Note: Coming Home Part One has been edited and updated. Nothing too extreme was changed content-wise, but if you're feeling up to a re-read, you'll find some cute added scenes and general improvement edits.

Special Chapter

Welcome to the special features disc! Haha. I've rarely ever watched special features even for my favorite movies and such, yet here I am offering extra, non-essential info for my story—somewhat hypocritical of me. Oh well. As just stated, nothing offered in this chapter is essential to the story Coming Home; it's all just for fun. So you can skip this chapter and proceed to Coming Home Part Two without guilt if you'd like, or you can join me in the fun. Completely up to you. Here's the breakdown of what you'll find in this unpolished "chapter" (which is essentially one big author's note):

Deleted Scene

Bloopers

Q&A

Soundtrack

And without further ado, on we go!

Deleted Scene

In the previous draft of CHp1, Yami and Pandora fought a one-on-one shadow game. The storyline eventually changed, and the game disappeared, but I was sad to lose this one scene from Pandora's point of view because it was so unique. (Although the omniscient narrator also doesn't quite fit the rest of the story, so it's good in the end that it got cut.) Enjoy!

Pandora did not hesitate in his attack at the emergence of his opponent's monster. A magician never wavered. Confidence on the stage was key. Every trick was his to twist. The audience was his to manipulate.

And this was his show.

His opponent's monster was at a single glance inferior. Feminine and bouncy. Sluttish and trouncy. A pathetic excuse of an apprentice magician on a stage set for world-class masters. Even his opponent wasn't worthy to set foot in his arena. But Marik would give him what he wanted, so the condescension would be permitted this once. And he would win just as he always did.

So Pandora never hesitated.

But his Dark Magician did.

The weakling hovered immobile. His eyes twitched over the field. He dared to fear the pathetic apprentice. Pandora's rage bubbled in his gut. It crept up his spine in the slow march of liquid through a straw. It emerged from his lips in a burst of fury.

"Attack, worthless fool! I am your master, and you will obey!"

The dog had no choice but to attack. Pandora's victory was sealed. His voice rose triumphant in his throat. Smoke covered the field. The aftereffect of a stunning act. A tribute to the greatest magician the world had ever seen.

Then it cleared.

The slut was still there.

Pandora's magician was gone.

"Impossible!" Pandora shrieked. He stabbed a hand out at his opponent who dared to stand like he belonged. "You've cheated!"

"You jump to that conclusion because you assume I operate under the same tactics as yourself," his opponent replied. His voice was cold. "Dark Magician Girl was stronger than your monster because she gains attack force for every Dark Magician in the graveyard. My fallen monster lent her strength, but so did yours, and I believe his very soul cried for justice—for your destruction. You have lost this battle, Pandora."

Lost? No. Not possible. Couldn't happen. Wouldn't happen. Hecouldneverlose! Where was the death-saw playing field he had so carefully crafted? Why were they not battling on the terms he had constructed? Why were they not operating in the arena where he could not possibly lose?

Pandora was unaware he had transitioned from magician to tightrope walker. Pandora was unaware he hung precariously over an abyss. Pandora was unaware of the shadows whispering in his opponent's ears to be let loose.

Pandora was unaware that his opponent was fighting to keep him alive.

"This battle is void!" Pandora screamed. "I challenged you to a duel on my field, and you accepted. You cheated by this darkness trick. You changed the field. You cheated!"

Pandora was unaware of his misstep.

"Why would the place we plant our feet change the outcome of our match, Pandora?" The very darkness echoed the demand. "Enlighten me, magician; I'm ever so curious."

Pandora let out a howl. He paced a tight circle. He clenched his fists.

Then the darkness reached for him.

He jumped back. He swatted the shadowy fingers. They groped at him. They held his limbs fast. They ignored his shrieks for release. They found his secret pocket. They found the silver key. They carried it to his opponent.

Pandora still refused to accept the battle he'd lost.

Pandora was unaware of the one his opponent had just lost.

"This key would have enabled your escape from that saw regardless of who won the duel," his opponent said. He didn't phrase it like a question. He didn't seek for confirmation. "In our original playing field, there was only one rule—it defied shuffles and turns and draws. It denied heart and skill and decency. There was only one rule no matter what happened between first and final play: you escape and I die!"

The shadows surged forward with a throaty cackle. They clamored over Pandora. They were human. They were demons. They had hands that tore at him and stretched him and twisted him. Fear poured through Pandora's bones. He screamed in terror. The shadows screamed in glee.

"You lied, Pandora," his opponent said. His eyes shone red in the darkness. The puzzle around his neck flashed gold with the light of judgment. "You cheated. You betrayed. And the shadows will cut the payment from your very soul—if you even have one."

