#rafael casal imagine

[ramp-it-up]

I see you! 😉

Thank you for all of the love! 😁

Rafael Casal

Arrivals

(Rafa x OFC Reader Holly Woods)

Rafael and Holly Woods, friend of a friend. They had an arrangement. Then feelings got in the way.

This wasn’t supposed to be a series, and it’s written out of order, but here is this non-series chronologically how the relationship progresses.

* = smut

Undercover Wicked With It

Lottery*

Damage, Pt. 1*

Winter Song*

Tiny Tim

Last Christmas

Damage, Pt. 2*

Verry Merry

Only Bad Choices

Lesson Learned

F*****g Sound

********

Arrivals*

Rafa Mini-Series

Showrunner AU

Rafa falls for an actress in his production. Who is in charge here?

Show Runner (1)*

Sundancer (2)*

Scene Stealer (3)*

Young Rafa Au

You and Rafa were young and dumb. What happens when you start to grow up?

In and Out*

Barbie and Ken 202*

Rafa Drabbles

What is This?

You ended your one rival for Rafa’s love. Daveed.

Under the Mistletoe*

Let It Snow

A chill little Rafa drabble

You find treasure underneath the mistletoe.

In The Shallows

Rafa is there to give you comfort when you need it.

Daydreams in the Dark*

You are Rafael’s daydream come true.

Amnesia*

Rafael helps you forget a terrible day.

Tranquility*

Rafa helps with your anxiety.

Rafa One-Shots

Princess Grillz*

You and Rafa and matching grills! HBD!

Dammit, Rafa*

Rafael is a virgin at The Rocky Horror Picture Show. You show him the ropes.

Greatest of All Time*** (Bay Boys x Reader)

The Bay Boys’ neighbor Quinn loves to experience life. Rafa and Daveed become one of her experiences.

Fine*

You were doing just fine without Rafa. Right?

Everyday*

Rafa goes into character to give you your fantasy.

What That Boat Do?*

After the premiere. Rafa gets a treat? Or is it you that is treated?

Cuddle Buddies*

You misunderstand Roomie! Rafa’s request.

Icing on the Cake*

Rafael gets treated like a king on his birthday.

Headcannon

Tio Rafa

Rafa offers to babysit his niece for the day.

32

[layla4567]

First of all. Loved your Mr. Tophat fic. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but with how you wrote him having a little tantrum and throwing his tophat on the ground, I could visualize that perfectly in my head. It made me laugh. Kudos to you. With that being said, whenever you get the chance, can I get Mr. Tophat x fem!reader who visits the carnival of doom and they’re a student journalist? They have a camera and walk around taking photos of the carnival to write of news review about it. Reader decided on making a story about the carnival since they’ve always loved the carnival and circus aesthetic and overall environment. Obviously mr. Tophat takes notice of this and as much as he is honored they love his carnival enough to make a news story about it, no one is supposed to remember it. So what is he to do about this situation? I’ll leave that up to you! Thank you again! And I’ll understand if you can’t write this! Sorry for rambling, I just love this character sm.

First of all: Your message made my day! You don't know how gratifying it is for me to know that you imagined the scene just as I thought of it, thank you very much. Second: Sorry for taking so long to answer this request 😭, your idea was very good and I loved it but when I wanted to write the story I had a little creative block lol (well besides I was writing other things) that said I hope you enjoy this story :)

ARE YOU LOST?

Mr. Tophat x Female reader

Summary: Your work as a journalist is not all joy and honey, when you come across the Carnival of Doom you will regret having visited it… or not?

Warnings: not proofread, mention of dagger wound, a tiny bit of blood mention nothing too serious, the reader is of legal age, maybe a dark/angst ending(?

WC: 3k

As a journalism student you are almost always outside your house taking photographs or taking notes about everything you see. In your room there were newspaper clippings that you took as inspiration and some of your own work that you had proudly framed on the wall. But your passion was not only journalism and getting juicy news but also carnivals and circuses. All that themes had always caught your attention since you were a child, you always thought that circuses, no matter how happy and fun they were on the outside, on the inside seemed mysterious and gloomy, hiding dark secrets and that fascinated you. That's why you didn't hesitate to visit the Carnival of Doom when you saw a poster days ago hanging on a street pole, it looked interesting and you hoped it wouldn't disappoint you.

Now you were lying on your bed with one leg bent over the other, sighing and holding up in front of your eyes the circus pamphlet that you had torn from the pole. You weren't sure whether to go or not, you had heard wonders about the circus (at least wonders for you) that it was mysterious and intriguing and was unlike any other. And where there is a mystery you always have to keep your nose in the matter, but… what if everything was a failure? It wouldn't be the first time you've been disappointed by news that seems incredible and then isn't even half of what they said. That's what you were doing when your mother knocked on the door before entering.

"Come in"

Your mother brought a tray with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice.

"Hi honey, sorry, I thought you were studying, I didn't want to interrupt you."

"Don't worry mum, I was taking a little break"

You left the bed and reached out to grab the tray that your mother lovingly handed you.

"It's ok love, don't stress too much and if you need anything else call me, alright?"

She caressed your cheek and you nodded, smiling. After she left your room, you sat at your desk and ate a little despite not being that hungry. Your head couldn't stop thinking about that damn circus. Ready to finish that once and for all, you grabbed your bag and put everything you needed: A notepad, your camera that you had bought with your savings and a small recorder just in case. You left your room and went down to the kitchen where your mother was still cooking, it seemed like she never got tired but that was her love language: making food.

She turned around when she felt your steps down the stairs.

"Oh Y/n, did you finish eating so quickly, daughter? Do you want something else, my love?"

You smiled sweetly "No mom, I'm fine. I just wanted to say that I'm going out for a while to photograph something and get some good news."

Your mother shook her head smiling as she looked back at the boiling pot on the stove. "Fine but please don't come back late, okay?"

You ran to put your arms around his shoulders and give him a soft kiss on his cheek. "I promise. You're the best, love ya!"

With your backpack on your shoulder you headed towards the famous circus. The sun fell over the horizon and dyed the sky soft lilacs and blues while the clouds contrasted in warmer colors such as oranges, pinks and yellows. When you arrived you noticed something different in the place, as if a cloudy and heavy atmosphere had settled in the air, but that wouldn't stop you, you were a girl who was difficult to scare. The circus was surrounded by all kinds of people: Contortionist women arching their backs and putting their heads between their legs while they couldn't stop staring at you, sword swallowers or men spitting fire like dragons. Although everything seemed threatening, you simply smiled sideways and took several photos. The closer you got to the entrance you saw clowns with sad makeup and ridiculous big shoes.

"Oh look at that"

You took a photo again and the clown seemed to frown, there was another one with a big made-up smile, you pointed the lens at his face and zoomed in but when you were going to take the photo you noticed something strange. Despite the cheerful makeup you could see deep anguish in his eyes, behind that false smile the clown seemed to ask for help with his pupils. Suddenly a tear seemed to roll down her cheek. You frowned and lowered the camera.

"Okay that was weird.."

You decided to spend that awkward moment and entered the tent where excited and anxious people were waiting for you sitting in the seats. In the center there was an empty round beach. You sat near the front with your camera ready, hoping to photograph the great presenter and hoping that they wouldn't take your camera away. They said that the ringleader was a fascinating man. Suddenly the lights went out and only two turned on pointing towards the center, the people's voices became a murmur until silence reigned. A tall figure wearing a black top hat slowly approached the platform from the darkness. You couldn't see almost anything but you heard a noise like something hitting the wood, when you realized it the distinguished man was already in the center with a cane in his hands. He carried it forward by his legs and stood tall, he was wearing a blood red jacket, black gloves and white pants with black stripes, it reminded you a little of Bettlejuice.

His hat was so big that it covered much of his features except his smile. A sinister smile with its corners stretched up to the ears. Suddenly he raised his head and you saw his eyes, green and just as hypnotic as his smile, everyone said that the circus presenter was mesmerazing but they had never said that he was so... attractive.

He cleared his throat and with a solemn gesture said "Ladies and gentlemen, human beings and creatures from the other side, I am your humble host Mr. Tophat and today I will be your guide that will take you to a totally new experience."

Mr. Tophat looked at the entire audience, but when you gave a small giggle upon hearing his stage name, he shifted his gaze until he met your eyes, and pierced them as if he wanted to enter your soul.

"I hope you like all of this and remember no matter how weird things get, it's all part of the show."

