Hi. You are a talented writer. I've read all of your stories, and this one is one of my favorites. It's so precious and funny, and its so cool to see Scraps alive and making Victor's lonely life brighter.

It might be nice if it was Victor's Grandfather who gave him Scraps. Maybe as an unautherized birthday present. From what little you've written about William's father, he seems to be the epitome of cantankerous. But I wouldn't be surprised if he musters up affection for his only grandchild, and who might be Victor's only friend until he got a puppy (just in time too). I would love to see Victor feeding his new puppy table scraps, and coming up with the most unique dog name ever.

This is an outstanding fan fiction that explores a variety of different themes and shows a deep understanding of each character, as well as the Corpse Bride universe. I could see from this story that Victor Van Dort is vey much like Victor Frankenstein, not just in appearance or name, but in the fact that as children they both are very lonely and their only friends are dogs. It warms my heart to think that later in life Victor will marry such a kind, understanding woman as Victoria, whom he will be able to confide in, whilst also knowing he has a friend in Emily the Corpse Bride beyond the veil.

Wow, a very good story here detailing Victor's boyhood and friendship with Scraps. I can honestly believe that Scraps was the only friend Victor ever had before he met Victoria, and the only thing he really loved and who really loved him in return. I especially think you did a superb job here with Nell's characterization regarding both Victor and Scraps, especially in how from the early years of Victor's life, Nell was socially ambitious and held contempt for Victor, showing a great deal of disapproving for Victor's shy and awkward behavior and for anything that Scraps did, especially with him jumping up on people. ;) At least you made William here show a little more care towards Victor, since he probably has more ever than Nell has to Victor.

I take it that photograph of them is the one we see at the start of the film in Victor's room? It is a good one of Scraps more than Victor, and count on Nell to be so disapproving of how the dog made out better than her son. Oh well, at least Scraps learned a new trick. :)

I agree wholeheartedly with CoriOreo- this is easily one of the best childhood fics on the site. You not only managed to capture Victor as a child, but you also managed to write about childhood itself. It was partly about a boy and his dog, partly about a mother-and-child relationship, partly about loneliness...I think pretty much every kid goes through at least one of those stages, and you wrote about it all so brilliantly.

I was extremely impressed with Victor's characterization. I'm fairly confident that if they ever did a prequel of sorts to Corpse Bride, this is exactly how he would behave. The whole bit about "being quality" was adorable. His relationship with Scraps was particularly touching- it was so sweet and genuine, but I could feel Victor's loneliness seeping through every time they interacted. Scraps really was his only friend, and this was conveyed strongly without beating us over the head with it. I couldn't get enough of their scenes together. Scraps was such a good dog, and Victor's love for him was very touching. I'm a cat person myself, but I am a sucker for a good "boy and his dog" story.

This line particularly got to me: "Victor's initial brief burst of terror mellowed into shock, and then into something very close to pleasure. Mother was smiling. Smiling. A big smile." My heart just broke for Victor. Not only does he lack friends, but you can also see how much he's craving his mother's affection, even if he is slightly terrified of her.

On the topic of mothers...my goodness, Nell was cruel! Dancing at the thought of her father-in-law's death? Don't get me wrong, it certainly fits her character, and it was good to see that aspect of her character explored even further, but it was still terrible of her. Call me crazy, but she reminded me a bit of a low-class Maudeline Everglot...oh well. Feel free to ignore my ramblings :)

The scene with George Van Schelven was also a nice touch. Kids really do behave like that, and it also explains a lot about the Van Dort/Van Schelven interactions later on in Victor's life.

I apologize for this giant review- as I'm sure you can tell, I loved this. It's always great to see a new story from you!

It was brilliant! Forgive the pun but you really bring the characters of The Corpse Bride to life.

Wow.

I thought I wrote Nell as evil. XD Seriously, that's the only thing that was going through my head when she started DANCING in response to William's father's death. Wow. I mean, perhaps I should have expected that, given the way she was going on in the story where she and William met and got engaged, but STILL. Oh, Nell. XD

Good story! It's great to see a "young Victor" story to go along with your "young Victoria" one. You crammed a lot of information into this - Victor teaching Scraps the tricks we saw in the film, how Victor feels isolated from just about everyone, including his own family (GOD, I wanted to hug him during certain bits, especially when he wished his Mother would call him a good boy more often), Victor and Van Schelven when they were boys (wow, wonder why they're not exactly fond of each other as adults? XD), and the famous photograph! Oh, and can't forget the canning business getting off the ground. It's all very good, and presented very nicely. Don't worry, Victor, I'd have the same trouble with the hoop. (Actually, I remember playing with hula hoops in much the same way. And yes, it would get away from me a lot.)

Anyway, lovely little one shot!

This is one of maybe two of the best childhood fics I've ever read on this site. I don't have to tell you that your narrative tone is lovely, and that you weave Victor's loneliness throughout the story wonderfully in the form of his interactions with his dog. And of course we get a backstory to that sailor suit picture - though it does make you wonder why it was eventually consigned from the mantle to Victor's bedroom.

Another really lovely short story to spotlight some great characters. Well done, as always.