Review
Splash Pages
No splash
First Impressions
Okay, first of all I'd just like to inform you that I am a walking contradiction, and I blame you entirely.
"Fucking bitch, she's getting smart ALREADY? She usually starts this shit in the Content section! Screw this, man"
No no...wait on...I've been trying to review your site ever since you e-mailed me asking me to take you off the secondary queue. Yet every time I come near your site I find myself absorbed in one of your reads no less, and then going off to do something else. Like, stare at the walls or dream of hitting the USA with $20,000 USD under my belt. And using such funds to purchase the coveted Louis Vuitton monogram bag - in BLACK, NOT WHITE!!11111. Yeah. The last time I tried to start this review I got carried away with one of your external links - the virtual tarot card reading one. I call myself a walking contradiction because I normally find reads and whatnot very....unsavoury, and bleat and rant about them accordingly. You seem to have some interesting ones though...that I have *shock* never seen before...this review's going to be interesting. Enough of these disturbing musings...1-2-3 go! Wtf? Why did I just type that? Oh, ANYWAY...(would say "newayz" instead but this is a review m'am, and I need to do the whole "try and fool everyone into thinking I'm professional" thing) So yeah. Righto. Freaked you out before I've even started - a new record! Yay!
My first impression is...whoa! Your header image is ENORMOUS! Whilst it has been designed very well and is certainly eye catching, that doesn't take away the fact that it is incredibly large.
Layout
Your layout image measures in at an astounding 902 x 602, with a file size of 450.8KB. The size definitely reflects in the time it took to load first up, I take it you yourself are on a fast connection? Ideally a header image should be small enough so that you can see at least the beginning of your sidebar / main content area without having to scroll down the page - you can still make a nice header image with a reduced size, believe me. As for reducing the FILE size, in future just play around in Photoshop with the "Save For Web" option, or if you have Paint Shop Pro I believe it is the Export option or Optimise. I've read at several sources that the ideal header image size should be 50 KB or under...that is well and good if you do not have a graphically intense header like you or I, so I'd just say anything under 80 KB is fine. I do realise that this layout is very artistic, but you can honestly still come up with something nice and detailed with a reduced size.
As for the design itself...it really is quite remarkable, I like it a lot. Fantasy...gothic...Victoriana...this image brings all three to mind. Is that Frodo from Lord of the Rings in the middle? It looks like him....
Content
Me
Well, there's a decent helping of content here from the looks of it, most of which looks quite appealing.
About Me - sadly there isn't a great detail of information here that gives the visitor a proper insight into your life...you've given a few details yes, but moreso concerning your personality rather than anything else. One thing I noticed that was missing was your location...if you're a private person then of course you shouldn't give out your town or city, but surely your country at least?
Five Senses - I don't really understand this page, how come you've got the last letter of every sense in lowercase? Eg TASTe, SMELl and so on? It looks a little strange. Under Sight, all your I's should be capitalised, as they have been elsewhere on this page. Under Hear, change I head breathing to I heard breathing, and under Touch it should be I touched him in a gentle embrace.
Music - Great, a list. That's all well and good, but perhaps you could elaborate on this. Why do you like these bands? What are your favourite genres? What are your favourite songs from all of these bands? Expand on these, it'd be more interesting that way rather than just reading a list.
Name - Damn, a cut and paste from Kabalaarians.com (link doesn't work by the way). This would have been more interesting if you had explained things in your own words instead of solely relying on a cut and pasted segment from an external site.
Poetry - In your intro to this page, you've got "Check out my prose and short stories while your at it.", well this link is in your navigation for this section anyway, so why have it twice? Also, your = you're. These poems were great, you've got a talent for this lark. Very descriptive, and enjoyable to read.
Photos - these load on a different page, was this intentional?
Prose and short stories - again, you've got the link for your poems here, when we've already covered this. The link doesn't work, so if you must have it up in the first place, make it correct. Only one piece here, but that's all right. On your intro, change Alchohaul to Alcohol. God...just as well you put up a warning, this story was heavy, maaan! Very graphic, and certainly not for the faint hearted. It was written very well, and it was a gripping read. Well done!! You should totally add more.
Seven Deadly Sins - this is a really neat way of giving out more information about yourself, including facts and aspects of your personality. Original!
Survey, worlds' longest - wow, five hundred questions? This must have taken a while to fill out...
Wishlist - I wonder, do these ever work? I mean, has anyone ever put up a wishlist and someone's come along and brought them something off of it? Damn! Well, I hope someone buys something for you! These things have gotta work for at least one of us...
