Sen

Art Process 🎨

Alt Versions 🎨

Tested different gradient maps :>

I added some new ones that adds some post processing effects. They're also nice, but I prefer my more subdued colours up top 👍

The coloured line Auto Action I use lowers the lines opacity, uses Gaussian Blur on the lines, adds Saturation, then sets Layer Mode to Colour Burn or Multiply.

Colour Burn has a super nice vibrant effect on the lines, but it doesn't work on near white colours, so gotta fix that ✍️

Multiply lowers the lines' opacity so it blends in more with the colours underneath, has more of a subdued look. Multiply has dark lineart but lowered opacity.

I wanna combine aspects from both eventually to have both the glowy lines on the outside, and softer look on the lines 💞

MR2 Saeru HCs 🐍👘

In my HC version of MR2 Saeru, he wears traditional clothing and takes more design inspirations from Azami's design. 💗

I love everything down to the face. I don't vibe with the outfit tho, so I'd just draw my redesign/HC version instead. ✍️

Cuz I fuck with everything on this design EXCEPT for the canon design's crop top and X-shaped strap (and entire clothes, tbh)

I love the black snake scales on his face, the cute little tufts of hair and black horns, the braid in the back that looks like a scorpion's tail, red sclera and red gradient limbs, and the white sash with bloodstains on it. 🥰

Just not everything else 😭

In my HCs, he wears a long, thin floating scarf loosely inspired by the Chinese hanfu shawl Pibo (披帛), as well as the Japanese floating scarf, Tenne (纏衣/天衣) or Hagoromo (羽衣) 🤍🧣

Tenne/Hagoromo are long, thin floating scarves normally depicted with Japanese deities, gods, and celestial beings (and also, sometimes demons and youkai in animanga and games).

I HC he wears them around his arms. We'll see if I add them or not here 👍

I'm planning to redraw the horn shapes and make them more detailed and slightly more twisted looking... ✍️

I'd make him take more inspo from his Design Poll outfit and Azami's clothes.

He's an ancient being, so I'd rather him wear traditional clothes instead.

I'd make him have a white floating scarf around his arms. I'll probably play around with the outfit design

In my redesign, I'd give him a Pibo (hanfu shawl) inspired scarf to wear around his arms.

I like the shape language of Áo tứ thân (lit. "four piece/part dress")

I feel like I'd draw him in this Áo tứ thân but in black and red instead.

So he'd mainly be wearing a black cross collared top with red accents ❌

I'd have him wear black pants, white sashes tied around the waist and over his arms, and have the black front panel be dyed with a red gradient at the bottom.

And his usual form can wear a Áo dài (lit. "long dress") in black and yellow colours.

Art Rambles ✍️

I drew the initial sketch in April 2025, then redrew the expressions to the current version in July 2025. Recently filled in the colours for it 👍

The only reason why I didn't have his red sclera with black pupils was cuz it'd lose readability, especially with my style of drawing eyes.

I don't draw very big eyes in my style, so I just made his eyes red.

I'll adjust the shadows and coloured lines effect later! And ofc I'll also clip the airbrush layers to the colours, and paint over stuff too.

These are WIPs for now, so I'll post updated versions whenever I get the time.

Tried to colour with a different lighting method recently! I also tested a bunch of different gradient maps 💗

I love the glowy lines effect with either Colour Burn or Multiply 🤗

I used Gray Multiply layer and Overlay layer with airbrushed saturated colours. This method is so OP for doing dramatic lighting 🤯💥

At first, I wasn't sure how it'd look, but it starts coming together when you start adding more saturated colours.

I prefer this over the initial version I did. The colours look SO pleasing 🥰

It's so easy and quick to do. Gonna colour like this from now on 👍

Also, I'm not sure how this looks on other screens. My monitor lightens the colours considerably compared to my laptop and phone, so I brightened the art a bit with Adjustment Layers (Level Correction and Tone Curve)

Art Plans

I'm waiting for when I get more free time to adjust some things :>

I'll refine and redraw some stuff (redraw Saeru's horns, Ene's hair and headphones, adjust the light) 🫰

And I'll combine the coloured lines effect to have both Colour Burn's saturated glowy effect on the outer lines and Multiply's softer effect on the lines 🙏

Ngl I was debating whether to make his sleeves that huge that big tbh cuz it hides Ene almost entirely but I love how the clothing folds look… 💗

Gotta say I do love the way his sleeves lovingly drape over Ene. 🤭💞

Perhaps she could be clutching onto his sleeves…

I'm pretty obsessed with "Chara's long hair or sleeves lovingly drapes over their lover like a wedding veil" in compositions. 💞

I've been saving this art for when I have time. I wanted to decide on the sketch first. I usually redraw hair, face, eyes, clothes, etc., multiple times and then decide on the best one 👍

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Alternate Versions 🎨

Version 1

Original Colours

Version 2

Brightness/Contrast on Saeru and Ene

Increased Saturation (35%) on Saeru's eyes (brighter gold)

Increased Saturation (30%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Posterization (60%) on Saeru

Posterization (75%) on Ene

Version 3

Gradient Map on Color (30%) on Ene (to shift the Hue to a cooler blue)

Increased Saturation (20%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Tone Curve (80%) on Saeru

Version 4

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to purple)

Version 5

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to red)

Gradient Map on Hard Mix (10%)

Version 6

Alt Version with Multiply Layer

Muted Purple on Multiply (40%)

Version 7

(Alt version with more muted colours on Ene)

Decreased Saturation on Ene's colours

Art Process 🎨

Red and Blue Contrast ❤️💙

I've been having fun playing around with colours, seeing which layers to turn off and such.

I've been playing around with Gradient Maps and Hue shifts and slightly different colours.

The purple/red toned Kuroha one is also really nice cuz it has nice visual contrast against all the cool colours (blues) in Ene's design

Red vs. blue contrast <3

Plus, it fits Kuroha to be tinted with red...

Considering the red tinted shots in the Outer Science MV where he smears the Mekakushi Dan members' blood over his face. ❤️

Love the chosen shots in this MV.

Outer Science is my top fave KagePro MV due to its stunning visuals and visual storytelling. 🐍

Additional Memory and Losstime Memory are also in my top faves.

The white, black and red shots here look so good. And the expressions as well~ I love Sidu's brilliant visual aesthetic sense.

Art Rambles 🎨

Rough sketch WIPs. I love their expressions here sm~ I started playing around with Gradient Maps cuz I love picking colours.

My works tend to lean towards using more saturated colours with high contrast.

So I ended up going with a more vibrant and saturated colour palette.

This shows my process for picking colours. I ended up picking the ones at the very top of the post, since those are my faves ✌️

I like having Ene's eyes as ice blue. 💙

I really like the blue hue shift on Ene, red hue shift on Kuroha, and generally more saturated colours and higher contrast. ❤️💙

The more red + purple toned Kuroha has really nice visual contrast against Ene's cool colours (blues) in her design tbh~

I started off with a more muted palette (different from what I'm used to), but ended up going with more saturated colours cuz I think it fit the mood of the piece more.

Though I think it'd still be fun to do both a Muted Colours and Saturated Colours version! 🙏

These doodles aren't refined, and just me roughly filling in the base colours on my sketches to get an idea of colours.

Since Idk when I'll get to refine these drawings and clean up the sketch and lines 😴💤

The finalized versions up top use a peach colour for Saeru's skin so the Correction Layers shift his skin to be brighter than Ene's

I think it fits for Saeru to have paler skin than Ene.

Brushes

I can talk more about my art process this time ☺️

My main sketching/lining brush is CSP's Oil Paint Flat brush

I use it for sketching/lining and filling in rough base colours, because I love using weighted inky brushes. So any similar brushes will work! 👍

CSP's official default sub tool brushes (Ver 1.10.9) were removed or updated in later versions of CSP, so I reinstalled it. It's available for free.

I used to use a thin soft brush when I was younger, but I think my art looks more interesting with textured brushes and thicker lines 😌

It's my fave brush, but it can't blend. So when I come back to rendering pieces again in the future, I'd use another brush for that.

I've played around with a lot of brushes but I'm the most comfortable using this one since I'm used to it.

