Chapter 8: 7

 

 "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to this season's Supermodel House!"

I stood in the crowd looking at the large, beautiful house as Andy ran the show. "The judges are excited to meet each and every one of you, but now they've made their choices."

The boys and girls who had been excited began to whisper as Andy said that the first round of eliminations would soon take place. Andy continued under the commotion, "Keeping with the theme of the masked ball, there is a wall of masks behind me. If you see your own face there, you've made it. If you don't see your face there, unfortunately, you'll have to pack your bags and go home."

Alice, standing next to me, her eyes wandered, clearly not too confident in herself. Jamie seized this opportunity a stood by her side to reassure. Ashton was very excited, having been the only male model to choose a male model of the same sex as his partner in the lingerie show, and he was cheering each other on with his then partner.

Marvin, like Alice, was excellent in every way, but always lacked confidence when it mattered. He was frowning and whispering to his newly formed band of brothers.

Chris, on the other hand, stood next to me and opened his mouth to whisper to me, "I'm worried about my situation, you know, I've never been in the modelling business." Seemingly because of his experience of having no family like him, he liked to stick to my side.

"I haven't quite shown myself..." said Chris, having a bit of an anxiety attack, his hand resting on his mouth as he nibbled on his nails.

I sighed darkly, for the extra babysitting job I would have later. I pulled his hand down to his mouth and reassured him, "Don't worry Chris, you're sure you'll get going too, aren't you?"

As Andy shouted 'Ready, set, run!' The group raced up to the photo wall. I took Chris' shoulder and walked slowly up the steps.

Everyone anxiously searched the wall for their faces, those who found them gave a cheer and pulled off their masks to exit the crowd, those who didn't squeezed back to continue their search.

The first thing Chris didn't see was the mask with his picture on it, while I saw myself hanging on the wall, looking ginger and red in the spotlight. Chris wept and bade me goodbye as I squeezed forward to remove my own mask.

Then I saw Chris's mask at the lower end of the wall, blocked by the crowd of people gathered around it. I took it off too, and by the time I had squeezed through the crowd, Chris was already anxiously walking to the other side trying to find his mask.

I had to squeeze back into the crowd with both masks and tapped him on the shoulder, "Chris, here's a present for you." Chris turned his head in surprise and then jumped on me excitedly when he saw his mask in my hand.

The boy, who usually had a moody, bad boy look on his face, looked like a monkey when he was excited. I wrapped my arms around Chris who was in a bear hug and saw Alice and her little sidekick Jamie both with their masks, Marvin and his company of brothers celebrating, and Nina happily walking up to me with her own mask.

Ashton was in a bit of trouble, he got his mask but his partner was unfortunately eliminated and was hugging him goodbye.

Once all the masks had been taken off the wall, Andy stepped forward again and said, "Congratulations to everyone who has got a mask, you will be in the supermodel house tonight. But don't relax too much yo, not all of you will be staying forever."

Andy held up a finger and wagged it, "Tomorrow will see the second round of eliminations and the final 16 finalists will be decided." Earlier it had been 35 to 26, tomorrow those 26 would be sharply reduced to 16.

After the sad news was announced Andy was content to take the 10 who had been eliminated and leave, while a few cameras followed the remaining 26 into the supermodel house to film the models reflecting on their stay.

The supermodel house had a large picture of Taylor with various motivational messages written on it, and the bedrooms had similarly various slogans written on each wall. Of course the boys' bedroom is separate from the girls' bedroom and there are only 16 beds.

Because of my unhurried pace, the eight beds in the boys' bedroom were not for me, and Chris, who was following me, was out of luck. Ashton was one of the first men to follow the female models into the supermodel house, so he grabbed a bed. The rest of the beds were taken by Marvin and his company of brothers.

I didn't really care about any of this, after all it was just one night and I was sure I just wouldn't fold at the semi-finals.

After the cameras followed the models through the house, including the various exercise equipment, the small spa, the spacious pool and even the mini catwalk located in the living room, Tyler and Rob appeared in front of the excited crowd.

The two judges would split the male and female models into two groups, with Taylor giving the female models advice on the shoot and Rob giving the male models advice.

It's safe to say that in the fashion world today, and for a long time to come, the female models will dominate it. People just see male models as a sidekick, a prop. But I don't care because the first thing that comes to mind with the phrase model is handsome, tall and sexy.

I joined America's Next Top Model with no intention of becoming a professional model, but just to raise my profile and label myself as a model for a while. However, I certainly don't hold back when it comes to taking hard photos.

As well as being a stripper who will know his body's perfect angles and poses well, being a stripper brings out another advantage when it comes to situations that require male and female models to interact. The chemistry between the male and female models creates a sexual tension that adds to the whole picture, and there is a level of sexual tension that is needed to make a hard photo sexy rather than erotic.

What I wanted to do was to overpower the female model in all the group shots, just as I did with Alice in yesterday's runway show. To be able to make men look at that picture and envy and want to be you, and women look at that picture and be smitten and want to be with you.

That was the point Rob made in that conversation. The reason Rob has become a famous supermodel and is making more money than even many top female models can be seen in the advice he gives. At least he captures the psychology of the audience.

Although the night would see a challenge, the supermodel house was treated to a romp after Tyler and Rob left. Chris' childish approach to attracting attention still got him into trouble, as he went around attacking Marvin and his gang of brothers with his boxing gloves, and after a good scolding, returned to my side in disgrace.

And while I just sat in the kitchen with Nina and made a glass of juice and chatted, Chris finally stopped being awkwardly trying to be a million bucks and childishly cried and admitted to us with that cold face that he didn't really fit in.

