Autumn is the bad kind of gamer - one who uses play to determine status. Each match is life or death because honor and social standing is at stake! She's been spoiled by a former life in which she dined on the weak and normal of a public school system. Now that she's among peers, it's natural that she'll test them to see where she stands.
Unfortunately for Autumn, she's the big loser in all of the intro arcs. The defeat that smarts the most is the one to Max. How can you compete with a person whose personality is so kind and innocent that competition means nothing to him? Autumn cannot comprehend how a person with Max's power - he has money, brains and superior strength - would never use it to push others around. Max thinks of Autumn as a good friend. Just like Ignatz throwing Bricks at Krazy Kat, Max's obliviousness only serves to make Autumn try harder to get him.
Bud has a nice thing going in Sapphire Lake. He's among like-minded jerks. They fight and war and joke about, but all do it with a spirit of fun! They can form all the supervillain unions they want, but in the end they're just playful in a convincing mean mask.
This is where Dionne comes in. She's *so* much better at the evil game than the rest of them, and she mops the floor with kids whenever she comes around. Bud, who is used to being the center and having control over his universe, is completely muted by the stronger predator. By the end of his visit to Dionne's in the pilot arc, Bud's reduced to the foolish straight man character. Later on, when he's about to lose the war before it begins, Dionne is the one that taunts him. Of course, just like with Autumn and Max, there is also a bit of attraction here. Unlike Autumn and Max, who are completely different, Bud and Dionne's connection is based on their similarities. One's greatest foe can be a great ally as well. (If you survive the partnership.)
The reason this one is holiday themed is because I decided to draw Bud wearing a coat instead of usual vest. Well, 'tis the season! I had an excuse to give Bud a hat *and* it allowed me to put Dionne in an ironic angel outfit!
Jacob, the pushover of the group, is the natural prey of Suzette, whose powerless feeling led her dominate whenever she gets the opportunity. All her perceived oppression is easily transferred to the hapless sidekick. Suzette is more than happy to beat up on someone her own size. Jacob is too nice (chivalrous?) to put up a fight. All the characters lead Jacob into doom, but Suzette does so with the most violence! Originally, the drawing was going to be an appropriate pose of Suzette dragging Jacob off someplace, but that proved too hard to draw so Suzette's hand was erased from Jacob's elbow. Instead of changing it to Suzette dragging Jacob on a leash, I went with the cop-out and mimicked the Bud/Dionne drawing.
If you're looking at all the images, you can see the battle I wage with cuteness proportions. Autumn and Max are a decent shape for now. Bud and Dionne resemble my former ways of drawing taller characters. (I shouldn't say "former," since it's more like the current habit I am trying to break - and it's still my default if I don't pay attention.) Jacob and Suzette are the Peanuts-ish big head approach I am trying to adopt - although maybe not that severe. Proportion is *my* nemesis.
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