LET'S GET SEXY: Erotic Stories Deconstructed

Scent of Ginger: Chapter 10

What a dramatic (and erotic) journey we have been on with Hannah over the last 10 weeks! Things have changed so much for her in such a short amount of time and it really feels like we've all changed with her... becoming otherwise. Or maybe you haven't changed all that much? Maybe you were always a kinky fetishist who's always loved nothing more than a 19th century, sexy BDSM romp! If that's you, then I hope you enjoyed this story! Keep doing your thing!

In this final chapter of the story, Hannah deals with the aftermath of her orgasmic sex demonstration and considers what might come next? Is it her fate to live happily ever after with the doctor that she once feared above all others? Will the doctor get the position in a fancy European facility? Will he decide to abandon Hannah, now that he's got what he needed from her? Find out, in this thrillingly sexy, last chapter of Scent of Ginger - an erotic sex story written for the website Literotica.com by the author Case21!

Thanks to everyone who listened to this series of the podcast! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll be back with a brand new story very soon... in the meantime though, it would really help me out if you could support the work I do by liking this episode and giving a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! Or, if you know somebody in your life who you think would love this story - please share a recommendation with them!

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains BDSM themes, lots of kinky fetish type stuff and some elements of non-consent. There's also a bit of a general spooky, dark atmosphere which some may find disturbing... others, of course, may absolutely love that kind of thing!

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Duration:: 55m
Broadcast on:: 20 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Hello and welcome to Let's Get Sexy, the podcast where I read an erotic story and you listen to it. How are you doing today? Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking. Mainly just excited for the conclusion to this epic 10 part series and I'm so pleased to have you along for the ride with me. I hope that you're both doing all right and that you're just as excited as I am for chapter 10 of Cent of Ginger, an erotic story written by author Case 21 for the website literotica.com. As always if you haven't listened to the chapters before chapter 10 in this series, I don't know why you'd be here if you hadn't but just in case I suggest that you go back and listen to all the episodes from one to nine before you listen to the final episode. I think that makes sense. So I'm going to assume that everybody here is at least a gold or silver medal wearer and if you don't know what I mean by that then that means you're probably a bronze medal wearer and you need to go back to episode one of this series and listen to the story from the beginning. Just in case your memory needs a little bit of refreshment on what happened in the last chapter, I will do a quick recap and I do mean a quick one. This is going to be probably the smallest recap I've ever had to do on this podcast because in the last chapter things were pretty simple. Hannah participated in the demonstration. She got self-conscious when a photographer started taking photographs. She started complaining to the doctor that she didn't want to participate anymore but the doctor ignored her and covered her face in a mask which had some amyl nitrate in a little piece attached to the nose. The amyl nitrate made Hannah lose all of her inhibitions. She had a big orgasm and then she passed out. The doctor revived her with smelling salts and made her address the audience which she did politely and courteously and then he sent her off the stage and into a back room where she became overcome with an anxiety that now that the demonstration is over the doctor will heartlessly cast her aside. And that's where we left Hannah at the end of chapter 9 with one of the orderlies promising that the doctor would be along to see her in due time and she just has to wait. You'll know this of course by now but I do think it's worth reminding you that I haven't read this chapter ahead of time. I don't know what's gonna happen and I don't want to be held responsible for anything that might happen. Not that I think bad things are gonna happen. Good things might happen. We never know. I like it to be a surprise for me. I like it to be a surprise for you. I like us to be in the same boat especially for the second part of the podcast where I discuss all my thoughts and feelings at the end of having read this chapter. And since it's the last episode in the series I'll be giving a bit of an overview of what I think of the story as a whole. At this point the only details I can give you about chapter 10 are statistical ones like the number of words this chapter has. 2.7000. The number of stars it has. 4.79 which means it is rated H for hot. It's had 29.7000 views, 15 likes and 15 people have made a comment about this story and I'll read and discuss all of those comments at the end. I've bump a sized comment section to look forward to. Before I start reading this chapter I want to thank you for downloading this podcast and to ask you to do me a quick favour. And I know I've talked about this a lot in the last few episodes so I'm not gonna go on too much but just to say it would really help if you could subscribe, like, leave a review or a quick rating on whatever podcast app you use to listen to the show. I'm really trying to grow the audience and doing those things and also in-person recommendations have a huge impact on how many people know about and listen to this podcast. As always there is a link to the patreon down in the description of this episode but honestly my main focus is not the patreon right now, it's just getting the podcast out there and growing the audience. Anyway thank you for listening to my little pitch. I hope that you'll consider helping me out and be one of the people part of the journey to our next milestone, 2000 monthly downloads. That's what we're aiming for. We're about halfway there, just over halfway but your support could make all the difference and I can't do it without you. But right now I hope you're sitting comfortably for the final chapter, chapter 10 of Scent of Ginger. