I NEEED more Evil Green Yuri, PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU, if I wasn't a poor mf I would literally pay you that's how desperate I am to see those two emerald dyed baddies.
I'm working on a bunch of other art at the moment, but just for YOU 🫵 I will share some disconnected thoughts/headcanons about my favorite green bastard lesbian crackship to tide you over !!
thank you for enjoying my visions, I'm sure I'll draw the girlies again sometime as well! 💚💚
- they first encounter each other during one of Zeena's leisure trips, when she decides to rough up a local town for funsies and Surge pops by to take another stab at the whole "hero" thing. in a one-on-one fight, Surge is the stronger of the two by a mile, but she goes easy on Zeena because she thinks she's cute, and ultimately offers to call off the battle if she'll go out with her. Zeena decides she likes Surge's moxie and goes along with it, and they ditch the busted-up town to go goof off with each other instead.
- Surge is bisexual and refuses to think about it too deeply. she was essentially raised by a gay man, so she's used to same-gender attraction in concept, and she likes going against the grain anyway. on the other hand, Zeena is a deeply repressed lesbian DROWNING in comphet hell. for the entire duration of her relationship with Surge, she still only considers herself bicurious at most, and afterwards she still doesn't understand why it all somehow ended up feeling much more real than the on-and-off relationships she's had with her myriad of ex-boyfriends over the years. like a lot of young/lower-ranking Zeti, she's used to ignoring a certain level of baseline misery, so she's all but forgotten how to connect with her own deeper feelings at all.
- even though they're in the same age range, Zeena's species having a much longer lifespan does impact their relationship to an extent; on a meta level it's something similar to a two-year age gap. Surge thinks of Zeena as a "cool older girl" she wants to impress. Zeena likes the power trip of someone wanting to impress her, but also perceives Surge as somewhat obnoxious and immature.
- on a related note, while Zeena has previous relationship experience, Surge has no idea what she's doing. she's just copying what she's seen in movies with incredible confidence, and somehow it works. when Zeena realizes, she teases her about it relentlessly, but Surge is pretty sure the joke's on her, because Zeena's the one that fell for her cheesy pickup lines in the first place.
- while they mostly start dating each other for superficial/ego-driven reasons, they also both represent something the other longs for. Surge envies Zeena's lavish lifestyle and how she always seems to get whatever she wants, by manipulation or by force. Zeena envies Surge's freedom.
- there's also a certain loneliness behind their drive to spend time together. Surge generally feels drawn to people who treat her poorly and wants to prove herself to them because of her unfinished business with Starline; earning the love and approval of someone as cold-hearted as Zeena feels healing. Zeena technically has "friends" who are more similar to herself on a superficial level, but the social scene she's used to is as much of a power struggle as everything else back home, so she knows they'll stab her in the back at the first opportunity. spending time with someone completely outside of that social sphere makes her feel safe for once.
