In Murena (set in Nero’s Rome), the romantic arcs are rarely happy. They are transactional, political, and dangerous. The "relationship" between Acte and Lucius Murena is a slow tragedy. The romantic storyline here serves as a historical critique—showing how the mechanics of power crush genuine affection.

In high-concept BD, the romantic storyline is often the engine of the plot. Consider Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin’s Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent . On the surface, it is a sci-fi adventure. But the beating heart of the series is the jagged, argumentative, deeply loyal relationship between Valérian and Laureline.

This is the trope (think Fatal Attraction , or certain arcs in Girl, Interrupted ). These storylines rarely show the character’s remorse, their years of therapy, or the simple fact that BPD has a high remission rate with treatment. By reducing the person to their outbursts, these romances become horror movies about dating the mentally ill, not tragedies about two people failing to communicate through a painful disorder.