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Maybe it was the lingering effect of the drug that the doctor forced me to inhale as he exhibited me before his Congress of Scientists. Maybe my thoughts were adored with the intensity of my physical and emotional sensations but as I lay strapped to the tiny ward bed I became convinced that time like my still damp body was a coursing fluid. In moments of passion time evaporates into the eminence of pleasure like steam into the air but as passions cool it slows and congeals becoming an amber trap for fragile bodies. I almost lost myself in the amber trap of time that night. Always when he used me harshly without tending to my needs afterwards I would grow sad and still. This time I withdrew so deeply from the pain and longing that I began to believe I would never feel again, never open myself again. He must have known how I trusted him in exposing my most private needs for his benefit. He asked me to trust him but in the end he sent me away without a word except a cold command through a servant to calm myself. If I was meant to calm myself I thought then so be it I would become so calm that I could never again be roused. I would close myself off catatonic. This would be my last submission one order obeyed to its absolute extent. I might have lost myself frozen in that drop of time only as I was freezing over something happened to shiver the crystals and break the silence. It was the sound of a single word in a familiar voice. "Stop," the doctor was standing over me looking upon my bound body. "Stop, Anna," he repeated quietly. "Stop crying this instant. I won't have it." "Was I crying?" "Yes, a cool breeze chilled my face and I realized my cheeks were streaked with tears. At the realization that I could still feel the hurt he'd caused me a sob broke from my throat. "Have you lost your capacity for obedience so quickly?" he persisted. Choking on the words I gasped out. "You broke it. I obeyed but you didn't even, you didn't even look at me." I closed my eyes refusing to look at him. I heard his voice in the darkness. "How could I? If I had looked at you, Hannah, they would all have seen plainly how much I wanted you. I wouldn't have been able. I would have lost control of myself. Don't you realize? I would have ravished you, then and there. Professionalism be damned." He gripped the iron rung of the bedstead hard enough to shake it. The vibration coursed through me, my hot eyes flashing open. "You're using me, using my body for your own gratification." "Why?" "Yes." His tone held mild surprise. "And you're taking pleasure in your service. At least that was my understanding. What would you rather that I marry you and farther your children and settle down with you in a cottage in the Lake District?" "No," I exclaimed instinctively. "Then, through all my tears," I smiled. It was true. The trickily closing scenes of marriage and motherhood so common in sentimental literature have always felt more restrictive than a straight jacket to me. "No, my doctor. You've diagnosed me well. My dark and repugnant heart, as you called it, won't be tamed that way." "I thought not. You don't love that way. But you do love what I do to you. You love it when I whip you with my crop and pierce you with ginger. You love it when I pleasure you almost against your will. You loved it when I brought you to orgasm on the table tonight, even through all your resistance. I could see it. I could read the conflict and elation in every line of your taught, ecstatic body. A little moan of ascent escaped me despite my anger. Hearing him describe my pleasure so intimately stirred a slippery, spreading warmth between my legs. There is one more thing you love, though, and that is a gentle touch after a hard slap. He caressed the damp red locks from my brow and kissed it. "Yes," I breathed. "You need me, now, more than ever. You're completely dependent on me, completely vulnerable to me." "Yes, oh, yes." He leaned over to whisper to me, and I need to do this to you, now." With his words still lingering as warm, damp steam on my cheek, he reached up under my shift and hooked his long middle finger in between my smaller lips. He pulled up slowly but firmly, pressing me just inside where I curve, that spot. Unable to help myself, I cried out. "Oh, yes," hush now, the guests. I stared at him in questioning wonder, asking with my eyes, "Guests?" "What is that face you're making? It has barely been half an hour since the display. I'm wanted at the reception, and yet, and yet you need me too," I finished, radiant. "Then take me, just as I am." He pressed down on the leather strap that ran across my breasts and my voice caught in my throat with a little hiccuping gasp at the pressure. "Hmm, I see. This is good. Just one minor adjustment," he said, as he got up and unbound the strap that held my ankles together. "Spread your legs," he commanded. Fusing hot at his masterful tone, I did so. He rebounded them, one foot at each corner of the bed so that I was held open, then he came back to my side. "I will let you make the choice." Hard or soft, Hannah. Hard, do it to me hard, as I suspected. In one fluid movement, he was on the bed, on top of me, gripping my hair to pull my head back. His lips burned on my throat, seeking the sensitive space just below my ear, and then my lobe, where he bit me so sharply that it made me yelp. He had already freed his cock from the top of his tight dress trousers, and I could feel the hot oils of his first arousal streaking my thighs where he rubbed against them. "The capot," I began. "I haven't won here. Will you risk it?" "Yes. Oh, just take me." He had never entered me bare before. It was strange to feel his skin brushing mine, his full heat, the coursing of his pulse and his fluid. He was breathing heavily in moments, but he had an incredible ability, as always, to hold himself back while hurting me, using my pain and his restraint simultaneously to build our pleasure. As he pressed the tip of his cock against my flushed wet opening, he leaned forward with both his hands on either side of the strap that held me down at the chest. I was pressed down into the bed, my tender breasts cut across and my chest constricted. He held and held the posture. My head began to rush, my mouth opened soundlessly, my legs contracted, and just then he let up for a moment so that I could catch my breath. In the paws, as if struck by inspiration, he tore the pyramid-cut jet cufflinks from his wrists and flattened them out. Reaching under the leather strap, in through the collar of my shift, he placed them with their points