#lordvanyeets ask

[van-zieksy]

Fun fact on the subject of Thomas Borchert as Baroks singing voice headcanon: he's also in a german version of the Dracula Musical as - surprise - Dracula himself.

He shares a duet with van Helsing where they talk about killing the other and I keep imagining him singing it with Kazuma in an AU.

Good to hear from you! What a pleasant surprise it is. ☺️ I've seen your name a lot on my dash and wanted to send you an ask myself, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be possible.

Thomas Borchert is such joy to listen to. I'd go see him this year if I actually lived in the München/Munich area. Have you ever gotten the opportunity to see him on stage?

That's a neat fact about Dracula and Van Helsing. I sadly can't comment much on it since I don't know what their duet in this particular German musical entails. I've never seen Barok and Kazuma as wanting to kill each other; it was a one-sided affair from the start (though I would love to hear them sing together in an AU!). I've never seen the German musical you are referring to, unfortunately, so I don't know how it ends.

I can see Kazuma and Barok as sharing a duet about how their stories are intertwined and how one wants to see the other dead, but in the end they realise they should put their differences to rest and instead focus on what makes them similar. Canon Kazuma will have to come to terms with his misguided feelings and wrong assumptions, but Barok is very chill about and weirdly understanding of everything.

But of course, Dracula is usually the "bad guy", which Barok is not, so that wouldn't work. Van Helsing wants to hunt Dracula. Kazuma wanted to hunt Barok but realised he made a mistake and that there was more to the situation than he previously assumed. Sometimes Dracula is a sympathetic villain, which Barok isn't either, as Barok definitely isn't a villain. Of course, depending on which iteration of Dracula we refer to, their designs are similar, as well as their wine loving side and the fact that they both have noble titles. Some Draculas lost everything due to a big breach of trust and started to resent the world for it, but overall Dracula and Barok are vastly different characters. As much as I like to joke about Barok as Dracula, he's really not Dracula as a person at all.

I absolutely do want to see Barok and Kazuma perform a duet now. What a great idea you have come up with. I love it! A duet about how their shared history can bring them together. How they won't allow their respective long gone family members define who they are, both as individuals as well as in their relationship as professionals and someday friends. A reminiscing of some sorts and promises for the future.

But most importantly: Barok and Kazuma as a duo of vampire hunters. Barok may look like a vampire lord, but don't let that fool you! My Barok x Castlevania brainrot just kicked in again. Oh no. :) Kazuma initially hunts and tries to kill Barok because he had heard stories about this mysterious vampiresque Count/Earl who lives in an old mansion in the middle of nowhere. Kazuma confronts Barok, who is trying to get Kazuma to understand that what he believes in is not true. Kazuma doesn't care to listen and attacks. They end up having their showdown. Barok bests Kazuma. Kazuma mentally prepares himself to die and is aware he may even end up as a vampire himself, becoming one of the very creatures he despises so much. But to his surprise, Count/Earl Barok van Zieks spares him. It transpires that van Zieks is not a vampire at all. Instead, he has been trying to locate the vampire (Lord Stronghart) that killed his beloved brother, Klimt, for a while now. Thankful to still be alive, Kazuma realises he can profit from Barok's prowess, skills and access to resources. He asks Barok to join him in his mission and in turn promises him that they will find the vampire who killed Klint. Vampires of Great Britain, beware, a new fearsome duo just emerged. Might make for an interesting musical with two splendid actors.

If you ever create an AU with Kazuma and Barok singing together, please let me know! Thank you so much for taking the time to reach out and sharing this wonderful idea with me. Enjoy the rest of your day/evening. 😊

[van-zieksy]

Hello again! I don't even remember why I deactivated receiving asks on my blog, I fixed that now 😅

I didn't see the complete Dracula Musical either, I just found the songs on Spotify by coincidence and enjoyed a few of them.

Sadly I never saw Thomas Borchert on stage and Munich is far away from where I live and I don't really see an opportunity to go there in the near future.

Back to TGAA: Of course Barok doesn't really fit the role, the Dracula thing is more about the aesthetics than anything else for me too, plus just a fun thing to think about, like I mentioned an AU where he...either is evil or gets possessed by something evil, who knows? lol.

I probably won't make a fully fledged AU out of any of this, but maybe I'll draw a little doodle with him and Kazuma singing when I feel motivated.

And I really like your idea with Barok and Kazuma as a vampire hunting duo!

Now I imagine a silly scene where Kazuma is careful to be stealthy while Barok can simply walk into a group of vampires they are hunting down who just go like "that guy looks like he belongs here, I don't see a problem" 😂

Nice! That means I can now send you asks.

Woah, a possessed Barok sounds delightful. I'm very much into seeing characters possessed. They make for some of the most interesting bosses in video games because we have to but do not want to fight them. They are people we care about and want to bring back. I've actually written something similar a few months ago and how we have to fight a possessed Kazuma in a Castlevania x AA crossover (here we go again lol). So yes, I love that idea!

Your last paragraph made me laugh so much! :D Haha, yes, Barok could very much go undercover in a vampire hideout without arousing too much suspicion. Now, if they can smell that he's a mortal though, then that could be an issue, but let's assume they are not capable of detecting this. Barok the Trojan Horse. Excellent.

While Barok distracts the vampires, Kazuma is stealthily incapacitating (not killing...yet) them out one after another. I actually am in favour of them having found a way to ensure vampires don't rely on blood anymore to survive, so the vampires have a choice if they want to receive the antidote or not. If they refuse to let go of their ways, continuing to bring harm to people, our two vampire hunters have to fight them. The ones who decide they want to change their ways, well, here our hunters have a choice: spare them, administer the antidote and essentially trust them to abide by their pledge, or take them out just to be on the safe side. I love moral choices, also in video games. Of course an antidote that turns them back into humans works, too, but in a different way.

When they find Stronghart, Barok and Kazuma fight him at first but then convince him to accept the antidote because they a) realise he's suffering in his own way and b) they want Stronghart to live. Having to live knowing that he's killed innocent humans but his life has just been spared by the very human he inflicted much harm on (i.e. Barok) is greater punishment than allowing him to sleep permanently. Maybe even someone like him can become a better human being (well, vampire being lol) and start doing good for others. They'll definitely keep a close eye on him in the future.

Barok and Kazuma also understand that everyone is allowed a choice and that most beings (mortal and immortal) should be afforded a second chance in life and have the option to change their ways. They don't just kill, which would turn them into even worse beings than vampires, who actually only kill to survive (with a few exceptions, like big boss Stronghart).

Vampire/Dracula infused into DGS/TGAA would be such a delight.

Whatever you may end up doing, if you decide to draw or do something else, I hope you'll keep me posted.

Thanks again! :)