He said winking without taking his eyes off you, he bowed slightly and smiled again with that wide and macabre smile. The lights went out and when they came back on Mr. Tphat had disappeared from the platform. Everyone applauded but you felt a chill on the back of your neck, it was the first time you felt uncomfortable in a circus, you had always loved it when you were a child but you had to admit that this one truly was unique and not in a positive way. You shook your head remembering why you were there and prepared your camera, taking out the flash so as not to alert anyone. The first presentation was a man throwing knives at a target. At first it was quite boring, the target wasn't that far away and the man didn't even have his eyes closed. As if they had read your mind, the man took out a blindfold and covered his eyes, ok this was getting interesting. He aimed perfectly and hit all the knives. Suddenly Mr. Tophat appeared and asked for a volunteer to please come on stage. A 12-year-old girl raised her hand and walked up to the stage. The swordsman accompanied her to the target and you saw that they tied her wrists and ankles with a strap. You frowned and tilted your head, the entire audience seemed equally confused so the ringleader raised a hand to calm the atmosphere.

"Please don't be scared, everything is under control"

Mr. Tophat nodded to the man for permission and then began throwing the knives at the target. Everyone held their breath expecting the worst, but luckily no knife hurt the girl even though they passed close to her body. The audience applauded in relief while the presenter smiled satisfied. You raised the camera to your eyes and took a couple of photos without realizing that Mr. Tophat noticed.

"See? I told you so. But now how about we up the ante?"

People didn't understand what that meant but it couldn't be anything good. The ringleader grabbed the blindfold and covered the man's eyes. The audience felt their blood freeze and not even the flying of a fly could be heard, even the girl seemed to tremble with fear. The man stood tall and threw the first knife that hit the target over the little girl's head. The audience gasped and the girl screamed in fear while the presenter watched everything in amusement. The next knives stabbed near his arm, his stomach, and his inner thighs in that order while Mr. Tophat uttered enthusiastic, Machiavellian laughter. A dagger had grazed the girl's skin a little, causing her to bleed slightly, but despite that the girl was unharmed. The audience was horrified and seemed glued to their seats, unable to move or blink. This was definitely something new for you.

The following acts were not as disturbing as the previous one but they were still strange. You took as many photos as you could until you noticed that Mmr. Tophat looked at you suspiciously. At the end of the performance Mr. Tophat bowed, taking off his hat and saying goodbye laughing. After that strange performance, people didn't know whether to applaud or run. Without much applause, the people slowly left the tent in silence as if they were leaving a funeral. You sat there a little longer trying to process what had just happened. Was it all real or a vile trick? Mr. Tophat had said it was all part of the shor but… was it really all planned? You didn't even want to imagine what would have happened to that poor girl if the man missed with the daggers.

You got up determined to photograph the place and maybe you could even sneak into the dressing rooms and find out what everything was like backstage. You had a hunch that not everything was as it seemed, and if you could get the scoop on some dark secret of the circus you would be very successful. ! You could already imagine the covers: "Excentrio circus hides a macabre mystery about its shows."

Stealthy and silent as a mouse you slipped behind the curtain to photograph something, anything would do. Behind it were messy ropes and cables as well as wooden crates. You opened one trying not to make noise and looking everywhere nervous. You expected to discover human parts, rotten tentacles or something much worse but when you opened it you only found circus clothes. You searched the background a little but there was nothing suspicious, disappointed you walked further finding a dark door in a hallway. It was the only one and it was a little ajar, you hesitated whether to go in or not since that would be an invasion of privacy and you didn't want to be too disrespectful. But you wanted to get to the bottom of it so you grabbed the knob and sighed.

"It's all for my work"

Upon entering you noticed a mirror with bright, blinding lights that belonged to a white dresser. To your right was a large mahogany closet. You approached to see it closer and noticed a beautiful carving of roses on its edges. You did a 180 degree turn trying to find something interesting but damn there was nothing, where had all the people gone?

You walked over to the dresser and looked at the table trying to find something. There was a lot of makeup powder and some books. You picked one up and read on the cover "Dark magic and its secrets." Finally something interesting. You took a few photos, you were so focused on it that you didn't realize that someone was behind you.

"Didn't they teach you that it's rude to go through other people's belongings?"

You jumped and screamed as you turned around. Standing there with his cane on his shoulders was Mr. Tophat looking at you seriously. He placed the tip of the cane on the floor and approached slowly, without rushing, as if he knew you had no escape. And in fact it was

With every step he took you moved further away and stuck your body to the edge of the dresser, leaning your back back trying in vain to keep the distance between him and you. When the man was close enough, he raised the brim of his hat slightly with his index finger to look at you better. God, he was even more intimidating in person. His cologne flooded your nostrils and intoxicated you like the most powerful old wine. You had to close your eyes tightly to avoid his green-eyed gaze on yours.

"So you're the camera girl who was in the audience."

You opened your eyes in surprise and your eyebrows raised somewhat fearfully which caused Tophat's Cheshire smile as a soft guttural laugh left his lips.

"Oh please dear, you don't think I didn't notice do you?"

You swallowed loudly as you felt him get even closer to you and his gaze scanned you. He went from your eyes to slowly travel to your body, his almost predatory gaze made you nervous. His eyes finally stopped at your backpack that you were carrying over your shoulder.

"Mmh, what do we have here little one?

He quickly put his hand in your bag and took out your notebook.

"No! Give me that, it's mine!"

He laughed amused and held the notebook up while with his other hand on your shoulder he moved your body away from him, preventing you from reaching your notebook.

"Let's see what we have here, shall we?"

With his thumb he opened the notebook to a random page and his eyes quickly scanned your messy handwriting. When he read something his eyes widened slightly and his corners stretched up a little.

"Oh my my, but what is this I read here?" He quickly gave you a mischievous and surprised look as he returned his eyes to the paper "It's the first time that I have visited this circus and I find myself with the first pleasant surprise: The ringleader is not only magnetic and hypnotizing as many said, but he is also quite handsome."

You screamed in annoyance and embarrassment as you pathetically tried to squirm to escape his grasp and reach for his hand but he was stronger and just laughed loudly at your efforts. Then he threw the notebook aside and looked at you funny.

"You flatter me deeply, darling" He said, placing his hand over his heart. "They have called me many things, but this is the first time that a girl as pretty as you calls me handsome."

He smiled at you and gave a small bow without taking his eyes off yours just like he did when you were in the seats. Then he stood up and became a little more serious.

"Now let's talk seriously. Why did you really come to my circus? Are you a photographer?"

"Jo-journalism student"

Why did you have to tell him what you did? Stupid. You could have lied to him and that's it, he didn't have to know the truth. But shit, he was so intimidating and those almost neon green eyes made you dizzy if you looked at them for too long. His penetrating gaze made you feel naked, vulnerable before him, as if he could see through your skin, beyond your flesh.

"Ah I see.."

Mr. Tophat with his cane made slow circles around you like a vulture hungry for carrion. He looked you up and down, studying you, and was delighted when you turned your head nervously so as not to lose sight of him. Suddenly he stood next to you almost face to face and grabbed your chin tightly, making you turn your face so you could look at him, you moaned in pain.

"And I suppose the journalist wanted to reveal the secrets of this carnival, am I wrong?"

Faced with your silence, he lifted your chin so he could see you well.

"Come on, let me see those pretty eyes of yours and use your words, my dear."

It was the first time you felt afraid, really afraid. You didn't consider yourself a scary person at all, you laughed at horror movies and you loved supernatural things. But this was different, a feeling of danger oppressed your chest. Even so, you drew strength and courage from your gut to answer.

"Maybe"

At your outburst of bravery, Mr. Tophat let out a syrupy and poisonous laugh at the same time. He let go of your chin abruptly and walked away a few steps, caressing the end of his cane between his fingers.

"Oh darling, I'm afraid that won't be possible." He feigned sadness. "Maybe I'll have to keep you here for a while so you can reconsider."

All your alerts sounded inside you like the sirens of the purge. Stay locked up here? forever? No, you couldn't allow it. You quickly directed your gaze towards your notebook and towards the door behind Tophat. If he noticed he pretended not to, so you ran to pick up your notepad and then you rushed towards the door but he was faster and grabbed you by the arms firmly.

"Where are you going so fast huh? Please stay a little longer, the best hasn't started yet"

You turned your head everywhere in terror, trying to find a way out, until your gaze met the black magic book that you had photographed. Had this guy made a deal with the devil or something and that's why he behaved that way? If so you were screwed. The man noticed that you were looking at the book and put his arms around you, hugging you and brought his mouth close to your ear, his breath tickling you.

"I see you found my book, I can teach you some tricks if you want" He whispered, smiling

Those insinuations, his macabre smile, his strong grip and notorious superior power over you were too much. You fell to your knees to the ground dejected, tormented by the possible nightmare you were about to live. Mr. Tophat's evil laugh accompanied you for a long time as you felt your eyes water.

.........

