Having said that, I do not say this is always done well, but that's not the point anyway. What works here is the message, and that part is what has to get through.

That is incredibly interesting. I'm not a romance reader -- I barely read published books these days -- but those are themes I've seen over and over in slash fandom, and they resonate with me. Even if the story seems melodramic and overwrought, there's still something very satisfying about that kind of tale, those stories where there is definite, announced reassurance to the main character.

I hadn't put it together in this way, hadn't considered the why behind the fact that it works, it resonates and touches us emotionally. But it definitely does.