Austin's Feed if his friends were sometimes haters

just a gay with a hyperfixation and too many thoughts in their head (he/they)

[gardenscapeswiki]

Just cause I didn't post for all of 2025 doesn't mean there weren't thoughts in my head about it. I just forgot my Tumblr login. Anyway I beat all the levels a couple months ago I'm officially in cups now. I always wondered what would happen when that happens and I was partially right: they just give you random levels to keep playing until the next update. I wondered for a while if they would make you start over or smth play all the levels again. It does make me wonder about the randomization of the levels tho bc I was under the impression that the order was set but my sibling unlocked certain gimmicks at a much earlier level than I did?? Like the candles

[i-am-a-fish]

I've been a bit too normal lately both on and off the court. the court being tumblr

[gardenscapeswiki]

Okay but what if it was a woman.

[gardenscapeswiki]

DAMNNN a hot Black ENGINEER main character for the storyline this month?

Catch me staring at Gardenscapes a lot these next two weeks

[gardenscapeswiki]

Only thing that would make this better is if they actually had a disabled lesbian at the end of this. Why can't it be hot engineer butch to hot engineer fem pleaseeee

[gardenscapeswiki]

DAMNNN a hot Black ENGINEER main character for the storyline this month?

Catch me staring at Gardenscapes a lot these next two weeks

[callipraxia]

So, this is probably the most random thing I’ve ever posted on tumblr.com, but…am I crazy, or is Austin/Matthias actually a pretty reasonable pair to legit ship in Gardenscapes?

[callipraxia]

Update: almost immediately after I posted this, the game started a special expedition which tried to convince me Austin is totally into Katherine…you know, the redhead who gets snowed on a lot in adverts for the game, but has next to no screen time and even less relevance in the actual game. That quest concluded, but now the new one has started and we have Austin having a concussion dream where he is an Old West deputy sheriff and Katherine owns the saloon. And them being all affectionate during the game’s eighth anniversary party loading screen….

Subtle, Gardenscapes. Super, super subtle. If, of course, by ‘subtle’ you mean ‘not subtle at all.’ I see what you’re up to, game runners, I see what you did there 😉.

In reply, though, I now raise you: the existence of fanfic about Flo the Progressive Insurance representative. If there’s an audience for that, then there’s gotta be an audience for gay romance featuring a mobile game butler and a pudgy cultural attaché out there somewhere on the internet! I’ve never written romance or fix-it fic in my life, but if it comes down to it, I did create my AO3 account specifically as a space to challenge myself to grow as a writer, so…it’s not completely off the table, if I must.

(Disclaimer: this post is a joke, I do not really think that the devs for Gardenscapes even know or care that I exist, much less know or care who I ship my digital butler with. Still might write that fanfic if I ever figure out how romances even work, though.)

[gardenscapeswiki]

I WAS GONNA WRITE ABOUT THIS BUT IVE BEEN SO MAD AT GARDENSCAPES LATELY

Anyway I cannot BELIEVE they introduced "straight couple" Austin and Katherine into this lore tf they're so wrong about it too

And seeing Austin blush was a horrid experience btw what was that entire plot with an actor doppelganger that was insane /neg

That whole storyline was written so badly. Esp Katherine's mom or whatever she is constantly berating Austin except for when he started grossly advancing towards Katherine

Anyway PLEASEEE write gay Austin/mattias fanfic I will literally read it

[callipraxia]

If nothing else, Austin deserves better than a figurine with so little personality and presence that I initially thought she was Rachel’s less interesting sister and therefore was extremely confused at first about the otherwise deeply tame game apparently deciding to ship Austin with someone I thought was one of his cousins….

And yeah, Stephanie Broom…she annoyed me a little in the candyland expedition with Martha, but she became downright insufferable during the bizarre pseudocomedy of doppelgängers and heteronormativity. It also makes one raise an eyebrow at Martha for apparently being friends with someone who a) treats her like dirt and b) treats her son like dirt as well…to say nothing of nobody even acknowledging that Austin somehow acquired an identical twin who he didn’t know about for like…35-40 years minimum, but who did know about him and started stalking him and trying to steal his life, which…they’d have actually made a better story if they focused on that angle, even if it remained firmly non-canon, but that’s neither here nor there. Luckily, though, I’ve blocked out all memory of any and all appearances Stephanie has made outside of two of the more absurd side expeditions, so I feel perfectly comfortable pretending she doesn’t exist when the game doesn’t force me to work with her to scrape together some coins and power-ups.

Today I found some of the screenshots I took when trying to figure out if I was completely off-base with the Austthias hypothesis, so until I get around to that fic…just look at these two!

