#no matter who you're voting for please be nice to the other ship and those who vote for it!

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

PRELIMINARY POLL 1: A3!

hello A3! fandom, congrats on having the biggest number of unique ships submitted! (unique=non-repeated ship) out of all the ships submitted, soba and i have decided to shortlist fuyupoly and EITHER bansaku OR tasutsumu, as per a previous post where we said we'll be allowing a maximum of 2 ships per fandom into the tournament. both bansaku and tasutsumu have 3 submissions each and strong propaganda, hence this preliminary poll to decide which one will be in the tournament

also if bansaku wins, let us know if you guys want that pic to be their pic or you guys want the act 11 CG where banri and sakuya go on a date to watch the hyakka troupe show (fake blood warning)

propoganda for both ships are under the cut!

-mod deli 🎀

BANSAKU:

Submission 1:

Tough dude getting flustered at literal angel makes happy chemical go brrrrrr

Submission 3:

words cannot express how much i love bansaku. they are so. okay hold on. they met in high school. they're in the same year but different classes. they officially become friends when they join mankai company. at least one mod is a3 liker so i'll skip those details i'm sure you know. they are so. everything. here is the list of things that has happened in canon. like literally in canon.

- they go thrift shopping together. banri gets sakuya clothes since he's got more expendable income.

- they're major theater nerds they both love the stage so much

- sakuya forgot his workbook so he went to borrow banri's and "thanks, banri-kun!"

- EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ART WHERE THE A3DERS ARE TOGETHER HAS BANRI WITH THE SOFTEST EXPRESSION LOOKING AT SAKUYA LIKE WHAT THE HELL

- they went to go watch hyakka troupe play together... there's a whole cg... i can't believe they go on dates fr (delusional)

banri was struggling with finding a purpose in life, versus sakuya who always dreamed of veing an actor. and i think that. god i'm so delusional but like. banri's always a little sarcastic and unserious but with sakuya he's always kind even though he's still a tease. and the. they bring out different sides to each other you know. with banri, sakuya allows himself to be taken care of and doted over, but also just be a 19 year old teen. normal life . yknow.

they are so friends to lovers ever because they are such good friends to each other and it's always at the core of their relationship. yknow like even if they didn't get together romantically they still push each other to be better and to want more. but they just Want to be together and i think that makes a lot of difference. choosing to be with someone. it's very unconditional and lowkey, their relationship, so choosing it is somehow Something Significant, if that makes sense.

they're so adorable. banri's a very physical person i think. so it's very easy to just imagine him with his arm over sakuya's shoulders or hugging sakuya from behind. and sakuya always thinks of banri and gets him little gifts and "i thought of you"s and they're so adorable. sometimes banri will pick sakuya up from work and sometimes sakuya will stop by amabi and i think they make time for each other.

also one last thing that isn't necessarily friends to lovers coded but i feel is very important about their relationship is how like. you know at the start banri is this delinquent asshole with no plans in life and sakuya is a little good boy who's responsible and a little silly. so i think it's really important that banri is the one who continues on to college, while sakuya goes straight to working. (at a kindergarten he is so cute i love him) because like. you know. first impressions aren't everything. what's good for you may not be good for someone else. we can all still grow more in the end. and i just. man i'm so emo over these two.

(Mod note: The 2nd bansaku submission didn't have any propaganda)

TASUTSUMU:

Submission 1:

(exploding) sorry if this is badly written i am walking rn . Mods know the series but A3 is about stage actors.

TasuTsumu are literally the friends to lovers ever. They're childhood friends, even. They did everything together. They've acted together since elementary school. but then (VINE BOOM) thry both try out for a prestigious acting troupe called GODza... but only Tasuku makes it in (sad horn sounds) Tsumugi lost a ton of confidence after not making it and kinda ghosted Tasuku and ran away from his problems </3 he originally had given up, but missed the stage so he tried out again at the Mankai Company (troupe all of the characters are in). Of course, as fate has it, Tasuku had just left GODza after their... unsavory business tactics, but the troupe had blacklisted him from becoming an actor at any other high end troupes in the area, leaving him to go to the Mankai Company. And of course times 2, he and Tsumugi try out for the same troupe. Tasuku is less than pleased with seeing Tsumugi's face after he just disappeared before, and things between them are tense, especially when Tasuku gets fed up with Tsumugi's lack of confidence after he becomes the troupe's leader. But!! Fate wants them to get along (and be together) and Tsumugi finds this cursed doll that traps them in a time loop of the same day. They're stuck until they resolve their issues. Nothing like a good ol divine intervention to get two friends to lovers back together. tldr Tsumugi owns up to his insecurities to Tasuku and works to overcome it. In the process, while performing their play in an act off (if they end up in the competition ill actually essay about it) Tsumugi feels that his acting is inferior once again and totally bombs a show. Tasuku finally works around his own regrets of not reaching out before when Tsumugi had "quit," telling him how much he loves and envies Tsumugi's acting, and apologizes to Tsumugi. Then boom they pull off an incredibly gay play about angels and become lovers (not canon but Trust me).

please let me write properly about them and put them in i love my blorbos <3 they were made for this tournament

Submission 2:

absolute best friends in childhood who had a very impactful falling out, but managed to resolve things. nowadays they're in a theatre troupe together where their troupe is quite literally married.

Submission 3:

1. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

2. Their introductory arc was literally a whole divorce-reunion arc. They divorced because Tsumugi failed an audition into the God Squad theatre troupe while Tasuku got in which was a blow to Tsumugi's confidence as an actor and he ran away and Tasuku was mad at him for that. It was literally so bad that the game had to break its slice-of-life genre to introduce a doll that traps people in a timeloop until they're able to make up, and they (and another guy who's kinda a cryptid) are the only ones aware that the day keeps repeating

3. After one of their shows, Tsumugi overhears some audience members criticising him and comparing him to Tasuku, which leads to him changing his acting style in the next show which completes bombs their show. Out of shame, Tsumugi runs away, and it takes Tasuku some hesitating before chasing after him and finally telling him how he REALLY feels -- that he was guilty for not being able to do anything to help Tsumugi when he failed that audition years ago and ran away, and that he admires Tsumugi's acting for what it is. The anime makes this scene even gayer by having them meet on a bridge in the snow and Tasuku holding an umbrella over Tsumugi's head as he pours his heart out to Tsumugi

4. Tsumugi regains his confidence after hearing that, and they finally FINALLY 100% reconcile