Pandora screamed. The shadows cut through his legs. Pandora screamed. The shadows drank in his blood. Pandora screamed. The shadows laughed.

Pandora was unaware that his opponent felt regret.

Bloopers

Because my brain is ridiculous.

Yami and the Doll

Yami had walked a good length of the river already with no sign of Marik's "doll," or even any other people, but as he crossed the bridge, he found a small group in the middle. A man and woman stood in front of a stone bench, while a second man stood on top of it. The elevated man had decked himself out in white face paint, and he wore white gloves to match. His hands were held stiffly before him, as if pressed to a wall of air. He stood completely unmoving, unblinking. Possibly even unbreathing.

"I thought mimes were supposed to move," the woman grumbled.

"It's artistic expression," the man next to her said.

For his part, Yami narrowed his eyes at the mime—or, more specifically, at the tattooed Eye of Horus on his forehead.

"Well, hello," he said.

As if he'd inserted batteries, the mime's head swiveled toward him, wide, bloodshot eyes fixed on his.

"Look who's here," came the reply.

Yami smirked. "Dolly. This is Louis."

"Hello, Louis."

"Dolly. It's so nice to have you back where you belong." Yami leapt up on the bench next to the mime. "Ah, you're looking swell, Dolly!"

The mime pressed hands to both cheeks, voice and expression still blank. "Thank you, Louis."

"I can tell, Dolly."

"Does it show?"

"You're still glowin'; you're still crowin'; you're still—"

The mime joined in: "—mmm, goin' strong!"

"Is this still artistic expression?" the woman whispered loudly.

The man blinked. "I think we've fallen into a musical."

...

Couldn't Resist

Yuugi was certain he'd fallen asleep like normal, yet he found himself suddenly in the puzzle, and he wasn't sure how much time had passed. He didn't feel any panic or reason to worry through his bond with Yami, so for a while, he contented himself to sit in the puzzle and wait. But eventually, his curiosity got the better of him.

/Everything okay, partner?/ he asked.

/Nothing. Fine. Nothing to see,/ came the response, much too immediate and much too forced.

Yuugi pursed his lips. He hesitated for another moment, then made up his mind.

He materialized in the real world—

—and let out a gasp.

Yami dropped his spoon, holding up a hand. "It's not what you think!"

The spirit sat cross-legged in front of the refrigerator, a half-devoured tub of ice cream on his lap, the freezer door still open above him.

...

Fumble

"You guys have obviously never done this before, have you?" Yori said.

Joey frowned. "Done what?"

She gestured for them to follow as she marched confidently up to the guard. The three boys exchanged a glance, then did as directed.

"Invitation," the guard rumbled, his voice low and powerful, like an idling engine waiting to be kicked into action. A black cap shaded his face, sunglasses hid his eyes, and his suit was bulging at the biceps. As if that weren't enough, he had a baton in a loop through his belt.

Yuugi swallowed, seeming to shrink next to the guard's bulk. He drew the white envelope from his jacket and held it out like a peace offering. The guard eyed it without moving—

Then he whipped to the side, catching Yori's arm.

Joey blinked, wondering when the girl had gotten so close and why the guard had suddenly grabbed her.

For her part, Yori blushed.

"I was definitely groping you," she said, "not stealing your wallet. Definitely. You're just too . . . sexy to resist."

Her smile was not at all convincing.

The guard raised his other hand.

Panic flared in Joey's chest, and he got ready to grab Yori and make a break for it—

When the guard pressed the hand to his heart.

"You think I'm sexy?" His voice was husky, choked.

Yori's face blanched. "On second thought, I was one-hundred-percent stealing your wallet."

Q&A

Blaze1662001: How much of this series do you have planned out?

Depends on how specific we're talking. I have the entire series planned out in broad strokes—as in, I know how it ends, I know the big villain encounters, and I know (most of) the big character-growth moments. As a writer, I think it's important to have at least a general idea of where I'm going in any story, no matter how vague. Does planning do me any good? Hahaha . . . yes and no. It does help me have purpose, but the story changes all the time. Many things I'd originally planned no longer exist, including whole characters. But it's easier for me to write if I have at least a general roadmap in mind, and I think it does make the story better, regardless of what changes happen.

KelekiahGaladrian: What are you most proud of when it comes to how far this story has come from its original drafts? Particularly from the first draft.

Originality, hands down. The first draft of Coming Home (which I wrote when I was, what, fifteen?) was basically the original dubbed anime with Yori plugged in and pretending like she belonged. There were a few original things in it—a soccer game comes to mind in the beginning and the spirit realm later on—but events for Yami, Seto, Joey, and the other canon characters were alarmingly canon, to the point that I remember sitting at my computer sometimes transcribing word-for-word dialogue from the original to use in the story.

