Disco Stu
@epiphanyengine.bsky.social
Formerly @epiphanyengine at Twitter, disco_stu on Discord. Mostly lurking, occasionally talking about analogue games. Melbourne, he/him. No dickheads no fascists no terfs.
Hello Canberra, we really do need to talk about your lack of skyline.
October 29, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Hello Canberra, we really do need to talk about your lack of skyline.
Another day, another solo game of John Company. The Sykes Family had an impressive run of military victories only to be undone by rebellions. Walsh dominated the Board of Directors and kept the company out of debt, but it was Larkins - who married well, and retired better - who got the victory.
October 11, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Another day, another solo game of John Company. The Sykes Family had an impressive run of military victories only to be undone by rebellions. Walsh dominated the Board of Directors and kept the company out of debt, but it was Larkins - who married well, and retired better - who got the victory.
Sydney is a coffee and nominal burger from a Japanese restaurant that was, presumably, once a house. Comfort food, like rereading Pattern Recognition and realising, suddenly, how alien the futuristic present of 2003 has become.
August 12, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Sydney is a coffee and nominal burger from a Japanese restaurant that was, presumably, once a house. Comfort food, like rereading Pattern Recognition and realising, suddenly, how alien the futuristic present of 2003 has become.
Maria! Played this one last night, recreating the Wars of Austrian Succession between 1740-1748. You can’t tell from the pictures but gorgeous art, clever mechanisms and tense all the way through.
August 9, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Maria! Played this one last night, recreating the Wars of Austrian Succession between 1740-1748. You can’t tell from the pictures but gorgeous art, clever mechanisms and tense all the way through.
No exciting photos on this trip, best I can give you of Sydney is a poorly cropped G&T in the business lounge.
July 22, 2025 at 8:50 AM
No exciting photos on this trip, best I can give you of Sydney is a poorly cropped G&T in the business lounge.
At the Atheneum in Melbourne tonight, and the light fittings made me think of a neoclassical Minion.
July 6, 2025 at 9:46 AM
At the Atheneum in Melbourne tonight, and the light fittings made me think of a neoclassical Minion.
In Canberra today. Okay, so my hotel isn’t really giving me the impressive skylines like some of the places I’ve visited recently, but it does have those bright cold mornings that I love.
June 23, 2025 at 7:50 AM
In Canberra today. Okay, so my hotel isn’t really giving me the impressive skylines like some of the places I’ve visited recently, but it does have those bright cold mornings that I love.
And good morning Gold Coast. On of these visits I’ll actually go to the beach rather than seeing it at a distance through a window.
May 28, 2025 at 9:03 PM
And good morning Gold Coast. On of these visits I’ll actually go to the beach rather than seeing it at a distance through a window.
Good morning Brisbane.
May 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Good morning Brisbane.
Double democracy sausage.
May 3, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Double democracy sausage.
Good morning Queensland, you are looking very Queenslandy today.
April 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Good morning Queensland, you are looking very Queenslandy today.
A solo game of A Distant Plain to while away a public holiday. Warlords got the win; after calling a local truce to boost their resources, they rallied guerillas in Pashtun to shift the balance of power. The Taliban in second place, having created a wave of terror starting in Helmand and Kandahar.
April 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
A solo game of A Distant Plain to while away a public holiday. Warlords got the win; after calling a local truce to boost their resources, they rallied guerillas in Pashtun to shift the balance of power. The Taliban in second place, having created a wave of terror starting in Helmand and Kandahar.
Playing my third game of Arcs tonight, and the first with Leaders & Lore. I’m a Warrior with Signal Breaker, wedged between an Upstart, Rebel and Demagogue. Can I make this three for three?
April 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Playing my third game of Arcs tonight, and the first with Leaders & Lore. I’m a Warrior with Signal Breaker, wedged between an Upstart, Rebel and Demagogue. Can I make this three for three?
