<script data-pm-proxy="intercept"></script><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[We are SEAblings]]></title><description><![CDATA[The gathering place for Southeast Asian Writers]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AEuq!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faeb9442f-0263-4c60-abfa-e67b8251c8db_500x500.png</url><title>We are SEAblings</title><link>https://seablings.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 20:40:20 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[seablings@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[seablings@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[seablings@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[seablings@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #11: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 23:01:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:3744,&quot;width&quot;:5616,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;brown and gray concrete wall with brown wooden door&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="brown and gray concrete wall with brown wooden door" title="brown and gray concrete wall with brown wooden door" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585747477469-502ca39d8a08?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxwZW5hbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NTQwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Murals in Georgetown, Penang, in Malaysia. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@yaopey">Yaopey Yong</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-11-tell-us-what/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #10: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what</guid><pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:01:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:5650,&quot;width&quot;:7958,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;brown and white concrete building under blue sky during daytime&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="brown and white concrete building under blue sky during daytime" title="brown and white concrete building under blue sky during daytime" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1610426714962-83caa2244105?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxsYW9zfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NzMwOTY4MHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@lifeontheroad">Life on the road</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/business-and-economics">Business &amp; Economics</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-10-tell-us-what/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #9: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:56:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:4128,&quot;width&quot;:6192,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Merlion statue spouting water in singapore at night&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="Merlion statue spouting water in singapore at night" title="Merlion statue spouting water in singapore at night" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1775306963755-8897be3967bb?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxzaW5nYXBvcmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzg3MzA5NjMwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Singapore. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jayjayli">Jayjayli</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-9-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #8: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:3298,&quot;width&quot;:5864,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;a large white building with a gold dome&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="a large white building with a gold dome" title="a large white building with a gold dome" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1709808971463-270bae12b837?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxicnVuZWl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgzNjM3Nzg2fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Lambak Kanan, Brunei. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@hungli_photo">Hung Li</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-8-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #7: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:01:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:2592,&quot;width&quot;:4608,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Angkor Wat, Cambodia&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="Angkor Wat, Cambodia" title="Angkor Wat, Cambodia" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566706546199-a93ba33ce9f7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxjYW1ib2RpYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2MzAyMzl8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@vicky_t">Vicky T</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-7-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #6: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:2247,&quot;width&quot;:3000,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;aerial photography of boat on sea&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="aerial photography of boat on sea" title="aerial photography of boat on sea" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540263579433-e0ef3a3f6de9?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHx0aW1vci1sZXN0ZXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODM2Mjk5ODd8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Akrema, on the northern tip of Atauro Island, is an hour by speedboat from Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. TImor-Leste joined ASEAN in 2025. Welcome, Seabling! Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@tanushreerao">Tanushree Rao</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-6-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #5: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:2304,&quot;width&quot;:3456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;black building on gray rock hill&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="black building on gray rock hill" title="black building on gray rock hill" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518548419970-58e3b4079ab2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNXx8aW5kb25lc2lhfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MzYyOTQ4Nnww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">A temple in Bali, Indonesia. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@harrykessell">Harry Kessell</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p><strong>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.</strong>  </p><p>If you are a reader, and you are subscribed to this newsletter, <strong>the meat and potatoes of this issue is in the comment thread</strong>! So, head over to the comments section of this issue and you can find the links to the latest Substack issues from the Seablings. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><p>If you are a Southeast Asian creative, we invite you to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105851641932186346495">join the directory</a>.</p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Then, <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread, and <strong>share the links to their Substack</strong> to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-5-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #4: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-4-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-4-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" width="1200" height="950.5736981465137" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:3590,&quot;width&quot;:4532,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:1200,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;cars on road near buildings during daytime&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-large" alt="cars on road near buildings during daytime" title="cars on road near buildings during daytime" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580438816338-969175d4b367?