down, one on each of my nipples. The pointed stone felt chill as ice, resting against my hot skin, so that my nipples pricked up, erect instantaneously. "Oh no, oh yes," I gasped in anticipation. After a delicious, deliberate wait, he pressed down on the strap again, driving the sharp jet brutally against my budding tips. The sensation glanced through me, as if my nipples were being pierced through with twin needles, so cold that they burned. My sex blossomed wide at the intense pain of it. Feeling my reaction, he thrust his naked cock in, hard. My hips pressed up to meet his, my back arching in the way that caused him such satisfaction. My wordless voice soared like a bird's, and he growled his tiger cat's growl of pleasure. "That's my Hannah, that's how she does it," her beautiful soul, in such a perverse little body. He began to thrust fast and deep into me, then pressing and lifting and pressing my bonds in time with his strokes, so that I had to gasp my breaths in with his own. The scent of ginger was still on his hands from the demonstration, and with each draft of air, I could taste it, I could feel its heat infusing my entire body. As I gulped it down, stroke by stroke, I began to cry. Each high, sweet burst of sound, a word in my newfound language. "Yes, now, hurt me, Theo." "Theo? Theo, my god!" It was not my voice. Some other man's voice was calling from the doorway. Unable to help myself, I convulsed in a terror that became a runaway pleasure. My sex flowed liquid, vibrant and alive, so much so that I did not even care who was watching. The doctor too jerked back and cried out as he came, hot and messy across my belly. My back still arched so high that his cock was pressed between us, though he had pulled out. "Ah!" I cried. "Go!" he shouted. But the man in the doorway did not go. "Theo, my lad, what are you doing with a mad woman?" I'd suspected from your demonstration, but I never... well. The doctor struggled off me while covering himself and stood proud with a fronted dignity as if he were the one offended. "Godric, go! He must leave us, and breathe not a word of this to my father." "Theo, he knows! He's in the corridor! He heard everything!" "Oh, blast! Bagger and blast it!" The doctor began to stalk out, but then he turned back to where I lay, still bound and panting in the afterglow. He stroked my hair gently again as he murmured. "I will come back for you, Hannah. I'll tell the intern to take you to your room and clean you up, and then I will come for you again. Have no fear, darling, and no shame. Never be ashamed, not in front of him." I wondered, even then, whether he was speaking to me or stealing himself for the confrontation. It was several days before I saw the doctor again. As he'd promised, the intern, a kindly faced country boy, came and took me to my own little room. He brought me hot water to clean my sticky flesh and took my stained shift away in tactful silence. Overall, he said little beyond that his name was Thames. After the river, you know. But in his quiet, under-meaning presence, he helped me to recover from the series of shocks that I'd experienced. When I first saw the doctor again in his office, he would have seemed to any outside eye the same cool, severe authority I had met upon my first arrival at the clinic. He greeted me with the same cordial words and routine inquiries about my health as always. However, I had known him long enough to see the new lines of care on his brow, the dark shadows under his eyes that betoken the lack of sleep. His office was in unusual disarray, with many books and files missing. "Hanna," he finally said, "it is the end of the raven's cord clinic. My father will no longer permit me to carry out my sinful work on his land. I bowed my head, speechless under the weight of an overwhelming distress and guilt. I have long wanted to be free of this place, only not quite in such an abrupt manner. I haven't the funds to move to the continent yet. As you might imagine, I did not meet much success at raising capital during the reception I did not attend." "It's my fault," I burst out. "You have lost it all because of me." "On the contrary, I have gained what I did gain because of you. Several of the esteemed medical practitioners who saw you were impressed by your performance. I have been offered another position closer to London in a larger hospital. It will not be my own, but I will have charge of the wing dedicated to the women in delicate conditions. Women, such as your self-hanna. So now I will give you another choice." He took a deep breath. "Will you come with me, or will you stay behind to live on your own?" I searched his face carefully for any sign of what he wanted, but for once he exerted no will over me. He truly wished me to decide on my own, for my own happiness and well-being. It was a gift. I took my time and care in unwrapping the answer. "My doctor, my Theo, you know my inclinations. I love to be your patient, but I fear it will not be the same in London. You will have many more cases to attend to, and I will not be what I am now forever. I am still becoming." "Ah yes, your famous, becoming otherwise. I believe that we're both becoming other than what we were now." "Yes, I do not want to be without you. I still need your treatments. But I won't compromise you and your new job, as I've done here, and I won't live my life in an institution forever, no matter what you do to me." I thought a little more, and then continued. "Perhaps, perhaps I could be an out-patient. Perhaps you could take up your new position and return when you're able, to treat me privately. I know you must have many clients among the nobility who require your services on their own estates. I could be a side-trip among those." He nodded slowly, throughout my tentative effort to pass the future. "Yes, many doctors still call upon country patients in their homes, and I will certainly maintain some connections in this area. It is a clever plan." "At the thought of what we could do, truly in private, my spirits began to lift." "Right to me when you're coming, and I'll write to you when I need you." "Oh," I smiled, "I will write so many things for you to read." The doctor gave one of his wicked, sardonic grins. "I have no doubt that you will, and I believe that now you can handle your own care. I will see to some private accommodations for you and perhaps a small, charitable stipend for a recovering madwoman. You must also find work to do, perhaps connected to your writing." I nodded eagerly. "I