You didn't come home that night, nor the next day or the day after that. Your mother desperately searched everywhere without giving up, hoping that one day you would return, in the streets and newspapers you can see wanted posters with your face on it. Y/n L/n's whereabouts were never found again, it seems that you were just another child of those disappeared by the demonic ringleader of the Carnival of Doom

[thirstnotes]

| Imagine Being Quiet and Nerdy and in Love with Daveed and Rafa Since Childhood and Not Realizing Rafa Liked You All That Time |

1998

"Ey, man, leave that girl alone. Give it back, f'real."

Those were the words that made your soul leave your 8th grade body. Sure he was laughing when he said it, so it was a soft demand, but the fact that Rafael Casal was defending you to any capacity made your brain leave orbit. Which is not where you needed it to be right now.

Because you didn't know what to say when his friend gave you your novel back. He didn't seem to expect a response, however, completely overlooking you to defend himself to Rafa. "What? I just wanna know what be so damn interesting in them books she always reading."

"Bitch, spell 'interesting',” Daveed joked, getting a spirited shove from behind as they all left you alone. You bit your lip to keep from laughing at the jab. The last thing you needed was to draw attention back to yourself.

They all roasted each other as they continued up the sidewalk, all shoving each other and completely forgetting about you. Thankfully. With a final "Man fuck you!" they all disappeared around the corner. Still talking shit. You exhaled. Your skin was cool with the feeling of sweat that broke out when they’d approached. Your pulse was pounding in your eardrums. You swallowed, your throat cracking a bit from the moisture finally returning to it. You were ashamed of the way you choked whenever they were around.

You were the epitome of a "good girl". Straight A's, well-read, well-behaved, stayed out of trouble. It always pleased your parents, but your social life was sorely lacking. Plus, anxiety was a bitch and it made you an easy target for teasing. Particularly from the neighborhood boys--them included. Your Grandma claimed it was because they thought you were cute and just did it because they didn't have anything better to do.

A thought you wanted to entertain.

But nah, you knew it was because you were funny to watch squirm and fumble for a good comeback. Today, however, Rafa and Dav--as they so affectionately called each other--seemed to exercise a small bit of restraint when their third homie went in on you.

Possibly because your Grandma used to be their music teacher and looked out for them. Maybe because she paid them to do odd jobs around her house to keep them out of trouble. Or maybe it was because she always fed them whenever they came over after school. Which wasn't anything novel; she fed everybody that came through. So you legit couldn't think of any other reason they'd take it easy on you. Sure, you interacted occasionally--often being in the same room and all--but you'd hardly call yourselves "friends that hang out".

You were--as Rafa put it--"so fuckin weird", although said in a lighthearted way that made your heart flutter. In a way, it did make you feel like you were closer than your other schoolmates, if only temporary.

Which was why you were so ashamed of yourself for choking up so much. They were just dumb boys doin' dumb boy shit. Clownin' around. Any cool bitch would’ve snatched her book back and cut them all off at the knees with something sharp and/or flirty.

But you were nothing like that. You were a nervous laugher, pretending to be a good sport, not wanting to offend, but also desperately wanting them to leave you alone type of girl. No matter how fine you thought they were. Especially how fine you thought they were.

They were on a whole other level. Cute, charismatic, talented, funny, down-to-earth…and right across the street. You would listen from your window all the time, doing your homework, blinds just barely open, the window cracked to hear them joking and taking turns freestyling bars about people they saw or stuff they liked. Which you enjoyed.

At least until you heard them jokingly rap:

See shawty 'cross the street always playing hide-and-seek-er/peepin all up in the blinds like can't nobody see her

You couldn't look them in the eye for a week-

"Amber Brown," your bestie laughed aloud, interrupting your story with a smirk that suggested she was holding onto a juicy secret. You frowned at her expectantly.

"What?"

"You know that song was about you, right?" she purred deviously, waggling her perfectly contoured brows at you. You rolled your eyes with a sheepish smile, the familiar feeling of embarrassment creeping up your spine.

"Anyway-"

"No, no for real!" she pleaded apologetically, "That's how I found out Rafa had a crush on you."

Your jaw went slack. "What?"

F/N gave you an obnoxiously beaming smirk. "Mmhmmmm."

Then she took a long sip of her drink, which made you practically foam at the mouth for more information.

"Okay, so???" you urged, motioning for her to go on. She seemed to revel in your anxiety.

She smacked her lips for a moment then relented. "Okay okay. For real tho. Who did you think Amber Brown was about?"

She paused to let you add two and two together. You decided to give her the wrong answer. “Somebody at school.”

You truly earned the look she gave you. “Yeah. You, silly ass.”

You laughed and shrugged, your chest fluttering and sparkling with the revelation that maybe your best friend was actually right. “I’m just sayin. There were a lot of Ambers floatin’ ‘round that school.”

“You are way too bright for me to dignify that with an answer.”

You took a smirky sip and she rolled her eyes.

“Amber brown is about your eyes, smartass.”

She looked pleased at the cough that pulled from you.

“Amber Brown in my town always got me feenin’, honey brown lookin 'round like shawty always schemin’? He was talkin about how shy you were and how he though it was cute. Which like. I ain’t gon lie. That was fuckin adorable.”

You wanted poke fun at how she remembered that freestyle from so long ago, but you did too. It was one of your favorites. But not once did you think it was about you. You truly thought it was about some chick named Amber.

“My eyes ain’t honey brown,” was all your flustered brain could manage.

“Remember in music class when we were talking about Jasmine’s contacts and the sun hit your eyes at just the right angle and we started talking about how brown eyes hit different in the sun?”

How could you forget? Rafa was the one that started it all in the first place. Everybody started laughing then Andre joked about you being his new boo. You were petrified.

“Rafa said ‘damn’ or something…whatever it was, it about how pretty your eyes were when the sun hit them. Everybody started laughing, but he was for real. I thought he was legit gon’ smack the shit outta Dre’.”

“He laughed too,” you pressed, hanging on every word, hoping she’d supply more. As if she’d sensed it, she continued.

“Because he was a dumbass boy back then. But he was straight up serious then. Anyway, after school, when Daveed and him did their usual freestyle stuff, he started spitting that shit and I was convinced homeboy was sprung."

(Part 2)

[villxinmiixx]

“Ten Rounds” part i.

Daveed Diggs x female! reader 

♡ reader is a well known singer, rafael invited forced daveed to come with him to a concert of hers and he's enamored of reader.

♡ warnings; all characters are 21+. rpf ( real person fiction ). sexual tension?? idk

♡ wc; 1.7k 

♡ notes; also i have a new writing format soo yeahhdeuf. the female named “imani” is intended to be black. feel free to change some things with your imagination. the song performed was sativa sung by jhené aiko ( you sang her parts ) and swae lee ( imani sang his parts ). 

ㅤTODAY WAS THE DAY OF YOUR COLLABORATION PERFORMANCE with you and your friend, imani (ee-mah-knee) her stage name being destiny. she is a great singer, but not as well known as you. you figured you can help her popularity and make people realize she’s a great singer by collaborating with her. imani was ecstatic when you invited her to a collab. soon enough the song “sativa” you both made went viral, and today was the performance for that song ( and the other songs you and she made. )

ㅤ“girl you do not know how excited i am for this shit!” imani was excitedly jumping around, her teal-green outfit making some ruffling noises, as you put your manicured hand in front of your lips as you laughed at her enthusiasm. “oh right! i heard that THE gOD FUCKING DAMN rafael casal will be in the vip section” imani grabbed your shoulders and shook you “isn’t he that actor? from blindspotting?” you asked your friend. “yeah, bitch!” she waved her hands around in excitement. “ didn’t he have a friend acting with him in blindspotting?” “yeah, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh daveed diggs!” imani snapped her fingers when she recalled his name. 

ㅤ“YO, RAFA WHAT’S UP?” daveed greeted his best friend that just busted open his door as he was splayed out on his own couch glancing at rafael and went back to his phone. “YO I GOT US SOME VIP TICKETS TO [STAGE NAME]’(S) PERFORMANCE TONIGHT.” rafael shouted at the top of his lungs. “huh” daveed looked up from his phone as he raised an eyebrow. “you don’t have a say in it, diggs. we goin’.” rafael smirked while waving around the gold tickets “get’cho ass ready, man!” he laughed and threw himself on the couch next to daveed. “man when does it even start” daveed inquired looking at his phone’s clock which showed 5:28 pm “thirty minutes.” rafael responded “..and how far is this concert?” daveed slowly looked at his friend as he questioned once more, squinting his eyes. “twenty minutes.” his best friend smiled. “this motherfucker..” daveed got up from his spot and quickly went to his closet grabbing a few clothes before rushing to the bathroom. 

ㅤ“so why’d you even get the tickets, man?” daveed asked, his hands on the steering wheel of the car. “dunno, heard [stage name] was cute so i wanted to check the real deal.” rafa huffed with laughter “you didn’t even search her up? the fuck, you didn’t even look who was on the website when you bought the tickets?” the dark skinned best friend deadpanned at the guy on the passenger seat. “hell nah! i wanted it to be a surprise and you better not look at the billboards!” daveed rolled his eyes before he chuckled. “alright fine. this better be good though, rafa.” “oh i know it’s good, at least that’s what i heard on tik tok.”

