#DUX

[duckprintspress]

“He Bears the Cape of Stars” and “She Wears the Midnight Crown” Books and Merchandise Now on Sale!

Duck Prints Press’s anthologies He Bears the Cape of Stars and She Wears the Midnight Crown, featuring 34 stories by 34 authors exploring the potential for mlm and wlw relationships growing and changing during unusual masquerades, are now available! From science fiction to fantasy to modern to historical, these anthologies take the reader to many different settings, with larger-than-life characters exploring the world around them, the people they meet, and themselves! The casts are as diverse as Pride itself, and whether they’re looking for love, a second chance, a companion, or a friend, these books have a little bit of everything!

HE BEARS THE CAPE OF STARS, featuring 17 mlm stories, is available for sale on:

The Duck Prints Press Website | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

SHE WEARS THE MIDNIGHT CROWN, featuring 17 wlw stories, is available for sale on:

The Duck Prints Press Website | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

…and many other major e-book sales platforms! And you can request your library purchase it through the e-book lending program of their choice!

AND THAT’S NOT ALL!

Extra merchandise from the masquerade anthologies crowdfunding campaign is now on sale too! Did you miss the campaign? Are you dying for an amazing tote bag, a gorgeous bookmark, an aromatic candle, a glossy sticker or two, a new patch, or some lovely queer art for your walls? You can get this merch, and lots of merch from our past campaigns, from our website NOW!

She Wears the Midnight Crown merchandise: art print | bookmark | dux sticker

He Bears the Cape of Stars merchandise: art print | bookmark | dux sticker

Other campaign merchandise: chibi masquerade patch | scented candle | tote bag

Was there campaign merch you wanted that’s not available on our store? We have very limited quantities left of our enamel pins, and we have a whole heck of a lot of seconds (as in, damaged copies) of the print books! If your interested, feel free to drop us a line on any of our social media platforms or at info at duckprintspress dot com – we’d be delighted to hook you up!

Come now to the Duck Prints Press website and GET YOUR BOOK ON! You’re not going to want to miss these amazing collections or any of the gorgeous merch!

(and if you can help us spread the word by sharing this post, we’d appreciate it a lot, too!)

Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Love what we do? Want to make sure you don’t miss the announcement for future giveaways? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more!

Want to support the Press, read about us behind-the-scenes, learn about what’s coming down the pipeline, get exclusive teasers, claim free stories, and get backer-exclusive extras when you support our crowdfunding campaigns? Back us on Patreon or ko-fi monthly!

[we-are-knight]

Dux Britonum, by Behydezell

[waterlogged-roses]

Getting ready for art fight with my oldest character, Dux!

Here is my art fight page if you'd like to check it out

[musictyme]

Dux ft Raquel Rodriguez - Over It

[juanfiamma]

Playing with old photos, filters and photososhop-

[ernestdescalsartwok]

PUBLIO QUNITILIO VARO-ARTE-PINTURA-DUX-LEGIONES ROMANAS-BATALLA-TEUTOBURGO-EXPRESION-DERROTA-IMPERIO ROMANO-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: PUBLIO QUNITILIO VARO-ARTE-PINTURA-DUX-LEGIONES ROMANAS-BATALLA-TEUTOBURGO-EXPRESION-DERROTA-IMPERIO ROMANO-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS- Mi obsesión por el estudio de la historia me lleva por el camino artístico del querer pintar a los personajes históricos, fotos pintando al DUX PUBLIO QUINTILIO VARO que sufrió una de las derrotas más humillantes del Imperio Romano a manos de ARMINIO en el Bosque Teutónico en las entrañas de Germania, con expresión de sorpresa por la derrota que supuso la encerrona entre los bosques de TEUTOBURGO. Obras de la Colección de Pintura que trata sobre la batalla de aniquilación de las tres LEGIONES ROMANAS. Pintura del artista pintor Ernest Descals sobre papel de 50 x 70 centímetros, he querido expresar la magnificencia y símbolos militares de poder del Legado de los Legionarios Romanos, su vida cambió en un momento, pasando de la gloria a la humillación y muerte.

[furniture-freak]

Teak sideboard by Dux

Source

[liugeaux]

Greatest Songs Ever - Part 21 (Off the Rails)

Never has one of these been as off-the-rails as this one seems. I promise it’s not on purpose. With Part 20 being much more close to home, naturally, part 21 veers the opposite direction. 

