God I have had an entire Arc for Weltstelle in my head and yet I'm probably never gonna write the fic because:
It is a Novel and I have enough of those
The audience consists of like five people, three of which are way more into daddy kink than I am. (More power to you. Live ur bliss. mwah)
It's kinda a bummer for end game shippers
The vision:
I don't actually think it's a bummer, but it is messy and the ultimate result is "They break up with a better understanding of themselves and a much deeper platonic relationship."
more under the cut
I think it's a really fun idea worth exploring but probably better suited to a different setting? Basically, Stelle asks him out and Welt says yes because he's never stopped to think about what he actually wants out of life when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Yeah, he's jumped around careers and such, but he has such a 'try anything once' attitude and a lot of pressure from the whole World Savior shit going on that he hasn't stopped to look at. like. himself. He is very wise and he's constantly trying to improve himself but if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he stares into space for a few seconds before replying "...This?" (Or "I've always wanted to be the protagonist of my own adventure" and. Like. Sir you become the main character of anything you step foot in. To me. You can't help yourself asldfj. Himeko has you on a baby leash to keep you from So Wanting To Help!!!)
Anyway, Welt's actually wildly uncomfortable with the age difference but he puts it aside because Stelle is a grown woman goddammit and she can make her own decisions. It's patronizing for him to try to father her if that's not how she sees him (It's not. His feelings are not accurate. His feelings matter in this too that's not making decisions for her asldf). Also, Stelle's a bit of a self-described whore so it's not like he's keeping her from living her life. She's not tied down to an old man. They hardly ever have sex - in part because Welt doesn't realize he's somewhat sex-repulsed ace and never initiates (again. Very self reflective guy, but not in the 'what do I want out of life' way) - in part because Stelle's got plenty of other people to bone that actually seem to enjoy the act alsdjf
Yes, many people think it's weird that she announces to her boyfriend that she's off to fuck someone else. I mean I am that kind of polyamorous but there's a... way of going about it that feels less like "y'all should actually just be friends" asdflk;j
The relationship persists in a strange limbo where they both enjoy the affection and attention but there's a performative element to it. Stelle's cool with it. Everything she does is both a total performance and vital for her journey of self discovery and identity beyond "living Bomb". Welt is getting steadily more and more uncomfortable and can't articulate why, to the point that he starts avoiding physical contact at all.
Eventually, possibly at Himeko's urging, they have a conversation. Maybe things come to a head when they're alone in space for a while and Welt has Stelle's undivided amorous attention and it gets to the point she has to ask if something is wrong. Welt doesn't want to admit it, of course, because oh my God holy shit the Express is her ONLY home. If he rejects her and ruins this for her, she'll have nowhere to go. Cue internal crisis
Eventually they realize that they just should not be fucking, at least not regularly, and break up amicably. Welt stops trying to make decisions For her and start actually thinking about himself and what HE wants out of life. It's also made easier when Stelle suggests he might be ace and he bluescreens for a bit while he comprehends that he's allowed to have identity and sexuality realizations at his age and they're not just for young people.
"...You know, that does explain some things."
And it's good for Stelle because she IS learning how to people, and as a self described hedonistic trash goblin, she learns that she doesn't have to pursue all her wants with everyone. She can show people love and feel fulfillment in other ways. And also people will still love her even if she isn't Providing some kind of service - entertainment, 18+ entertainment, violence, etc
and hell, they might even wrap back around to a non-sexual romantic relationship? But I prefer the idea of "Deep, important and nebulous relationship that would take pages to define in concrete terms so let's just say they love each other."
anyway thank you for reading the rambles alsdf. I will proceed to do nothing else with this besides rotate it in my mind
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Porn! I have a very particular Weltstelle vision and also writing this is cheaper than therapy. I think this is the nsfw piece I'm most proud of: Stelle roleplaying as Void Archives. Certainly nothing could go wrong.