Colours

It looks so glowy and really makes the colours pop! ✨

I have a tendency to shift hues in my arts for the colours used for lighting and shadows, to keep things looking visually interesting 💞

That's why I roughly splotched red on Kuroha's hair, and pinks and muted blues on Ene's hair and sweater to get an idea of what kinds of colours I wanted to use for them 🖤❤️💙

Coloured Lines

I always draw sketches/lines on Vector Layers, so I can easily move, scale, and rotate lines, adjust the thickness if needed, etc.

It makes it easier for me to redraw my sketches, since Vector Layers don't lose quality when scaled.

I duplicate the lineart and use a CSP Auto Action called Better Line Color that you can find on the CSP Assets Store.

It colours the lines according to the colours underneath, and makes a subtle glow on the lineart.

It does some steps like Gaussian Blur, other adjustments, then sets the Layer Mode to Colour Burn, Linear Burn, or Multiply.

The duplicated lineart, when set to a Layer Mode like Colour Burn (or Linear Burn), creates a nice subtle glowy effect that I've been using on my coloured doodles.

On my arts, I usually have it set to Colour Burn 👍

Having coloured lines makes such a huge difference with my art. I think it has a really nice effect on my art ✨💫

People have made similar tools, so there are also free ones on the CSP Assets Store.

Gradient Maps and Colour Corrections

Using Hard Mix helped me get the nice red colours on Saeru's hair on my own doodle ❤️

This is pretty much what I do, except I choose pretty saturated colours.

Correction Layers and Layer Modes are my best friend ✌️

My art process when it comes to picking colours goes like:

I may make a colour edit that I pick colours from

If not, then I eyeball the colours and adjust them as I go

I put a Posterization Layer and choose whatever looks the best

I put Gradient Map Layers on Low Opacity (10 - 20%)

I may play around with Layer Modes (Color, Hard Mix, etc.) on Gradient Maps

I use Correction Layers (ex. Hue/Saturation/Luminosity, Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast, Tone Curve)

I adjust the colours as needed

There are tons of free Gradient Maps on the CSP Assets store, so I use them to harmonize my colour palettes 🙏

I think that using Gradient Maps on Low Opacity and/or with Layer Modes can have really interesting results.

I usually put my Gradient Maps at about 10 - 20% and set the Layer Mode to Color.

So you can mute or saturate your colour palettes with them

Though sometimes just putting a Gradient Map on with Low Opacity looks better, so I play around with different Layer Modes

I put Hard Mix on low opacity cuz it can over saturate a drawing imo.

Posterization can also oversaturate the colours, so I adjust the Opacity if needed.

And I try to make sure that my colours aren't too over saturated.

KuroEne AU 🖤💛💙

Ok I also have something to add (once again I'm snatching these rambles from my side blog's rambles cuz I've yapped way too much about these two ‼️)

It's pretty unfortunate that my yapping and ramble posts outspeeds me creating art so I'm just waiting for the chance to draw so many of my KuroEne writing and art ideas so I can post them on main combined with drawings 🤸

Canon verse KuroEne is not “romance,” at least definitely not in the traditional sense. But there IS desire and passion, and a sense of yearning/longing, a need for warmth and fulfillment. It’s filled with desperation and tension and conflict, which makes it really interesting…

When I think about their relationship in this kind of canon-verse AU setting, it's infused with feelings of love, obsession, desire, passion, yearning, and attachment. 💗💘

It's so fun to think about Kuroha's selfish twisted nature and dark urges, combined with Ene's bold tenacity and confidence. Since he's someone that's generally observant and good at reading people and their desires, it makes him pair well with Ene who has trouble facing more honest feelings and being open about the things she wants.

I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. Like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and companionship on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses, and his intimate knowledge of her.

For 6/9, it's time to blast the anthem of my fave ship, Yuukei Yesterday~ The song dedicated to Takane's feelings and HaruTaka~ Tatatara!! 💗

Considering the theme of my art, though, I put a lyric from the song, "Shadow gate to love" 🎵🎧

I also wanna say that I'm seriously obsessed with my NB genderfluid Kuroha HC 🐍🖤💞

Kuroha can change his body into whatever he wants by using Konoha's Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes. In the Novel Route, he knows how to use Awakening Eyes to rebuild the body molecule by molecule and make him immune to other Eye Abilities.

Kuroha/Saeru's "Love" ❤️

I think it's interesting that canon verse KuroEne is a ship that's so tinged with angst and tragedy. But I also love that aspect about them. 😌💗💘

I think that in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, Kuroha believes that he and his S/O have a connection of karmic fate with each other, in the way that they'll continue to meet across all the different time loops, for all of eternity.

Kuroha’s love would inevitably be very dark and twisted, because he is that way at his core. At the end of a Route, he kills his S/O, and/or their friends, in order to meet with them forever. Ensuring the next coming of a new cycle is a priority to him.

The intimate knowledge that Kuroha/Saeru would have of his partner’s desires, wants, past, insecurities, relationships, etc., due to all the time loop resets, is so interesting to think about. 💗

And, he gets to be with the other party forever by doing this. It’s a win win for him! He doesn’t want to give that up. Cuz in some fucked up way, in his fucked up form of love and obsession, he creates the concept of “eternity” with his S/O, by killing them, and/or, their friends, constantly, endlessly.

As a means to an end

Kuroha is someone that wants to draw out "truth" to add to his "knowledge" (massive knowledge bank) and explore endless possibilities.

And Ene is someone who has trouble being honest, especially with her wants/desires, and Saeru was created for the purpose of granting wishes. So he finds it fun to tease her and rile her up, and fulfill her desires for warmth and pleasure, etc.

Ene asks Kuroha if he's learning how to pretend to be human throughout all the time loop resets. Kuroha says there’s no “pretending” about it. And it's true. He's been here since even before the beginning of the world. He asks her if you can really call it pretending at that point.

The end of Outer Science's MV shows Saeru in Azami's hair even before the creation of the world. He's existed before humans were born. He knows the nature of humans better than anyone else after observing them for a long time. He has so much knowledge, that the sheer extent of it is just unfathomable to the average person.

Each time the Route resets, he gets to “perfect” his knowledge, and in the context of intimacy, he gets to know his partner and their intimate desires even better and better, each time.

He constantly refines and adds to his “knowledge” every new Route. He likes learning new things about the other party. Kuroha likes how Ene, with her confrontational, brazen personality, and predictable unpredictability, always manages to find a way to catch him off guard and surprise him.

Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body means he has his face. His body. His voice. Ene can't shake off the feeling of how uncanny his resemblance is to them, physically, and gets reminded of Haruka and Konoha around him.

(Now I'll copy paste my rambles from my old posts that summarizes my KuroEne AU. Here. I added some new stuff at the end)

KuroEne AU: Set-up 🖤💙

Ok, I'm just gonna ramble about the setting of my KuroEne AU.

I also included a summary for context just in case my non-KagePro mutuals want to tune in to read these rambles.

I just wrote this quickly before I go to sleep. I have more to say but I think this is a good starter. 😴💤

In official KagePro media, the present day plot starts after 2 years, on the fateful day of August 15th (Kagerou/Heat Haze) Day.

The Kagerou Daze, the never ending world, swallows up people who die on August 15th, and gives those with especially strong desires, who are compatible with an Eye Ability, a substitute life so that they can return to the real world.

In most Routes, Saeru ends up orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths.

One thing you'll learn about KagePro is that this guy (Saeru) is responsible for almost everything bad that happens ✌️

Because killing them so that they'd come out with an Eye Ability, is a part of his plan to get the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze and into the real world.

Haruka's death leads to the creation of Konoha, and Takane's death causes her to lose her human body and become a cyber girl named Ene

There are multiple different ways that a KuroEne AU could go, depending on the Route.

KuroEne AU Routes are so fun to write, because any time I get a new idea, I can just put into a different Route (timeline) to explore all the "What if" scenarios that don't fit into a single Route. 🤭

Kuroha/Saeru's Plan and KonoEne

Normally, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan members meet each other in the present day plot after 2 years, the fateful day of August 15th, the day Kuroha/Saeru plans to kill everyone.

Kuroha/Saeru's plan is to gather all the snakes with a new Medusa in the real world (bringing the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze to the real world), and killing all Eye Ability users.