know just what to do. As a great market for professionals of late, I will confess all that has happened to me in this past year in a novel. I will disguise it all, of course, but when you read it, you will know that it was I who wrote it." "Then it has settled. We will both fly Raven's court, but our lines will cross again." "Yes, they will cross. On the page, and in the flesh. The lines I write lead back to you, and they will lead you back to me, always." Now it is time to lay down the quill. That is my story from Raven's court clinic. It has been almost a full year since these last events I record. I live, alone, in a few small rooms now, but I am content to write my tales, and take my pleasures as I see fit between my doctor's visits. If at night my voice cries aloud in ecstasy, I feel no shame, and indeed I hope I can make something beautiful out of that nightingale voice one day. I am not there yet, but I feel I'm on my way." Finally, my dearest reader, I address the last lines to you. For you who are still seeking a new becoming, I hope that these lines may open the way for your flight, whomever or wherever you fly to. Words fade, writing remains, and so I remain your most obedient servant, Hannah. And... [Music] [Music] Oh, there we go. That's the end of the chapter, and the end of the series, and what a series it's been. I've really enjoyed this story, and I'm going to talk about it as a whole in just a little bit, but first I want to talk about this chapter, and at the beginning we rejoined Hannah as we left her in her little cell, strapped to the bed, and she's reeling in grief and anxiety that the doctor has abandoned her. But first, I was tempted to feel like her reaction was a bit melodramatic. She even consciously decides to try and enter a catatonic state and shut herself away inside her body to become a vacant vessel, and that's certainly an extreme reaction, but then when I think about everything she's been through over the course of this story, then yeah, maybe that isn't totally unwarranted. After all, at that moment she's led to believe that her situation is entirely hopeless, that she's failed the demonstration, so she's never going to escape the institution, and that the one silver lining around the darkness which clouds her reality that she gets to spend time with the doctor exploring her kinky fetishes and experiencing the sublime pleasure that he gives her is about to disappear forever. I can understand feeling like it's the only thing she can do to shut herself off from the pain, even if that does mean sacrificing the potential for any positive feelings later. Still, that was a pretty sad moment, and my heart was aching for Hannah in that moment, like no, don't do that, don't give up Hannah, partly because I think there must be other men out there who Hannah would equally be able to love and explore pleasures with, but also because I was pretty convinced that the doctor would be back for her, or at the very least that she was wrong about her performance during the demonstration. Hannah tends to skew negatively about things, and to be honest from an outside perspective, I thought it probably went fine, and so with that in mind, and Hannah having now proved her rehabilitation, she might well be on the cusp of being discharged from the institution to start a whole new life of some description. Deciding to go catatonic now would be a terrible mistake, resigning her indefinitely to her life inside the institution, and probably not the one that she's at now at Ravenscort, probably the one for the incurable, which has been the doctor's constant threat, and Hannah's greatest fear. Another factor in my frustration at this scene was in the way that Hannah decides to shut off her feelings deliberately, in a way which feels like it's vindictive. I'm paraphrasing here, but she kind of says, well, if he wants me to calm myself, then that's what I'll do, I'll get real calm, and that'll show him, which feels a bit pathetic to me. And that ties into the fact that I still dislike the amount of power that Hannah gives the doctor over her emotions. She's either giddy with elation, or desperate with despair, at his whim, and I kind of wish she'd just break away from needing him so much. Part of me, of course, knows that he's all she's got at the institution, so I'm not judging her too harshly, but at the same time, I think as a human being, you do have to try and have some level of ownership over your own feelings, and find a way to be content by yourself. If you allow all your emotions to be governed by an external source, then are they really your emotions? In this scene, Hannah's punishing herself and making things much worse for her, for the doctor's benefit, because she thinks it'll teach him a lesson, or because perhaps it will result in her getting his attention, and this whole tantrum is barely even about her at all, it's all about him. But of course, the doctor does come back, apparently just in the nick of time, as Hannah feels the ice beginning to close over her spirit as she freezes herself in stasis. I wonder how realistic that is, could she keep up the deliberate conscious pretense of being catatonic for any considerable length of time? I'm not sure that that's gonna be easy for Hannah to do, and also I don't think it would serve her well, so to me it seems like a bit of an empty threat. When the doctor mocks Hannah about a settled down life, married to him and raising children in a lake district cottage, I was actually pretty surprised that Hannah in fact didn't want this. Maybe I've been reading it all wrong, but I kind of thought that's where we were heading to. I felt sure that Hannah was yearning for something more from the doctor, something more committed than just mutual pleasure-seeking. Because if that's all it was, then why is she so distraught at the idea of him leaving her? Is she just upset that she won't get to have sex with him again? It doesn't read that way to me. She's too hurt for this just to be about the sex. It suddenly makes Hannah's extreme reaction to her abandonment feel out of place. Yet apparently that's all this was for her, for them both. Just a friends with benefit situation. Victorian fuckbuddies. Everything centred around their mutual desire for a sadomasochistic romp. Maybe I'm being a bit of an old romantic here, but I can't help feeling that there's something a bit unsatisfying about that. I think the author is almost making fun of the reader here, when Hannah compares the happy