World of Souls

Welcome to the World of Souls!

I made it no secret that I really love Digimon. I especially love Digimon Frontier, despite all its faults (and there are many). The digivolution sequences this season are a joy to behold!

Would I recommend watching it...? Let's just say a few years ago I sat one of my friends down to watch Digimon Frontier with me. Afterwards we also watched Digimon Tamers (the season that came before Frontier!) and she turned to me, shaking her head: "What happened?!" Let's say there is a steep quality difference between Tamers and Frontier and if you do decide to give Digimon a try, you should always go with Tamers
And if you want to go on a wacky adventure, you go with Digimon Adventure 02. It has my favourite Digimon! =D

In any case, World of Souls.
In many ways this fic is 20+ years old me trying to reconcile her nostalgia for Digimon Frontier with the reality that it made some very questionable decisions, writing-wise. And that it really helped me that I didn't watch the episodes in order as a kid (If you accidentally skip all the awful Zoe episodes, she can be cool and inspiring!)

So yeah, I had the general idea for this story in 2004 when Frontier came out in Germany but it actively solidified into something tangible in 2015. I remember it as if it were yesterday, lying in bed without sleeping, plotting out the the differences in each episode if I just... made one change in Episode 1.

Here's to making every character matter =D

Chapters

Part 1
Prologue
Act 1
Chapter 1 - 1/2
Chapter 1 - 2/2
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Interlude I
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Act 2
Chapter 7

So many people have helped me refine my writing over the years that it's hard to pinpoint each individual contribution.

I'll start with the one person who stuck out with the story the longest. From the solid first part into the trenches of the shaky second part. (It's fun seeing her ratings drop the further we got into P2. There's a reason you should not give first drafts to ANYONE to read and I'm kinda glad she didn't take this personally lol) I'm talking of course about https://www.instagram.com/dormin2222/ who actually drew me a JP for my birthday in 2018! (Titled "Complain Lord" -- She is not very fond of JP XD) Incidentally this is the friend I dragged into watching Frontier with me after she read all I had for her and she remained very unimpressed.

Second mention has to go to Ryan who no longer has an internet presence and who I only reach over the archaic method of e-mail. And only if we both remember to check it XD He was the first beta reader I ever got for the story who actually stuck around. I love how biased he was. (He is very fond of JP which is a lovely contrast XD)

Third mention goes to SunnyLighter who also just read everything and who's my direct view into Japanese culture (she used to teach in Japan!) I really should read one of her works, eventually XD Funnily enough she's the one person I am still consistently talking to after all these years!

Even if the betaing eventually petered off, I am so thankful for the amazing conversations I've had with CourageSun, DarkBalance and LoneeWolf. There is just something special about just geeking out over Digimon with someone just as deep in =D Especially CourageSun did some heavy line edits for the first 5 chapters and I'll always appreciate DarkBalance's insights into the characters!

World of Souls was always meant to be a mega project and I'm still so very excited about it!

Character Spotlight Zoe

Name: Izumi Orimoto
Nickname: Zoe
Birthday: 05.05.1991
Family:
Mother (freelance aviation instructor); Father (Office Drone); lots of cool people back in Italy, including her favourite cousin and aunt








Favourite Colour: Pink
Mario Kart N64 Character: Peach
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Inside Out Emotion: Disgust

Zoe’s our main narrator for World of Souls. A truly respectable 38% of Part 1 is written from her POV!

Character Spotlight Kei

Name: Keisaki Kanbara
Nickname: Kei
Birthday: 26.08.1991
Family:
Mother (Marketing Expert); Father (Interior Designer); Brothers Takuya and Shinya




Favourite Colour: Yellow
Mario Kart N64 Character: Bowser
Hogwarts House: Slytherin
Inside Out Emotion: Sadness

Kei’s the first one to get a Spirit! Despite that, her part in the narration clocks in at a little less than 13%, the second lowest of the bunch!

Character Spotlight Kouji

Name: Kouji Minamoto
Nickname: Kouji
Birthday: 22.11.1991
Family:
Father (on the board of directors of a major company); Stepmother (Stay-At-Home Mom)




Favourite Colour: Blue
Mario Kart N64 Character: Mario
Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
Inside Out Emotion: Anger

While no one can contest Zoe in her narration prowess, Kouji’s often doing his own thing. He comes in at second place with a little over 20% of Part 1 being written from his perspective!

Character Spotlight Tommy

Name: Tomoki Himi
Nickname: Tommy
Birthday: 11.08.1993
Family:
Father (senior engineer); Mother (Stay-At-Home Mom); older brother Yutaka




Favourite Colour: Orange
Mario Kart N64 Character: Yoshi
Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
Inside Out Emotion: Joy

Tommy has been promoted to main character. Do not let the less than 12% of POV time he gets fool you!

Character Spotlight JP

Name: Junpei Shibayama
Nickname: JP
Birthday: 24.02.1990
Family:
Father (Chief Physician at a University Clinic); Mother (Brain Surgeon)




Favourite Colour: Green
Mario Kart N64 Character: Luigi
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Inside Out Emotion: Fear

JP's sitting right in the middle when it comes to POV percentage at a little over 13%! He is part of a very important arc after all! *maniacal laughter*