Then, he forces Mary, "the next Master," to rewind the world using the power of the Queen Snake, Combining Eyes.

In official media, Kuroha/Saeru usually possesses Konoha's body at the end of a Route on August 15th, the day he plans to proceed with the "Tragedy" and kill everyone.

I imagine that in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body MUCH earlier. Like, anywhere within the timespan after Takane and Haruka's deaths (1 - 2 years)

Because of this, Konoha and Ene usually end up meeting and befriending each other earlier. Ene recognizes Konoha as Haruka's game avatar from back then, and mistakes him for Haruka. Konoha asks if she has the wrong person, and Ene gets heartbroken at Konoha's seeming amnesia and inability to remember her.

Ene imposes a sense of distance around Konoha due to her conflicting feelings (he resembles the person she loved but isn't him).

In my AU, KonoEne establish a relationship dynamic of some kind (which varies depending on the Route), which either progresses to an acquaintance-ship, friendship, or intimate relationship.

Kuroha introduces himself to Ene for their first meeting in a Route

And then, at some point, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body. At this point, when he introduces himself and makes himself known to Ene for the first time, he can choose what information he wants to reveal, and how much.

For example, Kuroha can choose if he wants to introduce himself as Black Konoha, and/or "Saeru," or whether to reveal it for later.

(And he also chooses whether he wants to reveal his true identity as the Snake of Clearing Eyes.)

Ene later nicknames him "Kuroha" and "Saeru" to shorten the name.

He knows that the 1st one would be more familiar to Ene. To introduce himself with the 2nd one would make Ene more distrusting/suspicious of him.

Note: I feel like as long as it's a Route where Saeru and Ene play the game alone (and Ene doesn't meet the rest of the MekaDan until August 15th), then Saeru can tell Ene his true name once they've gotten closer.

I feel like Saeru would also tell her about the Eye Abilities (while keeping most of his past, such as the identity of his Master, vague)

I always HC that Ene mainly calls him "Saeru" after that.

He most likely doesn't reveal his true intentions (to kill the Mekakushi Dan) so soon, because he knows that if he does, Ene is (obviously) not gonna want to "play the game" (of being intimate with him) anymore, cuz it means that he is literally putting her and her friends' lives in danger.

Though, across multiple Routes, he probably does play around and experiment with the timing of when he reveals certain information, and how much.

I think in most Routes, Ene is suspicious of him at first, and asks about his intentions and what he's really after, and Kuroha/Saeru just tells her that it's too early to say yet, and that she will find out soon.

(Though, Kuroha could probably quell her suspicions with enough convincing, due to the massive amount of knowledge he carries)

KuroEne AU: Context ✍️

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru, who has messed around with human technology and innovation, has been able to develop a humanoid android/robot body with human flesh that Ene can transfer into.

This concept was originally inspired by Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman.exe), specifically, the NetNavis (humans' companion AIs in this universe) from MMBN/EXE.

NetNavis can transfer into CopyBots (android bodies) for limited amounts of time, to move around in the real world. These CopyBots take the appearance of the NetNavi that transfer into it.

In my KuroEne AU, I imagine it's battery powered, but with every Route, he gets better and faster at making it. Like he improves the battery life over time, so it goes from lasting an hour to lasting a whole day, etc.

Quoting these old rambles:

Note: In the first few Routes, Kuroha synthesizes the materials he needs in his lab, in order to create Ene's outer body. At this point, Ene's body is made by artificial human flesh.

I imagined that Ene's outer body looks fully humanoid on the exterior. The interior most likely has complex systems and wiring.

Then, he first comes up with the idea of using Awakening Eyes to make Ene's body. He delights in his own brilliant idea and wonders why he didn't think of it sooner? This way, he won't need such a meticulous process. So in all Routes after this, he uses this method to create Ene's body.

Kuroha/Saeru is so fucked up but that makes him interesting so I say let him be. He's so fun to write for 👍I'm fascinated by how sick in the head he is in about his love (twisted obsession). I love Saeru's mad scientist vibes in the KuroEne AU… 🖤💙

Awakening Eyes allows the owner of the body to make it into their "ideal body" and make it whatever they want. So he can do this, replicate it, and keep regenerating himself. And knowing this mf, he'd shed off his own skin from his body too to use as part of Ene's android body.

Feila and I came up with the idea that Kuroha could just use Konoha's Eye Ability Awakening Eyes to temporarily turn into Ene, then make it so that his body can shed off self healing skin (and any parts he needs). It makes making her android body infinitely easier cuz then he'd have all the parts needed to make her body.

Kuroha: You were made from me, and the unison of our parts, therefore we are one ❤️

According to the Novel Route, Kuroha/Saeru has knowledge from everything from the start of civilization...

In the Novel Route, Shintaro compares Saeru to "a living encyclopedia with a full grasp of everything from the start of civilization up to modern science."

That LN bit confirms that Kuroha/Saeru carries knowledge of the history of mankind and its technologies over (probably) millions or thousands of years.

Especially when scientists have made developments regarding wrapping living human-like skin onto a robot that can heal when cut.

If he carries knowledge from the start of civilization, so much knowledge that it's unfathomable to the average person, then yeah, I definitely think he could get it done (especially for the sake of my AU).

KuroEne's Intimacy 🐍🐇

Kuroha proposes that he has a solution for Ene not being able to move around in the real world, and introduces the little invention that he made, for her to test out, which Ene eventually agrees to, out of curiosity.

Ene feels a sense of gratefulness to him for allowing her to move around in the real world since it gets lonely in the cyber world, not being able to feel or touch anyone on the outside…

Kuroha gets to know and bonds with Ene, anywhere within this 1 - 2 year timespan, and at some point, Kuroha and Ene get intimate with each other.

Ene gives into the sense of longing/yearning that she feels for Kuroha/Saeru, a yearning for warmth and touch after being stuck alone in the cyber world for so long (in spite of everything - if she knows about his true identity at this point), which is in part caused by his vessel (being Konoha, who's in Haruka's body).

Kuroha knows how to react to her and what to say to her and how to act around her due to his knowledge, and so, seduces his S/O and tempts her with carnal pleasures, and they indulge in "the game/dance" of being intimate with each other.

Because Kuroha/Saeru keeps memories of previous Routes, he remembers memories of being with the Enes of previous Routes, and thus, knows how to react to her when talking/chatting with her normally, knows how to appease Ene's behaviours and whims, goes along with what she wants, knows how to get the responses he wants when he wants something from his partner (so he knows how to seduce them), and knows how to satisfy his partner in the context of intimacy.

Because of the knowledge he carries, he knows the context, past, Eye Abilities, vulnerabilities, etc., of every Mekakushi Dan member, and that includes Ene. So he'd definitely know about Haruka and Takane, and Konoha and Ene's context and relationship together.

The person who's her greatest enemy (whether she knows it at this point or not), very literally knows everything about her.

And not only that, the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan, knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha/Saeru's Nature ❤️

Not only does he weaponize Konoha's body by using Konoha's body as a murder weapon to kill everyone at the end of a Route, he weaponizes words, too. Kuroha/Saeru uses "knowledge" as an advantage over his partner, and weaponizes knowledge. Actually staggering advantage. Because he knows almost everything.

Kuroha ships are like the only time I have ships where one party in the ship has THIS much of an advantage over their partner.

Therefore, as I said before, Kuroha/Saeru ultimately has a power imbalance with his partner (any Mekakushi Dan member that he could be paired with).

He has an overwhelming advantage over his partner due to his role (set-up as an antagonist constantly killing the cast) and capabilities. It is ultimately in his favour.

That fact in itself, that the power imbalance exists, isn't inherently a bad thing, it just means that you NEED to tread carefully with portraying Kuroha's ships. I always make sure to depict my ships with as much care as possible, and as healthy as possible.

Ene is one of the characters who is a really good match with him. Because making Ene more assertive and dominant in the KuroEne ship, and making them take turns in leading intimacy, with having Kuroha letting Ene take control through their bedroom intimacy at times, helps alleviate this power imbalance slightly.

Kuroha is literally so fucked up dude cuz even his twisted form of affection that he holds for his S/O (the Mekakushi Dan member who he's paired with), is still in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

Due to his twisted nature, he embodies Koi (恋), "Selfish love," "loving someone for their own sake."