endings of sentimental literature to the restrictions of a straight jacket. They're deliberately subverting the expectations of the 19th century romance novel by denying us the romantic ending, where Hannah and the doctor begin a new life as earnest lovers. And I get it, I see what they're doing. But really, I think it robs us of something that the story has been promising to provide in the subtext of the previous chapters. I think it might have been a bit more satisfying if they had seriously considered that life together, in that moment, for just a little bit longer, entertaining the fantasy before deciding to reject it. One of the frustrations in this scene is that it denies that there's ever been anything deeper between Hannah and the doctor. It's gaslighting us about the subtext of what we've been reading for the latter half of the story, that Hannah has feelings for the doctor which extend beyond simply using each other for pleasure. Their decision, or perhaps realization, that they don't want to settle down and have a romantic happily ever after, would have felt more meaningful and satisfying if it had come with an acknowledgement that the alternative was a possibility, that there was something there, even if they decided not to pursue it. In a way, we do get a small snippet of this. Hannah immediately says no to the idea of a domestic life with the doctor as an instinctive reaction, and then in the seconds that follow, she realises that she's right, that that's the truth, she really doesn't want those things. But given that this tension between their respective feelings about each other has been a dominant theme for more than half of the chapters at this point, I think that this realization deserved to be played out in more than just a couple of lines. Sometimes I forget that this is an erotic stories podcast, but let's take a moment to talk about the sex that they have together. The first thing I thought was that it was kind of funny that the doctor asked Hannah if she wanted it hard or soft, as if they've ever had soft sex at any time during their relationship. It's basically been hard or nothing for Hannah from day one, so it's no surprise that that's what she wants this time too. And it certainly was pretty hard sex, you could say. I thought the doctor using the sharp pins of his cufflinks as nipple pokers was an inventive touch. I wonder if that's a commonly done thing, or if the author came up with that by themselves. I did do a very quick Google, but I couldn't find any results, so maybe it's something they're inserting from a personal experience. In any case, I do think using somebody's worn cufflinks to pierce your nips, unsterilised, seems like a good recipe for an infection, particularly in the 19th century when medicine was not as advanced as it is today. Maybe that's part of the fun of it for Hannah though, knowing that it's not necessarily just a pain in that moment, it's also potentially going to be a messy recovery in the mid to long term. Perhaps the pain as it heals later will be an erotic reminder of what the doctor has done to her. There was also a bit of an asphyxiation kink in there this time, with the doctor restricting Hannah's breathing and forcing her to gasp for air in between thrusts. Not exactly my cup of tea, in fact, I think that kind of thing's a bit scary. Or if you went too far and they died, or they got brain damage or something, it seems like a lot of responsibility to be doing that while also trying to enjoy sex. And for me, I don't know, there's nothing less sexy than having a great responsibility to attend to at that moment. Maybe that's just my particular neurosis though. But then at the end of the day, strangling your partner is not without risks is it? Hannah talks about her head rushing with blood, and that can't be good for the brain. I guess in a modern BDSM context, you're likely to have a safe word. Or I suppose because if you can't breathe then you can't talk, some kind of safe action to let your partner know to stop. But there are no safe words or actions for Hannah here. And thinking about safe words for a moment, I wonder if having one makes the situation more or less enjoyable for people who are really into BDSM. And I mean really into it, into it in the way that Hannah's into it, not just dipping their toes in the water and giving it a go or experimenting, the hardcore lovers. Because in a way, I can see that it is necessary to prevent harm, and it provides a safety net which could boost participants' confidence to try new things and push their boundaries. At the same time though, does knowing that you can stop things at any time with a single word or action make it feel less real or intense? I get a strong sense that part of the pleasure and fantasy for Hannah is that she can't escape. She's completely helpless to the doctor's enjoyment of her. Would knowing that she can stop things with a safe word take that feeling away? Perhaps the reality is that a safe word is just another part of the roleplay in that you roleplay that you don't have one until you need it. And then upon using it, the roleplay is either paused or stopped. And then if you resume, then you go back to pretending you don't have one again. I'm not into that scene in any way, so I'm not 100% on how any of this works. I do find it interesting to think about as an abstract concept, not as something I would particularly want to be a part of. It's hilarious to me that the moment of climax for Hannah and the Doctor is also the moment that Godric walks in and catches them in the act. Because, of course, it is. If you're writing a story where somebody gets caught having sex, then you basically have to have the person walk in just as they're coming. It's the law. And what's even better in this scene is that they get caught right at the point of no return, just seconds before inescapable orgasm. And that results in the realization that they've been rumbled, but can't do anything to avoid the embarrassing eventuality of climaxing in front of them, in full awareness of the awkwardness. It's spectacular. It's kind of the nightmare of every teenage masturbator whose mother doesn't knock before entering their bedroom. Strangely enough, though, for Hannah at least, it's the thrill of having been caught that pushes her over the edge. And it's lucky, too, that the Doctor's pull-out game was on point, despite the surprise of the interruption. Apparently, he's not so judgmental of onanism as it pertains to his own expulsions, particularly