NACE + MESSAGES BONUS:

TV Line always gives us a MacRiley sneak peek.

Watch "MacGyver 5x11 “C8H7CIO + Nano-Trackers + Resistance + Maldives + Mind Games” - Sneak Peek 2 - CBS" on YouTube

I literally can’t breathe.

One of the best tips for writing descriptions of pain is actually a snippet I remember from a story where a character is given a host of colored pencils and asked to draw an egg.

The character says that there’s no white pencil.  But you don’t need a white pencil to draw a white egg.  We already know the egg is white.  What we need to draw is the luminance of the yellow lamp and the reflection of the blue cloth and the shadows and the shading.

We know a broken bone hurts.  We know a knife wound hurts.  We know grief hurts.  Show us what else it does.

You don’t need to describe the character in pain.  You need to describe how the pain affects the character - how they’re unable to move, how they’re sweating, how they’re cold, how their muscles ache and their fingers tremble and their eyes prickle.

Draw around the egg.  Write around the pain.  And we will all be able to see the finished product.

Wanda Maximoff + nose scrunches

I am suddenly overwhelmed with regret. It’s a new feeling for me, and I don’t find it at all pleasurable.

Can we just appreciate how safe Mac makes Riley feel for a moment?

He walked in on her after she broke things off with Billy, and instead of assuming what she’d need, he gave her a shoulder to cry on. Asked her what he could do for her. And even at her lowest, she felt comfortable enough with him reveal that she’d been cheated on. Something she wasn’t even ready to confess to Bozer.

Then when Aubrey broke things off with Riley in season four, where did she go? Straight to Mac. Not Bozer. Not a hotel. Mac.

He saw her pain and he gave her a place to stay. No strings attached. No eviction date. Nothing.

And in season five when Jack died, Mac offered her time to mourn together. To watch Bruce Willis and drive the GTO and grieve in each other’s presence. Even though he was hurting himself and probably didn’t want to talk, he turned to her, held out a hand, and helped her carry the weight.

He always knows exactly what to say to her to cheer her up. Always knows what to do to be supportive. Mac would do absolutely anything for Riley (I mean come on, the man made it snow so she could have a white Christmas).

He’s the one she turns to. He always comes through when she needs him. And I just love that they have each other at the end of the day. No matter what.

4.04 // 5.10

Well it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. - gillian anderson: dana scully, from the x-files

“I can’t pretend—”