C.U.B.E.

≈ Appendix B: THE MEN ≈

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Artificial Intelligence, Real Sexiness

Using the A.I. to create images of people in general, and sexy men in particular, is not an easy task; the A.I. is not accurate with hands, limbs, faces and manly bits, and it also starts from scratch each time, making almost impossible to come up with multiple images of the very same man. While in the case of Kareem and Lance the resemblance is remarkable, in other cases (like Perry Yukon, Mateo and even Sean) the difference between the images is noticeable.

But here’s when our fantasy comes to our aid: Perry Yukon is not a man, after all, but an idea of confident and seasoned sexiness; while Mateo is a concept of youthful, exotic handsomeness; Boubaker is the sheer power of masculine strength and tenderness, Adam is the fatherly and understanding love, Sean McLaughlin and the Romano Brothers represent the allure of authority and uniforms.

Let’s take a last look at our heroes, thanking them for being our companions for many months.

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~ Kareem ~

After 44 chapters, the question is still open: is Kareem gay? Did the Cube, or Lance, ‘turn’ him gay? As he himself said many times, putting labels on things is useless, and potentially dangerous; but the question deserves an answer, and here is mine: Kareem didn’t ‘turn’ gay, he just discovered something he always had inside himself, and was man enough to acknowledge and live that side of him. He says he’s ‘not into men’, he’s just into Lance, but this is not true: he liked making love to young Andrea (the boy at the Silk & Lace Parlor), he had no problems making love to Sean, he gave his ass to Bryniar, he was thrilled to double-fuck Lance with Adam. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t like women anymore: quite the opposite! But he’s a faithful companion of life, and is prepared to give up on womanly love altogether, out of love and respect for Lance.

 

~ Lance ~

He’s young, he’s strong, he’s resourceful, he lived hard moments in his life: raised without a father, arrested for Uranian Behavior at a young age and immediately sent by evil Captain O’Rourke to the Rowdy Hole, to suffer for a terrible sexual punishment. Though young, he’s been tempered by life; and yet, sometimes he’s still a boy, his insecurities resurface when he falls in love with Kareem. While Adam has been important for him, and they could possibly become a couple, Lance didn’t let it happen, because he knew that giving his heart to a man is a weakness.

But it’s the sweetest and most thrilling weakness a man can have, as he clearly understands when he truly gives his heart to Kareem.

 

~ Captain O’Rourke ~

Every story needs a villain, and the crueler, the better. Captain O’Rourke is evil indeed, he enjoys inflicting humiliations and pain, possibly both at the same time. He seems oblivious of the horror a man can feel when firmly tied to the ‘throne’, moments before a mindless dildo painfully rips away his anal virginity. But is it really so?

Think about it: O’Rourke is a bit too much into the punishments he administers, he crosses boundaries that his henchmen (Wilde and Reeves) regard as the safe limit of the ‘too gay’ acts. He deeply enjoys giving pain to his prisoners, but above all he enjoys giving pleasure to them. A wicked, unwanted, and often demeaning pleasure, but pleasure nevertheless. He loves watching men prey of an irrepressible and wrecking orgasm they can’t stop, nor enjoy; and his devilish handheld device is the ultimate weapon of domination, his way to control men’s deepest instinct and most intimate need: their sexuality.

But what about his own sexuality? O’Rourke is secretly attracted to men, and in an attempt to deny his forbidden cravings, he developed a fiercely homophobic attitude, trying to disguise his desires as dominance; but his dominance has too a strong sexual connotation to be believable…

 

~ Sean McLaughlin ~

While writing C.U.B.E., I started falling in love with Sean more and more. Since the beginning, when he still was one of O’Rourke’s henchmen, he always had a heart, he often tried to stop his evil Captain to carry on his devious acts, and he paid consequences for his fairness. Later on, we learned he was the son of the late Officer Dougal McLaughlin, the rightful cop who helped Lance in his darkest moment, and we understood that the fruit never falls too far from the tree.

Sean’s courage is a light in the darkness of the Cube, throughout the entire story, up to the last act, the siege. But his courage goes beyond his duty: it makes him explore sexual territories that scare him shitless, but he’s determined to go all the way, come what may.

 

~ Perry Yukon ~

Captain McLaughlin, in the last chapter, refers to Kareem and Lance as the ‘pillars’ of the Cube, but Perry is the bedrock on which the Cube is built. He’s as solid as a rock, he can take anything the evil cops throw at him, and still give fatherly support to those in need. He’s a manual worker, he doesn’t have an education, and yet he’s regarded by anyone as a guide and an example to follow.