important because they weren't using their weird little Victorian condoms this time. One thing that was interesting to me was that once caught, the Doctor speaks honestly, perhaps for the first time to Hannah, about her sexuality, urging her not to feel ashamed, especially not in front of his father, Lord Raven's Court. Has he felt this way all along that there's nothing for Hannah to be ashamed of? Or is this representative of the development of his character? Is it the case that having been caught and with nothing left to hide, he can shed the pretense that he agrees with the backward notions of sexuality held by the upper classes and represented by his father? He claims in a previous chapter to be held to their values by the responsibility of his position, one granted to him by virtue of his relation to Lord Raven's Court. Now, knowing that he's going to lose the institution no matter what happens, he's finally able to tell Hannah what he really thinks, and also confront his own shame, as Hannah suspects is the real reason for his outburst. At their final meeting in the doctor's office, he gives Hannah a choice which, let's be honest, was a bit of a no brainer wasn't it? She can either follow the Doctor and stay a prisoner of some new institution indefinitely, or leave him and start a new life as a free woman. Not such a hard decision, but Hannah makes a real meal of it, as though her eventual decision was not the obvious solution. It's interesting that during her consideration, she makes a big point of searching for the Doctor's preference in his eyes, and she's both surprised and grateful that he keeps his preferences hidden, allowing her to come to her own conclusion. I wonder if Hannah had seen a hint of him wanting her to come with him in the Doctor's expression, whether she would still have chosen her freedom? It's a bit scary that he still has this control over her. Even when given a choice, she's immediately looking for someone else to decide for her, something which ties into my core frustration with Hannah as a character, and that's that she doesn't seem to have much personal agency, everything she does is about somebody else. Even choosing freedom, she frames it as partly for the Doctor's benefit, so she won't corrupt his work at the new hospital, like she feels she's corrupted at this time. And look, I get that she's a product of the 19th century, but she claims to want a life of independence to break free of the expectations imposed on Victorian women, but despite these claims, she's relentlessly passive and deferential. The compromise, in the end, is a good one, which is nice, since it's maybe the first time that Hannah does actually think outside the box and try making her own rules, rejecting the binary options to either stay or go that the Doctor offers, and creating a third one which suits her needs. Hooray, for character development, even if it's one that's only allowed to surface once she's absolutely sure that she can't read what the Doctor wants her to do from his expression. Small steps, perhaps, but made larger by being taken by a young Victorian. Is there a hint of romance in that final goodbye between Hannah and the Doctor? Well, there's certainly wistfulness, perhaps even some longing, and definitely some pain in the goodbye. Does it touch more of the romantic connection between them that was refuted earlier? In the end, I think it's supposed to be ambiguous, and fraught with contradictions. It's perhaps a reflection on the emotional limits of a connection between two people who are destined not to be together, of people who don't want to live happily ever after, that in these scenarios, there are limits to sentimentality. The story ends, not with a satisfying declaration of love, or of a final destination having been reached, but with a kind of laissez-faire notion that their paths might cross again in the future, that their time together will always be meaningful in some undefined way, at least to Hannah, but that it's over now, and a new chapter has begun. Hannah's life, in a way, has now begun. For me, though, it all feels a bit too casual, given the emotional weight the relationships seem to have throughout the rest of the story. For it to end like this, as though it was all just a passing fancy, feels somehow hollow. Damn it, I want the emotions acknowledged. She was bawling her eyes out and threatening to go catatonic over even the suspicion that the Doctor might abandon her, and now he really is leaving, and she acts like it's no big deal. Easy come, easy go. It just feels lackluster to me. Unsatisfying, I think, is the word. And while we're on the subject of dissatisfaction, for this whole story, I've been under the impression that what we're reading is the entries in Hannah's diary. That's what we've been led to believe, right? I feel like I'm going crazy again here, because now, right at the end, the script has been flipped, and we find out that this wasn't Hannah's diary after all, even though at times it seemed like we were supposed to think that it was. Instead, this is Hannah's first confessional novel, written a year after she and the Doctor had gone their separate ways. I'm not sure whether this has always been obviously the case, and I've just misread or misunderstood something, or if the author changed their mind once they decided that the conclusion would involve Hannah deciding to publish her experiences. Am I being gaslit once again? I was so unsure that I had to go back through the story and look for anything that I might have missed. And no, I don't think I got things wrong. There were so many moments where the character Hannah speaks directly to the audience, like a diary. She even talks about writing it as if they're in the moment scribbling it down, like in Chapter 3 when Hannah says she has to get this down quickly before the Doctor comes. That's directly leading us to believe that she's writing the words which we are now reading. And then, later on in Chapter 6, we learned that the details of what she's writing, specifically the things about Clara in Chapter 4, have had a material impact on the narrative of the chapter that we're reading now, when the Doctor reveals that he knows about Clara from reading her diary, presumably the same words that we read in Chapter 4. And I spent so much time thinking, wow, Hannah's being so candid in these diaries, and she knows the Doctor's gonna read them. That seems unusual, and possibly misguided, but I was reassured by all the moments