Tsukiboshi

This comment is a little longer than the last one.

Tsukiboshi: literally "Moon Star"
(or, if you try reading the title top-down & right-to-left, it is Kishitsubo: "Coast Jar"?)

About the Characters / Backstory:
Daymoon and Noonstar are a pair of twins (hopefully I don't need to point out who is who). Daymoon can become the sickle blade Waratsuki ("Smiling Moon"), while Noonstar can become the pistol "Shooting Star." They come from Weapon Planet where everyone can do this, so it's nothing special.

Anyhow, these twin sisters are mid-ranking officers of the Galaxy Police, where they travel between worlds in an effort to promote peace through violence. Violence against Violence, that is! Two wrongs make a right, just like in signed multiplication and personal vengeance. They enlisted following in the footsteps of their father, who though having made no outstanding accomplishments still remains a great source of inspiration for his daughters.

Development History
Originally the twins were just one older character who I eventually discarded for the following reasons:
1) Though she was supposed to be 40, I kept drawing her like she was 20. This will take some time to learn.
2) Twins seemed like a cool idea. A pair of sisters that can turn into weapons and wield each other? Surely it has never been done!

Daymoon's design is Western themed and is partly the fruits of my unsatisfied desire to couple a hat with a jacket draped over the shoulders. I would probably buy a hat and a coat and try it myself if it were appropriate for southern California weather.

Noonstar's design is Eastern themed and is inspired by a song from THE iDOLM@STER which includes the phrases "Shooting Star" (gun form) and "Blue Bird" (feathers on cloak) in the refrain. Her hat was originally a golden brown color, but I have a habit of always coloring those types of hats brown, so I decided to try for a black metallic appearance.

The big red ribbon around both of their necks is to emphasize their twin-ness (apparently identical faces is not enough, because that is the case in a vast majority of anime). I would normally be wary of giant ribbons, but Pandora Hearts seemed to pull it off well enough with Alice.

Comments as an Artist
I remember now why I don't like thin lines in Flash - THEY BREAK ALL THE TIME. If you saw this picture without the colors, you'd be confused by the dainty line-art where a single stroke appears to vanish in several places in the middle. Such a pain.

I like Noonstar's face more than Daymoon's, even though I basically just traced the former off of the latter's.

The background was fun to make. It's a bit busier than I would have preferred, but it was an excellent opportunity to play with dizzying perspectives.

Still learning how to shade folds in clothing. One thing I've learned though is that a missing fold looks better than a fold in the wrong place. Learning to make that call is a different matter, though. I am also learning that sometimes 2 shades of color can look better than 3, if done correctly.

Made in Flash