Even when he caters to his partner's pleasures, it still ultimately caters to his pleasures the most. That makes him interesting, though. Someone so inherently dark and twisted and sinister, with selfish desires like that… 🥰💖✨

Misc Rambles ✍️

Colour Edit: Me

So I imagine, in most KuroEne AU routes, he reveals his true intentions either approaching the fated day of August 15th, or right on the day of August 15th.

There's absolutely a sense of betrayal that Ene would feel following the reveal of his true intentions - he built up a relationship with her, on purpose, just to drop the worst possible scenario imaginable.

Like let's be real. The reveal of "I've been killing you and your friends throughout multiple Routes (timelines)" just sounds like a nightmarish scenario, especially if you've been fucking this guy, like come on. 😭

And something that would make Ene get especially pissed at him, is if he decides to reveal that he was responsible for orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths in the first place.

(In official media, Ene sees Konoha for the first time, on August 15th, 2 years after Haruka and Takane's deaths)

Though, there are probably KuroEne AU routes where Konoha and Ene don't get the chance to meet each other - Routes where Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body before the two can actually meet, so when Ene sees who she thinks is "Konoha" for the first time, it's actually Kuroha/Saeru. With this kind of setting, he could even pretend to be Konoha, if he wanted.

And then on August 15th, he proceeds with killing the Mekakushi Dan with sadistic glee (and even his S/O - though if he's feeling nice, then he can spare them, since he doesn't need to kill everyone), and forces Mary to rewind the world.

Thankfully, due to the nature of Ene's body and predicament, she won't feel physical pain even if he kills her. And then, a new Route (timeline) begins.

Shadow gate to love

Song: (X)

Lyrics: (X)

The song, "Shadow gate to love," sung by the sub-unit, Guilty Kiss, in Love Live! Sunshine!! is sooo Sen ship-core.

It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine. ✌️

My favourite version of Shadow gate to love is this fan-edit that pitches down the song to match the original voice actors’ voices, compared to their characters’ voices (which are higher in pitch)

Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

In KagePro, though, the mention of "Strong scented eyes" takes on another meaning cuz of the emphasis on EYES, particularly the Eye Abilities.

I also love the emphasis on the Light/Darkness aspect and seduction in the lyrics.

KuroEne: Kuroha seduces Ene by tempting her with carnal pleasures, and keeps the secrets of his plan to commit the Tragedy (killing the Mekakushi Dan on August 15th, Kagerou Day) hidden from her. He tells her "beautiful lies" in order to keep up his facade.

He decides to act tamer prior to the fated date of August 15th, catering to her desires and befriending and bonding her and spending time with her and actually getting to know her.

They'd do soft and fluffy stuff like go to the amusement park together, play video games together, and eventually, get intimate with each other.

Due to his inherently dark and twisted nature, Kuroha/Saeru prioritizes his own desires and desire for immortality, and constantly keeps causing the Tragedy by killing the Mekakushi Dan, Mary's friends, forcing the time loop resets.

He also believes that doing this allows him to be with his partner forever, because he can continue to come and meet them forever and ever.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋) 💗

Azami's genuine pure form of love for her family, willingly sacrificing herself for her family.

Vs.

(In the context of a Kuroha ship AU)

Kuroha/Saeru holding a twisted form of affection and obsession for his S/O and wanting to continue the time loop Tragedy in order to be with his S/O forever in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

He looks up to his Masters and serves them, but won't put anyone else above himself and his wants and needs.

In the end, he's doing this all for Azami, because he believes that this is what she truly wanted and needed, but ends up being the one causing her the most suffering.

"Selfless" vs. "Selfish" love.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami -> "Loving someone for the sake of someone else"

Kuroha -> "Loving someone for one's own sake"

Kuroha's twisted selfish love and how he ultimately loves someone for his own sake, to experience the "high" of being in love...

"Love is Karma."

This fits so well with Kuroha/Saeru's character and KuroEne. Good god.

I can't put any more images due to Tumblr's image limit so you can read about the two loves (Ai vs. Koi) here

Source: (X)

Misc Rambles

If you wanna put it crudely or in funny terms, then Kuroha/Saeru ships are like the most elaborate ships with the time loop tragedy causing serial killer, in the history of anything ever. But actually really interesting and fascinating.

"I'm gonna kill you" boogaloo (and nothing else) is not very compelling for ships (and even in general) lol

In canon-verse, Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity and forms of care for others (when compared to my other faves).

Misc Rambles

I jumped when I saw this 😭

My wife and her crazy bf look so perfect 😘💞

(Zooms full speed at the way they drew Ene's thighs and Saeru's changshan tiddy window) 🫶

Black painted nails fits Saeru so well. They portrayed my vision so perfectly~ ✨

I'm happy beyond words to receive such a stunning piece of my beloved OTP in my fave outfits of theirs 💗🫶

Pochi has SUCH great colour sense!! 💝

I'd love to get the chance to commission them to draw KuroEne and my Ene multiships as well as other OTPs in the future 💞🙏

VGen Review

The art turned out so beautiful OMG 😭🥹💘❣️ I’m super happy! They look absolutely stunning! 🖤💙

The piece outdid my expectations, I was utterly blown away by how gorgeous the artwork is! 💖 They incorporated all of my requests and captured their poses, expressions, and vibes so perfectly! 💗🫶

The composition, colours, and lighting are SO amazing! 😭💘🫶 Truly went above and beyond to deliver such an amazing piece ✨

Very kind and easy to work with, receptive to feedback and great communication 💖 Will definitely be back to commission again in the future! ☺️💞

My Message

This was the message I left for Pochi! 💖🌟✨

Thank you so much again for the lovely commission! 💗💗

Kuroha (Saeru) and Ene look SO beautiful in your style 🖤💙

I love everything about the colours, rendering, lighting, poses, and expressions. 😭💘🫶

The piece is beautifully composed! Their expressions are so perfect, I love how you drew Kuroha’s smug flirty expression and Ene’s flustered blush. 💗💞

You incorporated all of my requests and perfectly captured what I envisioned (compositions, poses, expressions, vibes, buff Kuroha with black painted nails) ☺️💖🙏

I love it so much 😭💞 I'm super happy with how it turned out!! 🫶

The art turned out absolutely stunning 🤗🫶 They look so dreamy with the glowy lighting 🥺‼️❣️

OMG the usage of colour (saturated and muted tones) and textures are so good. The colours harmonize so well! ❣️

The glowy lighting, sky, clouds, sparkles and water splash textures in the BG fits them so well ✨

I was also pleasantly surprised the characters were recognized. ☺️

My beloveds look absolutely amazing in your style! 😭🥺🖤💙💞

The little chibis look so cute too 🥺💗

It was a lovely experience to commission you.

I’ll definitely be back in the future! ☺️💖

Requests 🎨

MOT kindly incorporated all of my requests I specified! ☺️

I specified the expressions, colours, and text. 😌

I also requested for Ene to be drawn with open circle pupils, and for Saeru to have black nails (since it's an HC of mine), and for them both to be drawn with eyelashes 🖤💙

I also asked that the playback duration numbers to be changed to XX:XX.

The playback duration numbers XX:XX represents that it is infinite (never ending) ❌♾️

Their ship name is included as: クロエネ (KuroEne)

I was wondering what to use for the Album Cover's Main Title, and eventually settled on "Ouroboros ♾️"

I also considered ship epithets like "Last Dance" and "Love is Karma" because "Last Dance at World's End" is the name of my KuroEne AU.

But I figured it'd be more fitting to go with "Ouroboros ♾️" since it's just too cool as an Album Cover Title, and I wanted a unique ship epithet for each of my ships.

"Ouroboros ♾️" is immediately recognizable as them, and perfectly encapsulates their relationship. 🐍♾️

I love Ene being drawn with white open circle pupils. I think it really fits her cyber-esque design. 🌐

I always depict Saeru with black painted nails. It feels like such a natural HC, that I completely forget he doesn't have them in canon. It just fits him so well... 🤭🖤

I wanted Ene to have bright ice blue eyes against Saeru's vivid blood red. ❤️💙

Ene has circular pupils, so her design has softer shapes, in comparison to Saeru's sharp snake eye pupils. Saeru also has sharper shapes (messy hair tufts).