Visitor
Again, shitloads of content here. I can spot some generic content, but also some potential gems - it's always good to have a balance, so well done with that.
Graphics - first of all your avatars were not crap, as you say they are! Trust me babe, I've seen crap, okay, and yours are NOT crap. You've a great selection here as well. I also liked your blank buttons, and you've provided plenty of these. Unlike most other blank buttons personal sites seem to offer, yours are actually colourful and detailed, and do not look like one minute rush jobs in MS Paint. Nice work. Some cute pixels here too, I wish I could pixel. I've tried before and I just can't bloody well do it.
Downloads - hey, cool brushes. I'd probably download some of these if I was ever interested in making a new layout...which I'm not. What are deskmates? They look cute, but what purpose do they serve exactly? Is it a Windows thing? Maybe you should explain what they are for. What site did you get your fonts from? Don't forget to give credit when credit's due. With your wallpaper, you've provided wallpapers for 800 x 600 and 1152 x 864...what about good old 1024 x 768? I believe that resolution is the most commonly used.
Reads - Am bypassing these because I really have seen them several times before, particularly "90's kid" and "Longest Palindrome". You can put up whatever content you see fit as it is YOUR site, but try and bear in mind that quality comes before quantity, and that your site should be unique to you, so try and refrain from having a lot of generic content that numerous other sites have.
Important Reads - well, can't argue with that. In fact these particular reads are what I got caught up in when I've come to your site previously. These are all highly interesting and informative, and anyone who visits your site should definitely read them ALL.
Inside the Mind of a Self Injurer - wow...I'm lost for words. This is an account of your own struggle through self injury, complete with related links at the end. I hope you are still self injury free to this day. I know how it is, I promise you.
How tos - cool, haven't seen anything like this before. The How to have a trendy website page was particularly interesting...just as well you revealed it was a piss take at the end! I was laughing out loud, believe me! Under Generators, Alt Conveter should be Alt Converter.
Interactive - wow, quite possibly the first interactive section I've seen that contains nothing but original, self-constructed content. Yay for you! I particularly thought that the Stepherz.Org Wishing Well was awesome, you've got a great imagination.
Spiritual - under "Color Properties", "If you are the arthur..." should be If you are the author, hehe. Someone's got their crush on the brain...just kidding. I'll bypass the rest of the content here as I'm not exactly spiritually inclined, but I'll just mention your page on Ouija Boards - ouija boards are scary, gurl! I remember one day in 2000, spending the entire afternoon reading all these ouija board stories, and the basic underlying message was to stay away from them at all costs! You should definitely include some of your own personal ouija board experiences on this page, they'd be interesting to read and would complement the page nicely.
Tutorials
Shit, 87 tutorials? You know, there's no need to have a tutorial count at the top of the page - its not about the number of tutorials you have, it's about how accurate and helpful they are. One could have dozens upon dozens of tutorials and they could all be crap - numbers really don't matter in this instance. The vast majority of these tutorials are fairly basic and are usually about how to add decorative elements to your page that a lot of people admittedly find infuriating. Jiggly text, shaking images and trailing comet cursors to name but a few. In other words - tutorials on how naive webmasters can successfully make their site an accessibility and standards nightmare. Oh well, I'm sure that anyone under the age of fifteen might find your tutorials useful, as would the contestants of my W2C competition!
Comic
Thanks for indicating that these open in a new window. With "Emotional Resolutions", I felt like I shouldn't be treating this humourously because it instantly reminded me of what you were writing about on your "Inside the mind of a cutter" page, with you and your father. I will say though, that it's good that you can make light of the situation. "All His Love" - classic, absolutely classic. Hilarious, and so damn true. You should add more comics sometime!
Exit
This took a while to load and ultimately ended up going to a 404 page...
Summary
What a massive site you have! Absolutely jam-packed full of content, most of which was original too, so I've got to commend you for that. You do have a few unnecessary reads though, which is fine I suppose since the originality of your other content outweighs the unoriginal, but just keep in mind that you wouldn't want to go around adding anything else that you can find at a million other personal sites. You are obviously quite the creative thinker, who has come up with some very interesting ideas for content - your wishing well and your comics to name but a mere few. As far as your tutorials are concerned, I'm in the middle of the road...a lot of the effects etc you are teaching are now considered quite obsolete - most if not all of them are proprietary to Internet Explorer only, and even then they can really stuff up a webpage and annoy the bejesus out of Joe Visitor. That's just my personal opinion, although I know it is shared by many others. The only other major thing I could really reiterate to you is your header image - do consider reducing the size when you make your next layout. Other than that, a very pleasant (and lengthy!) exploration of your site, keep up the good effort.