So bbs, Kala posted an awesome little Jac/Audrey picspam last night, and I happened to notice several of our new friends saying that they don't really know who they are. So! In this post, which I think I shall make into a sticky post at the top of my journal for all new friends to read, I'm going to include a small picspam with quotes, links to all my previous picspams/primer/thinky thoughts, and upload any mixes I've made for them. Think of it as like, my one stop shop for anything I've ever made that has to do with scene queens.

If you're not going to read the rest of this post, at the very least, read this: People who have been around here for awhile already know this, but I truly adore these girls for who they are as human beings. They're fucked up and they're insecure and they work hard. They're sweet and they're bitchy and they're beautiful. They're just girls. I'm not asking you to like them or care about them, but I won't hear any "God, she's so slutty/fat/thin/ugly/stupid" in my journal. Okay? Okay.

Now on to the fun stuff!

( Jac and Audrey: A Beginner's Guide )

( List of Picspams and Thinky Thoughts Posts )

( Fanmixes )

If you've made it this far, you may want to friend my community yinyangggg! It's basically my Jac and Audrey equivalent of icecreamhdaches. We update daily with all of Jac and Audrey's new photos, blogs, whatever, so you don't have to leave the comfort of your flist to find out what's going on with them. (This is particularly helpful with Jac, because lord, that girl updates on like six different websites.)

Please, please feel free to link me to any other positive Jac/Audrey posts or picspams you've seen so I can link them here.

I feel like there's so much more I could add to this post, and I probably will at some point. But for now, I'm done. MOSTLY BECAUSE MY TUMMY ACHES AND I WANT TO EAT SOMETHING. Nom nom delicious cookies.

This is it, you guys. I'm finally done. I'm so proud of it. I love these girls so freaking much, and I wanted to do them justice. I hope I did.

( WELCOME TO PART TWO OF MY GIGANTIC SCENE QUEENS PRIMER THING! )

Oh my god, you guys, I cannot even tell you. I have over 2000 pictures of these three girls saved to my computer, so this was basically a HUGE FREAKING PROJECT. Picking pictures, trying to remember to give information, etc. etc. IT IS TWO PARTS. THAT'S HOW GIANT IT IS. But like, this is only part one, and it still took two entries to fully post?

Here we go.

( Welcome to the Scene Queen Primer. If you've ever wondered just who the fuck Audrey, Jac, and Hanna Beth are, here's more than you'll ever need to know. )

So I recently saw a bandom secret thing or whatever about people losing respect for anyone with a scene queen icon or layout. Which made me angry! And also sad. And made me want to talk about why I love Audrey Kitching. And made me want to address a few other things I've seen.

This is probably going to be really disjointed! Here is an outline of what I'm going to be talking about today (because I'm a big dork and also it might help you decide whether you're going to read it or not.)

-What I Mean When I Say I Love Scene Queens (And Bandom People In General)
-Why I'm Not Saying You're A Bad Feminist If You Don't Love Them
-Why I Think You Kind of Suck If You Think Being a Groupie Makes You A Bad Person

( *takes a deep breath* )

That was basically just an unfocused rant, and while there's always more I'm willing to say about these girls, this is where I'm going to leave it. I know I don't ever get my point across the way I want to, but basically what I'm saying is: this is why I'm able to love scene queens, and while I never need for anyone on my flist to feel the same way, I kind of ridiculously want everyone to remember that these girls are just people. Just like anyone else. And I always want to try to make people examine their opinions and think about what they're saying or why they think a certain way. That's nice too!

And going back to the thing that started all of this, I really really hope that everyone on my friends list doesn't lose respect for me because of the way I feel about scene queens. That would make me the saddest Shay ever.

It occurs to me that people are possibly going to get really pissed off at me for my last post. And they're probably not going to say anything about it to me, actually, but they might talk about how stupid I am to other people. And that's bizarre, for me. It's strange to me when people actually like, really like me, but it's always even stranger when they don't. Except for a few notable examples where I did some really shitty things, I've always been a pretty mediocre person. I'm not especially awesome or original, I don't usually form enough of an important opinion about things to stand up and talk about them. I've never been sure of my own worth as a person, other than I'm essentially good and that I do deserve respect. So, realizing that I could maybe cause some kind of extreme reaction is bizarre. Realizing I could cause disdain, even, is bizarre.

journaltypos brought up an interesting point today because she's awesome like that. She asked me why I care so much. If I know Audrey is a horrible person, why do I care that people hate her? If she's essentially unlikeable, then why does it matter why people dislike her? And I had to start thinking about that, but in the end....the answer was easy. Maybe I'm just naive, but I do believe there are reasons to hate someone that are essentially wrong. And this is a really stupid way to prove a point, but. Okay. Let me bring up Brendon Urie, again. There are plenty of reasons not to like him, at this point in time. His disrespect for women, his drug habits, whatever. Perfectly valid. But if somebody starts disliking him because he grew up Mormon, for example, or because he enjoys anal sex....those are not valid reasons, to me. Religion. Race. Sexuality, which is both relating to sexual preference and harmless sexual habits. I don't think it's right to judge someone for these. This is just something I believe in.

