Checkpoint 1: Kick-off

[nepenthee]

With slight delay, this DW community is now open!

As mentioned on the event site, the challenge will be accompanied by regular checkpoints where you can share your plans and progress, ask for help and discuss anything regarding site-making. These checkpoints will be posted in approximately biweekly intervals by me, your host, and sometimes by larissa. :)

Some questions to start with: What are you making and why, how long has the shrine been on your wishlist, and where are you starting from?

Feel free to chat about anything, no need to answer any of these questions!

Comments

[velvetdusk]

Hello hello, I’m Elita — it’s so nice to be here again after such a long while away. I’m working on Scarlet Remembrance, a shrine for Millicent from Elden Ring. I used to design small sites and graphics back in the early 2000s and was last active around 2016 under melusine.nu before drifting away from the scene for a while. This challenge feels like the perfect spark to return — to both the craft itself and the slower, more intentional rhythm of the handmade web.

Millicent’s story has always stayed with me: devotion, decay, and rebirth intertwined. She feels like the perfect emblem of what remains — a ghost not of loss, but of transformation. My hope is to build the shrine as a kind of digital reliquary, something between a study and a prayer, stitched together in scarlet and gold.

I’m a little nervous but mostly excited to be back among others who still tend to these quiet gardens of code. Here’s to haunted HTML, gentle revival, and the return of the longform 🖤

[larissa]

Hello!! I think I have a faint memory of your previous domain, so it's lovely to see you here now.

I haven't played Elden Ring myself, but I watched a friend stream 90% of it, and it's really such an atmospheric and melancholy title. I'm looking forward to visiting your site so I can learn more about the game and your chosen subject.

[velvetdusk]

Aw thank you, Larissa! I’m surprised (and touched) that you even remember melusine.nu — it feels like a lifetime ago. I used to visit your domain regularly back then (and still do, from time to time); it always had such a distinct voice and atmosphere.

And yes, Elden Ring is one of those worlds that’s heavy with silence — all mood and ruin and strange grace. Millicent fits that tone perfectly, and I’m hoping the shrine can capture a bit of that melancholy beauty.

It’s genuinely nice to see familiar names again after so many years. 🖤

[nepenthee]

Elita, I love your writing voice and am, despite not knowing anything whatsoever about Elden Ring, so hyped for your shrine. Reading your hope for the project, I am very curious whether our shrines may turn out kindred in spirit, and it gives me an extra push to make mine happen – thank you!

[velvetdusk]

Thank you so much, Lethe — that means a lot coming from you! 🖤 It’s surreal (and really lovely) to be back in this space again, especially surrounded by others who still care for this kind of craft. I’m so glad to hear my post resonated with you — and now I’m equally excited to see what you’re building!