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyOHx8c2luZ2Fwb3JlfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTA4MzYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Keong Saik Road, Potato Head, Singapore. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kharlpaica">Kharl Anthony Paica</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings </em>will host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.  </p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-4-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-4-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #3: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-3-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-3-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" width="1200" height="799.8553345388789" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:1843,&quot;width&quot;:2765,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:1200,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;yellowa nd green wagon&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-large" alt="yellowa nd green wagon" title="yellowa nd green wagon" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1553323855-cc1abf1930d2?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8cGhpbGlwcGluZXN8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxMTg4MDkyfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Las Casas, Bagac, Philippines. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@thevernon">Vernon Raineil Cenzon</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings,</em> we host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.  </p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-3-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-3-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #2: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-2-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-2-tell-us-what-have</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" width="1200" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:3648,&quot;width&quot;:5472,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:1200,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;green and brown lighted building during night time&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-large" alt="green and brown lighted building during night time" title="green and brown lighted building during night time" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583027231184-472305c7ed92?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMTR8fGt1YWxhJTIwbHVtcHVyfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4NzEwM3ww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">The Saloma Bridge in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@amarsyaz">Amar Syazwan Rosman</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time) on <em>We Are SEAblings,</em> we will have the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.  </p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-2-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-2-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seablings' Soiree #1: Tell us what have you been up to (or have created) this week! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drop a link, share a story, and catch up with Seablings and other folks from around the world.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-1-tell-us-what-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-1-tell-us-what-have</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:01:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset image2-full-screen"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:3649,&quot;width&quot;:5838,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;people walking on bridge during daytime&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-fullscreen" alt="people walking on bridge during daytime" title="people walking on bridge during daytime" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559592413-7cec4d0cae2b?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHx2aWV0bmFtfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4MTE4Njc1NXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Golden Bridge on Ba Na Hills, Vietnam, Da Nang. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@elfcodobelf">Andreea Popa</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Let&#8217;s talk! Every Friday morning (GMT +8 time), <em>We Are SEAblings,</em> we host the Seablings Soiree, a space where we can share our latest writing, hang out and get to know each other.</p><p>No topic is too big, too small, or too random. Whether you&#8217;ve just published a new issue, want to ask a question, need feedback, or simply feel like celebrating a small win, this thread is for you. </p><p>Drop a link to your latest Substack post below, along with a short note about what it&#8217;s and don&#8217;t forget to browse what others are sharing.  </p><h2>Browse the directory</h2><p><a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/i-defy-categorisation">I defy categorisation</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/fiction-or-poetry">Fiction or Poetry</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/food-and-culture">Food &amp; Culture</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/personal-essays-memoir-creative-non">Personal essays, memoir, creative non-fiction</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/health-and-wellness">Health &amp; Wellness</a> | <a href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/politics-current-events-and-social">Current events and social issues</a></p><h2>What is We Are SEAblings about?</h2><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where:</p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place.</p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><p>The directory is open to Southeast Asian creators.</p><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover.</p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.</em></p></li></ol><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed.</p><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>Here are some prompts to get you going:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you&#8217;ve been up to</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>What&#8217;s on your mind lately</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Vietnamese writer based in Hanoi. I&#8217;ve been really busy lately, and it seems as if all I&#8217;m doing is leaving home and going to work, but I still managed to write something this week. This week I wrote about a memory I&#8217;ve been holding on for the longest time. You can read it at &#8230;. </em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-1-tell-us-what-have/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/seablings-soiree-1-tell-us-what-have/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading We are SEAblings! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Doors Are Open: Be a SEAbling!]]></title><description><![CDATA[An invitation to be a part of a warm and cosy community of Southeast Asians.]]