Pondathon: New Side Quest Available – Aunty Buaya is Here!

New to the Pondathon’s story?
Read this prologue first or read the previous chapter.

If there is anything that Aunty Buaya deserves after many years of service to the ancient order of the Knights of Strongjaw, it is the undisturbed quiet.

Having served decades as a Paladile for the ancient order called the Knights of Strongjaw, defending small critters from all walks of life from cruel and wicked beings, she can now appreciate the peace of simply being. For her, ‘simply being’ means sitting by the river-bed with her wife, tending to her garden (though she is absolutely horrendous at it), and finding cheap fresh produce at the local market with her trusty rolling bag.

Today, Aunty Buaya has decided to harvest her carrots – which took too long to grow and she simply cannot bear to wait for them to grow any longer. Unbeknownst to her though, the Pond friends continue defending the Pond against the darkness’s relentless attacks.

Aunty Buaya Rants: Addressing the ‘Costs of Book Blogging’ “Debate”

Shortly after I published the third part of the Costs of Book Blogging series, the post received some traction and the posts and their responses circulated around Twitter and Facebook.

My primary goal of my collaborative series is to give book bloggers a voice. I wanted to give book bloggers the opportunity to talk about topics that we don’t often talk about to promote greater transparency, greater awareness and understanding. Ordinarily, I don’t mind at all if people talk about my posts without directly involving me. I don’t mind if people dislike what I have to say or disagree with my opinions. People can say what they want to say; they can think what they want to think.

I acknowledge that the ‘debate’ prompted excellent discussion and encouraged people to reflect on the monetary costs of book blogging for themselves and others. I’ve subsequently read a lot of great and insightful blog posts that responded to the debate, offering their perspective or sharing their own costs of book blogging.

However, the tweets that prompted the ‘debate’ blatantly misconstrued and misrepresented the purpose of the Cost of Book Blogging collaboration series. Many of the responses that followed were ignorant, arrogant, hurtful, and were expressions of unchecked privilege. So today, I’m going to call them out on it. 

Meet the Pond’s Favourite Aunty [Introducing The Pond’s Newest Character!]

You heard that there was some commotion in the Pond recently. Maybe today’s a good day to check up on your friends and see how they are doing.

When you enter the Pond, you notice Xiaolong kneeling by the water and peering into it. You can’t quite hear what she’s saying in the distance, but you can hear that she sounds a little worried, perhaps a little scared. When you approach, you realise that Xiaolong is talking to… a large piece of driftwood? How odd!

“Xiaolong!” you call out, waving to her.

Xiaolong turns to the sound of your voice, and gives you her big goofy smile. “Hi friend!”

But before you can take another step, a sudden explosion from the Pond shatters the quiet.