Harem-Building

[Daphne]

Comments below, as always!

[hereno]

I think I've always liked them as a demonstration of the scale of the controller's power. But as I've gotten older, I think I'm coming around to the idea of going deep with a single subject. But I guess I'm kind of "go all one way or the other"; I don't know why you'd go to two or three and then stop.

[twobears]

At least for me, it depends more on the quality of the story line.

By the Book has a bunch of different girls, but it does work, especially when you have two of them playing off one another (like Thena and Jane)

Audiophila and Found Objects alos did a good job with this

[lifmcs]

I want to vote for the last option because it’s so true in a way, but I tend to like stories with numbers in the 1-5 range. Ambition may be lacking, but you can make up for it in story depth.

[Dr. White]

Somewhere around five we start to loose focus. It can quickly become too many characters to track. (no insult to ongoing stories with a large cast) 

I do like the idea of 'temporarily' controlling some people. Sort of a catch and release. Just using someone to get something done and then dropping them.

[ozymandias]

Rather than a harem, I'm really more intrigued by the controller who has a couple of bedmates, but who acquires for talent: a financial whiz, a doctor, a lawyer... leveraging his talent (hers to, as long as the subjects are female) or skill or tech to broaden his influence and increase his ease in the world.

[carmel0]

I think it has to do with the quality (process and outcome) of the story.
I really enjoyed the initial issues of "By the Book" (1-10 were just great). It seemed the story was addressing every fantasy.
There were still some great issues after that, but it kind of went all over the place just in an attempt to add subjects.

Right now my favorite comic is "Bigger".
The protagonist is certainly building a harem, but the process (and the outcomes) are a little different for each member.
The various premises being developed are creative and (in my opinion) really hot.
I think the same is true for "Unknown Pleasures" and "Friend Request".
Two other stories where the reader can join the 'hero' in his escapades to build his harem.

[radouigi]

3-5 is the sweet spot for me on harems, the same as ensemble casts or adventuring parties (which could be the reason for targeting exactly that many). I also love variety, so some stories going over or staying under the sweet spot is definitely desirable, but that doesn't change where the sweet spot is for me.

[Vidor]

If you have MC powers, the first thing you're going to do is get a sex slave.  The second thing you're going to do, is get a second sex slave.

3-5 is a good number.  I suspect with this format, comics, stories would just about require harem building of some sort unless it's a one-off story.

[whitesf]

I do like a good harem. As it grows however one can lose a trick a bit of who is who. It depends on how the story is told of course.
It can help to keep the groups separate: a harem at work, a harem of female friends, etc. 

[hereno]

As it grows however one can lose a trick a bit of who is who. 

Seeing some of these answers, I think there might be a deeper question at play here: Do you prefer your controllees to be characters, or objects? My guess is the answer to that question heavily informs your answer to Daphne's. (I definitely come at MC from an objectification angle.)

[SDPunk]

I haven’t answered because it’s so story dependent. I’m sure there is a story about someone who discovers mind control and only ever uses it on one person, and depending on how it’s told and where the end points are it can be incredibly hot.

I have noticed as a writer as the cast grows it can be hard to give each character their time in the limelight. In SJI you have managed to make each character distinct, and I have a pretty good idea who I am dealing based on either silhouette or dialogue, it’s something that was fuzzy the first hundred or so pages but has gotten much better. SJI is a large harem done well.

Hidden Knowledge started well, but as the harem grew, breast expansion and extreme body modification became nearly required to maintain silhouette and dialogue distinctions.

Even in porn, and mind control porn is among my favorites, character is extremely important. If two members of a harem are completely interchangeable, there is no reason for the second member.

[Haight]

Seeing some of these answers, I think there might be a deeper question at play here: Do you prefer your controllees to be characters, or objects? My guess is the answer to that question heavily informs your answer to Daphne's. (I definitely come at MC from an objectification angle.)

For myself I definitely prefer them to be characters. Harems are fun, but only if they still get characterization. Character bloat can definitely be an issue. Somewhere between 3 and a dozen is probably ideal.

The important thing is not to use the harem to just recur the same process over and over with the same results, otherwise there's no point. See how different characters react to the same process, see how the harem changes as it expands, have characters react to being in a harem... those are all good.

[Dixon]

Rather than a harem, I'm really more intrigued by the controller who has a couple of bedmates, but who acquires for talent: a financial whiz, a doctor, a lawyer... leveraging his talent (hers to, as long as the subjects are female) or skill or tech to broaden his influence and increase his ease in the world.

I agree with this. The idea of someone (generally a woman) controlling powerful and/or talented women and using them to accomplish her goals is very erotic to me. That's what I like about The Help and (parts of) Waiting Room. It doesn't have to be an endless number of women so that the story becomes a predictable cycle. I'd say three to five brainwashed/mind-controlled women are enough for a satisfying story.

- Dixon

[lancehunter]

Right now my favorite comic is "Bigger".
The protagonist is certainly building a harem, but the process (and the outcomes) are a little different for each member.
The various premises being developed are creative and (in my opinion) really hot.
I think the same is true for "Unknown Pleasures" and "Friend Request".
Two other stories where the reader can join the 'hero' in his escapades to build his harem.

Agreed that Bigger is a favorite, and the method of harem-building there works for me for two reasons. First, there's still the central focus on the main character's wife, so we can go into a lot of depth with the way she is changing because of the mind control. Meanwhile, each new woman who comes under the main character's influence enters through a her own unique scenario. So you get the advantage of seeing someone going down the path from step 1 to step 30 (and counting), but then also get to have stories that are "what about step 1 to step 5, but with a performer at a peep show?" or "how about step 1 to step 5, but college roommates?"