[gardenscapeswiki]

Oh my god they're GAY

I really need to catch up with this story I'm nearly 7000 stars behind LMAO I just find it so hard to get through but maybe this will give me motivation

[callipraxia]

Further update: just opened up a new area, which featured the return of Jane Nea Tong. I did remember that Jane existed, but had forgotten how back in the…first or second guest house arc, I think, it was implied that Austin had a bit of a crush on her. However, Jane has also returned with a new love interest: the gazillionaire investor Harry something-or-other who nearly ruined Calvadori’s spa a couple arcs ago before Jane won him over with her hotness arguments about the future profitability of investment in clean energy. Austin seems put out about this, implying they are setting up a (probably absurdly easily resolved, since this is Gardenscapes, after all) love triangle….

I will grant that okay, Austin/Jane was legit teased as a possibility long ago, but I continue to call nonsense on the whole Katherine thing. Plus, Harry’s a gazillionaire, an engineer, and he just bought Jane a top-of-the-line electron microscope and an ergonomic chair that apparently was actually so ergonomic that Jane worked a full day without being tired, and Robbie just implied strongly that he overheard Harry and Jane doing…something unscientific, anyway, that Austin really ought not interrupt in the lab, so…pretty sure Austin’s going to learn an Important Lesson in this arc about just going for it instead of being awkward and shy for too long, which is the perfect segue into his new life as the accidental hero of a gay romance novel.

[gardenscapeswiki]

That Jane teasing was like early in the main house arc, soooo long ago.

Something unscientific eh? Not saying Jane's a golddigger but she really saw a rich asshole and went I can fix him, respect. Austin better move on to better and gayer prospects...

[callipraxia]

So, this is probably the most random thing I’ve ever posted on tumblr.com, but…am I crazy, or is Austin/Matthias actually a pretty reasonable pair to legit ship in Gardenscapes?

[callipraxia]

Update: almost immediately after I posted this, the game started a special expedition which tried to convince me Austin is totally into Katherine…you know, the redhead who gets snowed on a lot in adverts for the game, but has next to no screen time and even less relevance in the actual game. That quest concluded, but now the new one has started and we have Austin having a concussion dream where he is an Old West deputy sheriff and Katherine owns the saloon. And them being all affectionate during the game’s eighth anniversary party loading screen….

Subtle, Gardenscapes. Super, super subtle. If, of course, by ‘subtle’ you mean ‘not subtle at all.’ I see what you’re up to, game runners, I see what you did there 😉.

In reply, though, I now raise you: the existence of fanfic about Flo the Progressive Insurance representative. If there’s an audience for that, then there’s gotta be an audience for gay romance featuring a mobile game butler and a pudgy cultural attaché out there somewhere on the internet! I’ve never written romance or fix-it fic in my life, but if it comes down to it, I did create my AO3 account specifically as a space to challenge myself to grow as a writer, so…it’s not completely off the table, if I must.

(Disclaimer: this post is a joke, I do not really think that the devs for Gardenscapes even know or care that I exist, much less know or care who I ship my digital butler with. Still might write that fanfic if I ever figure out how romances even work, though.)

[gardenscapeswiki]

I WAS GONNA WRITE ABOUT THIS BUT IVE BEEN SO MAD AT GARDENSCAPES LATELY

Anyway I cannot BELIEVE they introduced "straight couple" Austin and Katherine into this lore tf they're so wrong about it too

And seeing Austin blush was a horrid experience btw what was that entire plot with an actor doppelganger that was insane /neg

That whole storyline was written so badly. Esp Katherine's mom or whatever she is constantly berating Austin except for when he started grossly advancing towards Katherine

Anyway PLEASEEE write gay Austin/mattias fanfic I will literally read it

[callipraxia]

If nothing else, Austin deserves better than a figurine with so little personality and presence that I initially thought she was Rachel’s less interesting sister and therefore was extremely confused at first about the otherwise deeply tame game apparently deciding to ship Austin with someone I thought was one of his cousins….

And yeah, Stephanie Broom…she annoyed me a little in the candyland expedition with Martha, but she became downright insufferable during the bizarre pseudocomedy of doppelgängers and heteronormativity. It also makes one raise an eyebrow at Martha for apparently being friends with someone who a) treats her like dirt and b) treats her son like dirt as well…to say nothing of nobody even acknowledging that Austin somehow acquired an identical twin who he didn’t know about for like…35-40 years minimum, but who did know about him and started stalking him and trying to steal his life, which…they’d have actually made a better story if they focused on that angle, even if it remained firmly non-canon, but that’s neither here nor there. Luckily, though, I’ve blocked out all memory of any and all appearances Stephanie has made outside of two of the more absurd side expeditions, so I feel perfectly comfortable pretending she doesn’t exist when the game doesn’t force me to work with her to scrape together some coins and power-ups.

