Peril Talk: Anatomy of an AoH Scene

[LuciaFilms]

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So!

Might post these on occasion if they turn out to be fun and informative, but one of the things we frequently encounter when script writing and scene planning is "What does this mean to "us" vs "other people" in terms of particular perils and genre elements. What I get, for instance, out of an AoH (Arms over Head) scene might be very different from someone else. Maybe we enjoy different elements, or focus in on different cues.
While this is true for all sorts of different Peril Elements, what I want to address today (because one of these is coming up in a film again soon) is the titular "Arms over Head" scenario.

For those who might not know, AoH (Not to be confused with the Ancient Order of Hibernians) is the scene topic where a character is bound with their arms over their heads and typically harassed in one manner or another by their captor(s). While this can range from simple verbal interrogation to brutal torture, the axis tends to shift towards the later.

It is an extremely vulnerable way to be restrained, forcing the prisoner to exhaust themselves supporting their own weight or face painful stress on the body from hanging from the ropes. It leaves the entirety of the body open from virtually all angles and can keep a prisoner up even long after they've exhausted themselves or been rendered unconscious. In short! AoH usually means rough times ahead!

That is in effect the general knowledge about AoH that is pretty global and factual. But that doesn't tell us what makes it interesting to people. What makes it tick those little boxes that captures the rapt attention and quicken the pulse?




We already know the elements that thrill us. Some were listed above, and will be re-listed with others below. What we are as a production team very interested in, is what makes these scenes for you! What elements, either directly involving AoH or parallel/adjacent do you find fascinating or exciting. We'd love to hear your thoughts so that we can consider them when making future products and creations.

Powerful AOE Buttons

• Blatant vulnerability and access.

• Body aching and stress from hanging.

• Struggling hands/wrists against the bondage.

• Visuals of kicking feet.

• Arched backs and presented breasts.

• Plenty of freedom to wiggle and struggle.

So please! If you are an AoH fan, share what really drives that particular aspect for you. Things you would like to see more of, even elements you might dislike and feel should be avoided! Any and all information is appreciated to help us understand what people are excited about so that we can keep these details in consideration when cultivating scenes of this nature.

Thanks in advance!

[MAV6666]

Lucia! Are you trying to make me stay at my laptop for eternity?

Someone posed this question at my AOH group at DFN (the site closed to new members ~1yr ago) and this is what was NSFW generally said (from a fantasy point of view):

• accentuates a woman's curves and muscle tone, whether she's fit or not as fit. also, from a torture standpoint, they are pretty much helpless

• good position to expose the victim for abuse, shows off her attributes, is uncomfortable for the victim, and makes her look and feel helpless

• the victim cannot cover herself, and feels so vulnerable.

• [Someone as the victim] is helpless and available to be tortured or raped with no chance of covering up. And, depending on whether totally suspended in the air or not, it feels good at first, like the best stretch you've ever had, but it doesn't take long for the pain to become unbearable.

• [someone as the victim likes]being up on my toes. stressed that way. plus i think my breasts look better

• bound for something to happen, something she's probably not going to like. This position renders the victim helpless and vulnerable on all sides, from all angles. It also renders her as a meat object to be treated as such. 360 degrees of torture and rape...

• as time passes becomes less comfortable and finally a torture unto itself, not just bondage

Curious what others think, and Lucia, hope you have these in your films. As an AOH snob, I like the wrists tied together and elbows not bent :p

[LuciaFilms]

Thank you for the suggestions and overview Mav! Somehow I knew you would be the first to reply. You touched upon one aspect that I think is a critical element to add to our considerations that I deeply appreciate. Which is the inability to cover oneself back up. That sort of subtle, embarrassing element is a really excellent tool to play with even in low-key AoH scenes. Great addition!

And I hear you. I hope you will enjoy the tie. It is with rope, but it is absolutely with the wrists together!

Hoping some other fans pitch their particulars in as well.

[HeroineTard]

This point certainly doesn't apply to everyone, however the Giga producers and Japanese audiences love using AoH as a way of rendering the heroine incontinent.

The heroine is hung up and beaten from all angles over an extended period. Eventually the heroine will have to relieve herself. As her stamina is slowly exhausted by keeping herself upright and conscious, she'll begin shifting in position trying to maintain control of her bladder and dignity. Eventually it all fails and the heroine is forced to disgrace herself by wetting her costume in front of her captors. It's an extremely humiliating end for any strong heroine and it's gritty taboo nature dives into what would actually happen in a real life scenario.

