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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"If I fall in love with someone else, I will tell him/her now, and not shyly procrastinate, thereby dooming the object of my affection to perish just as I was getting up the courage to make my feelings known."''
|From '''"[[The Universal Genre Savvy Guide|The Things I Will Do If I Am Ever the Sidekick]]."'''}}
There is a piece of vital information that would clear up a character's problems, whether it is a misunderstanding of romance or combat. If the character would just spit it out, it would save entire episodes... entire ''seasons'' of trouble and tears.
[[Rule of Drama|... so, naturally, they don't.]]
Whether it's due to embarrassment, ego, or just plain stupidity, they rush into whatever situation is going on. Sometimes this leads to a moral about the benefits of clear-headed conversation over fighting needlessly. However, most of the time it's just to provide [[Padding]] to the series.
Sometimes, the reason one character
Other times the character is just an ass. While the [[Ineffectual Loner]] has many chances to clarify his role, most of the time he'll just tell the heroes to [[Figure It Out Yourself|figure it out themselves]].
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Thinking you have courage enough and finding yourself indulging in [[Talk About the Weather]] or other chitchat is also common.
Sometimes overcome by the [[Green-Eyed Monster]], or by [[Converse
If it's a magical curse that prevents the character from sharing information, then that character may be [[Tongue-Tied]]. If it's simply too personal for the character to talk about, they're [[Emotionally Tongue-Tied]]. Should the character find saying whatever it is so alien and repugnant that they are practically incapable of saying it, it's probably [[Gagging
In an [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] or [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] situation, or if [[All Love Is Unrequited]], this trope is often vital to maintaining the status quo.
[[Real Life]]
See also [[Aborted Declaration of Love]], [[Interrupted Declaration of Love]], [[You Didn't Ask]], [[Idiot Plot]], [[
{{examples}}
== All Media ==
* Pick an [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]. ''Any'' [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]. It will also be coupled with the intended target [[Failed a Spot Check|Failing All Spot Checks]] on what few hints they ''do'' manage to give off.
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* This is more or less [[Rumiko Takahashi]]'s S.O.P.: [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|At least one member of the pairing must not be able to confess their feelings]]:
** ''[[Ranma
*** In one of the songs from the albums, "November Rain," the lyrics imply that Ranma is
{{quote|
* Dramatic example: ''[[Peach Girl]]''.
* ''[[Love Hina]]'' did this a lot, and eventually [[Lampshade Hanging|referred to this]] in the [[Meta Guy|Kanako arc]] [[OVA
* In ''[[Hana Kimi]]'', Mizuki loves Sano, and Sano loves Mizuki pretty much from chapter 3 onwards. Also, that's about when Sano also finds out that Mizuki really is a girl. And neither knows about what the other knows until chapter 133.
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' spent an entire episode milking the trope, as Momoka's attempts to refer to Fuyuki on a first-name basis lead to increasingly absurd changes in the conversation.
* How anime fans (and anyone with half a brain) react to ''Arashi No Yoru Ni'' (''[[One Stormy Night]]''). They keep saying the word "friend" but you keep thinking one of them should just blurt out the obvious.
* Many [[Love Triangle|love triangles]], such as the one in ''[[Kimagure Orange Road]],'' have a third wheel who thinks that the main character returns their feelings. In the case of ''KOR'', he doesn't, but feels it's far better to lead her on for the entire series instead of sitting her down and explaining the situation, as he ''does'' care for the girl as a sister and can't bring himself to hurt her feelings. It certainly doesn't help that the girl whom he ''does'' have feelings for is the ''best friend'' of the third wheel ''and'' a [[Hot Amazon]] who already promised to help the wheel girl, as well as willing to [[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...|beat the shit out of him if he causes said girl harm]].
* In the first two seasons of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', the villains have their own reasons for doing what they're doing, but refuse to tell why despite Nanoha wanting to talk to them. Nanoha (whose main characteristic is her honesty and straightforwardness) decides that the only way to get them to explain their actions is to [[Defeat Means Friendship|beat them in combat]] and [[Warrior Therapist|demand an explanation]]. It works.
** The Wolkenritter are concerned about Hayate being uncovered as master of the Book of Darkness and being labeled a criminal as a result, which could be one reason why they don't tell Nanoha and her friends their story.