I also figured it'd fit for them to both have neutral, calm and composed expressions while gazing at each other intensely. 🤭💞

I was thinking of the colours having a atmosphere similar to these shots! 🖤❤️💙🤍

I wanted the colours to be reminiscent of late Outer Science Saeru with glowing red eyes and blood soaked hands… ❤️

Saeru with red eyes is a great detail, since it implies that Awakening Eyes is in use. It's also a cool reference to his bloodied hands and glowing red eyes in Outer Science. ❤️

That's also why I chose the colour of their hands and the BG colour to be red! 👍

Thoughts 💭

When I sent the comm form at night in my time, I was NOT expecting to see the finished art when I woke up in the morning. 🤯

The finalized art was sent after 8 hours. I was awed at MOT's drawing speed.

I SCREAMED. THEY'RE SO BEAUTIFUL 😭 🥹 🙏 🛐

THE COLOURS AND EXPRESSIONS ARE PERFECT 💘💞❣️

It's so gorgeous… The way MOT drew their design details is so pretty… 😭💘💞🙏

They perfectly captured what I had envisioned!

KuroEne doing the heart hands pose together is so sexy. 🫶

I love how they harmonized the colours. The expressions, colours, and details are stunning… 🥺🙏

The colours and atmosphere are perfect… The intense gaze on each other is just 😘💗❣️🫶

I figured that I'd make a rough sketch to clarify their design details, expressions, and the placement of colours and text. I sent it along with the request form ❣️🫶

I'm very touched that they used elements from my rough sketch (how Saeru and Ene's hair, eyes, facial markings, etc., are drawn) 🤭

I love the contrast of Saeru's vivid blood red against Ene's ice blue for opposite (opposing) colours~ ❤️💙

With Saeru taking black/red and Ene taking white/blue colours, they have perfect contrasting colours. The visual contrast is so perfect… 🖤❤️💙🤍

The design sense and aesthetic are just impeccable… 🖤💙

Review ✨

This is the review I sent~ 💖✨

The artwork is so beautiful~ I love it so much! 🥹💞 You captured the characters’ expressions, colours, and details, so perfectly! 🖤💙

This is my first time using CREPE as a client. I sent a commission request before going to bed, and the artwork arrived when I woke up in the morning. ‼️

I was speechless that you finished the artwork so quickly! Your work speed is so fast, and the quality is amazing! It is exactly as I imagined. ☺️🙏

The atmosphere is incredible. Your art style, aesthetic sense, and attention to detail are so amazing. It exceeded my expectations! 😭💞

I’m super happy! I keep staring at this masterpiece 🥺💖 The intense gazes and expressions are just too good… 🫶

You adjusted the text colour to fit the design, which I love, because the bright red colour really makes the artwork stand out. ❤️

Incredibly kind, and easy to communicate with. Thank you for accommodating my additional requests, such as Saeru's black nails 🙏

I was so touched that you incorporated all of my requests. You even included elements from the sketch I included as a rough guideline. 🥹💖

Thank you so much for the amazing commission! 🥰💗 I will definitely order again in the future~ ✨

I wanted to send a tip to show my appreciation. 🙏 The final artwork is truly outstanding. 💙🖤

Commission Rambles

I sent this form.

Hika sent me the sketch, then the coloured version.

The outfit details and expressions of the sketch were perfect so I gave the OK to proceed.

When Hika sent the coloured version, she asked if I wanted any minor colour adjustments.

I wanted to balance their pinks and blues more (pastel pink, pastel blue, and white), so I asked to make Ene's colours a brighter blue (closer to cyan), increase the pink hue on her headphones and leggings, and to shift Mary's palette to a more pink hue.

I asked for her to add Ene's blue -> white jacket gradient, and gave this colour guide

I figured the colour suggestions would be more helpful to the artist and would give a clearer sense of what I'd like the colours to be.

Art Process 🎨

Alt Versions 🎨

Tested different gradient maps :>

I added some new ones that adds some post processing effects. They're also nice, but I prefer my more subdued colours up top 👍

The coloured line Auto Action I use lowers the lines opacity, uses Gaussian Blur on the lines, adds Saturation, then sets Layer Mode to Colour Burn or Multiply.

Colour Burn has a super nice vibrant effect on the lines, but it doesn't work on near white colours, so gotta fix that ✍️

Multiply lowers the lines' opacity so it blends in more with the colours underneath, has more of a subdued look. Multiply has dark lineart but lowered opacity.

I wanna combine aspects from both eventually to have both the glowy lines on the outside, and softer look on the lines 💞

MR2 Saeru HCs 🐍👘

In my HC version of MR2 Saeru, he wears traditional clothing and takes more design inspirations from Azami's design. 💗

I love everything down to the face. I don't vibe with the outfit tho, so I'd just draw my redesign/HC version instead. ✍️

Cuz I fuck with everything on this design EXCEPT for the canon design's crop top and X-shaped strap (and entire clothes, tbh)

I love the black snake scales on his face, the cute little tufts of hair and black horns, the braid in the back that looks like a scorpion's tail, red sclera and red gradient limbs, and the white sash with bloodstains on it. 🥰

Just not everything else 😭

In my HCs, he wears a long, thin floating scarf loosely inspired by the Chinese hanfu shawl Pibo (披帛), as well as the Japanese floating scarf, Tenne (纏衣/天衣) or Hagoromo (羽衣) 🤍🧣

Tenne/Hagoromo are long, thin floating scarves normally depicted with Japanese deities, gods, and celestial beings (and also, sometimes demons and youkai in animanga and games).

I HC he wears them around his arms. We'll see if I add them or not here 👍

I'm planning to redraw the horn shapes and make them more detailed and slightly more twisted looking... ✍️

I'd make him take more inspo from his Design Poll outfit and Azami's clothes.

He's an ancient being, so I'd rather him wear traditional clothes instead.

I'd make him have a white floating scarf around his arms. I'll probably play around with the outfit design

In my redesign, I'd give him a Pibo (hanfu shawl) inspired scarf to wear around his arms.

I like the shape language of Áo tứ thân (lit. "four piece/part dress")

I feel like I'd draw him in this Áo tứ thân but in black and red instead.

So he'd mainly be wearing a black cross collared top with red accents ❌

I'd have him wear black pants, white sashes tied around the waist and over his arms, and have the black front panel be dyed with a red gradient at the bottom.

And his usual form can wear a Áo dài (lit. "long dress") in black and yellow colours.

Art Rambles ✍️

I drew the initial sketch in April 2025, then redrew the expressions to the current version in July 2025. Recently filled in the colours for it 👍

The only reason why I didn't have his red sclera with black pupils was cuz it'd lose readability, especially with my style of drawing eyes.

I don't draw very big eyes in my style, so I just made his eyes red.

I'll adjust the shadows and coloured lines effect later! And ofc I'll also clip the airbrush layers to the colours, and paint over stuff too.

These are WIPs for now, so I'll post updated versions whenever I get the time.

Tried to colour with a different lighting method recently! I also tested a bunch of different gradient maps 💗

I love the glowy lines effect with either Colour Burn or Multiply 🤗

I used Gray Multiply layer and Overlay layer with airbrushed saturated colours. This method is so OP for doing dramatic lighting 🤯💥

At first, I wasn't sure how it'd look, but it starts coming together when you start adding more saturated colours.

I prefer this over the initial version I did. The colours look SO pleasing 🥰

It's so easy and quick to do. Gonna colour like this from now on 👍

Also, I'm not sure how this looks on other screens. My monitor lightens the colours considerably compared to my laptop and phone, so I brightened the art a bit with Adjustment Layers (Level Correction and Tone Curve)

Art Plans

I'm waiting for when I get more free time to adjust some things :>

I'll refine and redraw some stuff (redraw Saeru's horns, Ene's hair and headphones, adjust the light) 🫰

And I'll combine the coloured lines effect to have both Colour Burn's saturated glowy effect on the outer lines and Multiply's softer effect on the lines 🙏

Ngl I was debating whether to make his sleeves that huge that big tbh cuz it hides Ene almost entirely but I love how the clothing folds look… 💗

Gotta say I do love the way his sleeves lovingly drape over Ene. 🤭💞

Perhaps she could be clutching onto his sleeves…

I'm pretty obsessed with "Chara's long hair or sleeves lovingly drapes over their lover like a wedding veil" in compositions. 💞

I've been saving this art for when I have time. I wanted to decide on the sketch first. I usually redraw hair, face, eyes, clothes, etc., multiple times and then decide on the best one 👍

Quote

Quote comes from this Quotes bot.

