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Mayfair DNA Giant Helix from The Witches' Companion Rendered on NightCafe |
For the record, migraines are one reason why the Parlor now uses a dark background and tries to make sure every font is large enough for people to see and read. Regardless of what font type is in use, you understand. If you've ever had to set your devices to use a dark background setting because the glare of a light background setting made your eyes and your head go bonkers in a most unpleasant way, that right there is why the Parlor has a dark background. Believe me, I have the same problem.
I am still chasing down font size, though.
For this blog post, I want to go into some detail as to how to find the Parlor's rather extensive collection of content. The original website is still live, and I do have my reasons for that. However, I've also been doing a lot to make sure nothing goes on there that I have not allowed or agreed to. Adding to the eternal confusion is the fact that the host does not allow me to create a navigation menu where I can organize a set of pages under one category, with pages in that category in a dropdown menu. In other words, the type of dropdown menu you will find at the top of the header of the landing page (of sorts) where this blog is.
Each category on the original website has been listed here under "Explore the Parlor". When you click on the action button in each category, it will take you to the main page of that category on the original site. From there, you'll see my dropdown menu for the category and a jump menu to anchor links in the page in a sub menu that runs cross the top of the page directly beneath the main navigation menu.
Today, let's start with the first category, The Mayfair Witches. That's the one with what I thought was an interesting result when I plugged in a description of Deirdre Mayfair in her rocking chair into NightCafe. There's an extra hand in there.
Guess who.
Anyway, the action button will take you to the page of the Parlor that lists each of the Legacy Mayfair Witches. This list includes Julien, Mona, and now Merrick Mayfair. I have added links to those other pages of the Parlor that discuss each witch specifically. For example, Rowan's Rage or Mona's Amelia Street house.
From this page, you'll also see it has that dropdown menu of pages that talk about the Mayfair Witches. One of the most visited pages of the Parlor in recent years is the Mayfair Witches Family Tree. This dropdown list is where you will find that page. You will also find genealogy-based tutorials, useful whether or not you're looking at the genealogy of the Mayfair Witches. Finally, you will find four pages that can also be found under three of the four characters each page is about.
Rowan Mayfair, Michael Curry, Mona Mayfair and Merrick Mayfair.
Before I go further, let me advise you: the genealogy of the Mayfair Witches does go into things that some might find sensitive. Although the content of the Mayfair genealogy provided by the Parlor comes straight from Anne Rice's novels, neither Anne Rice nor I necessarily agree with or condone certain actions of the characters. In fact, one way to approach this particular content might just be that they serve as a cautionary tale in their own way.
As regards pedigree collapse: while it is true that most have some degree of this in their own family tree, it's still generally not to the extent that it is found in the Mayfair Witches family tree. Not even close. I do want you to keep these things in mind as you learn more about this aspect of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches.
With the first three characters, the genealogy of the Mayfair Witches (including Julien Mayfair, who might or might not be the 8th witch instead of his sister, Katherine) is a major plot point. Yes, that includes Michael Curry. On each of these pages is a pedigree chart of each of them. These are charts I used my own genealogy software, Family Tree Maker, and my own profile avatars to create. The only exceptions with the profile avatars would be the ones for Merrick Mayfair, which were created from an image of an Olmec mask and a clear copy of the cover art for the 2000 hard cover edition of Merrick.
This idea came from my own research into my family tree. I made profile avatars for my direct lines so I could see which were maternal, which were paternal, which countries ancestors emigrated from, etc. Profile avatars let me see where certain patterns emerged in pedigree, for example, my Rhode Island ancestors. Another example is one of my personal favorites: the two paternal ancestors used for Mayfair 500: How Cousins Are Made. I thought about taking this same approach to see how a family tree like the Mayfair Witches would look.
As Stella Mayfair might have said, "What a scream!"
When I first began my site in 2008, I didn't have this software and basically had to draw out the lines for each character and then put them in PDF documents. I wanted something more thorough, though, so I finally made a file just for the Mayfair Witches of one family tree. Initially, I created one on Ancestry.com and marked it private until I uploaded a GEDCOM file of it to my software. After that, I removed that tree from Ancestry.com. Why? Because Ancestry.com is for actual people, not fiction characters.
It did, however, throw up some interesting hiccups when it tried to define the relationships between several of the Mayfairs! So does my software, actually.
My old PDFs are still available if you want to look, but they are mine, as are the pedigree charts of the four characters above. Careful: I had to convert those charts from BMP to JPG and they are still HUGE in size. You will see warnings like that whenever you come across any files, like graphics, that are enormous in file size on the Parlor.
What is important to note is that although each pedigree chart begins with the character whose relatedness page it's on, they are all from the same family tree. It is from this family tree that each character's relatedness chart as pertains to other characters in the Mayfair Witches novels is also built. It is the software that is capable of listing all the ways two people are related, which came in handy with the Mayfair Witches.
One page that is not in this category but might help to answer questions as regards the genetics of the Mayfair Witches is The Taltos and the Theory of Evolution. You will find this page of the Parlor under The Talamasca Files or you can look on the Site Map of the original site, which is in the main navigation at the top of each page of the Parlor.
What I REALLY want is a way to create navigation of the pages in a way that is NOT so complicated. For now, though, I'll do my best to direct traffic. I hope this will help you get started, though. If you have questions, please do let me know. I THINK this blog is open to comments...