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* In ''[[Eureka Seven]]'', three of the characters, a seasoned rebel named Holland, his girlfriend/second in command Talho, and a young boy named Renton get into an argument over an injured teammate. Holland pretends he doesn't care, and goes on a mission to save a head priest "for a lot of money." Renton is furious that he doesn't care. Talho understands that Holland is saving this priest because he can save their teammate. Holland beats Renton up for his suggesting they try to save their teammate, Talho slaps Holland for not telling Renton that he wants to save their teammate, she also slaps Renton for not realizing that Holland wants to save their teammate (but she doesn't tell him this). This leads to Renton leaving the crew, and falling into the company of a rival mercenary. Just because everybody Cannot Spit It Out.
** In another example, Renton, who's looking for relationship advice because he wants to tell Eureka he loves her, winds up looking at a porno rag, and of course, he gets caught. The men think he wants to do it with Eureka, so they convert his room into some sort of love nest, and Holland of course finds out and beats the shit out of Renton.
* ''[[
** Shorter, maybe, but not much. Tina ''already'' had a strong suspicion, Mayu clearly doesn't care if Kaoru is taken ({{spoiler|even after he's married}}), Taeko never considered actually chasing after him until very late, and Chika... hard to tell just how serious she was being.
** Tina is a even better example. Her inability to confess her love to Kaoru before the series begins leads to her going on a year-long trip around the world, mainly to try and get over it.
* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]!'' stars Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada, an [[Unlucky Everydude]] with a crush on his classmate Kyoko who Cannot Spit It Out. One of Reborn's first tasks in making Tsuna a suitable heir to the Vongola Mafia family is using his "Dying Wish Bullet" to make Tsuna confess his love to Kyoko. But in the end, she still thinks he was joking, and he has yet to convince himself to confess a second time.
* Used famously in [[
** They also tend to use a unique variations of this trope especially with the dreamseers. Who can see the possible futures both good and bad. They'll tell the rest of the cast whenever the future is good, however when the future is generally bad they won't say anything. The reason behind this is because as long as they don't tell the key players that future then they can change it, but telling others of that future can set it in stone. {{spoiler|And the ''only'' dreamseer who actually DID say the future was still unchanged... said so after ''her'' death}}.
* The inability of various characters in ''[[School Rumble]]'' to confess their love, Harima's feelings for Tenma being the principle example.
* Hagino in ''[[Blue Drop]]'' for the largest part doesn't tell Mari that she is the commander of the space ship that caused the disaster in which Mari's parents died.
* Kaorin of ''[[
* The fact that the two sisters Asu and Kyou from ''[[Binbou Shimai Monogatari]]'' love each other a lot can't prevent them from communicating poorly on a regular basis, making them run in panicky circles where a few choice words would have helped immensely. [[media:
* In ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]'' {{spoiler|the plot would have been almost completely different if Chikane had told Himeko about what happened in their past lives.}}
* ''[[Rosario
** To a lesser extent, Tsukune himself.
*** Averted by [[Unwanted Harem|pretty much everyone else]], even [[Split Personality|Outer Moka]]
* After episode 9 of ''[[
* In ''[[
** To be fair though, Pegas IS just a robot and can only behave according to his programming. He's probably not capable of even realizing that D-Boy would forget much less inform him.
* In ''[[Kanon]]'', no one thinks to mention to the main charrie that {{spoiler|the girl whose death traumatized him 7 years ago was still alive in hospital.}}
* [[Axis Powers Hetalia
** Sweden: every time he tries to talk to Finland, he becomes flustered and can't finish what he was about to say. It doesn't help that Finland seems to be [[Oblivious to Love]], either.
* In ''[[Kaleido Star]]'', [[Ill Boy]] Ken Robbins tries often to tell Sora Naegino that he greatly loves and admires her, but never gets the chance. In a more adult version, Kalos Eido loves his best friend Sarah Dupont, but feels guilty for their common past and doesn't want to let her know. And last, Jerry the policeman can't tell his best friend Kate that he loves her since they've been friends for ''decades'' and he fears to lose that friendship {{spoiler|When he ''does'' tell her, he graduates to [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]}}.
** To be fair, {{spoiler|Ken ''does'' manage to tell Sora his feelings in the second season -- and then the policeman ruins it by thinking that Ken means he's one of Sora's fans. In the end, poor Ken never gets to tell her the way he feels.}}
* In ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', Ahiru can't tell Mytho that she loves
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': Scarcely a character in the entire series is capable of admitting his or her deeper feelings toward those he or she loves most. Often even the exceptions turn out not to be exceptions. For example, Asuka's flamboyant confessions of love for Kaji [[Operation: Jealousy|are often in part to mask her growing attraction]] to Shinji. Of course, it doesn't work.