And just because someone is a horrible human being doesn't mean the rules of decency go out the window. It's never okay to have a double standard the way fandom does. Brendon can run around half-naked on stage, feel himself up, and that's totally okay with you, but Audrey takes some pictures in a bikini top and that's not? Let's apply the rules fairly, or not at all. I know life doesn't work like this. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing that it should.

I know I'm not expressing this well at all. And I should seriously just stop talking about it, because I'm 18 years old, I barely contribute to fandom, and my opinions honestly don't mean much. They aren't well formulated, I can barely explain exactly what it is that makes me so passionate about this. But...it is my journal. And if I can't explain in some shaky way here that what people are saying doesn't sit right with me, where the hell else can I do it?

HAHAHAHAHAHA GOD GUYS, REMEMBER WHEN I USED TO TALK ABOUT LIFE?

Okay, so my girlfriend is making a post about certain bandom girls and their contributions to world/society/whatever, which inspired me to read some recent posts about scene queens. And oh lord, did my blood begin to boil.

So, hi, this is a rant. An uncut rant, because, yeah, I think this is important enough to share. This is primarily about Jac and Audrey, because I know the most about them and care the most about them and if that makes me biased, well, that's okay by me.

So. First, let me say that I am by no means saying that you have to like these girls. There are plenty of good reasons not to like them (and by them I mostly mean Audrey). What I am saying is that there are some severely fucked up reasons I've seen given for NOT liking them, and I'd like to address these reasons.

"I don't respect girls who use their looks to get by"/"base entire careers on looks"
Okay! I understand that. I personally have no beef with the modeling industry, I think plenty of models work their asses off, and there are plenty of other careers that don't require a ton of brainpower. If you really just hate that sort of job, that's up to you. But in relation to Audrey Kitching, I've noticed people hating on aspects of her that have to do with her as a model, not modeling in general, so for the purpose of this, let's say that modeling as a career doesn't really bother you. So what is it about Audrey's career that pisses you off? Is it the image she uses, the pink hair? If she were a plus-sized model, would this even be an issue? Why not? It's the exact same thing. It's using a certain image to get noticed and sell something. I see Audrey get a ton of shit for being so skinny. That bothers me SO MUCH. I have a ton of pictures of a much younger Audrey because I'm creepy like that, and guess what, guys. She's always been a tiny little thing. It's just the way she's built! I would probably guess that I weigh two times her weight, no joke, and you know what? That doesn't give me the right to hate her. Unless she's starving herself for the specific purpose of getting ahead in modeling, there is nothing wrong with being skinny. I see a ton of people love Jamia instantly for being "real girl" shaped. Uh, guys? Audrey Kitching is a real girl. Real girls come in all shapes and sizes. Judging someone based on their weight either way is a shitty thing to do and I'd like it to stop.

Another thing I see Audrey get flack for is putting too much importance on being internet famous. I'm sorry, I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but the internet is pretty fucking important in this day and age. A major issue in the writer's strike is that they aren't getting compensated for internet downloads. Panic At the Disco got discovered because Pete found their music on the internet. The internet is a fantastic way to promote yourself. And that's exactly what Audrey's doing. She's posting pictures of her work as a model so she'll get more work. I don't see what's wrong with that, exactly, or why it's really different from a photographer posting pictures of their work so people will hire them.

Speaking of photographers! It's time to talk about Jac now, and why this argument doesn't really apply to her. I see a lot of people assuming that all she does is take pictures of herself, for whatever reason. This is vastly untrue. Jac takes a lot of pictures because photography is a hobby and an interest. I take a ton of pictures of myself too, mostly because it's a lot of fun. There's nothing really wrong with that. You know what else Jac does? She goes to college, on a scholarship, and is required to maintain her grades. She parties and has fun and is basically just a normal girl. The argument that she "does nothing" or "gets by with her looks" doesn't really apply her, unless her looks are somehow magically getting her a 4.0.

