User blog:AwesomeEthan48/The 2019 Custom Album Cover Advent Calendar

It's December, which means it's the time of Advent Calendars! So, for this year, you'll find out the references of 25 of my Custom Album Covers (even if the references are obvious), as well as some facts about them!

Image and Title References
Image: Yugi's Millenium Puzzle surrounded by Lucy's Celestial Spirit Gate Keys (in order going clockwise from the top: Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Sagittarius, Leo, Gemini, Aries, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, and Libra).

Title: "Keys" refer to Lucy (duh), while "Duel" refers to Yugi (Duel Monsters, "It's time to duel!", you get the idea).
 * Title Meaning: The title itself refers to the fact that both fighters have the power to figure out the way (or keys) to victory in a one-on-one fight, or a duel.

Fun Facts

 * I got inspired to Custom Album Covers after seeing some in the Comment Section Central. There was one for Dora vs Peppa Pig, one Joker vs Giorno, one for Steven Universe vs Star Butterfly, and one for Jesse McCree vs Erron Black (thanks, 1mavstone!).


 * Lucy's Celestial Spirit Gate Keys were originally going to have shading, but I decided against it.

Image and Title References
Image: Asterix's sword stabbing a can of spinach, Popeye's food of choice.

Title: "Gaul" refers to Asterix (as he's a Gaulish warrior), while "Sailor" refers to Popeye (because he's Popeye the Sailor, man)
 * Title Meaning: Seems to pe a play on the phrase "gall of a sailor", which basically means a sailor's bold attitude.

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by HughMann33.
 * The "011729" on the can is a reference to the release date of the Popeye comic strip (then called Thimble Theatre), which was January 17, 1929.
 * The "102959" on the can is a reference to the release date of The Adventures of Asterix, which was October 29, 1959.

Image and Title References
Image: A bust of a pegasus (I say that because the wings are included) over a cresent moon, which is basically the series symbol for Sailor Moon. The pegasus has Seiya's hairstyle and headpiece from his 2nd Cloth and wearing Sailor Moon' bow, while the wings come from Sailor Moorn's Eternal Form.

Title: "Knights" refers to Seiya (as he's one of the Knights of the Zodiac (Thanks, 1mavstone!)), while "Moon" refers to Sailor Moon (because obviously).
 * Title Meaning: Seems to reference the fact that the two fighters are protectors of the Moon (or I guess space in general).

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by 1mavstone.
 * The design of Sailor Moon's bow comes from this piece of artwork of her.
 * The original requested image was just a pegasus in front of a cresent moon.
 * I originally planned to have the pegasus run forward, but it changed to a pegasus' head and wings because I had trouble drawing a horse running forward.

Image and Title References
Image: Two of Riku's Keyblades (Soul Eater and Braveheart) in an X formation engulfed by Amaterasu. The Sharingan Eye can bee seen in the background.

Title: "Way to" refers to Riku (his default Keyblade in KH2 Is called "Way to the Dawn"), while "Darkness" can refer to Sasuke and Riku's edgy personalities.
 * Title Meaning: Seems to refer to the fact that both combatants walk a path of darkness.

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by Fox-Shock.
 * The eye on Soul Eater has been replaced with the Rinnegan Eye.

Image and Title References
Image: Giorno's brooch growing vines that wrap around Joker's mask. The vines themselves are blooming 5 red flowers, 5 yellow flowers, and 5 pink flowers, while Joker's mask is emitting a blue flame.

Title: "Gang-Stars" refers to Giorno (as he dreams of joining that team(Thanks, 1mavstone!)), while "of Heart" refers to Joker (as his team is called the Phantom Thieves of Heart).
 * Title Meaning: Combines the two names of Giorno and Joker's teams (Gang-Stars and Phantom Thieves of Heart, respectively).

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by 1mavstone.
 * Giorno's brooch growing vines is a reference to Gold Experience's ability to produce life.
 * The 5 red flowers reference Persona 5 (as that's the game Joker debuted in, and it's commonly associated with red).
 * The 5 yellow flowers reference Golden Wind (as that's the part Giorno debuted in, and gold is darker shade of yellow, so deal with it). It could also reference Gold Experience.
 * The 5 pink flowers reference the color of Giorno's clothing in the anime (it's pink there, but blue in the manga).

Image and Title References
Image: San's skull (with his blue eye open and emitting a blue flame) wearing Ness' hat. A long bone and Ness' bat in an X formation are in the background.

Title: "Bat" refers to Ness (as that's one of one of his weapons in Earthbound and a part of his Smash moveset), while "Bone" refers to Sans (because he's a skeleton).
 * Title Meaning: A pun on the phrase "bad to the bone", which makes sense, since Sans makes puns.

Fun Facts

 * This was my first non-requested Custom Album Cover since "Despicable Minds".
 * The placement of the bat and bone was originally gonna be reversed (bat on the left, bone on the right), but I had to change it to prevent some backwards text on the bat.
 * One potential title for this CAC was "Game Theory" to reference MatPat's Sans is Ness theory.

Image and Title References
Image: Master Hand reaching out to grab a Smash Ball. The Smash Ball has Polygon Man's polygon hair near the top right and his eyes inside the cross shape.

