Chapter 12: 11

 

Jonathan's problems with his lover could not have been my problems any more. As the innocent person involved, I wouldn't have volunteered to help him with psychological counseling. It is true that he needs a psychiatrist.

In fact, everyone who lives under intense work pressure needs a psychiatrist. People should understand that it is not embarrassing or difficult to receive regular counselling from a psychiatrist.

Immediately after my shoot, there was Jamie and Alice. I don't know if it was intentional on the part of the show, or if it was just God's will, but Jamie was very happy with it. The theme for the two's wedding was naked, not really naked of course, they were wearing flesh coloured intimate underwear.

Mike and Jamie were there, excited and uproarious, when Nina, who had finished her make-up, suddenly came over the side and sat down next to me.

"You know that Dan guy and Marvin and the others said he was going to tell the judges about you almost beating him up?" Nina said, frowning and looking indignant.

I was a little surprised that it would be Nina who would be the one to say this to me, after all Dan and the others had deliberately discussed the stance so loudly that most of them had probably heard it. But I thought it would be Chris who would come over and complain to me first, and Nina was being overly kind. In fact, if you think about it, you'll see how childish Dan's tactic was.

Since Nina had come to say this because she was worried about me, I didn't mind being nosy and talking some more. I closed the book in my hand, smiled at Nina and said, "No, he won't say a word to the judges."

"Why do you say that? I just heard them discussing it over there too and it pissed me off..." grumbled Chris, who had also finished dressing by this time and came over.

"Because he started it, didn't he? And the judges wouldn't have favoured him for that kind of discriminatory remark, and you guys who saw it in the car at the time wouldn't have testified in his favour." The thought went through my head and I deliberately let it out. All at once the models sitting around us looked towards us, their faces varying.

"What's more, they had the ulterior motive of saying this before the hard photo shoot, just to deliberately try to put your state in jeopardy. Rather, I'm sorry for dragging you guys into this." I spread my hands and watched the thoughtful expressions appear on each model's face as they turned away and looked in the mirror.

Backstage while still hooked up, Alice seemed to have been out of shape for the shoot because of the shadow brought on by her former marriage. It took Jonathan a number of coaching sessions back and forth before she finally managed to bring a smile to her face.

Backstage, Alice came up to me and sighed and chatted. She didn't mention to me what Dan and Marvin and the others had said, being the more mentally mature person here for two, she was more concerned about how she was doing in the match.

"Maybe I'm just really lacking in confidence, even Jamie's doing better than me." Alice said with a sad face, "Brian, it's a good thing you're not a female model. Otherwise I wouldn't really have anyone to talk to here."

"Don't worry, at least you're still the strongest today aren't you?" I sat down on the sofa and comforted Alice, who looked like a defeated she-cat.

Indeed, contrary to Alice, Jamie, thanks to his blatant crush on Alice, had not been able to bring up any flaws with Jonathan, thanks to his enthusiasm during the shoot and the unmistakable smile on his face.

Once Alice and Jamie's set was over, it was Mike and Alyssa's turn to get married. Alyssa had put a cloth sack in her wedding dress to disguise her pregnancy, but I could follow that her every move showed her unease with Mike's strength.

By the time I had read nearly two fifths of the book in hand, Gianna and Corinne's lesbian wedding was also filmed, and next up was Ashton and Cheryl's rockabilly wedding.

Their bodies were painted with temporary tattoos and a black leather jacket with a biker feel to it. Unfortunately, Ashton's feminine temperament couldn't carry the costumes on his body and he was anxious before the shoot.

"What to do Brian!" Ashton cried, hovering in front of me, "I'm already weak in masculinity, and I'm so unlucky to have been drawn for this theme! I feel like I'm going to be eliminated this time..."

"You just have a habit of hazel eyes in photos, which may happen to reflect your temperament in normal photos, but when it comes to masculinity, it can weaken your eyes even more. Maybe you could try a dead fish eye?" Just in time to see the photographer carrying the camera over, I made a deliberate grimace with both hands pulling at my lower eyelids.

