There is a lot I have to say for this story and even though it seems the last time you had ever updated anything on this site was back in 2009, I think hard work, regardless of the passage of time, should earn its due in feedback.

Where to start... well my first impression of this story was that I really liked your narrator's voice. There was an element of humor and the interaction between daughter and father was very amusing to watch. How you described his necessary line-up of royal physician, psychologist, and so forth. Just to handle this child that is Rika. Haha. The way you utilized the fairies' gifts instead of just mentioning them for the sake of staying true to the tale of Sleeping Beauty was great (the invisible hands were very clever and funny actually.) But at the end of chapter 3 where Rika took off her disguise as a boy, how did Ryo know that the 'boy' was a princess and not just some ordinary girl? ("Long hair. The guy he had been fighting was a princess?" was Ryo's thought.) After all, he didn't know it was Rika then, just that it was a girl.

In Chapter 4, if the King had all the roses banned in the kingdom then how were they present at Rika's engagement ball ("Roses blossomed and spilled over terraces..")? Another thing was that it was a bit confusing keeping up with Ryo and Rika's ages in the beginning. Like in Ch.3, I know you gave us a hint (Rika: "When did I punch Priscilla? Pfft. Like 5 years ago.") which suggests Rika was 12 at that time but then when her father says the West Kingdom brought it up 'today!'.. not only is that strange because what kind of royalty brings up that kind of issue after 5 years? and that just made me re-think Rika's previous comment as an offhanded joke instead of an actual time frame.

I liked how Ryo turned out not to be a prince-in-disguise but an actual commoner struggling to make ends meet and that you had given him a more original reason for winning these tournaments instead of the typical 'proving my greatness' or 'looking for a challenge.'

Now I'm going to skip ahead a bit... Rika's reaction to her father's death was realistic but I think the reasoning behind her sudden sympathy towards her father could have been expounded upon more. The way you worded it seems to imply, He helped produce her hence that is enough reason for a child to at least love their parent a little. Which isn't a sentiment that I'd agree with at all. Because family is more than just biology. It is the love that makes the family. And yet throughout the story up to that point, there was not a moment of familial affection lost between the two, not even a begrudging kind (at least any that were visibly shown to your readers). So it's hard to see how Rika felt sad for him when all that we were privy to was her constant anger towards him (Because all she seems to remember of him are his cold eyes and "Why can't you be more like a princess? Why can't you be more like your mother? Why is your chest so flat? Why are you like a boy? Why-why-why.") Do you see what I'm getting at?

In Ch.10, there is some confusion of time passage here because there was a sentence that said: "The magic had tied itself into a knot, tightening as years passed." This seems to imply that Rika has been in her deep sleep for years now but then in the next chapter, another sentence opposes that: "Ryo Akiyama, angry for staying up all night in a rat infested cell [...]" That, right there, indicates only a day has elapsed at the least. So that made me do a double-take - which is it? Although I figured it out eventually after reading further along. So be careful of your wording there. For instance, there was another confusing moment in Ch.12 when Ryo and Rika had stepped out into the courtyard. You were describing the presence of dirt but then there was no sound when the foot makes contact with the ground which made me think... so there is no dirt? And it was only after I had read to the end of the scene that I finally understood. I noticed that in a couple of your scenes how there's not always a "full" picture at the start so it creates this really strange imagery and "huh?" moments so try to flesh out the setting more or else it just looks like the scene is jumping around in random spots.

Also, since you didn't explain fully, how did Ryo managed to find his way so quickly through the blackness of the path anyways? Rika is the one holding the candle and she is behind him; not to mention a candle's light doesn't reach that far. And why did Ryo accuse of her blushing? At the part where he was asking her if she's scared and then he concludes, 'Ah you must be blushing.' I just didn't see any correlation between his conclusion and what they were talking about...

Anyways, moving onwards, in Ch.12, there was a moment where Ryo's hatred manifests during the appearance of his older brother. And the reason you gave for his hatred was "After all, it wasn't every day[sic] he saw his older brother." Which I thought was odd because one, well, that's not enough reason to hate somebody. Two, I thought his reasoning would be more along the lines of how his older brother always did things his way without consideration for others and it's only when he killed Rika's father that Ryo's "loathing" finally evolved into hate (Hate isn't a light word so there must be more to their relationship, especially considering the type of character Ryo is.) But alas, you never did get to expand on their past relationship which is an angle I thought was lacking.

Another thing that bugged me was... if the whole castle fell asleep, how did Priscilla and Ryo managed to evade the curse? You mentioned that Ryo was charmed in a later chapter but what does that charm do? Who charmed him? And why?

Also, in Ch12, the conversation about luck was a bit eyebrow-raising because when people talk about luck, they don't immediately think of talking about lucky clovers unless someone brings it up. They talk more about the intangible kind of luck so for Rika to immediately jump to the tangible kind made me wonder how she came upon that thought in the first place? It may seem like I'm bashing on your story so far but I'm really not here to throw offense at it. Feedback should include constructive criticism and praise since sole praise doesn't do much for a person's improvement, non? So with that out of the way, I will end my critique of Ch.12 on this note, the way you had described Rika's laughter at the end of that chapter as if there was a truly physical transformation taking place was beautifully conveyed. I could actually see it in my mind's eye.

Ryo's older brother is a confusing conundrum and I think most of that confusion is due to his unfinished development as a character. He looked after Ryo when he was young (but I'm guessing only because he was expected to..?) and yet he wants to hurt Ryo as well because of jealousy. At times, it seems like he just wants to hurt him a little bit (ex: when he thought of getting a pigeon army to desecrate a statue of Ryo if there is ever one erected in his honor) and other times, it sounds like he wants to kill him... Which is it? Is their father still alive because it sounds like the right targets of his 'woes' would be his parents, or at least his mother, not his brother... if anything, he probably would be mad at both his mother and Ryo but it's only at Ryo, why not his mother as well? Since it sounds like she was the one who goaded him into believing that Ryo was the family's favorite and always comparing the two.