ㅤthe two arrived at the arena where the concert would be taking place, daveed parked the car, both men getting out of the vehicle and going to the VIP usher. where they got a stamp and went inside. they were escorted to their VIP seats. it was only a few minutes before the performance, a countdown on the large screen in front of everyone.

ㅤ“THERE’S SO MANY PEOPLE!” imani peeked out the curtain. “you’ll be the first one out there since the first verses are you, make sure to give it your all!” you smiled at imani, adjusting your costume. “yeah, i will! again, thank you so much for this opportunity, girl. i love you so much!” your friend hugged you tightly and you did as well. “girls, the show will start in one!” your manager called out. “just like we practiced, okay? i’m so proud of you!” imani nodded, before running to the elevating platform. the large screen counted down from five, the fans were screaming. “THREE! TWO! ONE!” 

ㅤ“yeah, oh, oh, yeah” the both of you sang, not showing up on the stage yet. the platform where imani was standing, started to rise up onto the main.  “why you make it so complicated? off the drink, we concentratin” your friend sang on the stage, her glittery green costume shimmering from the light focused on her.

ㅤ“IS THAT [STAGE NAME]?” daveed asked his friend next to him, rafael was about to shrug before a fan screamed “GO DESTINY!” “ah, it’s a collaboration performance.” daveed was getting into the beat, shifting around his seat and moving his body. it was really catchy, he had to admit. rafael followed suit. “is it hot in here or is it just me?” you came out from the red curtain in the middle of the stage, you sang in a rather sultry voice. people started screaming your stage name including imani’s. 

ㅤdaveed’s eyes widened pleasently, his eyes focused on you. “i said , now go and take a shot on me.” oh hell yeah, he was definitely going to do that ( sooner or later but not today ). “but i lasted ten rounds like a fre~ak like a g” you and imani started dancing along with the backup dancers. the way your body moved so swiftly, and your flirty attitude on stage just captivated the curly haired man. as you and imani sang there was a moment you looked into the crowd and saw daveed, you winked at him before you resumed looking at the other fans. 

ㅤ“holy shit, rafa did you see that?” “oh hell yeah, man. i saw that clearer than daylight!” rafa hyped his best friend up “we better go backstage later to meet her, dude!” “bruh, we can’t do that-” “trust me, she’ll be okay with it!” “alright fine.” daveed grinned as he shook his head gently. 

ㅤTHE SONG ENDED AND THE CROWD WENT WILD, screaming ‘i love you’ and stuff similar to that. “i’d like to thank [stage name] for this, if it wasn’t for her i really would’ve never been up here!” imani wrapped an arm around your shoulders before hugging you completely. “she’s the best, really!” “destiny, you absolute sweetheart! i just wanted people to see how much of a great singer you are!” you smiled at her. the people aww’ed at your friendship ( some even saying “they look cute together” something like that ) 

ㅤ“we’ll be taking a twenty minute intermission! feel free to leave your seats, get some snacks and drinks or take a look around the merchandise. make sure to not push anyone when leaving, and please be careful with the food! you might spill it!” you said before waving and walking backstage with imani. ”holy fucking shit, girl! at first i was so nervous but excited and when i finally got on the stage, OOOOOH girl, my confidence went up!” you giggled along with imani as she explained her first time singing live on stage. the knocking on your door hushed both of you.

ㅤ “[name], imani, two people wanna see both of ‘ya and i’m sure you wanna see these guys.” you can practically see the smile on your manager’s face despite not seeing her yourself. you looked at imani silently asking her if she wants to. “i mean- why not y’know?” she grinned. you raised a brow as you smirked before nudging her with your elbow. “alright, i’ll escort them here.” you removed an uncomfortable piece of your costume while imani was moving around and humming your guys’ song. after a minute or two you heard your door being knocked on again.

ㅤ”the door’s unlocked.” you call out. the door was opened by your manager and two ( hot ) men stepped inside. you were applying lipgloss and glanced at the two before smacking your lips “ oh, it’s you two.” you smiled up at them as you closed the container.  “daveed diggs and rafael casal, correct?” imani’s eyes shot up when she heard the two names being mentioned looking at the two men. she screamed “HOLY SHIT” before grabbing onto your arm “oh uhm! you can sit down on that couch over there!” and ran into a corner where they couldn’t see in their spot. your friend grabbed onto your shoulder blades and shook you. “what are they doing here?! let’s get their autographs! how old are they again? holy mother of- they’re so hot” imani was rambling.

ㅤyou giggled at her, telling her to calm down and breathe so she did. “seriously though, why are they here, girly?” “weren’t you the one that said you heard rafael casal will be coming?” “WELL I DIDN’T KNOW THEY’D ACTUALLY COME TO US PERSONALLY!” “let’s get to know them more, it wouldn’t hurt!” “alright, let’s go.” she grinned and you chuckled before the both of you leaving the corner to greet your two guests.

ㅤ”sorry for the wait, do you guys need anything? why’re you visiting us?” you questioned them, pouring water in two glasses and giving it to them. “ah, no nothing in particular. we just wanted to see the singers personally!” rafael exclaimed, nudging daveed’s upper arm. “uhhhh we wanted to ask if y’all wanna hang out after this or maybe sometime. both of ‘ya seem nice.” daveed said, smiling. “i’m down, how about you, destiny?” you asked your friend behind you that was reapplying some highlighter. 

ㅤ“hell yeah, i’m down!”  imani grinned at you, the two guys snickered from the couch. “uh yeah, girl, this ain’t gon’ work. it ain’t fair if ‘ya know our names but we don’t yours.” daveed smirked. “I'm not sure if i should be surprised or not that you guys don’t know. usually people would search it up themselves.” you said, placing a hand on your hip and smiled smugly. “i’m [name, last name]. she’s imani moore.” you pointed to your friend with your thumb. 

ㅤ”heyyo!” she smiled and posed a peace sign. “now we all know each other!” you beamed, and clasped your hands together. you looked at your phone’s clock and realized you and imani had two minutes to get on stage for your next song. “we gotta get ready for the upcoming track. let’s get some drinks after, yeah?” you said putting your hands behind your lower back “hell yeah, girl! we’ll come back here after the show or the next intermission.” rafael smiled at you and stood up to leave along with daveed and left.

ㅤbefore daveed could fully leave the room he glanced at you and you winked at him. he smirked and left the area. ‘he’s cute’ you thought and looked at your friend who was smugly looking at you. “i saw that.” “how-” “there's a mirror next to the door y’know.” “please shut up.”

ㅤ©𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗶𝗶𝘅𝘅 - 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱. 𝗡𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁; 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.

[intoxicatingimmediacy]

Can the Bay Area be TV/film's next big creative incubator? Native Rafael Casal is betting on it.

Despite sharing a state with Hollywood, despite having been the source and setting for many incredible films, the Bay Area has never really been known as a center of movie and television production. A new initiative by writer, producer, actor, and poet Rafael Casal hopes to change that perception.

The Bay List, a collaboration between Casal and producer/entrepreneur Franklin Leonard, will identify and highlight exceptional screenplays and television pilots by writers from, or with close ties to, the Bay Area. Along with a cast of high-profile partners, The Bay List will select the 10 most promising projects submitted by writers between now and April 2025, then work with them to amplify their ideas and secure educational and production opportunities.

“I think because of the multiculturalism of the Bay, the often extreme economic inequality, the diversity in our public schools, the progressive imagination of the community members, the corruption in government and policing, the multi-hyphenate nature of our self-sustaining art scenes, and on and on and on, and up and down, that powder keg has created an environment that produces some of the world's most impressive thought leaders,” says Casal. ”I have a strong feeling that if making movies and TV felt more obtainable to artists in the Bay, we would see a true renaissance of film explode from here.”

Indeed, that “powder keg” has already resulted in some unforgettable pictures, including some that Casal is especially fond of, like the documentary The Force (2017) by Pete Nicks, which captures the depths of police violence and corruption in the Bay Area, and the 1979 classic Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. “La Mission (2009) by the Bratt brothers is a beautiful film [that] captures the Mission District pre-gentrification, a place that now feels like a fantasy,” says Casal. “The [Latine] community in the Bay is not often depicted on screen, and Northern California feels so different than L.A in that respect.”

Big and small, Casal tries to watch all of the productions connected to the Bay Area—and there are still infinite stories to be told. The idea to bring more equity and access to those telling them was inspired by Leonard’s pioneering project The Black List, which has a similar goal in helping overlooked scripts get noticed. Initially founded in 2005 to survey the most-liked screenplays that remained unproduced each year, the initiative has grown into a virtual marketplace democratizing access to the film industry for writers from more than 100 countries.

