It was late into the day where a couple of gifts came in the mail for one Ayumu Hayami of Niigata, said birthday man was currently relaxing on the couch with his beloved daughter, Sara, as they watched a family friendly movie when the doorbell rang. Curious to see what or who it could be, though he was certain it was more gifts delivered to him from people all over the divisions, he stood up and walked over to the door, opening it, he was not surprised to have been right as there were three presents sitting pretty on the porch of his home.
Picking up all of the gifts, he shut the door as he made his way back to the living room where Sara was waiting, perking up eagerly when she caught sight of the presents in her father’s arms. Chuckling at her excitement, Ayumu sat the gifts down and paused the movie, together, the father and daughter duo proceeded to go through each present, starting with the blue one, which revealed to be…
…A top of the line smart watch, complete with every function there needs to be, it came with a small note.
‘Happy Birthday, Ayumu-san.
Thank you for all your hard work and enjoy your day.
— Wataru S.’
The second gift, the purple one, revealed to be…
…A porcelain coffee mug with a paramedic joke printed onto it, like the last gift, this one came with a card.
‘Happy Birthday, Sunshine Papi!
You’re a real rad guy, y’know that? Not to mention you really helped me more times than I can count (don’t ask me if getting stabbed is worse than getting shot, they both hurt as shit) so take this sacred mug as a token of my appreciation! I hope this managed to get a laugh out of you!
— Jo(ey)Jo Kurus(u)iwa’
The third and final gift, a soft red colored one, revealed to be…
…A plate of delicious flower looking cupcakes wrapped in a protective plastic container, much like the other two gifts, this one also came with a card.
‘Happy Birthday, Hayami-san!
I bet it’s surprising for you to receive a gift from me but Shisuta told me that it was your birthday today and believe it or not, you and I have worked together on a couple of cases, we just so happened to be in different areas haha! I hope you have a very wonderful day and I wish you all the good vibes!
— Sayaka Miyuki.’
Happy Birthday Ayumu! 💛
“Seems like you’re popular today, Ayumu,” Seiji told his friend, having come over to visit after his shift. Eyeing the gifts Ayumu received today. “But you’ve always been the nicer one out of the two of us. So, no surprise there.”
“Oh, hush you” Ayumu snorted, elbowing Seiji in his side. “Just wait till your birthday, then we’ll talk.”
“Don’t remind me,” Seiji groaned. “It's going to be a circus this year with our entry into the D.R.B.”
Ayumu laughed at the face Seiji was making. “Come on, Seiji, not excited?”
“I like to spend my birthdays in peace.”
“Where’s your sense of fun?”
“Not here that’s for sure.”
“Friends for how long and this is how you treat me?”
“It's because of how long we’ve been friends that I treat you like this, you bastard.”
Banning the use of clothes: Shian Meizono (Pixel Syndicate), Karada Kessaku (Jet Set Trio), Hoàng Diệu (Sounds of Silence), Ryuko Umemoto (山茶花 Zombeez), Hisoka Tetsuma (Veiled Vanguard), Lola Takahashi (Femme Fatale), Max Soukoku (Lovesick), Touya Kisaragi (Death Row Block), Eden Yamamura (Trickstar), Aika Yumi (Oculus)
Actually living in only the few cold hours of the day: Makina Setsukura (Pixel Syndicate), Kai Quinlan (Private Party), Daiki Kamiyama (Veiled Vanguard), Sumire Shinomiya (CodeX), Kaoru Shinozaki (Wicked Requiem), Kanon Hojo (Silent Tragedy), Kei Himeno (Diabolik Love), Hisui Meguno (Howling Moon), Nadya Kuromiya (Oculus), Mina Nakayama (ENIGMA), Kotan Anchikar (Kuma no Ie), Kokomi Morozov (Kuma no Ie)
Was Sayaka traumatized during her pursuit to become a top idol, or was it just fanon?
She never directly states anything beyond this, but if you know anything about the idol business it is an incredibly traumatizing grueling business that very much chews people up and spits them out. So I'd say it's less...fanon and more an intended inference? Like how if you suggest someone works as a doctor you can assume they've probably seen some nasty things. If someone's an idol, it's very likely they've essentially gone through a lot of shit to get there.