Again, this isn't for all audiences but the Asian market seems to love this sort of thing.

[Night_Lantern]

I’d echo what Mav said above. I personally love the way it both accentuates the female body (especially the breasts) and renders the woman helpless to resist anything coming her way. She can be beaten, sensuously felt up and/or stripped naked with ease. The possibilities are endless. This is also why I like spread-eagle bondage on beds and tables. Ticks the same boxes though now the heroine is in a better position to be fucked.

Excited to see what you guys put together. Really enjoying reading your comments on here Lucia- it’s nice to see a producer so keen to engage with his customers.

[LuciaFilms]

This point certainly doesn't apply to everyone, however the Giga producers and Japanese audiences love using AoH as a way of rendering the heroine incontinent.

The heroine is hung up and beaten from all angles over an extended period. Eventually the heroine will have to relieve herself. As her stamina is slowly exhausted by keeping herself upright and conscious, she'll begin shifting in position trying to maintain control of her bladder and dignity. Eventually it all fails and the heroine is forced to disgrace herself by wetting her costume in front of her captors. It's an extremely humiliating end for any strong heroine and it's gritty taboo nature dives into what would actually happen in a real life scenario.

Again, this isn't for all audiences but the Asian market seems to love this sort of thing.

Definitely a decisive element to play with! Tends to be the sort of thing that people either love or they hate with little room in between. While it is something we will probably steer clear of in most productions, there are certainly some that warrant it. Venture No More for instance has this element briefly during the ending. Definitely a great example on the humiliation axis though, thank you for bringing it up! Will probably save those sorts of themes for the rare, hyper serious film. (Again, Ah la VnM)

[LuciaFilms]

I’d echo what Mav said above. I personally love the way it both accentuates the female body (especially the breasts) and renders the woman helpless to resist anything coming her way. She can be beaten, sensuously felt up and/or stripped naked with ease. The possibilities are endless. This is also why I like spread-eagle bondage on beds and tables. Ticks the same boxes though now the heroine is in a better position to be fucked.

Excited to see what you guys put together. Really enjoying reading your comments on here Lucia- it’s nice to see a producer so keen to engage with his customers.

Definitely gaining clarity about the importance of the pose in this. Thanks guys! While the accompanying acts are important as well, this definitely has illustrated the importance of making sure that the body tells the tale about the punishment just as much as the punishment itself.

[MAV6666]

another opinion on AOH torture scenes, especially in that body tells the tale theme, is that the physical expressions communicate pain. The wrists (appearing to) bearing the full body weight, the body swinging or convulsing when torture is applied, the victim's abdomen/ribs flexing as she tries to catch her breath in between blows, a moist/wet look to make it seem like the victim is sweating under duress. Since even "stunt" AOH is physically demanding, I suggest to producers to capture the angle above the knees so that the lower legs and feet can be used to execute this action and that the wrists/arms/shoulders aren't in as much pain as if the victim was really suspended off the ground.

[EvilDaria]

Having tried this myself I can tell you how it thoroughly overwhelmed me as an experience. We adapted leather cuffs for this and my legs were similarly held apart, resembling an inverted Y-form. After 10 minutes my muscles felt on fire and I needed plenty of grit to continue, but I overcame that and discovered the high that comes from such vulnerability. The lightest brush of my tormentor's fingers literally anywhere on my body had me reacting in a way I'd never imagined let alone experienced. The posture not only emphasises the victim's breasts, but her muscle tone in general. I am no longer fit enough to experiment in this way, but the memories live on.
Please, if you are a filmmaker taking this route, spare a thought for us your models/actors, and plan your shots well before rigging. The sexual highs I achieved were only short-lived, and the physical exertion of holding that particular pose during camera and lighting set-ups between shots, caused long-term back and shoulder problems for me. However, I commend the flexibility of the current range of actresses in these projects, and enjoy seeing them helplessly struggling against the inevitable. More please.

[smerdyakov666]

Powerful AOE Buttons[/b]

• Blatant vulnerability and access.

• Body aching and stress from hanging.

• Struggling hands/wrists against the bondage.

• Visuals of kicking feet.

• Arched backs and presented breasts.

• Plenty of freedom to wiggle and struggle.