“The Black List has been a fantastic resource for screenwriters for quite some time now, but I have to admit that it wasn't until after I made my first film that I heard about it,” explains Casal, who wrote, produced, and starred in 2018’s Blindspotting and its 2021 Starz spinoff with childhood friend Daveed Diggs. “The Bay List is my attempt to partner with Franklin and his team to bring awareness about The Black List to the Bay, creating a specific list just for us. The hope is that collaborations are formed through this process, which can help bridge the gap between the Bay Area writing scene and the Hollywood machine of actually getting things made.”

Even in its inaugural year, The Bay List has already secured the participation of some of the region’s biggest names in entertainment: Lucasfilm (the San Rafael production company founded by George Lucas), Playtone (the production company founded by Alameda-native Tom Hanks), Unanimous Media (founded by Steph Curry and Erick Peyton), Who Knows Best Productions (founded by W. Kamau Bell and Melissa Hudson Bell), and almost a dozen others altogether. They’ll be involved in selecting the first cohort of finalists and in providing them with various forms of support such as pitching workshops, public table reads, and business development guidance.

“This project lives and dies by the generosity and time of some of the Bay Area’s most major players, and I am so grateful that they even entertained the idea,” says Casal. “The truth is, we need to make a big splash to get folks to pay attention, and so on the front end just lending their names is incredible��but even more valuable, are some of the resources each of them have pledged to the top 10 finalists.”

The only requirement to submit a film or television script is that the writer was born in, grew up in, or currently resides in one of the Bay Area’s nine counties full- or part-time. Those who lived here for a significant period as children or adults are also eligible, and screenplays and pilots don’t need to focus on the region to qualify. The Bay List will announce its shortlist in May 2025 and declare 10 finalists in July.

“The Bay is unique in the world. There is something in the water,” says Casal. “As someone who believes art pushes a society forward, I would hate to leave that stone unturned. I'm from under that stone.”

[therafanatics]

RAFAEL CASAL - WILDCAT / NEW INSTAGRAM PHOTOS (2024)

Today, WILDCAT is out in select theaters. @maya_hawke @ethanhawke #shelbygaines #ryanhawke stirred their artist souls together and poured out this film, an ode to writers, to those torn between competing truths, escaping fleeting time, happier in their imaginations than the world given to them. It is an ode to escapism, to brutal writing, and to the severe fever that witty retorts and razor-sharp perceptions can reek on your life. And of course, the ticking clock chasing us all.

I love this creative team so much, the whole crew was a joy and Kentucky held us well. If this film crosses your path or pace, please check it out. Starring Maya, @itsmelauralinney #phillipettinger #liamneeson @willafitz @stevezahn and more

Pics by: rafaelcasal

[annachum]

Lady Sif series fancast ideas

So there is a Lady Sif possibly coming from what I've heard. The plot isn't confirmed yet, but I would love it to be a series that focuses more on the livelihoods of the women in Nine Realms ( between Thor 1 and Thor 2 and before Thor 3 cuz Lady Sif is banished before Thor 3 and all )

Anyway here are some fancast ideas for it

Lady Sigyn - Jennifer Connelly or Sophie Turner

Karnilla of Nornheim - Cher or Catherine Zeta Jones

Zisa ( wife of Tyr and mother of Grace/Siriana aka Heimdall's wife ) - Sophie Okonedo

Queen Gullveig of Vanaheim - Julia Roberts

Sunna Mundilfaridottir ( Norse Goddess of Sun ) - Vanessa Hessler

Mani Mundilfaridottir ( Norse God of Moon and younger twin brother of Sunna ) - Dan Stevens

King Mundilfari of Alfheim - Orlando Bloom

( just imagine Dan Stevens and Orlando Bloom with silver blonde hair and lilac starry skin )

Queen Aelsa of Alfheim - Vanessa Paradis

Skadi - Kate Dickie

Angrboda - Sophia di Martino

Hoenir Borson ( Odin's youngest brother ) - Owen Wilson

Theoric - Rafael Casal

( I have a theory that Dox, Sylvie Lushton, Brad Wolfe and Mobius are all also variants of Skadi, Angrboda, Theoric and Hoenir in MCU )

Princess Solveig of Nidavellir ( Vidarr's wife in Marvel - Solveig is a Jotunn Dwarf in Marvel Comics) Nicola Coughlan

Kenneth Branagh - Bragi

[alyceinwonderland777]

How I imagine a hypothetical Ravonna Renslayer movie:

The poster (I tried 🤣) :

The main cast:

Gugu Mbatha Raw as Ravonna Renslayer

Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie Laufeydottir

Tom Hiddleston as President Loki

Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius

Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror

The secondary cast:

Sasha Lane as Hunter C-20

Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15

Rafael Casal as X-5/Brad Wolfe

Neil Ellice as Hunter D-90

Ke Huy Quan as Ouroboros

Eugene Cordero as Casey

The director: Kenneth Branagh

The plot:

After being pruned Ravonna is rescued by President Loki who, just like Sylvie, has the ability to enchant people and gives her back her suppressed memories. The two go to another timeline and attempt to start a peaceful life together, but soon find themselves having to deal with an old acquaintance who will force Ravonna to face her past and her mistakes.

What do you think about it? Would you like a movie about Ravonna? How do you think it could be? 🧡

[circus-scorpion]

(OOC): So I found some pictures of Rafael Casal looking a lot like Marcus Cochran and made a self ship couple collage moodboard thing out of a period of actively crushing hard on the character...

(Please note that this is in the context of imagining the pictures to be the fictional character Marcus Cochran/Mr. Tophat from Are You Afraid of The Dark: Carnival of Doom)

(I don't exactly remember all of the sources of the pictures, I try my best to only use pictures that are free and okay to use but if there are any issues, I'm fully willing to remove this post and/or remake this.)

[dxsturbia]

Yeah yeah yeah heal get that OK healing that inner child

So here’s the thing about a human body we only defense mechanism it has during the healing process is the pain signals you can medicate them you can sleep through them you can try your hardest to avoid it but eventually you’re gonna have to let that shit hurt

Let it scar Let it do damage the more you avoid the pain the harder you’re gonna have to work to get back to normal

So when I’m sitting down with my father and I’m trying to discuss these things and you know what you are the appropriate audience because you were an outside party as much as you want to be a parent you’re not

And I’m trying to let that shit hurt and your response is no it’s unfortunate that you had to go through that poor I can see where you’re coming from it’s what was your side of the street what the fuck

No no no no no no no no no no I was a 10 year old kid can you fucking imagine what that looks like for me I am again not trying to be judgmental it’s gonna come out that way I’m not getting the hell out of here on a track scholarship OK I am being airlifted out of my neighborhood into the suburbs and the cost of it is my mother and everything happened so fast and she went no contact that I am like so basically what your plan was I can help my mom back when I can take myself to the restroom well that’s not gonna happen not in this house

That door is 16 inches wide and you help me now completely dependent on this chair for movement it’s not gonna happen

And you know what Anissa it’s all your fault you’ve been like this since you were a little kid

And YOU know what Rebecca why did you even come back what was the point to slow me up more

I was never ask you would be that capable it took me like 8 years and it happened because I didn’t have a choice



[ramp-it-up]

I love this one. So, so much.

Dammit, Rafa!

Pairing: Rafael Casal x Reader

Word Count: 4.6 K

Warnings: Minors DNI, Very light BDSM, a lil bit of Dom! Rafa and a lot of Sub! Rafa, Rocky Horror Picture Show live Shadow Cast, Oral sex (m, f receiving), slight breeding kink if you blink. drug use (just say no), unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it).

A/N: This is a combination of an ask from @theatrenerd86 and a lovely anon as seen below. I JUST really read your ask and I think I changed it a little bit. I was so excited for the concept. I hope this is okay. 🥴

Rafael Santiago Casal was stressed out.

You had just the thing.  

As soon as you were able to get him out of the bedroom and on the couch after his jetlag, you presented him with the opportunity to make good on the bet he lost at the last friends-who-are family get together. 

Keep reading

[layla4567]

Scars // Brad Wolfe x Fem reader

Summary: Hunter X-5 has always had peculiar scars on his arms, they seem deep and have an "X" shape. You've always wondered how he did it. Warnings: Maybe a lil of angst but mostly fluff WC: 3k A/N: I feel like this would be a continuation of the Too Close fic but you don't need to read that one to understand this one, you can imagine it as separate stories.

————— ୨୧ —————

Sitting in a chair in front of your desk you looked at the photos of variants in your report, with a highlighter you marked the most relevant information and with a pencil you made notes to the side. Mobius at the next desk moved his fingers rapidly on the typewriter keys, seeming concentrated. Proud and sighing, you picked up the report and tapped it on the table to organize the papers. Out of the corner of your eye you saw your friend and called him whispering

"Psst! Mobius!"

