Just a little note from someone who cooks a lot and wants to become a chef. About the rum in the figgy pudding, it's perfectly ok for someone underage to eat any cooked dish containing alcohol. It has a lower boiling point than water, at the low temperature of 180 degrees it will boil and vaporize, leaving behind only the water and the flavor, and anything baked is usually well over 250 degrees, so it's perfectly safe. Even in normal stovetop cooking and such, the alcohol boils away long before the dish is done. Wine is a major player in all 3 mother cuisines (French, Italian, Spanish). They all use it all the time, and usually every meal in these countries contains at least one dish cooked with or in wine. And they don't get drunk off of the food, they get drunk off of the wine they drink with the meal!

I don't know if you know this, but pudding in this context is an English term for anything cake-like. And England is where we get a lot our old christmas traditions (like a roast turkey or goose, and puddings).

Also, the Japanese don't generaly have a Roast Turkey at Christmas, they generaly eat things they would at New Years, like Sukiyaki (a hot pot dish with beef, fried tofu, Shirataki noodles, mushrooms and other vegetables, etc...) and Oden (another hot pot dish without the meat and the Shirataki noodles, but often contains fish cake, egg, and other things I don't know about).

Ok, I'm done pontificating ^_^

God damn it...


You had me crying at that last part...


Truly well written, AR~

Christmas magic, indeed~ ^^

-JBK2K1

Never, ever discuss Santa Claus out loud in public XD

And Osaka's kinda funny when she starts to dibble into religion and stuff like that XD

d'aw~ The Azuma's have a baby~~ That's sweet~ ^^

and that last part confused the hell out of me XD

-JBK2K1

Christmas magic indeed XD

It fixes plotholes and continuity errors! 8D

and nice stop on the cuss word, AR. XD

A-ha. Emerald was the old lady. No wonder she seemed incredibly fit for her age XD

And how do they train a girl to be a warlock? XD

An excellent chapter staring the two teachers, AR~

-JBK2K1

Aw~ That's sweet~ ^^


Honest question though: Did they only search one pocket of Matsuda's jacket? As a father, if anyone searched only one pocket and found something in it, it would lead me to suspect that they did something wrong...

Figgy pudding has alcohol in it? O.o

this I did not know... but now I do! XD

-JBK2K1

I can understand that poor boy's frustration. Sometimes, when talking with other people, they use big words where I go 'huh?'

Oh, god... it's that one movie reference! "You'll shoot your eye out" XD!

And thusly, every time, at least one kid has to pee on Santa's lap... every single time XD

And that one joke involving that naughty kid and Madoka Claus kicking the crap out of those guys...

"I'll be good, Santa Claus!" Classic XD

And the last part was incredibly touching all the way~ Nice finish, AR~ ^^

-JBK2K1

Mrs. Mizuhara is sneaky sneaky~ XD!


I was wondering when a bit of her sneaky side would show XD


That was frickin' awesome, though. Relatives can drive you crazy, and you do try your best on the holidays to at least tolerate them.


anyway... I'll have to listen to that song... sounds like a good one XD

-JBK2K1

D'aw~ Cruelty has no place in this world, especially on Christmas and around the holidays~


yet it still happens.

Anyway, other than the small grammar errors that popped up from time to time, it's still a good story~ ^^

-JBK2K1

EK! YOU'VE BROKEN THE CHIYO-CHICHI RULE! HE WILL COME FOR YOU!

(I jest~ XD)

A-ha, Home Alone reference XD

Well, at least I don't feel like the only one who includes movie references in my fics now. XD

Sure hope the Mihama's don't mind a hole in the floor XD

Very nice chapter~ Been recently watching Home Alone too, thanks to my youngest brother getting it for Christmas~ XD


-JBK2K1

d'aw~ You love telling stories to those little Azu-mini orphans, don't you? ^^

A nice beginning~

-JBK2K1

"Reindeer" in Japanese is "tonakai"...yay Tonakaorin! My head is filled with cute fluffy images right now.

...um, yes. Belldandy was a nice touch. However, Tomo, Yomi, Osaka, and Chiyo were never mentioned in Belldandy's alternate world, and they all interacted with Kaorin (albeit briefly) in the original canon.

Your storytelling is good (again, yay for the cuteness), but I wish that -all- the characters had been included. (Especially since you made an extra effort to include them in your other stories, both in this series and elsewhere.)

As this is the final chapter, I would like to say that overall, this tale was pretty good. Please keep writing and improving.

Much love,

Me

*sniff*... BWAHA-HA... Oh...*choke* oh, goodness...*sniff*

Hannah: *sniff* So sad...so, so sad... *hugs Daniel, crying*

Daniel: Quite alright, my child...

Listen, sir, going into seriousness here - I know how it feels about your father. I mean, mine isn't dead but I don't get to see him at all...and from what I've heard his medical condition isn't getting better.

*snif* Good to see that all turns out well, and I noticed that Kaorin's dream was much like "A Christmas Carol" in the relevant sense.

(and yes, I'm really crying. It's THAT sad...)

Anyway, good that you found some closure regarding your dad - and the fact that it came from an Azumanga-related dream just proves that this fandom isn't a grand waste of time and life as some (my older brother, for example) think...

Much condolence from myself, sir.
-Daniel

Nice story.

I liked Chiyo-chan's chapter as she did a "home alone" type thing to those robbers.

I also liked the other stories and how the various characters were developed ranging from Matsuda being accepted by people outside the Azumanga gang to Kaorin seeing how valuable she is to those around her.

Good job and Merry Christmas!!

*sniffle*

Indescribable.

-Jay

Sad...but very awesome.

Overall, these Christmas Tales were better than last year's.

Hope to see more of your work soon...and your reviews on CV.