"They wear too much makeup"/"too little clothing"/"don't respect themselves"
Oh boy. This...literally makes me foam at the mouth. It's basically saying "they don't respect themselves because they use their faces to display some funky art and walk around in revealing clothing." First of all, I thought we left that kind of thinking behind a long time ago. Second of all, this exact argument could be said about Ryan Ross. And I NEVER hear anyone debating whether Ryan Ross respects himself because he paints his face or camwhored half-naked in a bathroom. Guys can show off their bodies and be labeled confident. Girls take pictures in bikinis and get labeled insecure, or sluts. "She can't respect herself, look what she's wearing." You know what? If I had a body like Jac's, I'd take pictures of myself too! She's gorgeous, her body is lovely, and if she wants to show it off, who are we to tell her "That makes you less than us." If I'm taking pictures of myself in a cute bra, does that make me less intelligent than you? Does that make me not respect myself? Fuck that. If you have a problem with me wearing a low-cut shirt, if you have a problem with me loving how I look, if you have a problem with my sexual life, then that is your fucking problem and I don't want to hear about it. I know who I am. Maybe you want to read this and then get back to me.

Or better yet, get the fuck out of my journal. I don't want you here. What these girls choose to post online has nothing to do with whether they respect themselves or not. Don't you dare assume that it makes them less of a woman, or less of a human being. I've never seen them state anywhere that brains are unimportant, that men are better than women, or anything that people seem to assume.

*breathes*

"They don't actually do anything, not the way Alicia/Lyn-Z/etc. do"
Fair enough about Lyn-Z, these girls most certainly aren't in a band. But let's talk about Alicia for a second. Yes, she used to tech on Warped Tour and work in the music scene, yes, she's awesome. I love Alicia, but I haven't seen much of what she's been doing lately other than being Mikey Way's wife. And let's not pretend like quite a few of us would know who she is if she wasn't connected to Mikey or Pete. There's nothing wrong with either of those things, to me, and to be honest...it's not a hell of a lot different from Jac or Audrey. And if you want to see exactly what it is that these girls do, head over to my girlfriend's awesome post/picspam here. It's about Jac, Audrey, Keltie, and Ashlee, the girls fandom seem to hate the absolute most, and why we need to stop saying "they contribute nothing".

I'll sum it up for you here, too. Jac is a student at UCLA, Audrey models and styles hair. If you want to talk about them not doing anything or not working hard, check the facts out first. Jac maintains a 4.0 and has for a few years now. That takes time, effort, brains, and a hell of a lot of studying. Audrey, whatever you might think of her chosen professions, sounds pretty ecstatic in her Buzznet journal when she finally gets to get a few days off. Modeling is work, and she does it full time. She's not just sitting around in a computer chair all day taking pictures of herself. If you want to argue the merits of what these girls do, be it student, wife, bass player, model, whatever, that's a different story. But they all are committed to their jobs. And maybe before you judge them for not contributing anything to fandom, you should remember that these girls did not sign up to be musicians. Audrey Kitching and Jac Vanek did not come here to make you dance tonight, they aren't here to provide music for you. And just because they aren't involved in the music that we all love doesn't mean they aren't doing something worthwhile that we can enjoy or respect them for.

And what exactly are you doing in life that allows you to say "Being a student isn't good enough. It doesn't mean enough. Photography isn't a worthy profession. Styling hair for a living obviously means you have no brains, why aren't you doing something worthy?" Let's talk about that. Let's talk about artists. Let's talk about people who do your hair for a living. Let's talk about people who work on cars for a living. Let's talk about how fandom gets so high and mighty as to actually judge people for taking what they love to do and turning it into a career. Isn't that the fucking American dream? If you could sit around talking about fandom all day and get paid for it, who the hell wouldn't jump at that chance? I think it's time to stop judging people based on their careers and start examining them as people. Their personalities, how they come across in videos. That should be the way you form your opinions.

"I don't think I'd like to hang out with them in person"
Okay! Totally valid point. I wouldn't want to hang out with Audrey either, she seems like a bitch. (ETA a year later: Okay, having met her in person, she was actually totally sweet and seems much less like a bitch now than she used to.)But she is a fascinating person who I'd love to read fic about. Just like Brendon Urie.

"I don't care about them because they don't make music and that's what I'm here for"/"don't know anything about them"
Awesome! Carry about your business. Different strokes and all that jazz.

Mostly, what I'm trying to accomplish with this post is to make you reconsider your opinions, or realize that maybe you were a bit uninformed to begin with. I'm not saying you have to like these girls at all! I'm just saying, it's time to stop judging them for living the lives they choose to live.

Rant over!

I hope I don't get hate mail for this. But discussion is more than welcome!