Mobius didn't seem to notice (or decided to ignore you) so you grabbed an orange post-it note and crumpled it into a ball and threw it at him. The ball landed right on his head and bounced until it landed on the floor, he shrugged his shoulders upon receiving the impact and looked at you confused.

"What the shit?"

Mobius opened his arms and put his palms up in a clear gesture of intrigue, you laughed at his reaction.

"I'm sorry, you weren't listening to me."

He sighed long and stopped writing to take the paper out of the typewriter and put in a new one.

"Well I'm listening to you now, what do you want?"

"I wanted to know if you finished the paperwork, and besides, I'm bored."-you said innocently smiling as you placed a hand under your chin and rested your elbow on the table.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't please you with the answer, because I still have several papers to write."

You groaned and placed your head between your arms resting on the table, hiding your face as if you were sleeping. Mobius took pity on your situation and approached with his chair to rub your shoulder patiently.

"If it makes you feel better, I only need to finish one page, why don't you give me your report and I'll deliver it to Casey myself?"

You raised your head with a shy smile and affectionate dimples adorning your cheeks, you handed your work to Mobius and to kill time you began to doodle on your post-its and paper cranes with them. Minutes and almost hours passed and your desk was full of colored paper cranes and post-its with stars, hearts and a caricature of Mobius's head with his funny mustache, it was disproportionate and exaggeratedly larger than normal. Out of boredom, you had fallen asleep on the desk and were about to start drooling over the pencils and markers that you had near your face if it weren't for your friend who came over and gently hit you several times with his finger on your head.

“Hey Y/N, are you awake?”

You started and raised your head abruptly, narrowing your eyes, your heavy eyelids still wanting to close. Your friend had his hands on his hips like he always used to do. You closed your eyes and ran a hand over your face, rubbing it lightly, trying to shake off the sleep.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh, not much, don't worry, I already gave the reports to Casey and he said they were good, especially yours. The notes you made on the side of the paper were useful, and I think I'm jealous about that."

Mobius started to laugh and you followed him, but then his smile faded to a frown when he saw your happy, mocking caricature of him on a post-it note resting next to you. You followed his gaze to the small paper that was on your table and you blushed embarrassed, lowering your head to avoid eye contact.

"What is that? Is it me?"-He said pointing his finger

"Well, what did you want me to do? I was bored and decided to draw you"-You said, shrugging your shoulders and brushing it off.

"Let me see it"

"Hey no!"

Mobius grabbed the post-it before you could stop him. He stayed for a while looking at it as if he wanted to analyze its molecular particles. Then he handed it to you with a frown but a small corner of his mouth wanting to rise and transform into a smile.

"I don't have a big head, and neither does my mustache."

"Are you sure 'bout that?"-you said smiling funny

"Hey! What are you implying?"

"I was kidding, chill out"-you laughed

You stood up to stretch your legs, patting your friend's shoulder, who stood with his head slightly down.

"Or not..."

You said mischievously and walked away without saying anything else while he turned around and watched you leave before he could form a single sentence, leaving him more confused than before. B-15 approached him and Mobius asked her

"Do you think my head and mustache are too big?"

"Uhh..."

You walked with sure steps to have a coffee and then go visit O.B, the poor guy almost never received visitors and you thought that your presence would cheer him up a little. You headed to the machine at the end of the hallway to drink your coffee, when you got it you brought it up to your nose to inhale the sweet and bitter aroma of the drink. You were drinking it while walking towards the TVA basement when you found X-5 walking in the opposite direction, that is, he was coming towards you. He had his pruning stick activated and he seemed upset.

"Hi, everything okay?"

When he heard you and saw you, he stopped, sighing and raising his eyebrows.

"Well, since you mention it, not really. A variant escaped me and I couldn't prune it"

You were surprised because he never missed anyone. He was the best hunter in the entire TVA, intelligent, cunning and tough enough to be a hunter. In addition to knowing all the interrogation tactics. You simply smiled at him sadly, understanding his frustration. Suddenly your gaze fell on his strong bare arms. They had some unique scars, before you had not paid so much attention to them but now you remembered having seen them before and wondering what happened to him. He noticed your eyes on his arms and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"How much do you look at, huh?"

You quickly looked up and looked him in the eyes, feeling caught red-handed, you tried to hide it by clearing your throat.

"Sorry, I just never knew how you got those scars-"

"And you don't have to know"

He interrupted you abruptly without leaving his frown or stopping crossing his arms over his chest, making his biceps stand out. You were surprised by his reaction, he wasn't the nicest person in the TVA but he almost always seemed more patient with you. You thought his rude attitude was due to his anger at the variation but you knew there was something more. You stayed silent trying to say something but he broke the silence for you.

"I would love to continue talking but I have things to do, excuse me."

He said with a sarcasm that hurt you and stepped aside to continue on his way. You watched him leave with your heart sinking a little. What happened to him? He had never been like that with you before, usually he was funny in his own way and would go around provoking you and teasing you just to see how angry you would get, sometimes he was sarcastic but in a more pleasant way. A little sad, you went to the basement to see O.B without the good mood you had before, it seemed that now the one who needed to cheer up was you and not him.

I knew you Hand under my sweatshirt Baby, kiss it better, I And when I felt like I was an old cardigan Under someone's bed You put me on and said I was your favorite

When you went down the spiral stairs and finished walking the circular hallway you found the round entrance like a tunnel but O.B was nowhere to be seen. Instead of him being behind that structure that said "Repairs & Advancement" it was all empty. You slowly approached calling his name, a little voice answered you didn't know where.

"O.B? where are you?"

"Y/N!! I'm down here"

You still didn't know where exactly "here" was but when you peeked your head over his round desk you saw him sitting with his back leaning against the structure, he was fixing something you didn't know what it was.

"O.B?"

He raised his head to look at you and gave you a warm smile.

"Oh hello there! How is everything going Y/N?”

He stood up, leaving his work aside and looked at you attentively, you didn't know where to start.

"Well… my initial plan was to visit you and brighten your day a little, I know you're always working here alone, but… I think now I'm the one who needs to brighten up…"

"Oh why is that?"

You explained your encounter with Hunter X-5 and his curt reaction to your question about his scars. O.B seemed to reflect before answering.

"Well it seems that this is a delicate topic for him, maybe you should give him time before asking him again"

"What if he doesn't want to talk about it again? Or worse, what if he doesn't talk to me again?!"

"Calm down Y/N, don't panic! I know Hunter X-5 can be difficult to deal with but you are the kindest person I know, you'll see how you find a way to make him talk"

"Thanks O.B"

You smiled at him not very convinced and turned to leave when his high-pitched voice spoke to you again.

"And remember, if he refuses to talk after all your efforts, leave him alone, don't force him or it will be worse."

You nodded at his wise words and said goodbye, leaving the basement. You were nervous and confused, you needed a pie. You headed to the key lime pie room without thinking twice and realized that you were not alone, Mobius was there apparently to receive a little comfort too. You silently grabbed a pie and sat in front of him sighing.

"It seems like someone also needed the comfort of a pie"

You nodded without looking at him as you moved your spoon playing with the dessert "Would you like to tell me why you are here?"

"Only if you tell me first"

"It's a fair deal"

You told him about your whole affair with X-5 and how you were worried about his attitude at the mention of his scars. Mobius listened to you attentively without interrupting you. When you finished speaking he sighed.

"Can I give you an advice?"

"It's what I need most now"

"Be close to him, I have realized that he is less of an idiot with you than with others, maybe your kindness will help him open up and heal"

"Thank you Mobius, you always know what to say"

"Oh and another thing, if he doesn't want to talk, let him. We all deal with our own burden."

You laughed softly "How curious, that's what O.B said."

"Wait, you talked to O.B first instead of me?" He looked at you offended and you laughed again this time harder.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional. But don't change the subject and now tell me what's bothering you."

Mobius remained silent for a few seconds that seemed like hours until he finally opened his mouth "It's Ravonna."

"Ravonna? What's wrong with her?"

"It's… Her attitude confuses me, I thought we were friends and look what she did, she lied about C-20, she didn't care about the whole thing about variants and time keepers and to make matters worse she abandoned us all"

It made you sad to see Mobius so downcast and even more so for a person he thought he knew. But you had never liked Ravonna so you didn't wait to take off your friend's blindfold.

"Well maybe… she was never a good friend to you."

He looked at you intrigued, waiting for you to continue talking, you swallowed.

"I mean… look I know you liked her and I don't want to be mean but Ravonna only cares about herself, all those times she helped you were only because they benefited her and saved her position"

He looked at you with wide eyes and you immediately regretted what you had said "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's okay. Maybe I didn't even appreciate her but so many years together working side by side, you get used to it, you know?"

