- Approval of God: The author was pretty happy when they found out that Shatterheart and Reversal of Fate had their own trope pages.
- Crack Pairing: The story initially began as a self-imposed challenge by the author, who wanted to see if she could convincingly write a romantic relationship between Syaoran and Kurogane. The reason the story became so long was because the relationship needed a lot of build up and pre-established bonding in order to make a convincing romance.
- Jerkass Woobie: Kurogane is violent, hot-tempered, and almost abusive at times, but his relationships with his friends are falling apart and he can hardly rely on the rest of the group. A major part of his Character Development is learning to control his more violent impulses.
- Fai is frigid to Syaoran and Kurogane for half of the story, refusing to acknowledge Syaoran and resentful of Kurogane. Later, Fai's well-intentioned ultimatum, which he has no right to make, causes tensions in the house to implode. But it's important to remember that he's stuck in this miserable world which they can't leave, one of his best friends ripped out his eye, and he remains haunted by his Survivor's Guilt. Then, even when he does start to come around, his attempts to make amends backfire, and he ends up on the losing end of a Love Triangle.
- The Woobie: Syaoran has a pretty miserable time in this story.
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