Some of these you might not know, and I encourage you to check them out. here’s your link to the ongoing playlist. Let’s do this!

2011 “Lock Down (feat. Leo the Lion)” -  Adam Skinner & Dan Skinner

We kick it off with the bop of the century. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but “Lock Down” crept into my life through the Giant Bombcast. The duders over there stumbled on this track in AudioNetwork, a royalty-free subscription music service. They played it during live stream downtime and their community ate it up. It became somewhat of an inside joke, while simultaneously being a banger. It’s categorized as “new-soul,” but its got a funk and a groove to it that gets your feet moving. I know nothing about Adam or Dan Skinner, and even less about Leo the Lion, but accidentally stumbling on such a fun track is kind of what this list is all about.  

1983 “Sharp Dressed Man” - ZZ Top

ZZ Top is a mood. I always feel like ZZ Top songs only have words to make them more marketable. If they could get away with a career full of songs like “Tequila” by The Champs, then they would’ve probably done that. Alas Billy Gibbons had to use his singing voice to entice the masses. With a sound like sandpaper on bone, Gibbons gravelly delivery is the perfect compliment to the almost sludgy guitar riffs on “Sharp Dressed Man.” Given how grimey and raw everything about this song is, the title feels like tongue and cheek irony. It’s a song whose guitar lick is so good it doubles as a chorus. A chorus that slices you in half everytime it churns back to the speakers. I like a lot of tracks in the ZZ Top library, but “Sharp Dressed Man” has a swagger that’s universal.  

2009 “TiK ToK” - Kesha

When my grand kids ask me what the late aughts sounded like, my answer will be “Tik Tok” by Kesha. This song is 100% a product of the pop music culture surrounding it. While Kesha’s talents as a songwriter eclipse this track exponentially, “Tik Tok” captured an energy and moment in music that cannot be recreated. Sanitized club beats, auto-tune, party-girl vibes, a hint of female empowerment and an odd Mick Jagger reference “Tik Tok” is hella weird. Even at the time I got a collective feeling from music fans, like we were looking at each other and saying “are we really doing this?” “Take On Me” is to the 80s what “Ice Ice Baby” is to the 90s, and “Tik Tok” is to the 00s. I’ve flirted with putting later Kesha songs on this list, but to do so before this seminal classic is an insult to an entire generation of music.   

1969 “My Way” - Frank Sinatra

Southerners don’t listen to Sinatra. Growing up I understood Frank Sinatra was a big deal and even had movies referred to me, but I couldn’t name a single one of his songs. My childhood wasn’t filled with Sinatra tracks, crooner numbers or Rat Pack hits, it was Elvis, The Beatles, Classic Rock and country. I purposely reached for “My Way” to see what the big deal was. I’d heard an American Idol contestant or two sing snippets of it, but I wanted to know why the song is so revered. Upon first listen, I thought it sounded much older than it actually is. I would have pegged this song as a track from the 40s. The sound quality of the backing symphony is reminiscent of much older Hollywood scores like The Wizard of Oz, so to learn that its newer than most of The Beatles’ library was shocking. As a celebration of individuality, it’s message isn’t too dissimilar from that of the US as an idea, and the lyrics’ acknowledgement of his “way” being imperfect is subtly beautiful. “My Way” is an anthem for the proud, and sadly I feel the rigidity of its message has been used to justify rejecting compromise. As one man’s celebration of himself and as a booming showtune, the song is outstanding.  

2021 “Sunroof” - Nicky Youre

Whenever I pick super-recent songs I know I’m rolling the dice on how time will effect this list. I have no idea who Nicky Youre is, but he knows how to capture the energy of youth. From the initial drop of “I got my head out the sunroof...” this song drips of innocence fueled youth. The freedom of your first car, having no worries and being consumed by the energy of a potential partner, it’s the magical spark of youth. Even the “La da, la da da, la la la“ part is laced with an envious carefree attitude. We are all longing for the feeling “Sunroof” is advertising, and that’s why it works so well. It’s like freebasing the idea of potential, “Sunroof” is a drug we should all be addicted to.  

