Bound physically or by fear

I’m interested in Dommes views as well as sub’s on this issue.

Let me explain fully. Up until quite recently I would always have bitch-boy very securely and helplessly bound, (and gagged), for serious canings, whippings, paddlings, etc. I love his total helplessness as I am free to do whatever I wish, and be as sadistic I wish, and there is no action he can take to minimise my ‘zeal’; except to plead.

However, as you may have read in recent previous posts, I have begun giving him 12 or 18 very painful dressage whip strokes while he simply holds his ankles. No physical bondage at all. He is still bound, but not physically. He is bound by his fear of what would happen to him were he to fail to hold his position. (These punishments are given on ostensibly vanilla days, simply to stoke my arousal before I play with myself.)

I have found I like this phenomenon too of him being ‘bound by fear’. I like that he is so frightened of me and so subjugated to my will, that despite very considerable pain, his fear enables him to control himself and take the whip strokes without moving. These fear bound punishments are brief, whereas his physically bound punishments last a minimum of 20 minutes. So I am considering seeing if there is a limit to his self control while only fear bound.

My recent step-change in drastically increasing his denial periods without any guilt, or pity, or sympathy does provide one threat I know would be very effective, along the lines of, ‘If you fail to hold your position or make more more noise than is acceptable, your current denial period will be set to a minimum of four months.’ (Or I might threaten six months or longer). And of course there is the threat, ‘If you fail to hold your position or make more more noise than is acceptable, I will simply secure you and gag you exactly as I do on a DS day for your deterrent punishment, and then continue the thrashing for at least an hour.’

I wondered though, what are the habits of other Dommes on this issue of having their submissive during punishments physically bound, or bound only by fear?

On the same theme, I have recently taken to smacking his flaccid defect with a ruler while he stands in front of where I sit, (blog post of 24 Nov 2019), but I always quickly secure his wrists behind him to do so. But writing this post reminded me of a Domme I read about who, in front of her friends, used to have her sub hold his flaccid defect out to her and present it for smacking. She would have him turn it this way and that so she could direct smacks wherever she wished. Another example of a submissive bound only by fear!

And if he became erect, she would continue for much longer and he would still have to move his defect with his hand, this way and that, on her instruction, so she could smack every possible surface of his defect. Her threat should he fail to obey, or move away or dodge a smack, was that she would bind his hands behind his back, apply a nasty embrocation product to his defect and then hold him securely by his balls and carry on smacking and smacking!