"Puff!" Sure enough Ashton was amused by me and he said with a lopsided grin, "Oh Brian you're so cute! I'm about to fall in love with you! Don't worry, I'll give those straight guys a good time." He winked and waved his hand as he walked towards the studio.

Actually, Ashton really didn't have to worry because he was now the only model representing the LGBT community at America's Next Top Model after the transgender female model had automatically withdrawn from the competition due to hormonal issues. Since the judges and production team didn't know that I was also gay, they weren't going to eliminate him easily in order to keep the show diverse.

Next it was my turn to watch a good show with Chris and Dan's group, and I made a point of applying to watch from the sidelines. It wasn't exactly an act of ulterior motive on my part, after all I was genuinely curious to see how Chris would behave when filming with his now nemesis, together.

The camera was filming from behind me, lining me up in the fine flesh as well. I could see that the atmosphere between the two looked incredibly awkward as they listened to Jonathan explain what they were filming, an atmosphere that at one point had Jonathan worried about their performance on set.

Surprisingly, however, Chris seemed to be fully in character once he got into the official filming.

Although the awkwardness of the two men can be seen on camera without their eyes ever meeting, their expressions and body language on camera illustrate the gay wedding perfectly. Dan, who plays a more masculine role because of his more muscular build, was not shy in his pink suit, but his face grew red as I watched.

After Chris' shoot, I took a relieved Chris back to the lounge early. So the fact that Marvin had formed a polygamous wedding with two women, Nina and Bianca, didn't concern me. It was just the outfits of the two girls that were a real concern.

For before I left, I saw both Nina and Bianca with a rustic headscarf on their heads. I guess in colour, the two women would have been a complete backdrop to highlight Marvin. Let's just say the man was too lucky.

The final theme for Rena and Phil's wedding was hip-hop style and then everyone's shoot was over. We were back at the Supermodel House again and the night was always so lively with groups of men and women.

Mike was in an emotional slump on this night and he opened a bottle of red wine and started drinking non-stop. His face turned red as he got drunk, luckily his drunken reaction wasn't a drunken frenzy, just some cute slow reactions. Amidst the noise of the male and female models, everyone had a distracting night. Tomorrow, all will face an interview with the judges to eliminate one person.

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The next day, everyone got on the bus again and went to the studio where the first interview took place. The shoot began and after the judges were seated, the models stood on the steps behind a long catwalk.

Standing at the end of the catwalk, Taylor first announced the final prizes for the competition and then she began to drive each of the judges as a presenter, evaluating each of the hard photos that the contestants had been selected for.

The models' hard photos had already been evaluated during their meeting beforehand and their scores had already been set in their minds. So, after one group of models after another were either disappointed or delighted by the comments, it was finally my turn. Unlike the previous models who came forward in twos and threes, I stood alone because of the theme of my wedding photos.

"Very wonderful!" That was the word Taylor said as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Exactly," Rob interjected, "I used to have concerns when I heard your subject was a fetish. But what you've done in the photos is amazing. Your expression and gesture completely reflect your love for that television set."

"From what Jonathan said, your shoot went quickly?" Taylor even opened her mouth to talk and laugh.

I kept my smile just right and replied, "Yes, I was shocked when I found out about my subject too. So I kept mentally preparing myself for it while I was putting on my make-up. It's so hard to imagine a television set as your lover, and thankfully the pictures didn't come out very badly."

Norma was quick to say, "Your photos aren't terrible, your expressions and hand movements do a great job of interpreting the play, but I have to warn you about your posture. Your pose half-kneeling makes you take up much less space in the frame, which makes the whole picture lack tension."

"The model's pose could be improved, but the overall feel of the photo is impeccable! I give you a 9 out of 10." Taylor finally gave the final word.

Rob, on the other hand, seemed to have given me a 10 because of the male model. Norma, who has always been stingy with her scores, also gave it an 8.

My social media score didn't seem to be in the top few because of a bizarre theme like fetishism, but thankfully it was still considered in the middle of the pack and I let my hair down for that.

Next it was the turn of Chris and Dan's group, the gay male wedding. Two men who were strikingly at odds with each other in the minds of the models, but who were very successful in the photos.