To be honest, I think that's how most people's fanfiction starts, and I think there was nothing wrong with that for starting out. But I've grown as a writer since then; I've studied writing; I've read a library's worth of excellent stories. I have a bachelor's degree in English, and it would be a shame if that was just a piece of paper without any change in my writing to show for it.

So for this draft, I really wanted this to be my story. There are still canon events in the storyline (because I love the original; otherwise, I wouldn't write fanfiction for it), but even then, I've tried to tell them completely through my lens. Some of the reviews that have made me happiest have been when people said I gave them a new perspective on characters from the original series or I made them love them even more—something that shows I've contributed and added to what inspired me, rather than just transcribing it.

The Duelist's Heiress: Were there any favorite changes you made between the original and the rewrite and why?

Easy one. My favorite change is definitely adding the shadow games to the rewrite. I like the depth and conflict it brought to the characters, the story, and the background of the Millennium Items. Also I just love magic, haha. We'll be seeing a lot more of it before the series is over, so I hope you like it, too.

Blaze1662001: Do you have the plot done as an outline, or do you wing it and write as you go?

BOTH. I used to wing everything in every story—I just sat down, started on page one, and fumbled my way to a finish. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of stories didn't get finished at all. Now I've learned to compromise. When I write, I have the story document open on the right side of my screen and my planning document open on the left side of my screen. My planning document has a very very very rough plot outline as well as random bits of character dialogue or interaction ideas I want to fit in somewhere, and as I use things in the story, I bold them in the document to keep track of what I've done and what I haven't. For example, the outline might look something like this:

Battle City starts

Few low-stakes duels. Red-Eyes

Ryou and the spirit talk—spirit realizes Ryou can duel. ("You're so fluffy. But not completely useless.")

Marik kicks the stakes up (controls Anzu)

Tristan/Serenity hospital stuff. Get her to the tournament somehow

As you know from reading the final product, that outline leaves so much out, but that's fine for me because I still love winging it as I go. It just helps me to have something to start with, especially when there are so many characters to juggle, and I don't want to forget any.

Also, if I write something in the story that was completely unplanned, I update my planning outline to reflect it—that way my planning document is also a quick reference I can use to look back on what I've already written, hoping to keep some consistency in this mess. Coming Home is hecka long. It's the longest thing I've ever written. My process is in no way precise, but it's been working for me, so I'll take the win.

Amberdeengirl17: Do you prefer writing someone who mirrors you or someone you are nothing like?

Funny enough, I think I tend to write the characters who are most like me as boring. When I go back over a chapter to do edits, I often have to spice those characters up or add details for them. So for that reason, I prefer writing characters I'm nothing like (even though it's harder). I think the honest difference is laziness. For example, if I'm writing Marik, I have to really think about the scene and his actions and emotions—I can't just write the first thing that comes to mind because Marik isn't like me, so his feelings and reactions won't be mine. But if I'm writing, say, Yuugi, I'm more likely to fall into lazy habits that I have to go back afterward to change.

For kicks, I see bits of myself in characters like Yori, Yuugi, and Mokuba (although I wouldn't say any of the characters particularly mirror me).

I see much less of myself in characters like Marik, Joey, Seto, and Anzu (although there's still some overlap at times).

KelekiahGaladrian: What is the most useful writing advice you've ever received?

Um . . .

I'm thinking.

I've received so much, and the vast majority of it has been helpful.

What comes to mind right now is a lesson my favorite college professor taught on morality. I'm Christian (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints); I went to a Christian university—a big issue is morality in literature. My professor talked about how most people define moral or immoral literature based on what it contains, such as, "Oh, these characters swear and have sex outside marriage, therefore this book is immoral" or "Oh, these characters don't swear, don't sleep around, and aren't violent, therefore this book is moral." He introduced me to John Gardner's collection of essays called On Moral Fiction, where Gardner presents the idea that moral literature is more about what it teaches than what it contains. Gardner's argument is that moral literature always teaches, "Life is hard, but it's worth it."

That struck a chord with me like little other writing advice has. Not long before that lesson, I'd had a conversation with a co-worker where she'd said, "I think it's great that you're a writer, and I'd love to read your work, but just know right now that if I ever read a swear word in one of your books, I'll put it down and walk away. There's just no excuse for swearing in any circumstance," and that had really bothered me. Not because she said she wouldn't read my writing if it had profanity—I am a firm believer that everyone has the right to decide what they want to read and what they don't, no questions asked. Fight me. It bothered me because my morality standards are very important to me, and I'd always struggled with the idea of writing characters doing things I would never do, even something as simple as swearing. (I do swear sometimes, but I try not to, and having clean language is important to me.)