You nodded looking at your plate. "Can I give you some advice? Like you gave me one?"

He nodded "Keep going. I know it seems like shitty advice but it's the best, if she did it you can do it too. "Don't cling to the past and stay with the people who do care about you."

He smiled, nodding at your words. "And I thought I was the wise one here."

Laughing and feeling the atmosphere loosening, they finished eating and got up from their seats. When they were about to leave, B-15 called them and told them that Judge Dox needed them in the war room. You and Mobius looked at each other intrigued and followed the hunter. When you arrived at the living room you saw Dox sitting in one of the three corners of the triangular table with his stern gaze and stoic attitude. Standing next to you was X-5 looking at the two of you. To say that the judge scared you was an understatement, Mobius took the seat for you, letting all the pressure fall on him.

"I think you already know why I summoned you here, since Ravonna Renslayer left, the TVA has been a mess. We need to do something with those variants and the best thing would be to prune them"

You jumped and Mobius shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"With all due respect, I'm afraid that won't be possible Judge Dox."

The woman tensed her jaw when she heard Mobius's voice. "I hope you understand that if we can't control the variants, the branches will continue to grow."

"Believe I'm aware of that but we can't take away people's free will"

"But that's what we've been doing and that's what we do best, Agent Mobius."

"Besides, I think I know that you do not have enough rank to make these decisions" Dox counterattacked.

You clenched your fists in anger at Dox's sharp voice, you were not going to allow them to talk like that about your friend.

"Excuse me, Judge Dox, but every worker here has the right to their opinion, whether they have a high rank or not."

X-5 and Dox looked at you surprised at your outburst of bravery, you usually used to keep quiet during these debates. Dox narrowed his eyes analyzing you.

"Very well Agent Y/N, since you seem to want to say something so badly, we listen to you" She stated venomously.

You knew you screwed up, nervously you looked from Mobius to X-5 who was looking at you attentively and a little tense about what you could say.

"W-well, we-we can't prune the variants because technically we are too, and who are we to decide about the lives of others? Literally no one. That would be hypocritical.."

X-5 looked at you surprised by your response while you looked down in shame and wishing that the earth would swallow you. Dox raised an annoyed eyebrow so Mobius quickly spoke for you.

"Sorry but Y/N is right, give us a couple of days at least to try to find another solution, could you?"

Judge Dox seemed to weigh the situation as she looked at the two of you. After a while she sighed

"Fine, you only have three days otherwise we will continue with the usual itinerary"

Mobius smiled in relief and the two of you were about to leave when Dox spoke again.

"And next time tell your friend that she should speak when they allow her to."

Dox stood up abruptly and left while Mobius also left the room. You and X-5 still stayed in the war room. An awkward silence settled between you and him until he was going to leave, passing by you, but you grabbed him by the wrist.

"No! wait…please"

He turned around confused to meet your pleading gaze, “I need to talk to you.”

He softened his face and sighed, tilting his head. "Okay, but make it quick, I have to get back to work."

You guided him to a chair and you sat in front of him near the table. You sighed a little nervously, not knowing how to bring up the topic. He saw that you were playing with your fingers nervously and ran a hand up your thigh, sending a sensation of electricity through your belly.

"C'mon what's happening? you can tell me anything"

You exalted, trying not to look at him. "Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize. That's not how I had thought this, but I think it's only fair to apologize for asking you about your scars."

When you mentioned his injuries he reflexively covered one arm while rubbing his hand up and down.

"I made you feel uncomfortable and it wasn't my intention" You felt your voice break "But you had never told me how you had gotten those injuries and I thought we had enough trust to tell each other everything"

You felt your eyes wet and you didn't want to cry in front of him so you stood up and threatened to leave but he took your hand "Wait, don't go."

You looked at him in amazement as he forced you to sit back down, he looked at his arm and sighed "I never talk about them because they remind me of a past failure…"

You looked at him attentively and let him speak, you felt that he was finally opening up to you. "When I was just a novice hunter, a variant attacked me from behind, causing several wounds and bruises, but the worst were in my arms." He closed his eyes. as if the memory caused him deep pain. "After that, Dox, I was demoted and had to start from scratch. I climbed until I got to where I am again and I promised myself that I would be the best at what I do and I would have no mercy on anyone."

You looked at him in shock at his story as he looked at his arms. You suddenly gently rested your hand on his scars. At first he was tempted to withdraw his arms but resisted.

To kiss in cars and downtown bars Was all we needed You drew stars around my scars But now I'm bleedin'

With all the delicacy and love in the world you began to touch his scars with the tips of your fingers, tracing them like a drawing. He shivered at your warm touch but let you continue. Your fingers went up and down and your gaze inspected the cuts. You took all the time in the world to caress his arms, making him understand that for you his scars were beautiful and it was what made him unique and special. They had never bothered you because you thought they framed his arms well, you were just curious. X-5 moaned softly, closing his eyes and feeling his body relax when he felt the heat of your fingers.

When you finished, he opened his eyes and met your sweet and soft gaze and it made him wrinkle his eyebrows upward, softening his gaze.

"…Thank you…"

You nodded, smiling and stood up while he did the same and followed you.

“Umh Y/N…”

You turned around to look at him. "Yes?"

"I think I owe you an apology too, you had no idea what I had been through"

It seemed like he was having a hard time pronouncing these words as if he were making an effort to swallow his pride. You smiled and walked over to stand on your tiptoes and grab the lapels of his uniform and plant a tender kiss on his lips. At first he wasn't expecting this but he made no effort to pull away and circled your waist to pull you closer and deepen the kiss.

And you'd be standin' in my front porch light And I knew you'd come back to me You'd come back to me And you'd come back to me And you'd come back

You quickly walked away somewhat embarrassed and with your pink cheeks burning "Apologies accepted" And you trotted back the way you had come while leaving a confused but smiling X-5 who was licking his lips, feeling the taste of yours again.

[thirstnotes]

| Imagine Being Quiet and Nerdy and in Love with Daveed and Rafa Since Childhood and Not Realizing Rafa Liked You All That Time (Part 3)|

Fr/N = Friend’s Name | F/N/N = Friend’s Nickname

GIF by daisy-rivers

Your homie's words rang in your head. Rafael Casal sprung? Over you??? That heffa had a real flair for the dramatic. It might've been easy, and typical, for her to say. She and Davs had been on and off for years, the chemistry clearly there. They were flirting even now, Davs sending her texts that made her snort obnoxiously next to you.

Which you loved. They were kinda like magnets. Meant for each other, just really damn slow to call it anything. They just enjoyed each other, and as much as she wanted that for you and his bestie, it just wasn't that.

You didn't have the juice she did. She was chill with everybody. You were. Well. You.

1998

"C-D-E-F-G-A-B. Those are the basic notes," you instructed, hands showing him how to do it, then pulling them back to let him try for himself. The last thing you wanted was for your hands to brush. You could barely register the fact that he'd asked you to show him how to play in the first place. Much less make him think you were trying to hold his hand.

"I got it," he said, hitting the wrong key. "C, right?"

"Well-No...That's E, the other one is C," you tried to instruct, but he kept interrupting and pressing the wrong key.

"This-No?"

"No-it's. Wait."

"Will you just show me?" he said finally, holding his hand out over the right keys again, waiting patiently for you to do so. You eyed it, shaking of your nerves and placing your hand over his.

Just like in the movies.

His hand was surprisingly warm, which made you a little embarrassed when he said something about your cold hands under his breath. Your mind had barely registered your own voice as you showed him the notes once again.

"C-D-E-"

"You that scared of me?"

"What?"

"You're shaking."

You knew he wasn't wrong. But you thought you'd play it off with a laugh. "No, I'm not."

He held your wrist so your hand was dangling. Proof. You tugged your wrist from his grip and looked back at the keys, feeling like an idiot. He must've known. He was just teasing you.

"Aight, aight, I wanna try again. C'mon."

You were petrified, but you tried to put your hand over his again.

"Yeah, um. So-"

This time he flipped his hand to catch yours, his fingers weaving between your fingers. You looked at him and he smirked.

"Scared I was gonna do that?" he asked, moving closer for what really felt like a kiss. No. It was a prank. Davs was gonna jump out at any time, laughing at how Rafa had got you good.

It wasn't until you felt his lips pressing against yours, that you realized it was for real.

Now

"/She was my third kiss, but my first love/Simple, on a bench, but it was all that I could dream of/", Rafa rhymed, as the beautiful melodic beat accompanied him. You watched him from your booth, your chest pounding as he recalled that moment vividly.

Your lips parted slightly as your bestie eyed you briefly before giving you a sharp nudge.

"Ow, bitch!"

"He kissed you!?"

You were grateful the music was too loud for anyone to hear her shrieking at you. "Yeah, F/N/N. He did, okay?"