I love this sort of "peril talk," and "AoH" has always been a turn-on for me, for all these reasons and more. It was the very first place my head went to when I wrote the first true peril for my own superheroine, the Blue Lynx. I love the contrast between the "blatant access" and the "wiggle room": it's a restraint that gives the heroine enough space to THINK she can come back, but every part of her-- from her breasts, to her crotch, to her butt, to her mask and costume-- is fair game (and it's going to be harder and harder for the villain to avoid touching her once she starts squirming around so enticingly).

The strain of it all means it's hard for live-action actresses to represent, and I don't blame producers for not even trying-- it could be dangerous for everyone involved! It's especially rare that we see a full on "hanging" scene, with dangling and/or kicking legs. But one recent video that got a lot of the elements right was Alex David's "Heroine Hunter," which ends with Liberty Star in an extremely compromised state. (It might help that Alex is on her knees, and so able to personally mitigate some of the real "actress pain," even as she convey's her heroine's helplessness perfectly.)



The Black Scorpion video with Dani G. was another good example. Tying her arms over her head allowed poor Dani's mask to be taken and her magnificent breasts to be fondled in every which way. The video only got better and better though, as BS was taken down from AoH, punched and kicked and groped some more, and then RE-TIED, a scene which the producers actually shot and that I treasure. (I love when we see the captors move/restrain/etc the helpless heroine. It makes the dynamics of the situation oh so clear.)



The AoH in Spellbinder versus the Gagster was good, too. Darla had a lot of room to struggle, but not enough to prevent her from being unmasked. And she could only howl into her gag when the Gagster exposed her tits.

[smerdyakov666]

It seems like its a peril that is represented far more in comics / cartoons / video games, maybe because the actress can't get hurt.

I've always loved this scene of Batgirl waking up and hanging from a ceiling fan. Her reaction is adorable, and completely inappropriate given the direness of her predicament. The artists got it all right here: the initial close up showing Babs' bound wrists, the long shot showing how she's hanging (and how many inches she is above the ground), and a third panel where she's surrounded by a thick of villains who could do whatever they want to her... (They elect to leave her tied up so she can be demolished along with the building.)



The old video game "Wet" had a nice one, too. Rubi is ko'ed via injection, and wakes up with her arms over her head, about to be shock tortured. The game didn't win any awards for subtlety but this scene is especially gratuitous, with Rubi dangling in just her T-shirt and panties. You could argue that the torture wouldn't work unless the heroine's feet and legs were bare, but I think the probably just took off her pants because they could (AoH encourages that kind of thinking!).



Does anyone else know of any great AoH scenes? Or any other thoughts about why they are so compelling?

[HeroineTard]

This point certainly doesn't apply to everyone, however the Giga producers and Japanese audiences love using AoH as a way of rendering the heroine incontinent.

The heroine is hung up and beaten from all angles over an extended period. Eventually the heroine will have to relieve herself. As her stamina is slowly exhausted by keeping herself upright and conscious, she'll begin shifting in position trying to maintain control of her bladder and dignity. Eventually it all fails and the heroine is forced to disgrace herself by wetting her costume in front of her captors. It's an extremely humiliating end for any strong heroine and it's gritty taboo nature dives into what would actually happen in a real life scenario.

Again, this isn't for all audiences but the Asian market seems to love this sort of thing.

Definitely a decisive element to play with! Tends to be the sort of thing that people either love or they hate with little room in between. While it is something we will probably steer clear of in most productions, there are certainly some that warrant it. Venture No More for instance has this element briefly during the ending. Definitely a great example on the humiliation axis though, thank you for bringing it up! Will probably save those sorts of themes for the rare, hyper serious film. (Again, Ah la VnM)

Can't wait to see your new films

[heroinehunter]

I'm a total AOH fanatic, so I have to be included in this one!!

I do have to upgrade my love for this position one tier, however, to Eiffel Tower Position - not just arms over head. I agree with and elaborated on some of the points as to why I love to place my pleasure pets in this position:

*It does accentuates a woman's curves and muscle tone, whether she's fit or not as fit. The more physically fit the model, you'll have more of a sexy muscle display that shows off a woman's strength and beauty. Even if the model is not the most athletic, it still forces the arm and leg muscles to work themselves and be displayed. Even the proverbial 'girl next door' would look smoking hot. I include the spreader bar here for the legs, because I'm a huge leg man and love a woman's strong, physically fit, athletic legs.