2001 "Rhythm” - Awol One & Daddy Kev

For an oh-so-brief moment in community college, I brushed against being cool enough to know someone who knew this song. My bud Austin, a worldly brain of a person who, to my knowledge has never been bad at anything, at least not anything he put legit effort into, turned me onto this track. He played a lot of music for me back then and not much of it stuck, but “Rhythm” burrowed in like a tick. The stand-out on the track is the flute in the loop. I’m gonna do my best to avoid making a flute-loops joke, but I promise nothing. I don’t know anything about the production of the track but it strikes me as a song birthed from the tightness of the loop. Once that was established, I’m sure everything else fell into place. The rapping isn’t stellar, but it knows what it is, and stays out of the way. Awol One’s drawn out delivery feeds the stoner vibe the track carries, while never feeling scummy. Laid-back, groovy, and raw enough to feel like the underground gem that it is. “Rhythm” was never at risk of being a radio hit, but that’s kind of a badge of honor here. If one more person hears this song because of this write up, I will have done my job.

1993 “Chattahoochee” (Extended Mix) -  Alan Jackson

Look at that, yet another 90s country song gets added to the list! “Chattahoochee” is a country fan’s country song. It’s as story-telly as the fans demand, and Jackson’s delivery is exactly what you would expect from a pillar of the genre. However when you dig deeper, the lyrics are much more universal fro the casual listener. Like “Sunroof” there’s something inherently youthful about “Chattahoochee.” Youth, as a concept, is ripe for creative mining and Jackson chose a hyper specific venue for his slice-of-life story. Because the innocence of youth is so universal, even if you didn’t grow up on a river, you just get it. Your Chattahoochee river might be a drive-in movie theater, or a Sonic parking lot, or the pool tables at the local bowling alley. Calling a song shallow is only an insult if it doesn’t have a wide appeal. “Chattahoochee” is as shallow as that river probably is, and that just means everyone can relate. As for the (Extended Mix), it doesn’t add too much, but it does make the song feel more like an event. It’s got an extra breakdown or two that probably work well in a live setting. It’s just a better paced version of the same song.   

1970 “War Pigs” - Black Sabbath

When you Google “Who invented heavy metal” you get a passage about historians believing it was Black Sabbath. I like to think all metal songs share DNA with tracks like “War Pigs.” Loud, brash and with something to say, the track alternates between an Ozzy show-piece and a Tony Iommi guitar rocker. Its quiet moments are as important as its loud guitar solos, a practice almost lost to time I modern metal. “War Pigs” may not be as relevant today as it was in 1970 (I’d like to think humans have learned a lot from past wars), but it serves as a creative benchmark for commentary on socio-political statements in art. Let’s not forget about the slimy and iconic guitar work here, traces of thrash can be heard in the solos and that wouldn’t rise to prominence until the 80s. Sabbath is WAAAAAAAY more important than most realize and “War Pigs” is their masterpiece.  

2018 “Responsible Ver. 2″ (feat. Stan Taylor) - DUX

I really don’t know what to say about this one. DUX is a DJ, Stan Taylor is a vocalist, and “Responsible” is one of their collaborations. Due to their relative obscurity, they are oddly hard to Google. DUX seems Brazilian, and Taylor looks to be from Cali, but I don’t know if any of that matters. “Responsible” hovers between soul, techno, funk, and jazz, pretty cleanly. What initially stood out was the absolutely chewy bassline. The bass however, only gets you through the door, Taylor’s big soulful delivery hooks you, and the horn-filled bridge finishes the job. A beautiful melding of several reliable pillars of American music makes this into an unexpected modern classic buried in obscurity. “Responsible Ver. 2″ (definitely better than Ver. 1) would play well anywhere from a local pub to the biggest sporting event. If you check out any of these songs individually, please let this one be one of them.   

1969 “Haute Couture” aka “Temptation Sensation” -  Das Orchester Heinz Kiessling

There is so much to unpack with this choice. Yes, it’s the Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme, yes, that seems cheap, and no, I don’t care. I’ve always loved the simplicity of the theme and found its whimsy quite-heartwarming. Prior to last year, I had not heard the original track, or knew anything about it. This song is by a German composer named Heinz Kiessling, and its taken two different names in its release history, “Haute Couture” and “Temptation Sensation.” For what its worth, I prefer the latter. The song itself is an orchestral mushroom trip. Somehow, like “My Way” it was released as recently as 1969. Nothing sounds more like a 1942 instrumental as much as this track does. To put this in perspective, it was released a year before the almost modern sounding “War Pigs”. Was Germany so far behind America in sound production that “Temptation Sensation” just felt super old, or was that on purpose? Who knows. The internet doesn’t say anything about him being a Nazi, so there’s more good news. The song itself is so full of whimsy, and fluff, that its hard to hear without feeling like a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. As the theme from It’s always Sunny, it works stupendously because of the thematic dichotomy.