** {{spoiler|Shinji and Rei}} in the second ''Rebuild'' movie. Of course it's justified: {{spoiler|Shinji is too much of a coward to confess such things while Rei has no idea about the concept of love}}. Asuka knows about them and is jealous at first, then - in a startling display of compassion - willingly gives up on him.
*** That last one's still pretty ambiguous. Asuka knew that Rei's {{spoiler|Rei's attempt to heal the rift between Shinji and Gendo was in Shinji's best interest after the bedroom scene. She put Shinji's happiness before her own in piloting Unit 03 so the party could go ahead, but whether she's still pursuing him is unclear.}}
* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', it's hard to say that the plot would have changed had he told Rosette, but Chrono constantly dodges around telling Rosette about his
* All Daisuke needs to do in ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' to stop transforming into Dark is to get the girl he loves to love him in
* Subverted in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Just before {{spoiler|Yusuke leaves to face his demon heritage,}} he has one last meal at the Yukimura diner. Cue {{spoiler|Yusuke's marriage proposal,}} which Keiko reacts to rather nonchalantly. The subversion comes when {{spoiler|Keiko returns to her room -- Yusuke drops "Oh, come on, Keiko... you know I love you." without nary a second thought.}} Keiko's response? {{spoiler|An even more nonchalant "Yeah, yeah."}}
* Hinata regarding her feelings for ''[[Naruto]]''. That about covers it.
** {{spoiler|Until she ''did'' spit it out. And almost got killed by Pain immediately afterward}}.
* In ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'', Sae has trouble telling her little sister Chika how much she really cares for her.
** Likewise, Natsume is sending Sae [[Tsundere|mostly confusing messages]], although it's admittedly quite hard to get through Sae's [[Selective Obliviousness|obliviousness]].
* Tatsuya and Minami in ''[[Touch]]''. He likes her and she likes him, and she even kisses and confess to him before the 20th episode. It still took over 100 episodes...
* ''[[Mahoraba]]'' takes the romantic variety to insane levels, leaving you to wonder if either of the mains have tongues at all until the last episode.
* Effectively [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', when Negi tries to ask his father's allies who his [[Missing Mom|mother]] is. Unfortunately, Rakan swore them to silence until he "acknowledges Negi as a man", seemingly so that Negi would have even more incentive to beat him in their upcoming fight.
** Naturally, it's then revealed with no build up at all, by a newly introduced character. It's later confirmed by Jack Rakan, in the same offhand manner:
{{quote|
** But can you really stop there? The entirety of ''Negima'' is comprised of characters who can't spit it out. Nodoka, Yue, Chachamaru, Evangeline, Asuna, Negi, Kotarou, and a slew of side characters have relationships they refuse to act on, for reasons ranging from denial, feelings of unworthiness, fear of hurting others feelings, or amnesia.
*** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]]:
{{quote|
** Also subverted early on by Nodoka, [[Shrinking Violet|the last person you'd expect]]. See [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v04/c033/18.html here]. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Aww yeah]].
* In ''[[Saki (
* In ''[[Letter Bee]]'', Connor is unable to bring himself to tell Lag that Gauche, whom Lag befriended while being delivered to Cambel Litmus, {{spoiler|was fired from his Letter Bee position after going missing}}. In a one-shot story, a woman's maid is unable to reveal herself as the person who had sent her the picture postcards, because she had been forced to sell the gift she had received from her future employer when the two were younger. One of Lag's Heart Bullets reveals the secret, which the woman takes well.
* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', through the entire anime, Kaname was unable to bring herself to come out and confess to Sōsuke. Granted, ''anyone'' should have been capable of noticing her feelings without a direct confession, but... [[Chaste Hero|Sôsuke]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|being]] [[No Social Skills|Sôsuke]], normal methods [[Oblivious to Love|don't work with him]].
** He probably had a clue and by the look of the ''Second Raid'' finale, he reciprocated even though he wanted to keep it a secret from Mithril for obvious reasons.
** Gauron ''did'' spit it out. Not that Sōsuke liked the idea especially after Gauron had Yui-Lan nearly assassinate Kaname out of jealousy.