- at the same time, they fundamentally don't respect each other all that much. Surge looks down on Zeena for being vain and conformist. while she does genuinely connect with Zeena emotionally, moreso than she's aware of at first, she also falls into the trap of seeing her as a prize to show off first and a person with feelings second. Zeena sees Surge the same way she sees all surface dwellers: short-sighted, naive and cloyingly sentimental. she does find her funny and endearing as well, but if it wasn't for the whole "hyper-violent living super weapon" thing, she wouldn't find her cool enough to hang with. Zeena also has zero faith in Surge's ability to turn her life around and become a real hero, convinced deep down she'll always be a monster with no heart like herself
- Zeena frequently takes advantage of Surge's wish to prove herself to her, especially if she wants something or someone beaten up and is feeling too lazy to do so herself (annoying ex-boyfriends are a common target). unfortunately for Zeena, Surge sometimes brings Kit along as backup for the more dicey jobs. Zeena finds Kit deeply unsettling, but she doesn't want to test her luck with Surge's temper on this specific subject too much, so she tries to pretend she doesn't mind him (and Surge pretends to be fooled because seeing her squirm is really, really funny). Kit surprisingly accepts Zeena's presence in the periphery of his life without complaint. he can't claim to really "get" why Surge tolerates her more than most people, but he also gets the impression romantic relationships operate under special rules somehow ... as long as Surge is happy, he figures it's best to keep his head down and simply support her like he always does. Zeena makes Surge happy, and her happiness is all he cares about. he's obviously also keeping a running list of all of Zeena's strengths and weaknesses because nothing good ever lasts in this world and he's seeing that explosive breakup coming from a mile away, but that's all just part of being the plans guy👍
- because Zeena is a technopath and Surge is a cyborg, Zeena can actually mildly interfere with some of Surge's biological processes. however, this only really amounts to being able to psychically make her trip over her own feet or making her miss her mouth when she's trying to eat, which ... can arguably be accomplished by mundane means also. great for when Surge is bothering her and she doesn't want to get out of her chair to put her in a headlock though
- speaking of not wanting to get out of her chair, a certain amount of Zeena's "laziness" is due to chronic fatigue. Surge somewhat callously could not care less, because it gives her an excuse to carry her places and feel big and tough doing so. Zeena will accept the disrespect if it means not having to walk though. no one has the courage to tell them how goofy little half-pint Surge looks hauling around a monster girl almost a head taller than her, they're both clearly convinced they look like something out of a movie poster
- Zeena has a strong sense of team pride and is protective of Surge; she won't stand for anyone disrespecting her in her presence!! Surge does not match this energy in the slightest, she has zero protective instincts and will only stand up for Zeena if she can use it as an excuse to get into fights. on the other hand, Surge is quick to get explosively jealous.
- they mostly spend time together either outside or at Surge's place. Zeena utterly detests the poor people accommodations Surge calls an apartment, but it beats having to sneak her in through the window back at the castle on Lost Hex. she knows very well if Surge ended up in a room with one of her idiot colleagues, someone would die, and in all honesty, it probably wouldn't be Surge. not worth the drama, it would be a whole thing
- she's not as sneaky as she thinks, however. Zeena dating Surge is what eventually alerts Zavok to Surge and Kit's existence, and he manages to put two and two together and identify them as Starline's former test subjects. he quickly takes an interest in the duo, impressed with the way they've successfully outlived and outgrown Starline's plans for them - particularly noting their mutual loyalty, as well as Surge growing into the kind of leader Starline never could be (though it's faint praise coming from him). Zavok urges Zeena to try to recruit the two of them, and this is the first time Zeena considers the possibility of Surge "rising above her nature" to become her true equal. maybe then they could stay together ...
- Surge of course has the exact combination of trauma and neuroses to be freaked out at the thought of being recruited by a third bossy old man who only wants to use her power for his own gain, and harshly rejects Zeena's invitation to join her "pack." this confrontation leads to both girls realizing for the first time how similar they really are - Surge could have been Zeena if she'd prioritized gaining power and influence over her personal freedom - but it also becomes clear as day how set they both are on their respective paths. Zeena has committed to enduring servitude and abuse if it means she can subjugate others in turn. Surge wants to be free, and in her own ineffective way, she's trying to earn others' love and admiration. they're both too different and too alike for comfort.
- afterwards, their relationship begins to sour. in her paranoia, Surge becomes possessive and controlling, suddenly simultaneously aware of how much she wants to keep Zeena around and also how doomed their relationship is. she also wants to prove to Zeena that her own way of doing things is superior, in part to quell her own insecurities. it's ultimately Zeena who breaks up with Surge. she won't stand for being told what to do by some lowlife who's no fun to be around anymore anyway.
- while their relationship only lasts like 3 months, it kicks off a lifelong rivalry. post-breakup, they consider each other arch enemies, but they keep ending up getting back together every few years to try to relive the "good old days", only for things to get more complicated. I like to think the power of friendship will get Surge on the right path eventually, but she just seems like the type who's never going to outgrow hitting rock bottom every 5 years and deciding to text her ex about it LMAO