*Blatant vulnerability and access to the body. It is a good position to expose the model for naughty abuse or playful torment, shows off all of her lovely attributes (arched backs, presented breasts, open crotch) for play, is increasingly uncomfortable for the victim over the course of time, and makes her look and feel realistically helpless consistantly during play.

*The model themselves cannot cover herself and feels so vulnerable. They are indeed pretty much helpless to any kinky torment, naughty or nice. From the feedback I get from my pleasure pets, this is the chief reason they allow me to place them in this position.

*Body aching and the stress from hanging. As time passes, the position becomes less comfortable and finally a torture unto itself, not just the bondage that they are in. Arm and leg strength passes over time. Some like the relief of 'just hanging there.'

*Struggling hands/wrists against the bondage. I'm into rope bondage mostly for this position, but there are times I do have to switch to handcuffs or leather cuffs due to blood circulation. I also mostly have my pleasure pet's wrists crossed - the reason being I do enjoy the sight of my pleasure pet trying to reach the ropes with her struggling fingers in an useless effort to untie herself. Since the hands are not together, it makes it that much harder to grasp onto anything.

*Stable feet - the spreader bar keeps the lovely legs from kicking and increases the stress on the body. A person can also increase the immobilization by tying the bar to a support structure (or straight down if possible).

*Plenty of freedom to wiggle and struggle. I do love a fiesty,playful pleasure pet and they always look so damn hot when they move around furiosuly in this position knowing that they are unable to break free. Nuff said'.

It's interesting. I do not recall any of the superheroines I grew up on (Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, Yvonne Craig's Batgirl, etc....) tied in this position (maybe I'm wrong). There were some flashes on television or movies: Molly Hagan in the ending of Chuck Norris's 'Code of Silence', Sandahl Bergman getting dual flogged in 'She' and then her hot friend getting stretched/flogged, and the late Lana Clarkson in 'Barbarian Queen.' But it was actually watching Penelope Pace or Tabitha Jordan in a Zfx Shockwave video that first got my interested in the position. Then, out of interest of course, a peson applies to their own fetish and play.

I love the Eiffel Tower Position so damn much that I created a custom involving the character of Wonder Woman getting tormented all throughout in it. It was accomplished so well for me that I tried a second custom to do a new 'version' of the 'Wonder Woman Eiffel Tower Position'. I would like to thank smerdyakov666 for his kind words on how I left my superheroine in "Heroine Hunter". Sometimes requesting a custom is about seeing certain visuals that is not often seen in other productions. One 'new' element was the simple visual of Wonder Woman, bound aoh with her lovely legs bound in spreader bar, on her knees defeated. I did request the body be taunt with this final position. It was to impress the heroine's helplessness at the end of my story and to show off the lovely assets of the model to the viewer.

I would like to thank all the models and producers that have done the Eiffel Tower Position in their productions.

Heroine Hunter aka Uncle Jonesy

[Appleton]

I like it for different reasons than most: the humiliation factor.

It's one thing to be stripped naked but to also have your body stretched and fully exposed, must be very embarrassing for her.
Good position for the victim to be whipped from all directions also: her back, ass, tits, belly.

Also, her armpits being wide open, you can easily smell her stinky odor when you get close.

Image from SkatingJesus's comic: The Fall

[MAV6666]

A lot of these AOH considerations were taken into account in a custom Heroine Movies just did for me (for you guys who didn't see my post on the Releases thread). This was full of amazing AOH torture (punching, tasering, cattleprodding, and whipping; albeit without nudity). Check out Wonderstar if you haven't already https://www.heroinemovies.com/wondersta ... ne-movies/

[LuciaFilms]

Want to thank everyone for the feedback on this again! Working on another film that has AoH in it, and this is a great resource to return to and read up on. Really appreciate everyone chiming in with their perspective and preferences. As a director, it definitely helps view the scenes and situations in a more critical light beyond- "Tie them up and hit them a bunch!"

Thanks!

[SnidelyW]

Slightly different: My favorite AoH content is from Agent Eve episode one. She's pinned to the bed with her arms all the way over her head as she's ravished, moaning and sobbing the whole way. After seeing that, I am forever delighted by the sight of a woman's arms over her head with nice, smooth shaved armpits.