whipping/flogging as corporal punishment - how to stage realistically?

[thistlerose]

I'm working on a story in which one character (Character A) is compelled to physically discipline another (Character B), using some sort of flogger or whip. The characters in question are two able-bodied men in their late twenties / early thirties. They're both physically fit and approximately the same height.

Comments

[smillaraaq]

I'd second the suggestion to use something a little more short, solid and rigid like a cane or doubled stiff leather belt, rather than a longer whip or flogger. If Character A has no experience whatsoever handling flexible whips or floggers he won't really understand how to aim and wield them, so many of the blows won't be landing very effectively. With a cane it'll be easier for a novice to hit the target in a way that will actually cause damage -- for caning, practice is required if you want to understand how to *minimize* any skin breakage. I'd imagine that a totally untutored caner would be almost guaranteed to cut the skin in several places, on top of painful deep bruising

[tabaqui]

I don't have anything to add really except - how are you imagining tendon damage from a flogging? Is he possibly yanking and pulling to free himself from restraints and pulls a tendon/rips it? Because i can't really see a flogger or even a cane doing damage to a tendon unless the flesh and muscle on a leg or arm is just - *flayed* away by repeated blows.

[thistlerose]

I think I got the tendon damage thing from one of my searches, I forget which one. Which is one of the reasons I figured I was better asking you guys. :P

[lolmac]

If you genuinely want to be accurate on this, PM me and I can fill you in on more details. In brief:

How much detail are you planning on giving in this scene?

How much actual damage do you want to inflict, and how long-lasting?

There’s a fair amount of regional variation in how ‘whip’ and ‘flogger’ are defined; for my purpose, a whip is a single-tailed item, and a flogger is made of multiple ‘falls’ attached to a handle. A ‘cat’ is usually another name for a flogger, usually one with very thin falls.

Both floggers and whips can be made from a wide variety of materials. The sensation, and potential damage, depend very much on the kind of material.

There are other options: crops, straps, and paddles, to begin with. A leather belt is a strap; so is a razor strop.

Be careful with canes - defined here as a single, thin, whippy object used to strike. Canes give a huge amount of pain with very little force.

For your scenario, avoid whips completely. Expertise is required, or you will permanently maim the recipient.

Be very

[draike]

This entry's going in my LJ memories. Not the OP, but this is such a wealth of information that I'm going to get a lot of use out of! Would you mind if I PM'd you as well? I have a sadist character that I want to be experienced with whips and flogging. I want him to know how to inflict pain without leaving (severe) marks. He's supposed to be the one in charge of punishing the lackeys, and after reading this entry I've realized I don't have a damn clue how to portray the injuries he'll be inflicting.

Sorry for the drive-by comment!

[lolmac]

PM away! Some of the other comments here have great information also, especially stormwreath's comment.

[thistlerose]

This is excellent information. Thank you SO much.

The story I'm writing deals largely with the aftermath of the beating, with a few flashbacks. But I feel like, in order to write accurately about the recovery, I need to know exactly what happened.

Per your advice and that of other people, I'm going to go with a cane rather than a whip. There's no reason they wouldn't have one on hand, and it sounds like A can inflict plenty of damage on B without even having to try very hard.

As for how much damage I actually want to do to B... He should definitely be in pain and mostly incapacitated, but not in immediate danger. He is going to receive medical attention in a relatively short amount of time and, this being the future, he isn't in serious danger. He's actually a doctor, so he's going to tell A where not to aim, i.e. the spine, the kidneys, etc

Thanks for the good info.

[anonymous]

I will be using this information for my fantasies. For some reason I like them to be some what realistic (maybe I should say, factually accurate). These fantasies tend to be sadistic and non-consensual. I write some of the stories down, but don't seem to finish anything. Writing is very tedious for me and it is so much easier to just let my imagination flow.