"NO. It ain't okay! Why didn't you tell me?! How you gon' do me like that?! You know what? You shady," she said, eyeing you with a pleased smirk that melted into a grin. She was never gonna let you live this down. For the decades to come, this was gonna be down in history as the juiciest bit of tea ever spilled.

"/Didn't think I had a chance when we met again/Shawty lookin at me like 'baby we can't be more than friends'/Shoulda told her how many stupid rhymes I wrote bout those pretty brown eyes/ Feelin' right now how I was feelin' then.../"

His eyes met yours and you felt the same way he did, transported to that piano bench all those years ago.

This was a confession. He was telling you everything he ever felt since the two of you had known each other. You had no idea he was this gone over you. You were too busy thinking he was too cool to even know you existed.

Yet there he was. Asking:

"/Can we be more than friends?/"

The song ended with the chorus and the lights went out, signaling thunderous applause. Your ears were ringing, your heart doing backflips. Was he for real? Or was it classic Rafa being Rafa, having fun making you flustered. You absolutely couldn't let that pass by without speaking on it.

You waited behind the set, for when he was done hyping Davs up and jogged off for some water.

"Woooow," you said, voice cutting through the bass pounding from the speakers onstage. He cut his sip and dribbled a bit as he turned to answer, which made you laugh. He truly was a bigger dork than you'd realized. He breathed a laugh and shrugged it off.

"So...I'm gonna guess you remembered?"

You laughed with him, eyes rolling to the side. "Remember what, exactly?"

He slapped a hand over his chest with a dramatic gasp. "That's coooold, but I see how it is."

You hooked your fingers in his and pulled his hand off his chest, swinging it idly between you both. "Maybe I need a refresher? I dunno."

His dumb, cute smile grew and it made you laugh like an idiot too. If he could shoot his shot onstage in front of a wholeass crowd, you could right now.

"Okay, aiight. I see you," he laughed, tugging you closer and sliding a hand around your waist. His lips took yours, softly and sweetly, but melting into a hungry possessiveness that pulled a pleased hum from you. You could swear you could hear your homie shrieking somewhere. Maybe it was just you.

A familiar tune caught both your ears and he groaned out a laugh. "I think that's my cue."

"Looks like," you laughed, pulling back. He tugged you back for one more greedy peck and you laughed louder, moving him towards the stage.

"You gonna watch me do my thang, right?" It was more a demand than a request. You rolled your eyes.

"Get ya ass up there! I'll be around," you called with a wink. Your chest fluttering with excitement as he bounded up the steps.

"You better be. Don't make me pull you up onstage," he taunted, blowing you a quick kiss before rounding the speaker.

You wanted to burst. It was really happening. After a decade of quiet pining and--ironically--finally giving up, he swooped in and made himself yours.

[intoxicatingimmediacy]

'Blindspotting' Co-Creator Rafael Casal on Pushing Boundaries in Season 2 and the Show's Future

[...] Have you always known that this is a show where you really can just throw in things that would be completely unexpected, but they also just work?

CASAL: I think we figured it out, along the way. We knew that with the movie, the verse at the end was the big earn, and we got there. Every time you make a show a little bit less traditional, you lose some people. That’s just the nature of TV. Some people like their art down the middle. And if you want to appeal to just those people, there’s that show. But there are also a lot of shows like that. I’m really excited to make one of those shows. I would love to make a big mass hit show that goes on for 10 seasons and does all that. But some of the most impactful shows that have stuck with me the longest are not those shows. We knew, going into it, that Blindspotting was the type of thing where, if someone was gonna let us do a weird, artsy show, we wanted to take full advantage of the fact, and that’s what they’re letting us do. We actually are being afforded the creative freedom. As long as it’s always grounded in the point of the show, and it has to do with the prison industrial complex and the effects that it has on a parent, and we can always tie it back to that in an intuitive way, it totally works.

The Western episode works because it’s about a child’s imagination, freeing his father who’s been absent. Fizzly, just symbolically, is there because Sean doesn’t have a protector. He’s pulling away from his mother, and he also thinks he’s grown, but he’s not. He’s still a kid. So, a monster is perfect, and a sweet monster at that. In the third episode, movement is used to explain the history of the N word to a kid from a biracial Black and white parent. We can’t do it with words. We just can’t. We don’t have the time. That’d be a five-hour special, and we still wouldn’t get into all of it. Dance can get us there because it’s about an emotion being evoked. Whether or not people, 20 years from now, go back and watch any part of this show, there are pieces of it that I’m excited to see in other people’s work. I’m excited because our show feels like it’s in conversation with a lot of my contemporary TV artist friends. It’s always exciting to me when they’re like, “You did this, in this episode. I wish I could do something like that in this show that I’m working on.” And I’m like, “You can.”

That whole dance segment really was truly beautiful and emotional to watch.

CASAL: What’s really tricky about our show is that it’s not like we had something to reference for that piece. The only dancers that we know who’ve done anything close to it are our choreographers. We saw them do something along the lines of trying to capture something as complicated as that in their dance show. There’s Misty Copeland doing it with contemporary ballet. There are people in the hip-hop theater world that have tried to not only do this subject, but have tried to tackle complicated things through movement. That’s what dance is, since the beginning of time. People who know the world of dance, know that movement is about expressing the thing that we can’t articulate, that can only be expressed through the body. It’s another element of the show that’s divisive with the audience. Some people are like, “Why the fuck are they dancing?” For other people, movement has played a huge part in their lives and they’re like, “Oh, my God, no one’s ever given me this in a show before,” and that’s really exciting.

Art presents people with a thing that they have to contend with, and it invites a new audience into a space that they’re not used to. Between Season 1 and Season 2, what we really had to do was just tune out the minority of people who were like, “I don’t get the dance thing,” and be like, “That’s okay. You’ll get there.” If you take a kid to a dance performance and they don’t get it the first time, and then you take them too a dance class, they’ll wanna go back to that show and they’ll idolize the dancers, and they’ll wanna go to school for dance. There’s not a lot of dance on television, and we have a deep love for movement, so for us, it was great. The prison industrial complex is reflected through movement on this show. When language fails, that’s our convention. We’re gonna use it when we think it’s important. So for us, that episode had no other way to end. They had to tell him, but he wasn’t gonna understand it. But the writers’ room doesn’t have the words. There were parents in the room that didn’t have the words. It had to be a movement thing because we don’t know how else to do it.

I love that this is a show where you can offset a moment like that by doing scenes in a strip club.

CASAL: Pole dancers aren’t sex workers, in that way. We wanted to actually hire people who dance in those clubs because they know how to do it. We’re not mimicking it. It’s not the bougie gentrified version. These are professional stage dancers, who dance in these venues for these audiences, and these are the moves that happen. Seeing it in its authenticity was really important to us. We hired a lot of the dancers that dance at the club we shot it. We were like, “This is your home turf. Why would we bring people into your house? You do it, and we’ll shoot it as beautifully as possible.” And they were so great about it. When you’re on your fifth take and you’re like, “We need you to get back up there,” and they’re like, “Sure, no problem,” these are tremendous athletes. The skill and strength it takes to be as good as they are, for as long as they are, I was completely floored.

[...] Is there a plan for how many seasons you want to do this?

CASAL: I think every season is the last season, to us. We like to close the door, but keep a window open. That feels like what you should do with every piece of art. If you make a movie, end it and complete the story, but also make people want more. If the timing is right and we have a great idea and the network wants it, and all those things line up, we’ll do more. Or that’s it, and it’s beautiful and contained. I’ve loved shows that go for 10 seasons, and Fleabag was great with two seasons. Could I have watched another season of Fleabag? Yes. It was genius. But also, it was genius to stop. I’m always torn about it. You make art when everything lines up well, and you’re excited and everyone’s excited to do it. The only way I’ll ever know if that’s right, is when that time comes or doesn’t come. But for now, we tried to bring a nice resolution to the end of Season 2 that felt satisfying for the audience, and also, there’s a nice little window at the end, that brings it back to the film and brings it back to the larger world. Should we want to come back, there’s a great place to start.

[therafanatics]

RAFAEL CASAL & DAVEED DIGGS - BLINDSPOTTING MOVIE / COOL HAND SERIES (2024)

BLINDSPOTTING was our premiere film for Cool Hand Series. Words can't express what this meant to us and the men at Chino. The movie is phenomenal. Funny, heartbreaking, honest, eyeopening and completely one of a kind in its art.

Rafael and Daveed, thank you for making the effort, the trip, and spending hours with the men. People laughed, cried and were seen. It was really special to witness. The power of the arts was unquestionably present in the room that day. Can't imagine starting this program any other way.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved, especially the "C" Facility Population.

Respectfully,

Cool Hand Series

#blindspotting #coolhandseries #prisonabolition

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