It's not as intense as say being a k-pop idol, but j-pop is still REALLY competitive and cutthroat. Like, here's some quotes from the wikipedia page that i am going to put under a cut because it's gross shit and also long.
However the TLDR is that Sayaka doesn't NEED to explicitly say she was traumatized or abused by the industry, the industry is in itself enough of a traumatizing and abusive of piece of work that you just Know. There's a REASON Sayaka thought if she didn't literally kill to get out as fast as possible she may never perform again. It's very likely even she's never even had a sick day before this, let alone a vacation.
"Idols often spend time isolated from family and friends while enduring busy work schedules,[22] with some agencies withholding job assignments from their talents and notifying them of work on short notice to prevent them from taking time off."
"The idol system has been criticized for its strict rules, intense work schedules, and offering idols little control over their personal lives.[32][13][25] The system has been likened to salarymen in Japan who are unable to disobey their employers"
"Labor rights activist Shohei Sakagura stated that idols get very little revenue and are ill-prepared for the work force after leaving their groups, as many of them spend their academic years learning poor job skills"
"Sasetsu Takeda of GQ Japan wrote that talent agencies dismiss idols regardless of their popularity, sometimes intentionally blocking job offers in order to pressure them to leave, all while declaring that they are "resting from illness" to the public"
"Independently managed idol groups offer even less protection, with idols given ambiguously worded contracts that keep them in their companies for years, while offering almost no pay and compensation for transportation and costuming fees."
"Sasetsu Takeda of GQ Japan criticized some idol managements for intentionally preventing their talents from taking time off, mentioning it "strange" that idols are only notified of their assignments the night before.[23] He also condemned the idol industry for not providing talents access to better mental health resources, as idols are often suspended or dismissed for publicly showing they are stressed out of concern that they may cause fans to feel worried or upset"
"Allegedly, Omoto was working 10 hours a day at the expense of her studies and when she had asked to leave the group, a staff member threatened her with violence while Takahiro Sasaki, the head of her managing company, told her she would have to pay a penalty fee of ¥1 million"
"A talent agency filed a lawsuit against a 17-year-old former idol singer for accepting an invitation to a hotel room from two male fans, which had caused her group to disband within the first 3 months of their debut.[149] In September 2015, Judge Akitomo Kojima, along with the Tokyo District Court, ruled in favor of the talent agency and fined the woman to pay ¥650,000, stating that the dating ban was necessary for idols to "win the support of male fans."
"In 2017, through a survey conducted by the Japanese government, 53 out of 197 women contracted with talent agencies stated that they had been asked to take part in pornographic photo or video shoots of which were not previously disclosed nor included in their contracts. 17 of the women stated that they had performed the request anyway."
Other: I have ADHD, Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Depression, and Autism.
Special Interest(s): Danganronpa, Warrior Cats, Bungou Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia, SK8 the Infinity
Fandoms I'm in: Warrior Cats, Danganronpa, Creepypasta, Shipwrecked 64, Sally Face, Survivors, Watership Down, Ghost Stories, The Promised Neverland, Dead Plate, Death Note, Five Nights at Freddy's, Class of '09, Doki Doki Literature Club!, Hazbin Hotel (somewhat), Gacha, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Little Misfortune, Andy's Applefarm, The Goldfinch, Bungou Stray Dogs, American Horror Story/Stories, Yuri!!! on ICE, Scream, Sasaki and Miyano, The Stranger by the Shore, The Walking Dead, South Park, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, SAW, Chainsaw Man, Saiki K., SK8 the Infinity
Information regarding the first IJIGEN FES 2023 live has been revealed! The live will occur in the TOKYO DOME on the 9th and 10th of December 2023. This first fes will feature three branches of IDOLM@STER performing with four branches of Love Live!
The voice providers participating in this stop are as follows:
hey i made a mashup of Zzz by Sayaka Sasaki (the first ed of Nichijou) and 2econd 2ight 2eer by Will Wood. it's my second or third mashup ever so maybe you guys might enjoy. i wanna make more this is a good stress reliever.