Alternate Versions 🎨

Version 1

Original Colours

Version 2

Brightness/Contrast on Saeru and Ene

Increased Saturation (35%) on Saeru's eyes (brighter gold)

Increased Saturation (30%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Posterization (60%) on Saeru

Posterization (75%) on Ene

Version 3

Gradient Map on Color (30%) on Ene (to shift the Hue to a cooler blue)

Increased Saturation (20%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Tone Curve (80%) on Saeru

Version 4

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to purple)

Version 5

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to red)

Gradient Map on Hard Mix (10%)

Version 6

Alt Version with Multiply Layer

Muted Purple on Multiply (40%)

Version 7

(Alt version with more muted colours on Ene)

Decreased Saturation on Ene's colours

Art Process 🎨

Red and Blue Contrast ❤️💙

I've been having fun playing around with colours, seeing which layers to turn off and such.

I've been playing around with Gradient Maps and Hue shifts and slightly different colours.

The purple/red toned Kuroha one is also really nice cuz it has nice visual contrast against all the cool colours (blues) in Ene's design

Red vs. blue contrast <3

Plus, it fits Kuroha to be tinted with red...

Considering the red tinted shots in the Outer Science MV where he smears the Mekakushi Dan members' blood over his face. ❤️

Love the chosen shots in this MV.

Outer Science is my top fave KagePro MV due to its stunning visuals and visual storytelling. 🐍

Additional Memory and Losstime Memory are also in my top faves.

The white, black and red shots here look so good. And the expressions as well~ I love Sidu's brilliant visual aesthetic sense.

Art Rambles 🎨

Rough sketch WIPs. I love their expressions here sm~ I started playing around with Gradient Maps cuz I love picking colours.

My works tend to lean towards using more saturated colours with high contrast.

So I ended up going with a more vibrant and saturated colour palette.

This shows my process for picking colours. I ended up picking the ones at the very top of the post, since those are my faves ✌️

I like having Ene's eyes as ice blue. 💙

I really like the blue hue shift on Ene, red hue shift on Kuroha, and generally more saturated colours and higher contrast. ❤️💙

The more red + purple toned Kuroha has really nice visual contrast against Ene's cool colours (blues) in her design tbh~

I started off with a more muted palette (different from what I'm used to), but ended up going with more saturated colours cuz I think it fit the mood of the piece more.

Though I think it'd still be fun to do both a Muted Colours and Saturated Colours version! 🙏

These doodles aren't refined, and just me roughly filling in the base colours on my sketches to get an idea of colours.

Since Idk when I'll get to refine these drawings and clean up the sketch and lines 😴💤

The finalized versions up top use a peach colour for Saeru's skin so the Correction Layers shift his skin to be brighter than Ene's

I think it fits for Saeru to have paler skin than Ene.

Brushes

I can talk more about my art process this time ☺️

My main sketching/lining brush is CSP's Oil Paint Flat brush

I use it for sketching/lining and filling in rough base colours, because I love using weighted inky brushes. So any similar brushes will work! 👍

CSP's official default sub tool brushes (Ver 1.10.9) were removed or updated in later versions of CSP, so I reinstalled it. It's available for free.

I used to use a thin soft brush when I was younger, but I think my art looks more interesting with textured brushes and thicker lines 😌

It's my fave brush, but it can't blend. So when I come back to rendering pieces again in the future, I'd use another brush for that.

I've played around with a lot of brushes but I'm the most comfortable using this one since I'm used to it.

Colours

It looks so glowy and really makes the colours pop! ✨

I have a tendency to shift hues in my arts for the colours used for lighting and shadows, to keep things looking visually interesting 💞

That's why I roughly splotched red on Kuroha's hair, and pinks and muted blues on Ene's hair and sweater to get an idea of what kinds of colours I wanted to use for them 🖤❤️💙

Coloured Lines

I always draw sketches/lines on Vector Layers, so I can easily move, scale, and rotate lines, adjust the thickness if needed, etc.

It makes it easier for me to redraw my sketches, since Vector Layers don't lose quality when scaled.

I duplicate the lineart and use a CSP Auto Action called Better Line Color that you can find on the CSP Assets Store.

It colours the lines according to the colours underneath, and makes a subtle glow on the lineart.

It does some steps like Gaussian Blur, other adjustments, then sets the Layer Mode to Colour Burn, Linear Burn, or Multiply.

The duplicated lineart, when set to a Layer Mode like Colour Burn (or Linear Burn), creates a nice subtle glowy effect that I've been using on my coloured doodles.

On my arts, I usually have it set to Colour Burn 👍

Having coloured lines makes such a huge difference with my art. I think it has a really nice effect on my art ✨💫

People have made similar tools, so there are also free ones on the CSP Assets Store.

Gradient Maps and Colour Corrections

Using Hard Mix helped me get the nice red colours on Saeru's hair on my own doodle ❤️

This is pretty much what I do, except I choose pretty saturated colours.

Correction Layers and Layer Modes are my best friend ✌️

My art process when it comes to picking colours goes like:

I may make a colour edit that I pick colours from

If not, then I eyeball the colours and adjust them as I go

I put a Posterization Layer and choose whatever looks the best

I put Gradient Map Layers on Low Opacity (10 - 20%)

I may play around with Layer Modes (Color, Hard Mix, etc.) on Gradient Maps

I use Correction Layers (ex. Hue/Saturation/Luminosity, Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast, Tone Curve)

I adjust the colours as needed

There are tons of free Gradient Maps on the CSP Assets store, so I use them to harmonize my colour palettes 🙏

I think that using Gradient Maps on Low Opacity and/or with Layer Modes can have really interesting results.

I usually put my Gradient Maps at about 10 - 20% and set the Layer Mode to Color.

So you can mute or saturate your colour palettes with them

Though sometimes just putting a Gradient Map on with Low Opacity looks better, so I play around with different Layer Modes

I put Hard Mix on low opacity cuz it can over saturate a drawing imo.

Posterization can also oversaturate the colours, so I adjust the Opacity if needed.

And I try to make sure that my colours aren't too over saturated.

KuroEne AU 🖤💛💙

Ok I also have something to add (once again I'm snatching these rambles from my side blog's rambles cuz I've yapped way too much about these two ‼️)

It's pretty unfortunate that my yapping and ramble posts outspeeds me creating art so I'm just waiting for the chance to draw so many of my KuroEne writing and art ideas so I can post them on main combined with drawings 🤸

Canon verse KuroEne is not “romance,” at least definitely not in the traditional sense. But there IS desire and passion, and a sense of yearning/longing, a need for warmth and fulfillment. It’s filled with desperation and tension and conflict, which makes it really interesting…

When I think about their relationship in this kind of canon-verse AU setting, it's infused with feelings of love, obsession, desire, passion, yearning, and attachment. 💗💘

It's so fun to think about Kuroha's selfish twisted nature and dark urges, combined with Ene's bold tenacity and confidence. Since he's someone that's generally observant and good at reading people and their desires, it makes him pair well with Ene who has trouble facing more honest feelings and being open about the things she wants.

I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. Like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and companionship on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses, and his intimate knowledge of her.

For 6/9, it's time to blast the anthem of my fave ship, Yuukei Yesterday~ The song dedicated to Takane's feelings and HaruTaka~ Tatatara!! 💗

Considering the theme of my art, though, I put a lyric from the song, "Shadow gate to love" 🎵🎧

I also wanna say that I'm seriously obsessed with my NB genderfluid Kuroha HC 🐍🖤💞

Kuroha can change his body into whatever he wants by using Konoha's Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes. In the Novel Route, he knows how to use Awakening Eyes to rebuild the body molecule by molecule and make him immune to other Eye Abilities.

Kuroha/Saeru's "Love" ❤️

I think it's interesting that canon verse KuroEne is a ship that's so tinged with angst and tragedy. But I also love that aspect about them. 😌💗💘

I think that in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, Kuroha believes that he and his S/O have a connection of karmic fate with each other, in the way that they'll continue to meet across all the different time loops, for all of eternity.

