I first learned about hypnosis from watching Derren Brown. At some point, I discovered mcstories.com, and hypnosis has been a kinky interest of mine ever since.
Because I'm asexual, it's been a bit of a frustrating experience for me to find hypnosis-themed content that I enjoy. By far, most such stories are a variation of "this person now has no choice but to have sex / give head". As I have no interest in watching (or reading about) other people having sex, it's quite rare that I come across something satisfying in this genre.
I also don't have a fetish for the act of hypnosis itself. Some people enjoy the induction process – the countdown, the softly spoken words, etc. – and some enjoy seeing the immediate effect of induction – shoulders slumping forward, eyelids becoming heavy, etc. – but I'm not into either of those things in particular.
I'm also not super interested in the "stage show" kind of hypnosis, where people are hypnotized to act like a chicken or think they're in the presence of an idol of theirs. It's silly fun, but it's not kinky for me.
For me, hypnosis is only arousing if it's used as a tool to enforce control. Instead of relying on physical restraints or the slave's voluntary devotion, hypnosis, to me, is a third tool that can be used to create compliance. The body will obey even if the mind does not, and so the slave suffers.
Now, I'm not a hypnotist, and I don't have experience in hypnosis. From what I understand, the effect of hypnosis relies highly on the suggestibility of the individual, and the only way to make them do something they normally wouldn't do is to guide them into a state of mind where they actually enjoy that thing in the moment. As far as I understand, this means in reality, you can't use hypnosis to make someone do something that's fundamentally against their will. Which is how it should be.
That said, I've seen demonstrations where a person's hands are stuck together or their feet are stuck on the floor, even if they're trying to move away, so some elements of "body betraying the mind" are definitely possible. Furthermore, if a person is hypnotized to stay still or not blink for a period of time, their muscles are still going to get sore and they'll still get dry eyes even if they don't feel the pain while under hypnosis. That's also a kind of suffering that's possible in real life.
But, if we abandon reality for a moment, and assume we can manipulate the slave's mind however we want (no matter how unrealistic), we can explore some more possibilities.
- Mindless drones. This is when the slave is no longer capable of making any decision and accepts all orders without question. The slave simply obeys with no emotion; he does not enjoy the service nor resent it. In my mind, this barely qualifies as suffering. Maybe the decision to become a drone could be painful, or maybe it takes a drawn-out process to convert the slave into a drone and the slave could be confused and suffering while in the process, but once the slave has become a drone, it doesn't turn me on anymore.
- Robots. This is when the slave is conditioned to become highly logical about everything and follows "programming" instead of commands. If the slave's unaware of what his body is doing, this becomes a version of the drone, which turns me on less. If the slave's aware of the programming and struggles against it, then I enjoy it. Bonus point if the programming has a bug that causes unintended suffering to the slave (for example, if the slave/bot keeps walking into walls because the wall-detection algorithm is broken).
- Trigger words. This is when the slave is compelled to carry out an action upon hearing a word (or seeing a pattern), but is otherwise normal. Post-hypnosis triggers are a real thing in real life, but (as I understand it) they become weakened over time and eventually fade out. Trigger words that stay effective indefinitely will force the slave to avoid situations where such words could be heard, which becomes a discipline, which I enjoy. Bonus point if the slave doesn't know what the trigger words are; double bonus points if the slave can't remember the word even after it's used on him. However, if the slave is unaware of the actions he's compelled to do and doesn't remember what he did while under mind control, it becomes a version of the drone and I enjoy it far less.
- Objectified. This is when the slave is compelled to behave as an inanimate object. It could involve the slave being frozen in one position and used as a tool (a footrest, an ashtray, a urinal, a coatrack, etc.); alternatively, the slave, while animate, could only move in limited, prescribed ways (for example, becoming a human clock and announcing the time each time he's touched). Objectification doesn't require mind control, though with mind control, there's the added element of not being able to give up. Bonus point if the objectified slave is not actually used by others (for example, forgotten in the corner after a party and nobody thought to bring him back).
Everything that I enjoy about hypnosis and mind control involves a sense of reluctance. This reluctance could affect the slave's depth of life in either direction. As always, I can't enjoy a situation in real life where the slave genuinely has no choice; however, hypnosis and mind control is one of the few genres where I actually do enjoy seeing a reduced depth of life in a fictional story.