Neither Kareem nor Lance have sex with him (apart from the initial blowjob Kareem is forced to give him), and yet whenever he’s around, there’s a sexual tension in the air. Once, Lance explained to a dubious Kareem that even the most dominant men, when they see Perry, feel the desire to yield themselves to him and give him what they don’t give to anyone. Perry has an understated, and yet unshakeable confidence in his sexuality, and on one unforgettable night, on the stage of the Stud Stable, he gives proof that he's not boasting about himself…

 

~ Doc Stevens ~

Once an acclaimed psychiatrist, after his arrest he gave up on his profession. But the Cube needs him, and he doesn’t shy away: when someone asks for his help, he’s always there to provide it. Doc Stevens is the counterweight for a homophobic system that takes people away from their lives and throw them into the Cube only because the A.I. issued a negative Uranian Behavior Assessment against them. Some of the inmates, when imprisoned, still haven’t acknowledged their sexual inclinations, and suffer for a tremendous trauma, but Doc Stevens is there to guide them along the tortuous paths of their unconscious, toward the exhilarating discover of a new sexuality.

 

~ Adam ~

Adam’s main feature is the caring, fatherly love he feels for Lance; sure enough he was not supposed to have the off-the-charts manhood the A.I. gifted him with… but I don’t complain! 😅

He always had serious commitment issues; for almost the entire story we think of him as a man who loves to be single and only needs to occasionally get the rocks off with no strings attached. But he turns out to be a sort of tragic hero, victim of his own inability to express his love to Lance. At the end of the story, Lance goes away with Kareem, leaving Adam behind… but then we find out it’s only temporary: in the very last paragraph, we see that Kareem and Lance still live at the Cube, and sure enough Adam is part of their life.

 

~ The ‘imperfect’ men of the 4th Floor ~

The entire Cube is populated by men who’ve been imprisoned there because they’re ‘different’; readers are prone to sympathize with the Cube’s guests, because we all are ‘different’ in a similar way. I introduced the ‘imperfect’ men of the 4th Floor because I wanted to add a further level of ‘diversity’, to force readers to look with wider eyes at what is considered ‘normal’. The people of the 4th Floor may have some physical flaws, but they’re better than many ‘beautiful people’: they’re more skilled, more resilient, more poised and level-headed.

The true ‘imperfection’ they have, though, is their occasional lack of confidence: they believe it’s only fair they’re called ‘freaks’ and they’re confined to a floor where they can’t even have a normal daylight, forced to buy groceries and stuff at the only two cheap local shops; and when they need medical assistance, they can only access the ‘freaks wing’ of the Hospital.

Luckily for them, Lance opens their eyes and brings a new dawn on the 4th Floor, a dawn that is made of both physical light and newly found confidence.

 

~ Aldritch ‘Triple-A’ Archer ~

I confess I had a lot of fun writing about Aldritch. His over-the-top sense of superiority, his lack of empathy, his ‘political incorrectness’, coupled with his undeniable geniality and ability in his job, make him a sort of deus ex-machina: someone who comes from above and solves the unsolvable problems.

I once asked him what the third ‘A’ of his name stands for, and he replied: “Arcturus. I’m named after a star, as it should be. Nomen Omen, the fate is in the name…” 😏

 

~ The Romano Brothers ~

Here are two guys who weren’t even supposed to be in the story. But when the evil cops (O’Rourke, Wilde and Reeves) get imprisoned and stripped of their rank, I realized that there must’ve been someone else in the Sex Police. Being Italian myself, I decided to pay homage to the beautiful men of my country, and the Romano Brothers came to life. Boy, was I right! The bursting sexiness of these two Italian straight stallions blew my mind, I couldn’t get enough of them… nor could Lance! 😜

 

~ Secondary Characters ~

Last, but definitely not least, many ‘minor’ characters walked the streets of the Cube, and though they didn’t have entire chapters focused on them, all of them had an important role in the storyline.

Mateo shines at his best at the Stud Stable, when he performs a steamy hot sexual act with Perry; Officers Wilde and Reeves are a constant (and odious) presence since Chapter 1; Officer Dougal McLaughlin is already dead when the story begins, but he still lives in Lance’s and Sean’s hearts; Lionel thinks of himself as the underdog of the Cube, but he’s a smart and loyal guy, and the Cube can’t do without him; and Thiago ‘Pau’ Monteiro is… a sort of personal cameo 😅: I’m not Brazilian and I’m not endowed like a horse, but I’m a Certified Accountant and a Financial Advisor, maybe not the best one, but I’m quite good at my job.

And then there are many other characters who don’t have an image showing their face, and possibly not even a name, but had an important role in the story: young Andrea from the Silk & Lace, Ol’ Pete and his boy Robin, Ann (Sean’s wife), the ‘ninja’ cop Lin-Wo, the badass trio who attacked Kareem in the Barren, Dr. Bright working at the Hospital, the masseur of the Nebula Palace and his ‘under-table’ helper… The list is long and there’s no time to make them justice. So, let’s end our memory journey with these last photos.

 

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