Chiara C. Rizzarda
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crshelidon.bsky.social
Chiara C. Rizzarda
@crshelidon.bsky.social
1.4K followers 890 following 320 posts
Construction professional, comics lover & videogames player, writing quirky Gothic and Fantasy. She/her.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crshelidon
Blog: https://www.shelidon.it
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crshelidon.bsky.social
I know, I know.
We don't.
Screenshot of the headline of a magazine wondering how to talk about a show from a literary work by a guy accused of sexual assault by multiple women, and whose public response has been less than satisfactory so far.
July 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Still the only rendition of Galactus that actually works.
#FantasticFour
Cartoon mashup illustration featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown in the style of Marvel Comics' Galactus and Silver Surfer. Snoopy is depicted as Galactus, wearing a red and blue cosmic suit with a large, angular helmet and a stern expression. He's holdin his supper dish in his mouth 'cause, as we all know, he hungers. Charlie Brown stands on a silver surfboard, resembling the Silver Surfer, with his iconic, "Good Grief" look.
July 23, 2025 at 10:20 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Casa degli Atellani is closed.

At 65 Corso Magenta lies a ghost of Milan’s layered history: gifted by Ludovico il Moro, reimagined by Piero Portaluppi, and sold with dreams of hotel luxury. Come and visit it with me, hoping its future won't be behind closed doors.

www.shelidon.it/lets-visit-c...
Interior view of a frescoed Renaissance room in Casa degli Atellani, featuring wooden wall paneling and an arched ceiling with floral motifs. Through an open door, the symmetrical garden and Leonardo’s reconstructed vineyard are visible in the background. Overlaid text reads: “A visit at Casa degli Atellani without getting arrested” with the URL www.shelidon.it and swirling neon light trails on a dark background. A collage over a faded background of Milan’s Castello Sforzesco. The collage includes: a Renaissance portrait of Ludovico il Moro, the façade of Casa degli Atellani, and a view of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. On the right, black serif text reads: “The Sforzas. Ludovico il Moro donates the house to a loyal family in an effort to create an intellectual and artistic district around his castle, which included Santa Maria delle Grazie.” Vertical text reads “shelidon.it” with a thin arrow. A collage set against a faint background of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks. The collage includes three images: the central portion of The Last Supper, a pergola-covered courtyard in Casa degli Atellani, and a close-up of green grapes on a vine. To the right, elegant serif text reads: “Enters Leonardo. After completing his Last Supper in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo receives a vineyard located near the back garden of Casa degli Atellani. It was an effort to get him to stay.” Vertical text reads “shelidon.it” with an arrow. A collage placed over a translucent background of a Renaissance painting of the Madonna and Child. The collage includes: a vaulted ceiling with frescoed figures attributed to Bernardino Luini, a similarly patterned ceiling with floral motifs, and a vintage architectural floor plan of Casa degli Atellani. To the right, serif text reads: “A beloved pupil. Later renovations will reveal and lead to the rediscovery of some frescos done by an artist that’s considered one of the most brilliant amongst Leonardo’s pupils in Lombardia: Bernardino Luini.” Vertical text reads “shelidon.it” with an arrow.
July 9, 2025 at 9:58 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
This year at Milano Pride, I marched because activism is about making space, holding space, being the space so others can feel a little safer, a little stronger, a little more seen.

I walked with my colours, instead the usual 🏳️‍🌈, to show I'm not just a one-day ally. I *am* queer. And I am here.
🩷💜💙✊️
An indoor picture of me with curly hair and glasses, looking directly at the camera. I'm wearing the colours of the bisexual flag: a dark blue top, a dark purple jacket and a long scarf in shades of purple draped around my shoulders, on top of a white skirt. The background is my house: a cozy room with shelves of books, board games, stuffed animals, and tote bags hanging on hooks. It's messy, but it's home.
June 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
My blog will celebrate Pride Month with one post a day highlighting the presence and persistence of queer people from ancient times to the Renaissance. Let's debunk the myth that queerness is a modern phenomenon: we have always been here.
And that’s where we’ll stay.
www.shelidon.it/category/cal...
A rainbow Pride flag waves in the sunlight against a blue sky with scattered clouds. Overlaid text reads: “Pride Month 2025.” Below, it says: “On the blog this month: Stories, Words and Art through the Centuries ‘cause we’ve always been here. And we always will.” At the bottom is the website address “www.shelidon.it”.
June 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
✨New blog post: "The Architecture of Memory: Calvino, Borges, and the Digital Archive"
What can imaginary libraries teach us about cloud storage?
From The Name of the Rose to curated archives, this is a journey through digital design and the ethics of what we choose to keep.