that tell us that this is a diary that we're reading what she's writing in that moment. And so now to find out that what we've been reading was actually written a whole year after the events of the action in the story just feels a bit false to me. I think this ambiguity and confusion over the in-world narrator is one of the few shortcomings of an otherwise excellent story, and it could really do with some clarification and consistency in order to keep the audience in the story, and prevent these immersion-breaking continuity questions from arising. At the end of the chapter, there was a bit of a sense for me that this exceptionally happy ending for Hannah came a bit out of nowhere. Suddenly she's got it all. The Doctor's attention on request via letters, her freedom from the institution, acceptance of her sexual kinks, a new house, and a promising new career as an erotic writer. It's everything she's ever dreamed of. And isn't that all a bit neat for a story which, in its first chapters, seemed to delight in being cruel to Hannah, untilting everything unfairly against her. In a way, I suppose, we did get the happy ending of sentimental literature, after all. So, what did I think of this story as a whole? Well, despite its challenging first chapter, which had me worried that I'd just locked myself into a 10-week commitment to reading Victorian torture porn, this was actually quite an enjoyable series once it got going. Thankfully, the brutality of Hannah's treatment seemed to ease off a little bit towards the latter half, and the mystery of the enigmatic characters and setting kept me intrigued throughout. I can't say for certain if this was a "hot story" necessarily. I'm not really into BDSM, as I think I might have mentioned once or twice, but I hope that listeners who find that dynamic sexy enjoyed the moments where Hannah was dominated. There certainly seemed to be plenty of them in there. Actually, on reflection, it was one of those rare stories that balanced perfectly the demand from an erotic story-reading audience for a sex scene in each chapter, while still maintaining a compelling narrative which could have stood up on its own. Even though there was a kind of sex scene in each chapter, I don't remember feeling like they'd been shoehorned in. They all felt natural, and they missed the trap that undercover stripper fell into sometimes by staying varied enough to avoid becoming repetitive, both in what the characters do together and in the words that the author uses to describe it. The sex scenes had enough moans, groans, and dirty talk to keep me in the moment, without it feeling too early 2000s porn star, with constant over-the-top vocalizations that can sometimes feel a bit comical and forced. I liked the spooky Victorian vibe, and it was a great change of scene from the futuristic setting of Lifeboat. I also thought that the author did a great job of recreating the 19th-century writing style while still keeping it pacey and easy to engage with for modern readers. There was some great vocab in the story, which I didn't really touch on that much, I think just because there was so much else to talk about, but I definitely learned some new words in this series, and I was reminded of some that I'd nearly forgotten. This week I felt a physical jolt of pleasure when I read the word "bitokund" in the chapter. Oh, what a lovely word to read. I also have to give credit to the author for doing their research, and wow was this story well researched. Everything which I felt myself asking, is this a real thing? Turned out to be completely historically accurate, from the practice of figging to the Victorian steam-powered dildo. It was all true. They also reference several influential and relevant writers from the era as influences on the characters, without it feeling like they were just mentioning them for clout. And they also included some further reading on the scientific demonstrations for anyone who was interested in learning about the history. I'm really impressed with how much work went into this, and although it's also been a lot of work to produce this series of the podcast, working with a great story like this makes it an absolute pleasure. And I've really felt the drive this time to give it my best and do it justice, because of all the effort that you can see went into writing the story. Was it totally my kind of thing? No. Do I like and respect it for what it is, and how well it does its thing? Absolutely. So that's what I thought. But there are also 15 people in the comments section this week with their own opinions, so let's get stuck in and take a look at what they said. We'll go from oldest to newest, starting about 12 years ago, with Pink Peony 101, who I think we might have heard from before, but it's been a while. To someone who understands, and they quote here from the story, it was true, the trically closing scenes of marriage and motherhood, so common in sentimental literature, have always felt more restrictive than a straight jacket to me, from someone seeking a new beginning. Okay, so I guess what they mean is that they really enjoyed the story and it was right up their alley. Case 21 actually responds to Pink Peony here, and they say, "Thank you, Pink Peony, for your supportive comments. It's been a pleasure to write this story, and I feel even better knowing that someone else enjoys it too." Our next comment comes from Mel Perman, who says, "It has been a delight to read this well-written and very arousing story. You've every reason to be very proud of an excellent piece of work, one that never faltered over all its parts. Thank you for sharing your talent with us, and please accept my thanks, along with five stars." Kiwi Plum says, "What a gem! Wonderfully written, well done with giving all the characters such life, they both totally grew on me. What a lovely surprise to find. Cheers." And Case 21 responded to these two as well in one comment together. They say, "Thank you so much for your warm and wonderful comments. It truly means a lot to me to hear you enjoyed it," smiley face. I'll post more stories eventually, but I'm travelling a lot this summer, so there'll likely be one shots every once in a while. Please check back, and I'll let you know that they certainly did make good on that promise. There are 65 submissions on their profile on Litarotica.com, so plenty in the back catalog to get stuck into. But, but, but, but don't go just yet, because there's still a few more comments here. The next one from someone