Kuroha’s love would inevitably be very dark and twisted, because he is that way at his core. At the end of a Route, he kills his S/O, and/or their friends, in order to meet with them forever. Ensuring the next coming of a new cycle is a priority to him.

The intimate knowledge that Kuroha/Saeru would have of his partner’s desires, wants, past, insecurities, relationships, etc., due to all the time loop resets, is so interesting to think about. 💗

And, he gets to be with the other party forever by doing this. It’s a win win for him! He doesn’t want to give that up. Cuz in some fucked up way, in his fucked up form of love and obsession, he creates the concept of “eternity” with his S/O, by killing them, and/or, their friends, constantly, endlessly.

As a means to an end

Kuroha is someone that wants to draw out "truth" to add to his "knowledge" (massive knowledge bank) and explore endless possibilities.

And Ene is someone who has trouble being honest, especially with her wants/desires, and Saeru was created for the purpose of granting wishes. So he finds it fun to tease her and rile her up, and fulfill her desires for warmth and pleasure, etc.

Ene asks Kuroha if he's learning how to pretend to be human throughout all the time loop resets. Kuroha says there’s no “pretending” about it. And it's true. He's been here since even before the beginning of the world. He asks her if you can really call it pretending at that point.

The end of Outer Science's MV shows Saeru in Azami's hair even before the creation of the world. He's existed before humans were born. He knows the nature of humans better than anyone else after observing them for a long time. He has so much knowledge, that the sheer extent of it is just unfathomable to the average person.

Each time the Route resets, he gets to “perfect” his knowledge, and in the context of intimacy, he gets to know his partner and their intimate desires even better and better, each time.

He constantly refines and adds to his “knowledge” every new Route. He likes learning new things about the other party. Kuroha likes how Ene, with her confrontational, brazen personality, and predictable unpredictability, always manages to find a way to catch him off guard and surprise him.

Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body means he has his face. His body. His voice. Ene can't shake off the feeling of how uncanny his resemblance is to them, physically, and gets reminded of Haruka and Konoha around him.

(Now I'll copy paste my rambles from my old posts that summarizes my KuroEne AU. Here. I added some new stuff at the end)

KuroEne AU: Set-up 🖤💙

Ok, I'm just gonna ramble about the setting of my KuroEne AU.

I also included a summary for context just in case my non-KagePro mutuals want to tune in to read these rambles.

I just wrote this quickly before I go to sleep. I have more to say but I think this is a good starter. 😴💤

In official KagePro media, the present day plot starts after 2 years, on the fateful day of August 15th (Kagerou/Heat Haze) Day.

The Kagerou Daze, the never ending world, swallows up people who die on August 15th, and gives those with especially strong desires, who are compatible with an Eye Ability, a substitute life so that they can return to the real world.

In most Routes, Saeru ends up orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths.

One thing you'll learn about KagePro is that this guy (Saeru) is responsible for almost everything bad that happens ✌️

Because killing them so that they'd come out with an Eye Ability, is a part of his plan to get the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze and into the real world.

Haruka's death leads to the creation of Konoha, and Takane's death causes her to lose her human body and become a cyber girl named Ene

There are multiple different ways that a KuroEne AU could go, depending on the Route.

KuroEne AU Routes are so fun to write, because any time I get a new idea, I can just put into a different Route (timeline) to explore all the "What if" scenarios that don't fit into a single Route. 🤭

Kuroha/Saeru's Plan and KonoEne

Normally, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan members meet each other in the present day plot after 2 years, the fateful day of August 15th, the day Kuroha/Saeru plans to kill everyone.

Kuroha/Saeru's plan is to gather all the snakes with a new Medusa in the real world (bringing the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze to the real world), and killing all Eye Ability users.

Then, he forces Mary, "the next Master," to rewind the world using the power of the Queen Snake, Combining Eyes.

In official media, Kuroha/Saeru usually possesses Konoha's body at the end of a Route on August 15th, the day he plans to proceed with the "Tragedy" and kill everyone.

I imagine that in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body MUCH earlier. Like, anywhere within the timespan after Takane and Haruka's deaths (1 - 2 years)

Because of this, Konoha and Ene usually end up meeting and befriending each other earlier. Ene recognizes Konoha as Haruka's game avatar from back then, and mistakes him for Haruka. Konoha asks if she has the wrong person, and Ene gets heartbroken at Konoha's seeming amnesia and inability to remember her.

Ene imposes a sense of distance around Konoha due to her conflicting feelings (he resembles the person she loved but isn't him).

In my AU, KonoEne establish a relationship dynamic of some kind (which varies depending on the Route), which either progresses to an acquaintance-ship, friendship, or intimate relationship.

Kuroha introduces himself to Ene for their first meeting in a Route

And then, at some point, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body. At this point, when he introduces himself and makes himself known to Ene for the first time, he can choose what information he wants to reveal, and how much.

For example, Kuroha can choose if he wants to introduce himself as Black Konoha, and/or "Saeru," or whether to reveal it for later.

(And he also chooses whether he wants to reveal his true identity as the Snake of Clearing Eyes.)

Ene later nicknames him "Kuroha" and "Saeru" to shorten the name.

He knows that the 1st one would be more familiar to Ene. To introduce himself with the 2nd one would make Ene more distrusting/suspicious of him.

Note: I feel like as long as it's a Route where Saeru and Ene play the game alone (and Ene doesn't meet the rest of the MekaDan until August 15th), then Saeru can tell Ene his true name once they've gotten closer.

I feel like Saeru would also tell her about the Eye Abilities (while keeping most of his past, such as the identity of his Master, vague)

I always HC that Ene mainly calls him "Saeru" after that.

He most likely doesn't reveal his true intentions (to kill the Mekakushi Dan) so soon, because he knows that if he does, Ene is (obviously) not gonna want to "play the game" (of being intimate with him) anymore, cuz it means that he is literally putting her and her friends' lives in danger.

Though, across multiple Routes, he probably does play around and experiment with the timing of when he reveals certain information, and how much.

I think in most Routes, Ene is suspicious of him at first, and asks about his intentions and what he's really after, and Kuroha/Saeru just tells her that it's too early to say yet, and that she will find out soon.

(Though, Kuroha could probably quell her suspicions with enough convincing, due to the massive amount of knowledge he carries)

KuroEne AU: Context ✍️

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru, who has messed around with human technology and innovation, has been able to develop a humanoid android/robot body with human flesh that Ene can transfer into.

This concept was originally inspired by Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman.exe), specifically, the NetNavis (humans' companion AIs in this universe) from MMBN/EXE.

NetNavis can transfer into CopyBots (android bodies) for limited amounts of time, to move around in the real world. These CopyBots take the appearance of the NetNavi that transfer into it.

In my KuroEne AU, I imagine it's battery powered, but with every Route, he gets better and faster at making it. Like he improves the battery life over time, so it goes from lasting an hour to lasting a whole day, etc.

Quoting these old rambles:

Note: In the first few Routes, Kuroha synthesizes the materials he needs in his lab, in order to create Ene's outer body. At this point, Ene's body is made by artificial human flesh.

I imagined that Ene's outer body looks fully humanoid on the exterior. The interior most likely has complex systems and wiring.

Then, he first comes up with the idea of using Awakening Eyes to make Ene's body. He delights in his own brilliant idea and wonders why he didn't think of it sooner? This way, he won't need such a meticulous process. So in all Routes after this, he uses this method to create Ene's body.

Kuroha/Saeru is so fucked up but that makes him interesting so I say let him be. He's so fun to write for 👍I'm fascinated by how sick in the head he is in about his love (twisted obsession). I love Saeru's mad scientist vibes in the KuroEne AU… 🖤💙

Awakening Eyes allows the owner of the body to make it into their "ideal body" and make it whatever they want. So he can do this, replicate it, and keep regenerating himself. And knowing this mf, he'd shed off his own skin from his body too to use as part of Ene's android body.

Feila and I came up with the idea that Kuroha could just use Konoha's Eye Ability Awakening Eyes to temporarily turn into Ene, then make it so that his body can shed off self healing skin (and any parts he needs). It makes making her android body infinitely easier cuz then he'd have all the parts needed to make her body.

