#bay bard

[daisy-rivers]

Another trip around the sun for this bay boy for whom the term “multi-hyphenate” might have been invented. Rafael Casal is a poet, rapper, musician, screenwriter, actor, producer, director (as of today), and God only knows what else besides brilliant and beautiful.

Watch Blindspotting on STARZ. Watch everything he’s ever done.

Happy birthday.

[daisy-rivers]

Rafa knows how to make it sound pretty.

[daisy-rivers]

But enough about Daveed ...

Yes, yes, of course I love him, but let’s take a look at the other half of the Bay Boys, Daveed’s “platonic creative life partner,” Rafael Casal. Rafael was never officially part of Hamilton, but he hung out in Daveed’s dressing room all the time, so a lot of people thought he had something to do with the show. He even occasionally signed Playbills at the stage door. The fact is that when Daveed moved to New York from California to do Hamilton, nobody had any idea how long it would last. You know how that went, so after a while Rafael got tired of trying to collaborate with a guy who is terrible at responding to texts and emails, and he moved to NYC himself. He and Daveed worked on a variety of projects between scenes, and Rafael took over Daveed’s social media. If Daveed “liked” or responded to anything you posted on Twitter or Instagram in 2015-2016, it was really Rafa. Oh, and incidentally, Rafa is so closely associated with Hamilton that fanfiction about him on AO3 is categorized under Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF.

There’s lots more I could say about the two of them working together, and I probably will, but not right now because I want to introduce Rafael to you as the incredibly gifted poet that he is. His poetry isn’t always easy to find, even on his website, but it’s worth looking for. Here are a couple of short ones with pictures that I think fit. Let me know if you want more. I have LOTS of files on this beautiful boy.

This is the picture Rafael referred to as his “resting villain” face. Well, maybe.

Confession time: I have a regrettable but persistent thing for smokers. I know I should know better. I don’t. It’s sexy.

We love Daveed forever, but where Daveed is, Rafa is. Get to know him.

[daisy-rivers]

Happy 35th birthday to this beautiful bay boy, poet, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, activist, playwright, singer, rapper, extraordinary human.

"You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you. That's where I'll be waiting." 

See you in Neverland.

[daisy-rivers]

Okay, the anxiety is bad today, so I’m trying to deal by listening to Rafael’s live music on his IG, sitting here, chin on hand, replaying again and again, especially this one, which may or may not be titled “Lost Without You,” and where he does that little look from under-the-eyelashes thing.

After a while, I go to change position, and I realize my fingers are wet because I have literally been drooling. I feel like that’s really pathetic, but I’m trying to convince myself that lots of women drool over him ... anybody?

[daisy-rivers]

Daveed’s been getting all the (well-deserved) attention for Snowpiercer, but Rafa was great as the only really good person in Bad Education. See it if you haven’t yet.

In the meantime, he’s just so very nice to look at.

[daisy-rivers]

I don’t know where Rafa’s been hiding out lately (although he did show up for a fast IG post today), but I miss seeing his face. I decided to go through my approximately 5,000,000 saved photos and screenshots, play with black & white filters, and see what I could do. This is what I did -- my opinion is, as always, that he is one very very sexy man.

[daisy-rivers]

This face this face this face