Title: "All-Star" refers to Polygon Man (PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale), while "Smashing" refers to Master Hand (Super Smash Bros.).
 * Title Meaning: Combines the titles of the games they're from, as well as reference the fact that they fight gaming's all-stars.

Fun Facts

 * Master Hand's design is based off of his appearance in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, where he looks like a full glove.
 * This is the first two-word titled CAC where the first word in the title is red.
 * A potential title for this CAC was "Brawl-Stars", referencing PS All-Stars and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Image and Title References
Image: Elvis' guitar with Michael Jackson's hat on the headstock. In front of the guitar is MJ's glove from Billie Jean snapping (something that Elvis did in his song C'mon Everybody). Behind the guitar is a curvy yelow and white music staff with a red treble clef and red music notes on it.

Title: "Pop'n" refers to Michael Jackson (as he's the King of Pop), while "Rock & Roll" refers to Elvis (as he's the King of Rock & Roll).
 * Title Meaning: Combines the titles of MJ and Elvis (King of Pop and King of Rock & Roll, respectively). It's could also be a play on the words "popping rock & roll" and/or "pop and rock & roll".

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by 1pizza877.
 * 1pizza877 actually requested this a couple of times on my CAC Request Blog, but was always a bit too late. I finally did it after OOFMAN79 was blocked after requesting "Bear, Bird, and Blocks" because I felt like 1pizza877 deserved to have this done after requesting multiple times.
 * When using the treble clef as a guide and reading from left to right, the red notes are B, A, and D, referencing the album cover for Michael Jackson's Bad.
 * The original requested track image was Elvis' hair wearing Michael Jackson's hat behind a microphone.
 * A potential title for this CAC was "Kings of Music", for reasons stated above.

Image and Title References
Image: A rocket (referencing Elton John's Rocket Man) blasting off from Earth, flying through a big Q (as seen on the album cover of Don't Stop Me Now). The rocket has a piano pattern on it (referencing the fact that Elton was a pianist, as well as the song Piano Man he preformed with Billy Joel) and the windows are in the style of Elon's glasses. The window on the left is in the shape of the Q in the logo for Queen, while the right window is reflecting Elton's logo.

Title: "Bohemian" refers to Freddie (Bohemian Rhapsody), while "Rocketmen" refers to Elton (his song titled Rocket Man)
 * Title Meaning: Combines the names of two songs from the artists (Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocket Man, respectively). The Rocketmen part is because there's two people fighting.

Fun Facts

 * This Custom Album Cover was requested by Blue Midnight04
 * Freddie was originally going to be in the track image standing on the rocket, but he was ultimately scrapped.
 * Both windows were meant to be looked like the Q in Queen's logo, but I scrapped the idea because it made the windows look like a Z.
 * The original requested track image was the 4 heads from Bohemian Rhapsody each wearing Elton's glasses.
 * Earth was actually a last-minute addition, since I felt like the piece was empty without it.

Image and Title References
Image: Shulk's Monado and Lightning's Blazefire Saber clashing in an X formation while the Monado Art kanjis for Smash, Buster, Shield, Speed, and Jump surround them. "XIII" can be seen in the circular hole of the Monado, referencing Final Fantasy XIII.

Title: "Power" refers to Shulk ("THIS IS THE MONADO'S POWER!"), while "Blades" reference the fact that both fighters weild sword-like weapons.
 * Title Meaning: References the power that both compatants have in their weapons, though this mostly applies to Shulk and his Monado Arts.

Fun Facts

 * The Monado Art kanjis are actually PNGs I used for this CAC.
 * The kanjis are arranged based on how they appear on the Monado Art selection wheel in Smash Ultimate.
 * The outer glows of the kanjis were originally hand-drawn, but I used ibisPaint's "Outer Glow" feature some time later.
 * Cocoon (as seen in FFXIII's logo) was originally going to be included, but was ultimately scrapped.
 * A potential title for this CAC was "The Art of the Blades", referencing Shulk's Monado Arts.

Day 11: Ridley vs K. Rool (Smashing Rivals & Ravaging Reptiles)
YUP! On Day 11, you're getting two different CACs of the same matchup! If you're wondering why, it's because I wanted to. Deal with it!

Image and Title References (Smashing Rivals)
Image: Ridley's tail going through K. Rool's crown.

Title: Rival could reference their status as rivals to the protagonists of their respective series (Samus and DK).
 * Title Meaning: Refers to the fact that their commonly seen together as rivals in some Smash Ultimate fan art.

Image and Title References (Ravaging Reptiles)
Image: Ridley's wings K. Rool's cape being impaled by Ridley's tail, which is going through K. Rool's crown.

Title: Reptiles refers to both compatants' reptilian appearance (Ridley's a dragon (I think...), while K. Rool's a crocodile).
 * Title Meaning: Refers to the fact that both combatants are reptiles that can cause some serious damage (whether in their home series or Smash).

Fun Facts

 * The design of Smashing Rivals was inspired by Shonen Showdown's track cover.
 * Ravaging Reptiles actually uses the Smashing Rivals as a part of the track cover.

Come back tomorrow for Day 11!