A picture of my reading pile for 2025! Quicksilver took me nearly three weeks. There are another two books in the series to revisit there (the last, System of the World, being my favourite from memory) but I wanted to try something else…
March 30, 2025 at 8:33 AM
A picture of my reading pile for 2025! Quicksilver took me nearly three weeks. There are another two books in the series to revisit there (the last, System of the World, being my favourite from memory) but I wanted to try something else…
I suspect I will be slowing down updates here as this one is such a behemoth - 360 pages in and I’m only now meeting Jack Shaftoe, one of the key protagonists of the series. But I am happily along for the ride regardless. Whether I’ll immediately dive into The Confusion remains to be seen.
March 12, 2025 at 6:18 AM
I suspect I will be slowing down updates here as this one is such a behemoth - 360 pages in and I’m only now meeting Jack Shaftoe, one of the key protagonists of the series. But I am happily along for the ride regardless. Whether I’ll immediately dive into The Confusion remains to be seen.
Everything is better with modrons.
February 22, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Everything is better with modrons.
Big game of #ttrpg last night. A dangerous raid deep under Rigus, with our daring adventurers holding back hordes from the Infinite Battlefields of Acheron.
February 22, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Big game of #ttrpg last night. A dangerous raid deep under Rigus, with our daring adventurers holding back hordes from the Infinite Battlefields of Acheron.
I continue on with The Name of the Rose, finding it fascinating and dense in equal measure. I have the passing suspicion that I didn’t read more than a page yesterday but the days and my reading habits are now blending together. The doomscrolling continues, but it’s more occasional than it was.
February 11, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I continue on with The Name of the Rose, finding it fascinating and dense in equal measure. I have the passing suspicion that I didn’t read more than a page yesterday but the days and my reading habits are now blending together. The doomscrolling continues, but it’s more occasional than it was.
Book 7 begun. A trip to the bookstore yielded no tempting new titles, so it’s back to the bookshelf for an old favourite. It’s time for Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. One of my favourite movies when I was young, which is rather telling.
February 9, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Book 7 begun. A trip to the bookstore yielded no tempting new titles, so it’s back to the bookshelf for an old favourite. It’s time for Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. One of my favourite movies when I was young, which is rather telling.
A lovely day in the city yesterday at the Hellenic Museum. Some beautiful artefacts, and got to handle faithful reproductions of old Alexandrian coins.
February 9, 2025 at 2:14 AM
A lovely day in the city yesterday at the Hellenic Museum. Some beautiful artefacts, and got to handle faithful reproductions of old Alexandrian coins.
Book 6 for the year, as I continue my efforts to read form an honest-to-goodness book every day. After two brand-new books in a row, I’ve gone for oldie-but-goodie The Player of Games. Don’t think I’ve read any Banks for a decade, but seeing this was my first I figured a good place to restart.
February 2, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Book 6 for the year, as I continue my efforts to read form an honest-to-goodness book every day. After two brand-new books in a row, I’ve gone for oldie-but-goodie The Player of Games. Don’t think I’ve read any Banks for a decade, but seeing this was my first I figured a good place to restart.
And that’s Dead Astronauts done. First book of the year that I found disengaging, at times almost hostile to the reading process. First half or so was excellent, second half I spent large sections unsure of who was supposed to be narrating, what it represented or how it fitted into the tale.
February 1, 2025 at 1:48 AM
And that’s Dead Astronauts done. First book of the year that I found disengaging, at times almost hostile to the reading process. First half or so was excellent, second half I spent large sections unsure of who was supposed to be narrating, what it represented or how it fitted into the tale.
I haven’t spoken about Dead Astronauts for a bit. Started off strong but, oof, it’s been hard going for a bit. I’m about two-thirds through and admire it without liking it too much. I feel it’s all going to cohere together but have honestly lost the thread of what the hell is going on.
January 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I haven’t spoken about Dead Astronauts for a bit. Started off strong but, oof, it’s been hard going for a bit. I’m about two-thirds through and admire it without liking it too much. I feel it’s all going to cohere together but have honestly lost the thread of what the hell is going on.