></description><link>https://seablings.substack.com/p/the-doors-are-open-join-the-we-are</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://seablings.substack.com/p/the-doors-are-open-join-the-we-are</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Elizabeth Tai]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:01:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="/__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="/__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_424, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_webp, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 424w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_848, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_webp, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 848w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_1272, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_webp, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 1272w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_1456, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_webp, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="/__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png" width="500" height="500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:500,&quot;width&quot;:500,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:26850,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/i/199726126?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="/__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_424, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_auto, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 424w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_848, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_auto, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 848w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_1272, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_auto, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 1272w, /__u/substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VKo1!, /__u/seablings.substack.com/w_1456, /__u/seablings.substack.com/c_limit, /__u/seablings.substack.com/f_auto, /__u/seablings.substack.com/q_auto:good, /__u/seablings.substack.com/fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F245a4e9d-a112-4050-adc9-04f190ad0b29_500x500.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p><strong>The </strong><em><strong>We Are SEAblings</strong></em><strong> directory is now open for submissions!</strong> If you&#8217;re a writer, thinker, creator or storyteller from Southeast Asia, this is your opportunity to add your Substack to the directory.</p><p>If you&#8217;re <em>not </em>from Southeast Asia, you&#8217;re welcome to hang out with us and get to know us.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>An aside from the editor:</strong> <em>I was so surprised to discover that We Are SEAblings have 41 subscribers after a few days hatching from my head as an idea. Thank you all, for your confidence in this little project. It is my biggest wish that We Are SEAblings will be a cosy gathering place for all of us, whether you&#8217;re a SEAbling or not.</em></p><div><hr></div><h2>Why Create This Directory?</h2><p>Substack is an incredible platform, but Southeast Asian voices often get drowned out in the noise. After fussing about the lack of SEAbling voices for years, I decided to just get up and do something about it, so this is how the directory came to be, heavily inspired by <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Niko Batallones&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:113060424,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/17318eb1-7743-4b89-92f9-15ba54183534_2863x2863.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;7a8925e5-1b1b-461b-91d4-86fb629127e3&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>&#8217;s wonderful <strong><a href="/__u/stacknatin.substack.com/">Stack Natin</a></strong>.</p><p><em>We Are SEAblings</em> is a place where: </p><p>&#9989; Readers can discover authentic SEA perspectives in one place. </p><p>&#9989; Southeast Asian creators can connect and get to know each other.</p><p>&#9989; Our stories are centered, celebrated and heard&#8212;no explanations required.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Different Degrees of Participation</h2><p>Here&#8217;s how you can be a part of the community. </p><p><strong>Level 1:</strong> Just join us in our weekly threads by interacting in the comments.</p><p><strong>Level 2:</strong> If you&#8217;re a SEAbling, add your Substack to the directory.</p><p><strong>Level 3: </strong>After adding your Substack to the directory, be featured in a post, which will be sent out to <em>We Are SEAblings </em>subscribers. </p><p>That&#8217;s right, I leave the option of joining the directory (or not) to you. No pressure. Participate as much or as little as you want.</p><h2>How to Join the Directory</h2><ol><li><p><strong>Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyE_zXMbVtt2-v8OT1RBqN_rkWevfAkRNoThlodyx3923pcA/viewform">form</a></strong> (it takes less than 5 minutes!).</p></li><li><p><strong>Get listed and start connecting!</strong> Once approved, your work will be featured in our directory for readers to discover. </p><p></p><p><em>As this is early days, and depending on the number of submissions we get, it could take us a few days to set things up.  </em></p></li></ol><div><hr></div><p><strong>Note:</strong> You do not need to be Southeast Asian to subscribe to the newsletter. Subscribe to <em>We Are SEAblings</em> you&#8217;re curious about Southeast Asian culture, writing, lifestyles and perspectives.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/subscribe"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div><hr></div><h2><strong>&#127775; </strong>What&#8217;s Next?</h2><p>For now, we&#8217;re keeping it simple. Here&#8217;s what you can look forward to in the coming weeks:</p><ul><li><p>&#9749; <strong>SEAblings&#8217; Soiree* </strong>&#8211; A weekly casual space to share your work, chat about anything, and connect with fellow SEAblings. Non-SEA folks are encouraged to join the chatter to get to know us.</p></li><li><p><strong>Featured SEAbling</strong> &#8211; Where a SEAbling who is listed in the directory can talk about his/her Substack and introduce herself to the community. </p></li></ul><p><em>* Thanks <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Niko Batallones&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:113060424,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/17318eb1-7743-4b89-92f9-15ba54183534_2863x2863.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;c14655c2-1f3d-46c9-bb6c-b93b5220b579&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>! I&#8217;m all about the alliteration, as you know! haha</em></p><div><hr></div><h2><strong>&#128150; </strong>A Quick Reminder</h2><p>Let&#8217;s keep our discussions and chatter respectful and fun. There will be active moderation and rude, disrespectful, spammy comments will be removed. </p><div><hr></div><h2><strong>&#128172; </strong>Our First Gathering: Let&#8217;s Talk!</h2><p>While you&#8217;re here, let&#8217;s <strong>kick off our first gathering</strong>! Leave a comment below this post and tell us:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Who you are</strong> (name, country of origin, where you&#8217;re based now. You don&#8217;t have to be from Southeast Asia).</p></li><li><p><strong>What you write about</strong> (or what you&#8217;re passionate about).</p></li><li><p><strong>One thing you&#8217;re excited to share or learn</strong> in this community.</p></li><li><p><strong>Your latest Substack entry</strong> and why you wrote it (optional)</p></li><li><p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to <strong>reply to other comments</strong> in the thread to get the chatter going ;)</p></li></ul><p><em>Example:</em></p><blockquote><p><em>Hi everyone! I&#8217;m [Name], a Malaysian writer based in Kuala Lumpur. I write about food, culture, and the little stories that make our traditions so special. I&#8217;m excited to connect with fellow SEAblings and maybe even collaborate on a project or two!</em></p></blockquote><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://seablings.substack.com/p/the-doors-are-open-join-the-we-are/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="/__u/seablings.substack.com/p/the-doors-are-open-join-the-we-are/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p><div><hr></div><h2> </h2>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>