About

All about ASK and the Syphon Continuity

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Read Now (it's free)

Thank you for joining us here in the Syphon Continuity! For new readers, here's what you need to know:

You can start reading now! Chapters 0-3 of The Butterfly Koi (book 1) are available to read for free now without logging in.
To keep reading, become a free subscriber. You'll have immediate access to all 47 chapters of The Butterfly Koi. As we start to release future writings, we'll send them straight to your inbox.
If you enjoy what you're reading, please consider supporting the writing here as a paid subscriber for $4/month. This includes periodic short stories, Hotdish essays, exclusive art, and interesting links from across the internet. This would also officially make you an all-around amazing person.

Who is ASK?

A. Sherman Karlsson is the pen name for two academic women in a trenchcoat who have been collaborators across moves abroad to Japan and South Korea, Master’s degrees in Sociology and Japan Studies, and two PhDs.

To our writing, we brought our fascination with how culture shapes thinking, our fury about the ways that modern capitalism disenfranchises individuals, and our delight in the absurdities of life, aiming to create a compulsively readable critique refracted through a fantastical lens.

Wait, what's going on with this book series?

The Butterfly Koi is book 1 of a 5-book series. We’ve just finished sharing book 1, one chapter per week. Currently, we're taking a short break to post a few side stories as we work on book 2 and a few other surprise projects.

We’d love to write even more in the Syphon Continuity given the time, including more short stories and other series set in the same universe. If you’d like to support this, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

What are the benefits of being a subscriber?

Becoming a subscriber means being an amazing person. In addition, subscribers receive the following benefits:

Benefits	Free	Paid
Book 1: The Butterfly Koi	✓	✓
Syphon Continuity: After Dark comics (periodic)	✓	✓
Bento: Short Stories (periodic)	✕	✓
Hotdish: On Writing and Everything Else (periodic)	✕	✓
Exclusive art and illustrations	✕	✓
Interesting links	✕	✓
Be amazing - support more writing	✕	✓
Cost per month (USD)	$0	$4

Subscription Q&A

Why are you asking me to subscribe to read for free? I hate giving people my email address.

We get it. We hate giving out our email addresses to some rando on the internet too. Really, we just want for people to join us in the world we're writing here. Unfortunately, we also live in the darkest timeline where people sometimes grab text and try to sell it on book websites with ironic smiley logos or feed it into the gaping maw of AI*. So, this is just the most basic of safeguards against that nonsense.

* In case it's not clear above: no rights are granted to use this work for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies.

Are you planning to sell my information to advertisers? Send me spam?

No, we're much too busy being angry about capitalism to do that. Your email address will only be used for purposes of receiving writing and related things we make. Unsubscribe at any time.

You know, I could easily get around this free subscription and do all the nonsense. Do you want to see me do it?

Please don't. :)

Okay, so you say you hate capitalism and just want to write but then you have this option to pay you money right here on your site. What do you have to say for yourself?

If people enjoy reading and toss over a little money, then we could potentially quit our day jobs to write more stories. Plus, if you pay us who create directly, you'll be spiting all the bourgeoisie looking to profit from owning the means of production without creating themselves. So, really, it's a win-win opportunity.

How else can I support this project?

Consider sharing this project with others. The book is free, so you’re welcome to share chapters with any of your human friends, post about the project on social media—anything helps!

But also, because we live in the weirdest timeline: No rights are granted to use this work for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies.

Where else can I find ASK online?

This website is the primary place for ASK posting, but we are also on social media here:

We used to be on Ream but have moved to our own site here--in this day and age, it's worth it to own your own space. You're invited to subscribe for free to receive larger writing, including fiction and essays.

Or if you're a user of RSS, here is the link to our RSS feed.

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