The creative folks behind the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game system have a knack for blending their own original content with that of their mythological influences. They’re able to take creatures from mythology such as elves, dwarves, demons and, of course, dragons and create new breeds/races/types that fit right in with their mythic counterparts.

Dragons are still the most popular and enduring species in the game, and although most campaigns don't involve fighting a dragon the addition of a draconian presence can quickly change a group's tone from "we own this quest!" to "we'l! never survive this encounter!"

Add one of the bizarre breeds that made io9's list of The 16 Strangest Dragons in Dungeons & Dragons to your campaign and watch player characters flee with terror when faced with the mindless horror of the Brainstealer Dragon or the undying stench of the rotten Zombie Dragon!

It’s a lighter with Spider-Man on it. But there’s an issue here that redditor Fear_Jeebus’s cousin, who’s had the lighter for years, never realized until now. But others noticed several things wonky about this lighter. How many can you name? You can embiggen the picture at imgur if you need to.

DeviantART members Arsenal Best make high-quality steampunk cosplay outfits and props, such as a Holy Hand Grenade from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and a Bollywood sari.

To equip themselves for their Starfleet uniforms below, they built a detailed model TR-560 VI tricorder, which was one type featured on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Their Steam Trek tricorder consists of a brass metal shell with wood veneer and brass inlays.

(Image Link)

The world of digital media is wide open for new creators to share their vision with the world, and many people are choosing to self publish their stories these days instead of dealing with a publisher.

Putting your story out there by yourself is great, but choosing to also create your own cover art, which is still a big factor in whether people will buy your book or not, can negatively affect sales.

(Image Link)

If the cover art is lousy, offensive or too minimal it may turn customers off, but if it’s a total disaster it might end up on a Tumblr called Kindle Cover Disasters!

Like purveyors of fine literary cheese, the folks behind Kindle Cover Disasters are giving these bottom of the barrel works of cover art a home and an audience, so we can all savor the flavor!

-Via Dangerous Minds

Master cosplayer Malicous Cosplay, who recently redressed Princess Leia as Streetfighter's Chun-Li, once also depicted Princess Leia as a Starfleet officer from classic Star Trek. Ensign Organa dresses in white and wears hair buns, as in Episode IV. She carries a phaser in addition to a blaster.

My favorite part of the cosplay is imagining Chewbacca as a tribble:

(YouTube link)

Shot at Brick 2014, the LEGO convention in London, here is the climactic “will he make it home” scene from the movie Back to the Future rendered in tremendously fine detail by Macro Lego Universe. -via Daily of the Day

Nerdy with Children proclaims that it is pizza night! It looks like a standard pizza design, but Captain Solo has made a few special modifications. Now it can make the Kessel Run in only 3,000 calories.

-via Home Geekonomics

(Image Link)

Saturday mornings in the 1980s were a magical time for the lucky kids who got to see their favorite toys, video games and live action TV shows get a toon makeover while eating a bowl of cereal featuring some of the same licensed characters.

These ten animated TV shows from the 1980s may be a bit strange compared to their better known Saturday Morning Cartoon siblings, but that's what makes them all so memorable!

1. Rubik the Amazing Cube (1983-84)-

(Image Link)

It's the frustrating color matching cube that became an iconic symbol of the 80s, it's Rubik the Amazing Cube! Give that colorful little cube a pair of blocky legs, a cute little elfy voice, Mickey Rooney's face and a theme song by Menudo and you've got the makings of a mighty odd cartoon show.

(YouTube Link)

2. Punky Brewster (1985-86)-

(Image Link)

Punky and her dog Brandon discover a magical village at the end of a rainbow where they meet a gopher-leprechaun hybrid named Glomer.

Glomer has the magical ability to send Punky and her friends anywhere on Earth, but he's constantly bungling spells and landing Punky's crew in hot water, which is instantly forgiven because he's so darn cute!

(YouTube Link)

(Girafarig by Mokuyo Cosplay/via AkiJet)

When you hear the words "sexy" and "Pokemon' used together it’s easy to assume that the costumes in question are of Ash's pal Misty or Jessie from Team Rocket, but those have been done to death. In this case we’re talkin’ about full blown sexy versions of pocket monsters, and boy will they ever make you wanna catch 'em all!