Today I found some of the screenshots I took when trying to figure out if I was completely off-base with the Austthias hypothesis, so until I get around to that fic…just look at these two!

[gardenscapeswiki]

Aha..ahhahaa boy do I know about neural pathways and dreaming about gardenscapes

I had to make a special interest blog so I could rant to the void ...the match three game has caught me

[callipraxia]

So, this is probably the most random thing I’ve ever posted on tumblr.com, but…am I crazy, or is Austin/Matthias actually a pretty reasonable pair to legit ship in Gardenscapes?

[callipraxia]

Update: almost immediately after I posted this, the game started a special expedition which tried to convince me Austin is totally into Katherine…you know, the redhead who gets snowed on a lot in adverts for the game, but has next to no screen time and even less relevance in the actual game. That quest concluded, but now the new one has started and we have Austin having a concussion dream where he is an Old West deputy sheriff and Katherine owns the saloon. And them being all affectionate during the game’s eighth anniversary party loading screen….

Subtle, Gardenscapes. Super, super subtle. If, of course, by ‘subtle’ you mean ‘not subtle at all.’ I see what you’re up to, game runners, I see what you did there 😉.

In reply, though, I now raise you: the existence of fanfic about Flo the Progressive Insurance representative. If there’s an audience for that, then there’s gotta be an audience for gay romance featuring a mobile game butler and a pudgy cultural attaché out there somewhere on the internet! I’ve never written romance or fix-it fic in my life, but if it comes down to it, I did create my AO3 account specifically as a space to challenge myself to grow as a writer, so…it’s not completely off the table, if I must.

(Disclaimer: this post is a joke, I do not really think that the devs for Gardenscapes even know or care that I exist, much less know or care who I ship my digital butler with. Still might write that fanfic if I ever figure out how romances even work, though.)

[gardenscapeswiki]

I WAS GONNA WRITE ABOUT THIS BUT IVE BEEN SO MAD AT GARDENSCAPES LATELY

Anyway I cannot BELIEVE they introduced "straight couple" Austin and Katherine into this lore tf they're so wrong about it too

And seeing Austin blush was a horrid experience btw what was that entire plot with an actor doppelganger that was insane /neg

That whole storyline was written so badly. Esp Katherine's mom or whatever she is constantly berating Austin except for when he started grossly advancing towards Katherine

Anyway PLEASEEE write gay Austin/mattias fanfic I will literally read it

[callipraxia]

If nothing else, Austin deserves better than a figurine with so little personality and presence that I initially thought she was Rachel’s less interesting sister and therefore was extremely confused at first about the otherwise deeply tame game apparently deciding to ship Austin with someone I thought was one of his cousins….

And yeah, Stephanie Broom…she annoyed me a little in the candyland expedition with Martha, but she became downright insufferable during the bizarre pseudocomedy of doppelgängers and heteronormativity. It also makes one raise an eyebrow at Martha for apparently being friends with someone who a) treats her like dirt and b) treats her son like dirt as well…to say nothing of nobody even acknowledging that Austin somehow acquired an identical twin who he didn’t know about for like…35-40 years minimum, but who did know about him and started stalking him and trying to steal his life, which…they’d have actually made a better story if they focused on that angle, even if it remained firmly non-canon, but that’s neither here nor there. Luckily, though, I’ve blocked out all memory of any and all appearances Stephanie has made outside of two of the more absurd side expeditions, so I feel perfectly comfortable pretending she doesn’t exist when the game doesn’t force me to work with her to scrape together some coins and power-ups.

Today I found some of the screenshots I took when trying to figure out if I was completely off-base with the Austthias hypothesis, so until I get around to that fic…just look at these two!

[gardenscapeswiki]

Oh my god they're GAY

I really need to catch up with this story I'm nearly 7000 stars behind LMAO I just find it so hard to get through but maybe this will give me motivation

[gardenscapeswiki]

For some reason I can't post videos in reblogs, thanks Tumblr, so here's how swapping a super rainbow blast with itself works:

[gardenscapeswiki]

Okay let's talk about the new game changes, specifically the super rainbow blast

(this thing)

First of all here's how it works:

It deletes TWO colors instead of just one, but you can only choose one of the colors and the other is random. Unless, of course, you double tap it directly then both colors are random.

If you match two it will delete the whole board twice instead of just once (video will have to be in the reblogs bc I can only attach one)

What I think this will do to the gameplay:

Specifically with events, this will be interesting, especially with the rainbow energy event. What I foresee happening is anyone who can keep a streak of levels (10+ without losing one) will sweep the leaderboards because of using the double rainbow powerup.