www.shelidon.it?p=19080
Promotional graphic for a blog post titled 'Eco, Calvino, Borges, and the Digital Archive' from www.shelidon.it. The background shows a dimly lit, arched underground tunnel with stone walls and tracks running along the ground. Rays of light shine through. The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges: Adjective: labyrinthine Year Published: 1941 Five-Words Catchy Summary: Infinite library questions meaning, order. Quote: "The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite, perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries." Why It's Worth Reading: This short story is a philosophical marvel that challenges our understanding of knowledge, randomness, and the search for meaning in an overwhelming cosmos. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino: Adjective: evocative Year Published: 1972 Five-Words Catchy Summary: Imaginary cities reflect human longing. Quote: "The city does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand." Why It's Worth Reading: This poetic meditation on cities and memory blends fiction, philosophy, and architecture, offering a timeless exploration of how we imagine and inhabit space. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco: Adjective: erudite Year Published: 1980 Five-Words Catchy Summary: Murder, books, monks, truth, labyrinth. Quote: "Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry." Why It's Worth Reading: Eco’s masterful blend of detective fiction, semiotics, and medieval history creates an intellectually rich narrative that challenges perceptions of truth and knowledge.
May 7, 2025 at 10:13 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
I have a Hobbit one, and it made me very happy.
The tattoo I have on my inner right arm: it's Tolkien's own drawing of the Lonely Mountain, with the Last Light of Durin's Day, and a superimposed the drawing of Smaug, chiefest and greatest of calamities.
February 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Today on my blog I published one of his tales, “The Fiend” or “The Vampire”, an ATU nr 363 as it deals with the theme of the Corpse-Eater.

The English translation was done by W.R. Shedden-Ralston in his "A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore" (1887).

www.shelidon.it?p=18749
A detail from Caspar David Friedrich's painting "The Entrance to the Graveyard": two well-dressed gentlemen are spying through a graveyard gate to the standing stones and tombstones... or are they figures moving about in the fog?
February 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (1826–1871) was a folklorist and ethnographer who collected nearly 600 East Slavic and Russian fairy tales between 1855 and 1867. His collection is considered one of the largest worldwide and earned him a reputation as the Russian counterpart to the Brothers Grimm.
A black and white portrait drawing of the folklorist, with his signature at the bottom. He's bald, with a flourishing square beard.
February 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
I took a screenshot 'cause I think I ruined it.
The profile page of the Essex Witch Museum, proudly displaying 666 followers before I followed.
February 6, 2025 at 7:28 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
She's a beloved saint down in Sicily, where they honour her with breast-shaped pastries. That's not creepy at all.
Dome-shaped pastries covered in white glaze, with a ruby-red candied cherry that would be the nipple.
February 5, 2025 at 8:29 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Things are being super tough right now. Please bear with me.

This bear will do.
A black and white sketch of Winnie the Pooh in the style of E.H. Shepard: he's walking carefree towards an insect that might be a butterfly or a very weird bee.
January 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
On a Dutch ship bound for Japan, a star-bound shapeshifter has to choose between doing a wrong, and gain the forgiveness of an old friend, or doing what's right and lose her forever.

#P2Ppit #Q #A #HF
A moodboard with golden guilders, a painting of XVI-century Amsterdam by night, the close-up of a Flemish outfit in black velvet and white lace, a white tulip, an old map of the East Indies made by the Dutch Trading Company and a colour palette in greyish green. In the upper corner on the left, a quote reads "Time's a fucking bastard", the opening line of the novel.
January 17, 2025 at 3:17 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Today’s story on my blog, "The Ash-tree", was written by Montague Rhodes James and comes from the collection "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary". Enjoy.

www.shelidon.it?p=18701
A haunting photograph of a forest engulfed with mist and fog.
January 17, 2025 at 3:01 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
A disgraced queen seeking vengeance, a shipowner with a very personal agenda and a shapeshifter who swore they were done with witches. 1702. A time-sensitive journey to Japan.
Too bad Time's a fucking bastard, and you can't control it. Or can you?

📖 #Q #A #F #H #Hs #P #LGBT
#BluePit
A moodboard for the novel. Left to right: a scene from a painting by Hayez, "Vengeance is Sworn", shows a veiled lady being counselled by a masked one; the full moon shines over a coastal landscape; a feather falls, curled and stained in blood; a letter is oddly folded to create a pattern; coarse wooden planks on the floor; a noose is suspended above the stormy sea.
January 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Come and meet Heldra Helstrom, a woman who emerges from the sea during a fierce storm and claims to have survived a shipwreck by invoking Ran, the Norse sea deity. Is she what she claims to be?
A 1937 short story by N. Dyalhis, "The Sea-Witch", for #SwampSunday.