called Marie, who says, "Five stars. Thank you so much for putting your talent and imagination down for us to read. I have sorrow in my heart for the ending of this tale, for I have grown quite fond of Hannah and the Doctor, but I truly look forward to reading more from that witty brain of yours." Again, thank you for taking my imaginations on this route. It has been a pleasure. Your most obedient servant, Marie. Another comment here from Lusher. Someone we've definitely heard from before. "Elegant, masterful series. Your talent for historically accurate and impeccably voiced erotica is undeniable. I would love to read more of your work." A couple of anonymous comments now. One says, "Wonderful series. Thanks for a really wonderful story. I loved following Hannah's journey, and I was sad to see it come to an end. Emotionally satisfying, great characters, beautiful writing, bravo, and keep up the good work." And the second one says, "Thank you. Your story was fabulously written. It makes me feel both more and less self-conscious about my preferences." And they put in brackets, submissive masochism. "At the very least, I have a term for myself, becoming otherwise. I'm definitely bookmarking you. Thank you for the wonderful read and images. Cheers." Our next comment comes from Death and Taxes. "Theo! Theo, my god!" they quote. Very clever wordplay. "Is it clever wordplay?" "I'm just searching my mind to see, is that a pun or play on words in any way?" You know what I think what they're referring to is that when you read this story, that moment where it switches from Hannah crying out Theo to Godric crying out Theo, having caught them in the act, you don't necessarily know who's speaking at the time. So yeah, I guess that was kind of, I'd say more of a literary device, to be honest, but it's also one that doesn't come across well when it's narrated via audio. It's kind of one that you need to see on the page to get. And I did my best to try and present it to you, but maybe it was lost. Anyway, I think that's what that was about from Death and Taxes. Another couple of anonymous comments here. One says, "This was amazing!" Amazing in all caps with six exclamation marks. Jesus, that is overkill. But they go on to say, "Oh, please, please, please write more." Wow, this is easily my favorite series on literotica. High praise indeed. Our next anonymous comment says, "Fantastic! This was probably the best story I've read on this site, and I managed to get so attached to Hannah and Theo that I actually cried at the end." Amazingly written. A comment here from Judy Lee says, "Excellent. A well-written story. Set believably in the 19th century, it showed how some doctors used their patients for their own pleasure while learning about the psychological needs of masochism. I enjoyed the story." Our penultimate comment comes from Nat Cameron, who says, "Poetic, sensual, beautiful. You are so good at understanding the complexity of our desires. You write with sensitivity, and I had a deep connection to your characters. Thank you, Nat." And finally, it's an anonymous comment, which has a title. The title of this comment is, "The Human Condition." Very serious. And underneath that, the comment says, "Very well-written. A fascinating read, giving a fictional insight into early medical treatment, recognizing the importance of aftercare post-scene. So relieved I was born into this time." Why did they feel the need to have a title like that? A title which had nothing to do with their comment. Anyway, nothing but overwhelmingly positive praise for this story and well deserved. I certainly thought it was one of the best and best written stories that we've had on the podcast. And if you enjoyed it too, then I really want to encourage you to head over to Literalotica.com and search for Case 21 as an author. They've got plenty more stories on their profile for you to read. And if you do read any of them, make sure you give them a like, five-star review, maybe even drop a supportive, encouraging comment for them. I think you can tell by their responses to some of the comments at the end of this story that they really do appreciate that kind of thing from people who have enjoyed reading their work. So don't be shy. Thank you so much for downloading this podcast. Thanks for listening to the whole series. I really hope that you've enjoyed it. And I hope that you'll stay listening while I ask you to do me a favor. Asking you once again, please subscribe to the podcast. Like this episode, leave a five-star review, write a short little comment or whatever your podcast app lets you do. If you want to support this podcast, if you want to see it continue and grow and be successful, then the best ways to do that are by engaging with it on the podcast apps in the ways that I've mentioned and by just sharing it with people who you think might enjoy it. If you've done those things, if you've shared it with somebody else, then thank you so much. It really makes all the difference. If you want to go one step further, then as always, there's a link to the Patreon page in the description of this episode. If you feel like donating a fiver to support the work that I do, then that's a great way to do that. Although really, I understand there's not a great deal of stuff on the Patreon page at the moment. I haven't got any subscribers on there, so I haven't been making content for it, but if somebody does subscribe, then I promise there will be some cool things on there. Early access to the episodes, of course. All the stories available in a full, unabridged format and the ability to be part of the conversation and perhaps even vote on which stories to be read in future series. Those are just some of the ideas that I have, if and when somebody decides to subscribe. Anyway, I will be back, potentially next week, if not then certainly the week after, with a brand new story. I still haven't decided which story I'm gonna pick, and so I can't tell you anything about it. You're just gonna have to wait for the release of episode one of series 10, 10 series of this podcast. Wow, it's the numbers are racking up quickly, although having said that, some of the series are shorter than others. Until then though, I hope you have a great week, or couple of weeks, depending on which it turns out to be. Keep it sexy, try not to get too caught up in the trickly closing scenes of marriage and motherhood, so common in sentimental literature, and goodbye. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]