Anyway, that lesson from my professor finally helped me reconcile the idea I'd been struggling with of how my writing reflected on me as a person. I will sometimes write characters doing things I would never do (like killing people, for instance), but I will always try to tell stories that teach, "Life is hard and messy and complicated, but it's one-hundred-percent worth it."

Amberdeengirl17: What are things you must always avoid while writing?

Um . . . sex, haha. Nobody in the world wants to see me write out a sex scene; it would be awkward for all of us. I'll stick to a "close the door and fade to black" style because that's what's comfortable for me to write and to read. I also struggle with research, and I'll avoid a topic if it requires too much research or if I can't find concrete, reliable information on it (here we find the reason I'll never write spy novels).

KelekiahGaladrian: What is your favorite aspect of Coming Home?

The fact that it exists. That might be a cop-out answer, but seriously. As I said before, this is the longest, most complicated story I've ever written, and it's been challenging (and will continue to be so). I'm proud of myself for not quitting on the idea even when I wasn't satisfied with the first draft. And I'm really happy with the story as it stands today. I love it.

Soundtrack

Music is my obsession, and I always have a "soundtrack" for any project, songs that remind me of my story or characters. Sometimes the song has lyrics that fit a character's emotions, and sometimes it's just something about the tone of the song itself. Here's my playlist for CHp1:

Shadows of the Night by Pat Benetar
Brave by Josh Groban
Family Portrait by P!nk
Falling in the Black by Skillet
Stay With You by RyanDan
Distraction by Angels & Airwaves
Castle of Glass by Linkin Park
Pretend by Lights
My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne
A Place to Start by Mike Shinoda
Don't Give Up On Me by Andy Grammer

Shadows of the Night is almost a joke, but it really isn't. I love the sound of it, the energy. Did I listen to it while writing some shadow games? Why yes, yes I did, particularly Yami and Yori's first game of the story.

Brave is Yori's theme. It's rare for me to have specific character themes because rarely do I hear a song that encompasses an entire character rather than just an aspect of them or one situation for them, but here we are. Yori's theme.

Family Portrait is a Wheeler sibs song. I love the aching sound of wishing for a family that was actually as happy as it pretended to be or should have been. The Wheeler family held together for a few years before completely falling apart, and I imagine Joey and Serenity both look back on those years with longing.

Falling in the Black is a Yami song. I wouldn't call it his theme because there's more to him than this, but I love the electric guitar sound for him, and I love the way the song is about focusing on the past, missing out on desires, falling (in the black)—all Yami things.

Stay With You may be the happiest song on the list, oops. (Guess I like dramatic songs.) I love the wistful, lighthearted tone in this song, and I love the idea that there are things in life that stay with you after everything else fades. There's a lot of, uh, memory loss (theft?) in CH, and it's always impressed me how much normal people forget in life even without any insidious outside influences. It's important to hold on to the most important moments whenever and however we can. (Journaling, anyone?)

Distraction is completely about sound instead of lyrics. This is my Battle City anthem. Don't know why. I just love the sound of it, especially as a backdrop to the tournament's preliminary round.

Castle of Glass is also about sound over lyrics. Oh my goodness, this tone. I just completely fall into it every single time I listen. (Linkin Park is my favorite band, side note.) This is the song for Chapter 36: Silence. I know it's ironic that the chapter titled "silence" has a theme song, but here we are. More accurately, this is the theme song for the climax of CHp1, because that's essentially what chapter 36 kicks off. (Second side note, I always imagine Yami walking slo-mo during the first verse, then whipping off his cape. Now you know.)

Pretend is the bildungsroman theme. The main characters of CHp1 are all in that awkward transition stage of going from kids to adults, and the circumstances of it certainly aren't ideal. This song has a wistful nostalgia for childhood that most—if not all—of the characters sometimes feel.

My Happy Ending is a carryover from the first draft of CHp1. It's been part of the story from the start, and I imagine I'll never be able to separate the two. Originally, this was Yori and Haku's breakup theme; now the lyrics don't fit as well. But I still love the tone: disappointment and anger at lost expectations.

A Place to Start is a Yori song. Mmm, once again, the sound. I love the way the tempo starts accelerating, like Mike isn't even breathing, until it drops back into calm. The lyrics are also fitting here. I think of this one after Yori learns her past from Sugoroku/Shadi and then again after she runs into Haku on the street.

Don't Give Up On Me is for Yori and Yami, particularly from the duel with Pandora through the end. Love the lyrics. Love the tempo. Love the instruments. This one is probably my favorite choice for the soundtrack. 10/10

And there's the end of it. Thanks for joining me for the fun. See you guys in CHp2, which you can find live right . . . now.

God bless.