📖 www.shelidon.it?p=18656
🖼️ in ALT
"The Sea Witch", an illustration by Tiffany Toland-Scott. In watercolour and wide brushes, the work depicts a woman with her hand conjoined at her chest, as if in prayer, her eyes appear closed and her robe blends in with the waves and whirlpools of a stormy sea.
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
How does your Saturday night look like?
A picture with "The Collected Powms of J.R.R. Tolkien" and a bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey Liqueur.
January 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Hard to pick one, but I think it's "The Tailor of Gloucester", because it's a Christmas story and has sewing mice. I don't think its influence gets enough credit.
One of the most famous illustrations from the book: a mouse sits atop a spool, tailor's scissors and thimble behind him. He wears a pair of glasses and he's reading a paper folded as a newspaper and titled "The Tailor". A shot from Disney's Cinderella: a mouse stands on a spool, wielding a needle.
January 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
In Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere", Islington in London hosts an actual Angel.

“Richard did not believe in angels, he never had. He was damned if he was going to start now. Still, it was much easier not to believe in something when it was not looking directly at you and saying your name.”

#BookWormSat
A scene from the Graphic Novel adaptation: a close-up of the face of the angel, ageless and genderless, completely white except for blue lips and blue eyes, wearing a headgear with a large amethyst. Its expression is wide-eyed, and it seems angry. It's spelling, word by word: "What - did - you - say - to - me?" Note: "it" is the pronoun used in the book for the angel.
January 11, 2025 at 11:33 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Gabriel wasn't born human and has a fairly unique perspective on things. Sometimes it's a strength, sometimes it's a weakness. They would say it's people who don't look close enough.
In the story, this leads them to see beyond a well-constructed ruse and act accordingly.
#BluePitHype
Moodboard for the main character, in shades of red and icy grey: an eerie fog on a lake, a black British shorthair, the detail of an old astrolabe, a close-up on a chessboard, a red texture and the quote "It’s when we are human that you must take care" from S.J. Tucker's 'Song of Witches'.
January 10, 2025 at 11:45 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Mary Elizabeth Counselman was an XX-century writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction born in Alabama. She sold her first poem at 6 years old.
Today on my blog you can read her short horror story “The Black Stone Statue”, first published on Weird Tales in 1937.

www.shelidon.it?p=18653
The original illustration for the story, in black and white: a monstrous creature with roots for hands and tentacles for head emerges from the ground and pushes away the leaves to make way. She's coming to get you. Run.
January 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Hi #BluePit! Here's a moodboard for the Gothic novel I'm querying. Featuring a devil's coin, the ship on which the story takes place, the fruit of the dead, drinks and a game of chess. Oh, and an eclipse. How could I forget that?
Trust me: the howling (were)wolf is the least of your problems.
A geometrical moodboard with a 3x3 grid. From left to right, top to bottom: a coin with a horned skull, a ship sailing the high seas, a detail of a butterfly made with a golden powder that might be sparkling sand, a still life of pomegranates, an eclipse, the silhouette of a wolf howling against a gigantic moon, another still life with a glass of white wine and some oysters, blood staining a coarse wooden floor and a picture of a Medieval chessboard.
January 9, 2025 at 7:36 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
Clark Ashton Smith was an American author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was self-educated and began selling stories to magazines by the age of 17, and that’s a good reason to like him.
You can read his “The Ninth Skeleton” today on my blog.

www.shelidon.it?p=18649
A shot from Disney's short animation "Skeleton Dance", now in the public domain: a skeleton crouches on top of a tombstone and two cats hump their backs in terror (and perfect symmetry) at their side.
January 8, 2025 at 9:38 AM
crshelidon.bsky.social
"Where's Professor Volkarin?"
"He's on sabbatical."
"Lucky him."

Meanwhile, the Professor's sabbatical.

#DragonAgeVeilguard
A slender, middle-aged man pops up from under a pile of rubble and, holding a brick, proceeds to use it to beat a guy senseless and then hurls it straight at the face of another guy.
December 29, 2024 at 6:11 PM
crshelidon.bsky.social
People say Dragon Age Veilguard isn't "mature" because it won't let them roleplay child abusers and it doesn't feature gratuitous sexual assault, while they seem unable to handle a non-binary qunari and an assassin who can decide to reject your attempt at romance.
We have different ideas of mature.
A monstrous dragon-like creature faces a diverse group of warriors
December 25, 2024 at 9:12 AM