YMMV / Darkest Destiny

• Diagnosed by the Audience: Cass probably has several mental illnesses given her behavior in the story, and they're only getting worse.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • A complaint about the canon Grand Finale that isn't too difficult to argue is that Cassandra only repented for her misdeeds and crawled back to Rapunzel after she'd been depowered and imprisoned by Zhan Tiri, casting doubt on how sincere her Heel–Face Turn actually was and putting her "epiphany" in an unpleasant light. Well, this fic touches on exactly that, in a certain way.
  • Varian's dream in Chapter 19 functions as this, as it depicts a life where Cassandra and Varian are married after the former atoned for her past transgressions, which is exactly what she intended to do in the canon series finale.
• Iron Woobie: Despite being put through the ringer in all sorts of ways by Cassandra (physically, mentally, and emotionally), Rapunzel refuses to resign herself to the possibility that her best friend is too far gone.
• Nightmare Fuel: In essence, the entire story can function as one big extension of this trope, as it goes much darker than anything both the movie and series could ever dish out.