Dorkly put together a list of 35 Attempts At Sexy Pokemon Cosplay…That Totally Succeeded, proving that strange can be good when it comes to sexy cosplay.

(Lugia by Rising Moon Cosplay/via Sweet Sensation Photography)

If you’d rather not think of Raichu, Espeon or Dugtrio as sexy then by all means pass this one by, but if you’re intrigued by the idea of sexy Pokemon then take your eyeballs for a walk on the wild side!

See 35 Attempts At Sexy Pokemon Cosplay...That Totally Succeeded here

(YouTube link)

It’s hard enough to understand why Obi-Wan Kenobi just gave up the ghost, so to speak, and just let Darth Vader kill him off. Sure, he was able to return and give advice to Luke, but he could have taken better advantage of the situation even after death. The folks from Dorkly show us what might have been -what should have been- in glorious pixelated animation.

(YouTube link)

Think of an extremely rich, well-connected, and handsome man who has a hidden other life, with a secret lair full of gadgets. A man who likes to dress up in black rubber and frighten people. A double life that no one in his day-to-day business suspects. Christian Grey or Bruce Wayne? They are one and the same in this mashup by Josh Meeter. If the movie Fifty Shades of Grey were more like this, they would have doubled or tripled the ticket sales. The Dark Knight made $351 million in its first two weeks; Fifty Shades of Grey, $137 million. -via Uproxx

(Image Link)

Every year around this time the entire entertainment industry, and the entire city of Los Angeles, prepares for the onset of awards season, with the Oscars being the granddaddy of them all.

It's not uncommon to see tuxedo clad winners heading out for a night on the town, celebrating their victory with Oscar in hand. But do you actually need to win an Oscar to celebrate like an Oscar winner?

(YouTube Link)

Prankster/actor Comedian Mark David Christenson proves that you don't need to win an Oscar to get free stuff from star struck Hollywood in this NewMediaRockstars video.

All you need is a winning attitude and a replica Oscar statue (sold on Hollywood Blvd. in souvenir shops for around $19.95) and people will hook you up with all the free crap (and public adoration) you can handle, including a car!

-Via Dangerous Minds

Adventure Time is the kind of cartoon show that makes you want to share its greatness with the world, and animators are taking note of the show’s themes, art style and character's personalities and incorporating similar elements into their own shows.

But there's one show in the works that's less "influenced by" and more straight up ripoff. It’s called The Legend Of Lucky Pie, and it’s created in the place where all great knockoffs originate- China.

(YouTube Link)

According to the show’s creators it was created to “fight the tacky and trite animated shows usually shown in Chinese media”, and their response to whether it’s an Adventure Time ripoff- “kind of, but not really”. I guess judging whether something's a ripoff or not is a matter of opinion...

-Via Cartoon Brew

Folks who want to follow in Batman’s footsteps will need to be properly equipped, and since they’re made of flesh and blood instead of graphite and ink they’ll probably want to invest in some body armor.

Batman is a martial arts master, but your average wannabe Batsy most certainly is not, so they’ll probably want a suit of armor created to protect you from a flying fist...or a stabbing knife.

(YouTube Link)

Industrial Design student Jackson Gordon came up with the concept for a badass Batsuit, and after a successful Kickstarter campaign he was able to build the armor and survive a simulated stabbing.

-Via Boing Boing 

(YouTube Link)

There’s an indie game series out there scaring gamers out of their pants with creepy animatronic enemies and jumpscare deaths. It’s called Five Nights At Freddy’s, and the jumpscares are genuinely startling provided you’re wearing headphones while you play. But is the game really all that terrifying?

(YouTube Link)

Not really, but how else are you going to advertise a horror game than by playing up the scares? Seeing our elders play Five Nights At Freddy's in this fun video by The Fine Bros. may make you worry it'll scare them to death, but don’t worry- old folks don’t seem to give a crap about Freddy and his freaky crew.

-Via Polygon