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New novel merch from 出泉动漫 Phase 2 | "At Sunset"

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Wow I like this merch series so much!!! ahhhh SO CUTE AND TENDER

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Just finished the main story for Fanservice Paradox. Overall I thought it was really good. And well, ZhiChu always seems to stick the landing. That last chapter got me kind of sentimental over this fictional boyband. I'm kind of glad the audio drama exists so I can listen to versions of the songs cause I'm not sure what they would have perhaps sounded like otherwise. I will be playing Night Trip on repeat for the next while lmao, and probably slowly chip away at the audio drama. I finished s1 already.

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The full version of TOOBOE's "you are my monster" came out today!! Happy to have the full lyrics now too, and now it's even more heartbreaking!

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Monster(s)

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Speaking of mushrooms, I’m stuck reading in English so I don’t have the additional background

Is there a specific relationship between the hanzi in An Ze’s name, and the hanzi he chooses for An Zhe? On a meta level

And are the names as phonetically similar as they seem? If so, would there be a reason why the author went with that?

oh!!! excellent question — there's not exactly interaction between the specific characters for zhe and ze, beyond the symbolism of the characters themselves to their respective people:

泽 — ze2, (n.) pool, marsh; (adj.) moist, wet 折 — zhe2, (v.) to fold, to break

I think it's explained in the book itself but it's been a while since I last read it, so bear with me if I'm repeating something you already know: An Ze gives our beloved little mushroom the character 折 zhe2 after An Zhe relays the story of his awakening to sentience: a rainstorm, a violent breaking away from the other mushrooms, independent thought/identity emerging. here, "zhe" is an unsubtle reference to An Zhe's "breaking away" from the other mushrooms

the two characters do sound very similar — in fact, some regional pronunciations do not differentiate between "ze" and "zhe" at all (or "se" and "she," or "ci" and "chi"). this is referred to as 卷舌 juan3 she2, which I believe corresponds to the phonetic term "retroflex" (consonants in this case). it's very possible that no one blinks twice at An Zhe "mispronouncing" his own name because 1) it could be an easy slip of the tongue, 2) some regional pronunciations simply do not differentiate the two at all, and 3) if I remember correctly, the human base is fairly multicultural, so honestly a lot of people might not even clock it. on a doylist level, the similarity between the two names facilitates An Zhe's theft of An Ze's identity; on a watsonian level, the similarity might have been a result of some combination of ego and empathy on An Ze's part, who comes to see An Zhe as a "little brother" and says as much when he names him

meanwhile, the 泽 ze2 in An Ze's name is a multifaceted character in that it can be a noun, adjective, or literary metaphor. handily, I can steal my own gloss of it from way back when:

泽 ze - (n.) pool/marsh, which gets you to both (adj.) moist, damp, and (n.) shininess, luster (think reflection of sunlight off water). An important thing to know is that water/moisture/rainfall are closely linked to the generosity and benevolence of a ruler in classical Chinese texts; the idea was that, with the generosity of the heavens (i.e. sufficient rainfall), plants on earth could flourish. Likewise, with the generosity of a sagely ruler, the people could flourish.

so An Ze's name is particularly symbolic because what is 泽 ze2 if not an ideal habitat for mushrooms to grow? tilt your head and think about it: An Ze's corpse and identity are literally the fertile soil from which An Zhe the human-shaped mushroom emerges

actually, the two names in the book that I think are actively in conversation with each other are 安泽 An Ze and 陆沨 Lu Feng — arguably the two most important people in An Zhe's life. both 泽 ze2 and 沨 feng1 are constructed similarly, with the 氵water radical on the left and phonetic component on the right. if An Ze represents water, i.e. that which gives An Zhe life/origin, then Lu Feng represents wind (沨 feng1, (onomatopoeia) the sound of flowing water or wind). and what is wind?

不知道是哪一刻，呜呜的风声从他耳边响起 —— 是旷野里的风声，他以前最喜欢的东西。 He didn't know exactly when it began, but the wind was crying mournfully in his ear — it was the sound of wind howling through the wilderness. It used to be his favorite thing in the world. (ch. 2)

his favorite thing in the world, you say...

we can keep breaking their names down: the 安 an1 in An Z(h)e is (n., adj.) peace(ful) and calm, which reflects both of their gentle personalities. meanwhile, the 陆 lu4 in Lu Feng is — a common surname, sure, but also means (n.) land, particularly in opposition/contrast to (bodies of) water. so between An Ze (water, peace, life) and Lu Feng (land, home, love), the author has set up a beautiful minimalist encapsulation of An Zhe's journey from one to the other

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Just you know uhhhhhh.....never look at the weibo comments on novel merch. It always brings out the crazy manhua haters for some reason.

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New novel merch coming soon from 出泉动漫

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How come Zhichu's smut just always knocks it out of the park?? It's always a home run. A slam dunk. It's always exactly within my preferences. We're on the same wavelength. My skin is clear, my crops are watered, my sleep schedule is fixed. EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU ZHICHU

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They listened to some feedback and changed An Zhe's hair to black which I prefer actually

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小蘑菇 Little Mushroom audio drama BGM: 极光下的回忆 (Memories Under the Aurora) Download MP3

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I miss the Little Mushroom manhua sm right now

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A CENSORED KISS BUT IT'S THE UNDERWATER KISS SCENE NONETHELESS!!!!! MY LORD!!!! HUA CHENG'S APPROACH REFLECTED IN XIE LIAN'S EYES!!!

— TGCF 天官赐福 Special Film | EP. 03 Trailer (Full episode shows in Shanghai at a special event from today onwards, online release TBA)

+ UNDERWATER BEAUTY DIANXIA

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Lovely Allergen finally getting a physical manhua in CN! YAYYYYY I hope we get an English license for it someday. The physical CN volumes will probably censor the cuddling right?