Greetings, stranger.

I find myself delighted to lay my rather large eyes on you. A purrfectly delicious mystery awaits you. Won't you come this way?

I've been a bad kitty-- a very naughty, naughty feline, indeed. You see, today is Alice's Unbirthday, and all the inhabitants of Wonderland had planned to join her and the Mad Hatter for tea and cake. But, the Mad Hatter, being quite a bit off his rocker, is requiring that everyone wear a hat to the party. Anyone without a hat cannot attend.

Whoops! Mysteriously, *smile* all the hats in Wonderland have gone missing. What a shame, what a shame. Whatever shall we do?

I know what we shall do. You and I, stranger, we shall go to the party together. I hear the cake is delicious this year, and there will be plenty for us.

Except, wait! HA! You cannot!!! You have no hat, either! I suppose you'll have to stay here, too, then. Very well. Goodbye.

What do you mean that's not fair

It's perfectly fair and logical. The rules say you must have a hat. You have no hat. Too bad. You lose. So sad.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Wow, I'll just have to find one of the hats that were lost in Wonderland. I'm a step ahead of you. You can't just take someone else's hat. Then, what are they to wear? You must build your own. Maybe if you find the villagers' hats for them, they will tell you what your own hat should look like. Here's a hint: It should be very unusual-- the more unusual, the better.

How it Works

Well, why are you just standing there? Go get started! I'll even give you the characters' addresses:

Queen of Hearts
Alice
White Rabbit
Dormouse
The Caterpillar
The Mad Hatter
The March Hare
The Gryphon
The Mock Turtle
Alice's Sister
Dinah the Cat
The Duck
Tweedle Dee
Tweedle Dum
The Doorknob
Jabberwocky
The Walrus
The Pigeon

What to do

Go to each page. The characters will have a clue to where to find THEIR hat either in the open or hidden somewhere on their front profile page. Solve the clue and find the hat, then note that character the link to their hat. He or she will give you a clue for making YOUR hat.

But hurry

You only have until noon PT on Wednesday, August 6th to collect all of the clues. When you have collected them, you must turn in a list of your ANSWERS via NOTE to The White Queen by noon on the 6th. When you turn in your answers, The White Queen will give you the location of our party. 

The Rules

Very well. I shall give you the rules so you don't get beheaded lose your way.

1. Work alone. Prizes will be awarded for the highest number of correct answers, so it is to your benefit to help no one (feel free to mislead them if they ask for help, however . . .)
2. Work alone.
3. Work alone.
4. You may NOT note the character to ask where their hat is. Do not note them until you can provide them with a link to their lost hat.
5. Only note the characters on the list. Any other hearts are off-limits.
6. Be nice.
7. Work alone.
8. Turn in your answers to The White Queen by August 6th at 12 noon PT.
9. Work alone.

Prizing

I suppose you want a prize, too. If you insist. I will be awarding 2,000 points and a 6-month premium membership each to the 3 people with the highest number of correct answers. If there is a tie, the prizes will go to the first 3 who turned them in.

Moreover, you must participate in this phase of the contest if you want to participate in the next contest. Oops, I've said too much.

If you need help . . .

If you stumble, never fear. Your faithful friend, Cheshire, is here. Should you have trouble with a clue, you can send me a NOTE. I might not lead you astray. Or I might. Or I might not. But I might. Either way, you must note me. Any comments left here asking for help will get you disqualified.

Do I hear jingling in your pocket? You know, you can always buy my loyalty and affection-- but with hearts, not coins. My own heart has been a bit cold lately. Just send me a NOTE with links to some hearts. You can find hearts hidden on the front profile pages of SOME (not all) of deviantART's most warm-"hearted" members. Who could those be? I want the hearts. I want them all. I WILL TELL YOU THINGS!

Warning: You can only use each set of hearts one time, or risk disqualification.

tl;dr

Visit the pages of each character listed above.
Find the clue hidden or in plain sight on their front profile page. If you don't find it right away, that means it's hidden and you have to look for it. Do not note the character for help.
Follow the clue to find their hat.  The link to their hat may not be on their profile page.  It may be on someone elses page, in their gallery or in a group or chat room.
Follow the clue to find their hat.
Note the character with a link to their hat.
They will give you another clue. That clue tells you what to put in YOUR hat. Don't respond to the character; just make a note of your answer and move on.
Note Cheshire Cat if you have any questions or need a hint (or even an answer to a clue).
Look on other Community Volunteers front pages to find hidden links to hearts. Some will have them, some will not. There are 8 in total with hearts: Aeirmid, Anoya, PirateLotus-Stock, Nyx-Valentine, Kaz-D, Brookette, STelari, and pullingcandy. Link Cheshire to those hearts to bribe her for information. Use them in any combination, but you can only use each set of hearts once. Try to use them more, and you get disqualified. Sets with more hearts will get you more information.
When you have answered all the clues (or as many as you can), send a list of your answers to The White Queen. She will give you the link to the party. Do this by 12 noon Pacific Time on Wednesday, August 6th. That's 3 PM Eastern, 8 PM in Western Europe, and 9 PM in Central Europe.

Need More Fun?

Join the Dormouse for the Birthday Hat Contest but hurry, time is running out.  Deadline for entries is August 7th 11:59:59 AM (PT)

Get your funny hat on and get involved with the 14th Birthday Caption Contest which runs until August 9th.

Participate in The Unbirthday Literature Contest which runs until August 19th.

Join us ALL DAY for Unbirthday Chat and Forum events!!
  



*Disappears, leaving only a smile*