#i’ve already ranted and raved abt this to my bf so i guess the only other option i have is this essay

[killerhoneybear]

I fucking adore the scene of Dan and Selina talking in her office after he becomes her campaign manager. (s3e5 “Fishing”)

They write the scene like they might hook up, Dan talks about liking older women and Selina doesnt lean away from that title, Dan loosens his tie and helps Selina take off her jacket, he says “this is gonna be a very intimate relationship” as they are facing each other with open body language. The first time I watched this, I literally screamed at the screen “DO NOT DO THIS” bc I hate when random sex and romance is shoehorned in as another storyline instead of coming up with good writing that makes sense for the characters and world you built.

Then Dan confesses his dark secret, basically saying he would do anything to be well liked/get ahead. It actually struck me that this is the same ep where Ben referred to “the 5% of Dan that needs to be loved”.

Selina is shocked, and moves on to her own secret which is much less bad considering Andrew fuckin sucks. Then they just turn away a little and drink at the same time, the credits roll. They never touch on these subjects again.

THAT is exactly what I want. Yes, both of their characters lend to sexual promiscuity, but more importantly, power is what is important to both of them. Them hooking up then would have made no sense for their characters bc then both would have been at risk of losing their power. When they did hook up later in the show, it was a celebration of both of their power and led to Selina continually overpowering Dan (making him get the remote and getting him fired) to make sure she had the power, not him. Its so much more satisfying to me, and in this case hilarious, when you write for the characters you’ve built and not for the audience at home. Don’t sell me a story about perfect characters, tell me a story about human people who have flaws and vulnerability and needs.