Chris dropped his usual guard and mystery to capture the soft sensuality and Rob gave a straight 10 out of 10, Taylor a 9 and Norma an 8. When his score was announced, Chris turned to me excitedly and waved.

"Looks like you and Brian have a pretty solid friendship, huh?" Taylor spoke up and teased. "Maybe Jonathan should have just let you two play the theme."

Chris replied excitedly, "Our themes and rivalries are drawn, but I'm certainly very keen to work with Brian!"

Dan grimaced as Chris spoke and the judges took notice. So the conversation moved along to Dan.

Rob spoke up, "I hear there was a bit of a falling out between the two of you and Chris? But I have to say, we can't see it at all in this picture! All I can say is great job!"

Actually, it wasn't just Chris who was really at odds with Dan now, maybe add me to the list? I was down there with a slight tug at the corners of my mouth with a smile.

Throughout the whole of the judges' comments, the expression on my face hadn't changed because of any of the other models, it had been a light, faint smile. Having seen previous seasons of the competition, I know that photographers like to zoom in on the faces of the models waiting to be judged at these times.

This is when the models' psychological qualities are easily shown to the audience, such as jealousy of their opponents' high scores and gloating over their low scores. I, however, would never let myself fall on such a trivial matter.

At this point Norma commented to Dan as well, "Your puffed up chest is the highlight of your pose, showing pride in gay marriage."

Oh, shit! Even with the best expression on my face, I was not happy to hear that. Out of the corner of my eye I could see not only Chris, but Ashton and Nina, who were standing beside me, with somewhat disdainful expressions. It's fair to say that all this footage was honestly all caught on camera.

It doesn't look like many people agree with Dan's supposed gay pride that he's been commented on, and judging by their attitude now, they probably won't say anything good about Dan in the behind-the-scenes interviews either. It looks like the nail in the coffin that his popularity will drop after the show airs, I don't have the sentiment of repaying a grudge with a virtue, I'm lucky not to fan the flames for my own image.

In the end Dan scored just one point below Chris, with 9 points for Rob and Taylor respectively and 8 points for Norma.

Then after a few more sets of comments were scored over, it was time to announce the results, this one eliminating two people at a time. Fittingly Marvin took first place with a not bad challenge score and the highest hard photo score in the field.

In second place, Chris. When the results were announced, he couldn't keep his usual grimace off his face and he walked up with a wide grin on his face, not forgetting to turn his head to me and wink with a smile.

In third place, it was my turn. It wasn't a great performance for me, but after all, it was a thematic restriction, and the social media scores and challenge results were holding me back, so I was satisfied with that.

But the fact that the top three were all male models left the remaining female models with a somewhat ugly look on their faces. I took my picture and walked to the other side to meet up with Chris, who gave me a huge hug. Marvin, seeing this, also tried to come up and give me a ceremonial hug without embarrassment, which I avoided without a trace.

In a situation like this where there were several people on my side indignant at Dan, it's not a good habit to play left and right. Showing the right amount of edge will make the person helping you feel that what you're doing is worthwhile and can tie them more firmly to the chariot.

Fourth place was finally the girl's turn, Gianna, with a sexy unisex vibe shown in a lesbian wedding. The order went on, Alyssa, Ashton, Jamie, Rena... more or less interspersed with men and women, and by the thirteenth place the atmosphere started to get tense. Now only Phil, Mike and Bianca were left on the steps.

Two male models and one female model. As the results of the challenge and the scoring of the hard photo shoot were not satisfactory, in the end they had to rely on social media votes for their results. In an age where faces are still the main attraction, Mike got the last vote with his handsome face.

~~~~~~~~~

MTLer here! When I checked the raws, the 12th chapter is basically the same at first. I thought that I made a mistake and checked it twice, turns out it is still the 11th chap but has the authors' note added to it. Don't belittle it tho, that note is still 2k or sum words. It talks about what happened backstage before selection or sth, I still have yet to read it. What I'm trying to say is 12th chap is sth akin to an extra so don't get surprised when it starts with the authors' note lol.  

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