However, I'm specifically worried about them ALSO nuking the coins to TEN instead of FIFTY for the rewards for the regular levels. What this is going to do is cause anyone who has the means (buys coins from the shop, or buys the golden pass and receives extra lives and coins) to be able to keep their streak (buying for 900 coins to have 5 more moves). And then subsequently dominate the leaderboard. It's not a direct pay-to-win, it's subtle, but it's there.

And I'm pissed about it. I understand gardenscapes needs to make money to pay its developers but this is making gameplay so much fucking worse update by update (still mad they took away the quit level button why did they do that).

Other thoughts:

I also don't particularly even like the double rainbow blast. The only time I would want it is to get effectively a x2 multiplier on my rainbow blast energy for the event, and to complete levels easier with the powerup. I do admit it helps, however I prefer to play in a much more subtle way such as using a rainbow blast to delete the one apple between a bunch of blue (berries?) so that all those pieces fall into place and create an explosive. If I have three rainbow blasts and two are next to each other I'll use the third to knock them next to each other and next move clear the whole board. It's strategy they're taking away from me here. Constantly I was using this new powerup and it was deleting pieces I just simply didn't want it to.

And that's honestly the point of what I'm getting to, is that I hate I can't control the second color it deletes. I can only trade it with one and the rest is in the rngs hands. That's not strategy, and it messes up my flow. I would like to be able to choose when it's random and when it's precise and now I don't get a single choice.

[callipraxia]

So, this is probably the most random thing I’ve ever posted on tumblr.com, but…am I crazy, or is Austin/Matthias actually a pretty reasonable pair to legit ship in Gardenscapes?

[callipraxia]

Update: almost immediately after I posted this, the game started a special expedition which tried to convince me Austin is totally into Katherine…you know, the redhead who gets snowed on a lot in adverts for the game, but has next to no screen time and even less relevance in the actual game. That quest concluded, but now the new one has started and we have Austin having a concussion dream where he is an Old West deputy sheriff and Katherine owns the saloon. And them being all affectionate during the game’s eighth anniversary party loading screen….

Subtle, Gardenscapes. Super, super subtle. If, of course, by ‘subtle’ you mean ‘not subtle at all.’ I see what you’re up to, game runners, I see what you did there 😉.

In reply, though, I now raise you: the existence of fanfic about Flo the Progressive Insurance representative. If there’s an audience for that, then there’s gotta be an audience for gay romance featuring a mobile game butler and a pudgy cultural attaché out there somewhere on the internet! I’ve never written romance or fix-it fic in my life, but if it comes down to it, I did create my AO3 account specifically as a space to challenge myself to grow as a writer, so…it’s not completely off the table, if I must.

(Disclaimer: this post is a joke, I do not really think that the devs for Gardenscapes even know or care that I exist, much less know or care who I ship my digital butler with. Still might write that fanfic if I ever figure out how romances even work, though.)

[gardenscapeswiki]

I WAS GONNA WRITE ABOUT THIS BUT IVE BEEN SO MAD AT GARDENSCAPES LATELY

Anyway I cannot BELIEVE they introduced "straight couple" Austin and Katherine into this lore tf they're so wrong about it too

And seeing Austin blush was a horrid experience btw what was that entire plot with an actor doppelganger that was insane /neg

That whole storyline was written so badly. Esp Katherine's mom or whatever she is constantly berating Austin except for when he started grossly advancing towards Katherine

Anyway PLEASEEE write gay Austin/mattias fanfic I will literally read it

[gardenscapeswiki]

Hey...guys...why did they inflate the economy

[gardenscapeswiki]

Why....is the base level of coins for regular levels now TEN (this screenshot was after everything exploded)

BUT TEN COINS WHAT THE FUCK WHY

[gardenscapeswiki]

Hey...guys...why did they inflate the economy

[callipraxia]

So, this is probably the most random thing I’ve ever posted on tumblr.com, but…am I crazy, or is Austin/Matthias actually a pretty reasonable pair to legit ship in Gardenscapes?

[gardenscapeswiki]

In the candy show story map Stephanie just called Austin a sweet tooth with 0 self control and I am living for it

[gardenscapeswiki]

Oh we better not be being racist and stereotypical towards Indigenous people rn

[gardenscapeswiki]

No. No. No. Stop. Did you even consult with Indigenous people or are you just making shit up?

FUCK you gardenscapes. Perpetuating the idea that Indigenous people are violent as if you yourself aren't violently protective of your land. Not to mention in the Americas Indigenous people were very kind until they had to protect themselves from being MURDERED. Stfu this has never made me want to undownload this game more.

Not to mention Steven or whatever his name is "discovering" the island and TAKING AN ENTIRE TOTEM/COLUMN WHAT THE FUCK stop stealing from Indigenous people for fucks sake

[gardenscapeswiki]

Oh we better not be being racist and stereotypical towards Indigenous people rn