identify yourself!" he says.
"I don't have my phone," Otto murmurs. "And I've got one of those wallet cases with my driver's permit and it's in my phone."
Em shrugs helplessly. "It's not like I sleep with my wallet!"
"Uh, Mr. Christensen, sir," Otto calls awkwardly. "I'm Otto Bianchi and this is Em… uh…"
"Emily Lim."
Huh. So that's what Em's last name is.
"Christa— what? I am Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and General of the 501st."
"Shut the fuck up," Otto says. His eyes widen. "Sorry. I just… no. No way. Is this like a Joaquin Phoenix method acting thing?"
"Wrong Joker," Em says.
"Wait— which one was it?"
"Jared Leto."
"Jared Leto played the Joker?"
"Dude, what? How do you not know—"
"Ehem," the tall man interrupts. "I don't know who you two are, but I cannot feel you at all in the force. So unless you are highly trained in shielding, which raises its own questions, you are an anomaly and must come with me."
"We can't just go with him… right?" Em asks Otto.
"I think… that this is like the musical episode of The Flash and we just need to… follow the script." Otto turns to who may actually be Anakin Skywalker. "We'll go with you."
Em shoots Otto a look that he interprets to mean 'are you sure about this?'
'Robots. With guns,' he mouths back at them.
They shudder. 'Point taken.'
Otto is really regretting not having watched The Clone Wars. Let's just hope his fanfic knowledge will be enough.