About 'mons

ohmygoshsabolivesohmygoshsabolivesohmygoshsabolivesOHMYGOSHSABOLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES
*cough* *cough*
So, I've heard that the old rivalry between the two shows, Pokémon and Digimon has resurfaced. This has most to do with things like Black Kyurem/White Kyurem and the Mega Evolutions reminding people of Digimon.
So fanboys are arguing that which one is ripping each other off. Ripping off what exactly? Both shows are about kids in a strange world where inhabitants are monsters that become bigger and stronger in a process (incorrectly) called "evolution". Otherwise, the shows are like day and night.
Note that in most continuities of the Pokémon series, there is one world where humans and Pokémon coexist. In Digimon, the titular monsters live in a realm created by human computers and somehow, a small group of human kids get into that world. A major plot point is travelling between Digital World and Tokyo City.
There are an exact number of Pokémon that rises by around a hundred every three years. Currently (2013), its 718. All Pokémon are listed in the Pokédex, a Pokémon encyclopedia that gives us a bit explanation over several things. Meanwhile, Digimon is not nearly as consistent about that - each series has their own set of 'mons and some sets overlap in inconsistent ways.
Oh, and the series have completely separate origins. Pokémon started out as an unusual RPG idea by Satoshi Tajiri known as Capsule Monsters. Digimon was made when some guys at Bandai figured that Tamagotchis seem to be rather unpopular among boys and sought out to fix this. Then it was made an anime and a card game out of the stuff, and the rising fandoms met each other, and it was not pretty.
Oh, and SABO LIVES!!!!!!! YAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAY... I wonder what this leads to.

Global butterfly

So, the new Pokémon have come. And among them is the new Bug-type, Vivillon.
It certainly looks interesting. The colour on its wings depends on the geographical location of the OT. For example, "Icy Snow" can be gotten from Finland, Norway and parts of Canada and "Continental" from West Europe, Korea, Sweden, Russia and parts of US.
This rises a question. How are they going to deal with this gimmick in anime? Or Mystery Dungeon and Ranger games? Or TCG? Game Freak seems rather inconsiderate to adaptations and spin-offs at times, but this takes the cake.
In the past, the TCG's success at duplicating several gimmicks of the Pokémon has varied in success. They did do Eevee and Ditto right, but Nincada's evolutionary line should be checked. At least some versions of Shedinja's Poké-Body make sense considering its actual gimmick. The Pokémon Powers/Poké-Bodies/Poké-Powers helped save many a gimmick, but with Vivillon, it's damn much impossible.
Ditto, Eevee, Unown, Wobbuffett, Slaking, Shedinja, Plusle & Minun, Spinda, Castform, Kecleon, Shellos, Chatot, Phione, Sigilyph, Zoroark, Vivillon, Malamar... Really, why doesn't Digimon have any shit like this?
Anyone remember Digimon? I guess not.

Mentally challenged zombie

What exactly is the entertainment industry trying to tell us about people with mental issues? The first thing that comes to mind is, obviously, Hannibal Lecter. His depiction is not one of a human being, but one of a monster. That mask is actually supposed to prevent him from biting people, for he is actually a cannibal. It's basically a muzzle. They're just treating him like a rabid dog. And him helping the police is not compared to Sherlock Holmes solving cases as much as it is seen as the police desperately using a dangerous and unstable weapon.
Even worse than Lecter must be the sociopath that the other sociopaths and psychiatrists run away from out of pure fear - the Joker. With his dread pale face, crimson red lips and poisonous green hair, the Joker doesn't even look like a human being. He could be thought of as death - or alternatively, dead. He's supposed to look like a clown, isn't he? And a popular explanation for coulrophobia is that clowns look like corpses or zombies. Remember that in his (usual) origin story, he fell into an acid vat. As everyone knows, acid is hazardous for life. The Joker should thus be dead by now. In fact, he is dead, or so he said in the 1989 movie.

Jack Napier is dead. I am the Joker.

~the Joker

The Joker is not as much evil as he is outside nature, something science can't explain. That's actually quite a metaphor how general populace sees mental problems - or rather, madness. The word 'mad' was originally used of them before it was understood that it was a phenomenon. When the word was replaced with 'mentally challenged' people simply thought that it's something doctors and therapists could comprehend, not regular people. They could still avoid the issue of talking about it, since it was a taboo. That continued until recently 'mentally challenged' became a taboo too and psychiatrists started to use the more precise terms such as 'bipolar disorder' and 'manic-depressive' and so on. Now it was something to understand, to be explained. Yet this didn't prevent Hollywood and the such from continuing to use the character archetype.

Bellemeré is Luffy's mother

Want a crazy hypothesis? Here you have one!
(NOTE: This is for One Piece fans and may contain spoilers.)

So, Monkey D. Luffy's dad is the Revolutionary Dragon and granddad is Vice Admiral Garp. But who's his mom? I was first thinking that she was probably another revolutionary, but then I asked myself that how exactly did Garp get his hands in baby Luffy? Then I figured that Dragon might be a former Marine who had an affair with another (female) Marine. After Dragon turned against the Marines, they broke up but the girl was pregnant. Then Garp took care of her and got Luffy under his protection. I wasn't sure what happened to her then.
Then I started thinking. A female Marine soldier who had similar facial features as Luffy, was anti-authority and old enough to be his mom - Bellemeré?
Maybe that would mean that after Garp took care of Luffy, Bellemeré blamed herself for leaving him behind and took Nami and Nojiko to her foster so she could atone. Which would imply that Dragon could have saved Cocoyashi at any moment had he known about Bellemeré.
Also, Nami is, obviously, Luffy's sister, in a sense. I wonder how will LuNa fans take it. Then again, Return of the Jedi didn't stop Luke/Leia shippers at all. Unfortunately.

Speaking of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda is now married and has kids. I wonder if he still lives in that cardboard apartment.
And speaking of crazy hypotheses, Tengu of El Goonish Shive is totally Vlad Tepes Dracula. In Bram Stoker's original novel, Dracula was described as being able to shift size and shape. Tengu appears vaguely demonic, but his true form is humanoid and he mentioned being "infamously known throughout Europe". Also, he's a pervert. Totally Dracula.