Ashton, on the other hand, had a crush on one of the transgender models in the pile, not that kind of crush of course, Ashton just still wasn't comfortable with being around guys, especially straight guys, so he took the transgender model called Vicky and a few girls out to the back garden to chat.

Jamie was still Alice's little sidekick following her around, and because of the uproar from the crowd, Alice was beginning to hate Jamie's tailing. Chased away by Alice, Jamie looked around the living room and then there was another Christian sheep in my little circle.

You are reading story Psychological Control at novel35.com

As the sun went down in the west, the models were about to get on the bus and head off to the site of yet another challenge. I was relieved to have finally stopped this mind-numbing mingling session.

I knew I was a loner, perhaps the same as Chris, and even if I had the appearance of being a millionaire, I would never be one in a face-to-face situation. The only difference between me and Chris is that I am more tactful in my communication than he is.

Our bus pulled into the heart of Hollywood and then Jonathan, the creative consultant for the shoot, and Andy, the online media personality, appeared in front of the crowd for what looked like it would be another hard photo shoot.

"You'll be posing here and the photos will be projected on this building behind us fifty feet away for the whole of Hollywood to see." Jonathan described the match.

After Jonathan finished, Andy spoke again as well. "The reminder is that social media is also vital to the race and this is just the first step. Everyone who passes by and sees the projection will be able to vote."

"Finally, this photography will have a direct impact on the promotion places." Jonathan laid down the final word. All the models went into the makeshift shed to put on their make-up.

The costumes were uniformly rock and roll this time, with almost all the male models in open chested black jackets and the female models which were tight black leggings and bikinis. A strong style will be my weakness, something I know very well about myself. And this time there were no changes to the make-up or even to the hair except for the most basic of primers.

It would have been difficult to capture the strength of Brian's delicate face in front of the camera without wearing his shaggy ginger curls in wax at the back of his head. I ended up having to tie the slightly longer hair back with a leather band.

Each model only had five minutes to shoot, so it wasn't long before it was my turn. The black jacket and leather trousers were like a vampire against my pale complexion, but in a rock 'n' roll style with a strong focus, the delicate features were not flattering, rather the deeper silhouette was impressive.

I guess I'll just have to show the other side of rock 'n' roll.

I greeted people passing by and curious ones would stop and watch. I stand in front of the camera and when Jonathan gives the word to start, I begin to pose to my inner rhythm, a rhythm that seems like a silent dance to the beat of the photographer pressing the shutter.

It wasn't all rock 'n' roll wild, I opted for a wickedly gothic style that softened the style of the clothes on my body without looking feminine. Jonathan directed and cued my posture, clapping and beating along with each movement, a move that surprisingly brought out the people who had stopped and watched.

The crowd was beating one beat after another, and with each beat I let my body freeze, giving the photo projected on the building a movement that no other model had, with the ends of my hair flying with the movement.

The five minute shoot was soon over and I could hear Jonathan talking to the camera. The crowd who had been beating the beat for me earlier in the session were also clamouring for an immediate vote and asking the crew for my number.

"Brian, I remembered him from the first time I saw him in the re-election. He was very confident in front of the camera and you could tell by the way he moved and the angles he presented to the camera that he knew his body very well too. He used the light of the scene to compensate for the weakness of his overly soft and delicate features, bringing his own air to what would otherwise be a wild rock in the hands of men. If I had to describe his photos in one word, it would be evil. He has a wicked look in his eyes."

Jonathan smiled as he spoke staring at me as I passed by, the camera panned to me as he did and I smiled back and waved lightly to the camera.

The models at the end of the shoot were allowed to canvass the floor and I walked into the crowd for Chris who was waiting behind me for the shoot. Nina was excitedly interacting with the audience, and while she was a bit frantic, she was also gaining a lot of goodwill.

Seven or eight of the girls who had been watching my shoot came around and I started to market myself as a commodity. To their excitement, I danced to the dance music playing off their phones. I was as crazy as Nina in the hype as the girls recorded my dance moves on their phones, and I knew the Internet would spread this as soon as I went further to win these girls over.

"We are photographing for America's Next Top Model and after this live vote, our hard photos will appear on the official website for the rest of the competition. Do I have the honour of getting your vote, beautiful ladies?" I leaned down and whispered in these girls' ears for height reasons.

Although my sexuality is male, I can flirt with the girls. Most gay singers had been the most popular female fans in their bands before they came out, and as teenagers, the face-controlled girls would overlook anything less in the men they liked.

I easily won their screams, perhaps a little too much so that even Nina looked back at me, and people began to gather around me to watch.

Just as in the natural world of animal courtship, the more flamboyant the male lion's mane, the more admired the lioness, and the more beautiful the male of the lovebirds, the more admired the female. That's why when gay men dress up to attract attention from the same sex, women who are fed up with the mediocre dressing of the men around them are attracted to the bent men who are not out of the closet.

When it comes to things like voting, there's no easier way to get mobilised than with teenage girls. Pop idols raised by girls whose adolescent hormones aren't emanating take up half of the entertainment industry. And it just so happens that I am better at mobilising these girls than any other male model, and more attractive to them than any other female model.

Muscular, manly male models tend to attract more mature women who are at a loss for words when faced with a screaming teenage girl, just like Mike was. I, on the other hand, have never been shy about using my existing strengths.

You can find story with these keywords: Psychological Control, Read Psychological Control, Psychological Control novel, Psychological Control book, Psychological Control story, Psychological Control full, Psychological Control Latest Chapter