Kuroha: You were made from me, and the unison of our parts, therefore we are one ❤️

According to the Novel Route, Kuroha/Saeru has knowledge from everything from the start of civilization...

In the Novel Route, Shintaro compares Saeru to "a living encyclopedia with a full grasp of everything from the start of civilization up to modern science."

That LN bit confirms that Kuroha/Saeru carries knowledge of the history of mankind and its technologies over (probably) millions or thousands of years.

Especially when scientists have made developments regarding wrapping living human-like skin onto a robot that can heal when cut.

If he carries knowledge from the start of civilization, so much knowledge that it's unfathomable to the average person, then yeah, I definitely think he could get it done (especially for the sake of my AU).

KuroEne's Intimacy 🐍🐇

Kuroha proposes that he has a solution for Ene not being able to move around in the real world, and introduces the little invention that he made, for her to test out, which Ene eventually agrees to, out of curiosity.

Ene feels a sense of gratefulness to him for allowing her to move around in the real world since it gets lonely in the cyber world, not being able to feel or touch anyone on the outside…

Kuroha gets to know and bonds with Ene, anywhere within this 1 - 2 year timespan, and at some point, Kuroha and Ene get intimate with each other.

Ene gives into the sense of longing/yearning that she feels for Kuroha/Saeru, a yearning for warmth and touch after being stuck alone in the cyber world for so long (in spite of everything - if she knows about his true identity at this point), which is in part caused by his vessel (being Konoha, who's in Haruka's body).

Kuroha knows how to react to her and what to say to her and how to act around her due to his knowledge, and so, seduces his S/O and tempts her with carnal pleasures, and they indulge in "the game/dance" of being intimate with each other.

Because Kuroha/Saeru keeps memories of previous Routes, he remembers memories of being with the Enes of previous Routes, and thus, knows how to react to her when talking/chatting with her normally, knows how to appease Ene's behaviours and whims, goes along with what she wants, knows how to get the responses he wants when he wants something from his partner (so he knows how to seduce them), and knows how to satisfy his partner in the context of intimacy.

Because of the knowledge he carries, he knows the context, past, Eye Abilities, vulnerabilities, etc., of every Mekakushi Dan member, and that includes Ene. So he'd definitely know about Haruka and Takane, and Konoha and Ene's context and relationship together.

The person who's her greatest enemy (whether she knows it at this point or not), very literally knows everything about her.

And not only that, the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan, knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha/Saeru's Nature ❤️

Not only does he weaponize Konoha's body by using Konoha's body as a murder weapon to kill everyone at the end of a Route, he weaponizes words, too. Kuroha/Saeru uses "knowledge" as an advantage over his partner, and weaponizes knowledge. Actually staggering advantage. Because he knows almost everything.

Kuroha ships are like the only time I have ships where one party in the ship has THIS much of an advantage over their partner.

Therefore, as I said before, Kuroha/Saeru ultimately has a power imbalance with his partner (any Mekakushi Dan member that he could be paired with).

He has an overwhelming advantage over his partner due to his role (set-up as an antagonist constantly killing the cast) and capabilities. It is ultimately in his favour.

That fact in itself, that the power imbalance exists, isn't inherently a bad thing, it just means that you NEED to tread carefully with portraying Kuroha's ships. I always make sure to depict my ships with as much care as possible, and as healthy as possible.

Ene is one of the characters who is a really good match with him. Because making Ene more assertive and dominant in the KuroEne ship, and making them take turns in leading intimacy, with having Kuroha letting Ene take control through their bedroom intimacy at times, helps alleviate this power imbalance slightly.

Kuroha is literally so fucked up dude cuz even his twisted form of affection that he holds for his S/O (the Mekakushi Dan member who he's paired with), is still in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

Due to his twisted nature, he embodies Koi (恋), "Selfish love," "loving someone for their own sake."

Even when he caters to his partner's pleasures, it still ultimately caters to his pleasures the most. That makes him interesting, though. Someone so inherently dark and twisted and sinister, with selfish desires like that… 🥰💖✨

Misc Rambles ✍️

Colour Edit: Me

So I imagine, in most KuroEne AU routes, he reveals his true intentions either approaching the fated day of August 15th, or right on the day of August 15th.

There's absolutely a sense of betrayal that Ene would feel following the reveal of his true intentions - he built up a relationship with her, on purpose, just to drop the worst possible scenario imaginable.

Like let's be real. The reveal of "I've been killing you and your friends throughout multiple Routes (timelines)" just sounds like a nightmarish scenario, especially if you've been fucking this guy, like come on. 😭

And something that would make Ene get especially pissed at him, is if he decides to reveal that he was responsible for orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths in the first place.

(In official media, Ene sees Konoha for the first time, on August 15th, 2 years after Haruka and Takane's deaths)

Though, there are probably KuroEne AU routes where Konoha and Ene don't get the chance to meet each other - Routes where Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body before the two can actually meet, so when Ene sees who she thinks is "Konoha" for the first time, it's actually Kuroha/Saeru. With this kind of setting, he could even pretend to be Konoha, if he wanted.

And then on August 15th, he proceeds with killing the Mekakushi Dan with sadistic glee (and even his S/O - though if he's feeling nice, then he can spare them, since he doesn't need to kill everyone), and forces Mary to rewind the world.

Thankfully, due to the nature of Ene's body and predicament, she won't feel physical pain even if he kills her. And then, a new Route (timeline) begins.

Shadow gate to love

Song: (X)

Lyrics: (X)

The song, "Shadow gate to love," sung by the sub-unit, Guilty Kiss, in Love Live! Sunshine!! is sooo Sen ship-core.

It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine. ✌️

My favourite version of Shadow gate to love is this fan-edit that pitches down the song to match the original voice actors’ voices, compared to their characters’ voices (which are higher in pitch)

Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

In KagePro, though, the mention of "Strong scented eyes" takes on another meaning cuz of the emphasis on EYES, particularly the Eye Abilities.

I also love the emphasis on the Light/Darkness aspect and seduction in the lyrics.

KuroEne: Kuroha seduces Ene by tempting her with carnal pleasures, and keeps the secrets of his plan to commit the Tragedy (killing the Mekakushi Dan on August 15th, Kagerou Day) hidden from her. He tells her "beautiful lies" in order to keep up his facade.

He decides to act tamer prior to the fated date of August 15th, catering to her desires and befriending and bonding her and spending time with her and actually getting to know her.

They'd do soft and fluffy stuff like go to the amusement park together, play video games together, and eventually, get intimate with each other.

Due to his inherently dark and twisted nature, Kuroha/Saeru prioritizes his own desires and desire for immortality, and constantly keeps causing the Tragedy by killing the Mekakushi Dan, Mary's friends, forcing the time loop resets.

He also believes that doing this allows him to be with his partner forever, because he can continue to come and meet them forever and ever.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋) 💗

Azami's genuine pure form of love for her family, willingly sacrificing herself for her family.

Vs.

(In the context of a Kuroha ship AU)

Kuroha/Saeru holding a twisted form of affection and obsession for his S/O and wanting to continue the time loop Tragedy in order to be with his S/O forever in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

He looks up to his Masters and serves them, but won't put anyone else above himself and his wants and needs.

In the end, he's doing this all for Azami, because he believes that this is what she truly wanted and needed, but ends up being the one causing her the most suffering.

"Selfless" vs. "Selfish" love.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami -> "Loving someone for the sake of someone else"

Kuroha -> "Loving someone for one's own sake"

Kuroha's twisted selfish love and how he ultimately loves someone for his own sake, to experience the "high" of being in love...

"Love is Karma."

This fits so well with Kuroha/Saeru's character and KuroEne. Good god.

I can't put any more images due to Tumblr's image limit so you can read about the two loves (Ai vs. Koi) here

Source: (X)

Misc Rambles

If you wanna put it crudely or in funny terms, then Kuroha/Saeru ships are like the most elaborate ships with the time loop tragedy causing serial killer, in the history of anything ever. But actually really interesting and fascinating.

"I'm gonna kill you" boogaloo (and nothing else) is not very compelling for ships (and even in general) lol

In canon-verse, Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity and forms of care for others (when compared to my other faves).