That was an exceptionally weird list of songs, but I promise next time will be a bit more mainstream. That is, unless my plans change, then, anything is on the table. *Insert excited emoji*    

[fulgurbugs]

Novi mikus

[duckprintspress]

Aether Beyond the Binary Merch Spotlight: All About Dux

Dux, also known as Darcy Paige Paddlesworth III (as named by our Patrons), is the non-binary Duck Prints Press mascot who uses they/them pronouns. All our ducks are called Dux – no matter what they wear or where they go, they’re still our darling Dux! You can learn more about Dux and see Dux’s many incarnations by visiting the Get to Know Dux page on our website.

Aether Dux

For the Aether Beyond the Binary Kickstarter campaign, Dux designer Alessa Riel has pulled out all the stops, equipping Dux with an awesome Mohawk and amazing crystalline wings. Are they cybernetic? Are they an assistive device? Are they just for the aesthetique ™? Dux hasn’t told us – so you can draw your own conclusions!

Aether Dux die-cut stickers, 3 in x 3 in (7.5 cm x 7.5 cm), are one of the core merchandise items for this crowdfunding campaign – everyone who backs at a level that includes merchandise will get this Dux sticker, and everyone who gets only the book can add an Aether Dux sticker to their order as an add-on.

But – this isn’t the only Dux merch being offered as add-ons! We’ve also got…

Dux Keychain

A sturdy acrylic key chain with metal hardware, 3 in x 1.5 in (7.5 cm x 4 cm). (also available on our website)

The Basic Dux Sticker Set

This set of 4 die-cut stickers includes our logo with Dux standing proudly beside it, a rainbow circle of Dux prints, are cute heart-eyes Dux, and our most popular Dux sticker, bowtie Dux! All four of these stickers are available individually through our website, but as part of the Kickstarter, you can get the four as an add-on bundle for only $10, instead of the usual $12 if you bought them individually!

The Costumed Dux Sticker Set

This set includes our two most recent costumed Dux – musketeer Dux, from our recent anthology Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” and witch Dux, created as a Patreon reward last Halloween (our largest Dux sticker ever, nearly 4 in by 4 in/10.25 cm x 10.25 cm). It also includes our two most popular costumed Dux, barista Dux (debuted with our anthology Add Magic to Taste) and bard Dux (who accompanied our first Queer Fanworks Anthology, And Seek (Not) to Alter Me, with stories and art inspired by “Much Ado About Nothing.”) Again, all these are available from our webstore, but the bundle is discounted for Kickstarter add-on purposes!

Other Merch

Dux is also featured on our tote bag, a common sight in our seconds grab bags, and of course they are the inspiration behind the absolutely adorable Dux plushies made by EmpowerFantasy Plush (we had five for this campaign, and we’re already down to only two left, so if you want one you should grab it now – and these are NOT currently available from our website!). And of course…

The Ultimate: YOUR OWN DUX

If you love dux even a fraction as much as we do, you can also still claim our ultimate add-on: a custom Dux designed by Alessa Riel to YOUR specifications. We only have this opportunity on offer once for the Aether Beyond the Binary campaign, and this is only the second time we’ve ever offered this! There are a few restrictions (for example, Dux most remain non-binary), but this is a great chance to get your very own lovable duck! Make sure you review the add-on text for all the details. 😀

Long story short: we love Dux, and we hope now that you’ve gotten to know them, you do too!

So back our Kickstarter, and don’t forget to add-on ALL THE DUX!

[bunnyfriendmx]

El pato de hule que huele a salvavidas tiene un nuevo amigo plantígrado 🧸 #bolo #ositobolo #ositodepeluche #teddybear #liverpool #rubberduck #lifesaverduck #dux #duxcomics https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnkcu0ivlNK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zanephillips]

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME Bloodsport (1988)

[juanfiamma]

[furniture-freak]

Rocking chair by Hans Olsen for DUX

Source

[mellioops]

Grian wearing padme’s lake dress from star wars 😌

This is the dress btw and also the rendering without the base colors underneath cause I think it looks cool :D

[fulgurbugs]

Core refresh Frankie pink streak lore