Dearest Ratties,

The gates of the Asylum Inner Circle creaked this morning, then a great rumbling was heard, then the clicking of a thousand tiny claws, and at last, the towering iron bars swung wide. They will stand open for a single week—on May 8th, they close again until June 1st.

But this time, the welcoming of new Inmates feels...different.

When the Inner Circle first opened, we were all stepping through the gates together. The Ward was new. The cells were still being lit. The first doors were still being found.

Now, to say the Ward has a life of its own would be a theatrical understatement.

There are gatherings nearly every day, studio livestreams, Inmates hosting events, songs being built, creative growth at every turn—and a truly unique world that has developed its own language, its own built-in support system, and its own peculiar brand of joy.

Emilie Autumn in the Striped Stocking Studio with a banana.

And if you're about to claim your Key to the Circle, I don't want you to feel lost for a moment. So, for those entering now, I’m offering something I never have before:

Each new Inmate who enters during this week’s opening will be invited to a private Welcome Tea Party with me, just the two of us. Together, we'll choose your first doors, help you meet your first friends inside the Ward, and begin your story within these striped walls with me as your guide.

Claim Your Key

And if you are already inside the walls—I’ll see you tomorrow, live from Striped Stocking Studio. The British Bakeoff version of Girls Will Be Girls isn’t going to orchestrate itself.