So, with full understanding that you are allowed to find whatever you want hot, that would seem to be kind of a good summary of SJI, but it seems to be missing the mark. I'm curious (really! not poking!) as to what might be going on there.
So... as I tried to clarify, there's a lot about SJI that I *do* find hot, and perhaps I overemphasized my dislike of certain elements of it. So... pretty much immediately after a whole bunch of women got MCed, which was super hot, a plot in which a really despicable person (Jakob) was out to get some of the main characters and subject them to a fate quite possibly worse than death, and kill some of the others, developed. It's totally reasonable to me that the SJI gang would circle the wagons, worry about sexiness later, and worry about the people out to get them . I'm oversimplifying; the plot of SJI is pretty complex, by design, and there was a lot of sexiness going on there in the interim. But they've been in crisis mode for a while; not so much time to sit back and enjoy the sexy situation they've found themselves in.
I think it has something to do with the nature of the beast as far as mind control goes; if one were to write, say, a story with foot fetishism as its primary draw, by nature the characters in the story would have to be into feet. With mind control, that's not the case, though often by default the MCer in these stories is in to mind control because it gets them the sex they want. Adrian is, apparently, not that kind of guy. What that means for the story is that he tends to not be involved in the mind control that happens, since when women get added to his harem it's because something happened without his noticing. Some of the characters still seem like they're aiming to maintain a 'normal' life (more than just appearances) instead of being an MCed harem. I *do* like that the girls get plenty of characterization, because there's nothing particularly exciting about reading about the enslavement of hypno-bimbo #43. I do, also, kind of wish that we knew more about Adrian, both in terms of what kind of a sexual animal he is and what he's like as a person - because seeing an MC subject respond to her controller's desires is hot (also because his past is an enigma wrapped inside an obfuscation, to be honest). As the controller of a harem of MCed sex slaves, you'd expect him to be going for what he wants more, sexually. That he's not is understandable, both considering the authorial intent and the fact that he clearly is terrified of hurting the women he has power over (which is a perfectly reasonable stance for a moral dude in his position to take). I can't help but imagine that Adrian might find his life more than a bit saner if he was dating someone without MC being involved in the relationship, despite all the sex he's getting now. Worrying that you'd hurt someone you're in a sexual relationship with too easily is no fun, and to be honest that's a feeling that's a little too real for me; that pathos getting in the way of sexytimes is not something that I like in my erotica.
Taking a moment to imagine myself in Adrian's shoes, I'd probably be stressed out to hell: malefic foes out to get me, and a harem of women, some of whom, while sexy, have been through some shit that would turn your hair white, and you might be re-victimizing. The major difference that I'd have from Adrian's behavior is I'd be MCing people left right and center just to get some truthful information out of them, if nothing else; whether my conscience would prevent me from doing something worse is a question that'll thankfully never have to be tested.
The comic is very decompressed, which is fine, and while there might not have been time in the narrative so far to have more 'harem life' episodes, I hope to see some of those. For example, while Mallory may have been bi, Marliese at least was heavily implied to be 100% gay before the watch incident, and in any case they were seeing each other before the episode. How can the characters deal with that? Is there a way to do it without it seeming soul-crushing? (I'll freely admit that I find 'lesbian couple MCed to have sex with male controller' to be a sexy narrative, even as I'm painfully aware that there are men irl who are convinced that lesbians don't exist, merely women who haven't had good enough sex with a dude yet, and are incredibly obnoxious at the minimum and dangerous at the extreme). While Adrian and Erin seem to have this 'destined twu wuv' thing going on, is it true that they share a special bond that transcends what's going on in the harem? How do the other girls feel about it? I know this might seem like not the most immediately hot thing in the world, but it's that sort of thing, with the acceptance and acknowledgment of the MCed master/slave relationship, that can get really hot (obviously interspersed with lots of lewdness). Maybe my opinion is in the minority on this topic (and even if it isn't not every comic needs to be for everyone, and I still enjoy SJI for the plot and over-the-top sexy characters, if nothing else), but the biggest thing for me is that Adrian wants to deny that he's in an MC story, sometimes, and just pretend he's got 8+ girlfriends... just because, I guess. Perhaps that's where you were going with it, though - 'average dude finds his way into an mc story' or somesuch.
