I normally read everyone Elses responses to work through what I think, but the forum seems surprisingly quiet, so I'll have a go. I guess the whisper was too quiet for some situations (I do the lying in bed to listen thing, so fine for me). I have listened to both - and I like the idea of having different narrators, and of playing with the sound for the fungi. I say keep experimenting. As long as the story stays central.
This story was pleasingly different for me. The obsession manifest was an interesting idea. I can follow that he came across the one thing he loved (loved? He identified himself as the mycologist, so maybe not love, but it was the focus of his life and interest) in a sea of the 'post-primordial soup of humanity', and took small steps that eventually lead to the wedding, but it is a hard thought-process to empathise with - not a character I can walk the path with. Maybe in a longer story you could see how each small step would be easy to make, and therefore you could understand the arc. Or maybe if that first step felt right it would be easier (you can tell now why I have to read what other people think to order my own thoughts - sorry for the ramble). Really don't know what see got out of the relationship, but I guess as long as a mushroom gets the manure, the rest is irrelevant. But she seemed to have invested in it because of the disappointment at the end.
The stylistic changes in the writing between the two voices were great, and I loved the language - all shuddering and papery, with myriad spinning fingers, and quiet as dead mice. The language drew attention to itself, so maybe that makes it overdone for some listeners, but I like it evocative and the touches of wit (but I liked an old story that everyone else hated because of the language, so hey). The time shifts between the voices was an interesting way of layering jeopardy over the other one. It took me a little while to work out who the voice of the fungi was/were, and towards the end I felt the order was not quite right, as if the fungi were a section ahead of where they should be, but having tried to reorder on my second listening I could not do it in a way that worked better.
The breadth of stories on pseudopod is the main reason I keep coming back for more. This one is still noodling at me, so I like it.
In the interests of full disclosure, I feel I must admit although I think fungi are fascinating and sometimes beautiful out in the wild, I hate eating them. Weird slimy spongy stuff. It's not a plant and not an animal, so why on earth would you want to put it in your mouth? Eugh. Nearly as bad as pineapple (with its freakish sinister left-handed enzymes that dissolve your tongue)...