I can tell you were having a hard time picking names for Ryo's older brother so your best starting place would have been to search for a name that would have some kind of bearing on his character. For instance, if you wanted to stick with the "R' theme then "Ren" could have worked. In Japanese, it means lotus or love (the latter being ironic as it seems like this emotion was the most lacking in his life and I think you could have played that to his theme). In Chinese, it actually encompasses the spectrum of Confucian values (tolerance, generosity, making good on one's word) and it also means 'burden' and even though this is obviously Japanese culture, the Chinese's meanings definitely give a tragic tinge to his character.

But back to their mother. You had Rika note that there were two pairs of child-sized hands molded into Kaho's grave but whose hands were those? It could not have been Ryo or "Itachi" since you said their father had "Itachi" stay home to take care of Ryo. Or was that an instant of inconsistency there? At the end of Ch.14, you said that after their mother's death, "Itachi" viewed Ryo as some foolish hero... why is that? Did Ryo go around regularly doing heroic acts since her death? Expand on that. There are so many moments that you had mentioned in this story that weren't expanded upon and it could have made the story that much greater.

But throughout that chapter and the story really, I think you handled Rika's character pretty darn well. That moment when she thought her body was going crazy (when she was 'falling' into Ryo's face) - you did her panic-induced voice justice. That is definitely one way she would approach any kind of feelings of romance/love/infatuation. Priscilla's sudden kiss seems to be unnecessarily added drama though and plus, with Rika's type of rationality, wouldn't she have surmised that Ryo was not that type of person to go gallivanting with other ladies? Also, why did the sleep-curse suddenly fall on her again in that moment? From this point onwards, your struggles with writer's block did seem to show.. "Itachi's" turnabout in his feelings seemed too sudden to be realistic. You tried to link Rika's similarity in looks to his mother but how much did he even love his mother? Yes, he talked about her grace and joy but before that, he also talked about how she always scolded him to be more like Ryo, who apparently he really-really hates (I think his "hate" is just more

Beautiful!

Really beautiful, really, i'm touched and impressed... You have amazing writing skills.

you haven't read "Spindle's End" by any chance, have you?

OMG! HOW DID I NOT READ THIS B4? THIS WAS PURE AWESOMENESS!

MWAHAHA IN PRICILLA'S FACE!

HAHAHA! the fairy was pissed bcuz the invitation was coffee stained? XD omg, this story is too good

Wow! This was a really great story!1 At first i thought it was going 2 end with chapter 19 but i think chap 20 was good 2!

yes it was worth writing this, and after reading i firmly believe it should be turned into a book and published (albeit changing the names so you don't get sued by the owners of Digimon)

the entire story was spectacular, i especially loved the end of chapter nineteen Rose Hope

with this kind of writing talent you should become a proffessional!

haha da ending was funny -

it worth it

thank you for had written this...

a very good fairy tale, mixed up with something so tech, and definitely medieval, like all love stories...

this one was worth definetialy of the time i spent reading it

Thanks again

a kiss

chao

okay. I just wrote an entire review on this story (a dreadfully long one, yet nevertheless fun to write) and I don't think the computer sent it :(. So I shall write it again, as best as I could, from memroy.

All I could say is ... wow. I haven't been on for a while. One day I decided to come back after nearly half a year of absence and read some (hopefully) good RyoxRuki stories. Some of the new ones are pretty horrible, and I went through some pages and arrived at yours. I had once read the first few chapters of your story before, and found it cliche. I am terribly, terribly sorry for saying that. I was naive (.

Reading from the very first words of 'Thorns' to its last, the growth of your writing is clearly evident. You could see how your writing has developed, getting more descriptive and metaphoric - something I throughly enjoyed. The story in itself captivated me for the few days that I read it. It is a story that rises above the rest, to be recognized and enjoyed.

I loved every sentence of it. I found nothing cliche (except for the 'is it working?' parts, but that's alright), and don't know how I must have. The story has been amazing, truly, truly magical. How you concluded it with your own words, the author's note saying how you just cannot let go, tugged at me. I know how it must feel. I'm sure 'Thorns' has been a great ride for you, as it has been for me.

However, some parts were pretty confusing, mainly the parts during the battle. At times you leave out words, or unfinished sentences, but you make up for it with the following phrases. I have nothing against it - it is but a minor defect amidst the skillful weaving of words. I hope to hear from you again soon.

You have inspired me to continue writing my multitude of unfinished stories. Thank you.

Take care.

aww. really cute story!

i especially loved all the ryo and rika interaction you incorporated from the show. wildcat, rika accusing ryo of trying to be impressive, ryo saving rika, ryo's awesome characterization (i loved the cloak thing, ryo wonderful.. hehe) and rika's characterization.. and the whole subtle takato/jeri!

there were some parts that i was confused by.. the little things. but overall, i really enjoyed it. :D thanks for the nice read.

this is so cute! so far. 16 chapters to go, ee.

but still!

i literally laughed out loud when i read this part..

"Frankly, it reminded her of a penguin enclosure. And there was her aunt, the evil penguin, flirting with some count. Her mother, the Queen penguin, and her father, the King penguin, perched on their penguin thrones. White and black. Zebras. Penguins. And guess who she was? The penguin princess."

awesome work! :) i shall go read more now..

Yay! Yay! It's so awesome! I can't believe it's over! Why is it over? WAH! Im okay, I'm okay. This story rocked, it really did. I completly enjoyed reading it. Very nice.