* The title character of ''[[Kenichi:
** And then comes Miu's grandfather {{spoiler|claiming that he will only let Kenichi and Miu date after he becomes strong enough to defeat him, the man who never lost a fight IN HIS WHOLE LIFE.}}
* This is suspected to be the case with Rudolf in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* In ''[[Tona Gura]]'', would-be couple Kazuki Arisaka and Yuuji Kagura sometimes get so flustered by their obvious feelings that they cannot speak to each other at all, not out of anger, but out of trepidation. In one instance, where he has fallen on top of her (legit in this case, despite his immature tendency to grab at her), they are at this point so tongue-tied that a primal [[Accidental Pervert]] / [[Tsundere]] moment passes with only a few "Excuse Me"s -- and that's all.
* A large amount of problems in ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' and its sequel could have been avoided had Athrun actually spoke his mind to various people, instead of moping around silently and constantly going "it's nothing" when people asked him what he thought.
* One reason for the [[Idiot Plot]] in ''[[Kedamono Damono]]''. Haruki [[I Just Want to Be Normal|has his reasons]], though.
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* Esther Blanchett and Ion Fortuna from ''[[Trinity Blood]]''.
** True, it can be argued that she's a Roman Catholic nun {{spoiler|and heir to the throne of Albion, AKA England}}, and, as such, is already spoken for, and that he's a vampire noble/"unholy beast". But in the ''Trinity Blood'' universe, chastity among the religious hierarchy in general doesn't seem to be as virtuous a trait, or enforced as zealously, as it is supposed to be in the real world. And while some may question Esther's feelings for Ion, he does a much poorer job of masking his own emotions.
** Don't forget, the empress of the vampire empire told Ion and Esther that love between a "Terran and Methusalah [was] forbidden" so that could also play a factor.
* ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'': Kyon seems to be the only cast member who is oblivious to the fact that Haruhi is attracted to him (even though she would likely die before admitting as much, perhaps even to herself).
** Conversely, Kyon has admitted on multiple occasions (in the novels, at least) that he is attracted to both Asahina Mikuru and Nagato Yuki (but never confesses as much to either girl). {{spoiler|In a subversion of the latter, Asahina warns Kyon that he mustn't allow himself to become too close to her}}.
* Including it in the Anime & Manga section even though it's technically an Original English Language manga. In ''[[Drama Con]]'' by Svetlana Chmakova, despite three years of blatant flirtation and the fact that, like Kagome and Inuyasha, each has more of less come to an understanding with regards to the other's feelings, {{spoiler|neither Christie or Matt openly confess their feelings before the story's final act}}.
* In ''[[Junjou Romantica]]'', Misaki has enormous difficulty on two counts: he can't bring himself to tell Usami he loves him, and he's so concerned with never being a burden to anyone that he's pretty much incapable of saying what he wants from other people, even when they flat-out ask him and are obviously willing to do whatever he wants. Naturally, this leads to complications, as he tends to go along with what other people
* ''[[Those Who Hunt Elves]]''. All it would take to save the group tons and tons of trouble every episode is for somebody to approach an Elf and say "Hello, there. This might seem like an odd request but my friends and I are looking for fragments of a very important spell that's been imprinted on the bodies of five random Elf women. You don't happen to have recently found yourself with a strange marking on your body, have you? You HAVE? Great! Would you mind if we went to a quiet, private location to check if it's one of the fragments and remove that for you if it is?" Instead of, y'know, randomly assaulting and ripping the clothes off every one they come across.
* A particularly heartbreaking example occurs in ''[[Berserk]]'' during {{spoiler|the Eclipse}}. {{spoiler|Judeau wants to confess his love for Casca after being seriously wounded by one of the Apostles. When the time finally comes, all he can say to her is "I'm glad to see you cry.". He dies painfully in her arms immediately after. And then [[It Got Worse]].}}
* ''[[Yuria 100 Shiki
* In the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga and second anime, Winry and Ed have this in SPADES. To the point where he'd rather recite the periodic table of elements than admit his feelings.
** Which is hilarious when you think that, when the topic of his feelings for Winry comes up, he's been known to spit ''other'' things out... [[Spit Take|like his drink, all over poor Black Hayate]]... Yeah, [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Kimi
* ''[[B Gata H Kei]]'': [[The Nondescript|Takashi Kosuda]] has moments of this when trying to express his feelings for the series protagonist, [[Lovable Sex Maniac|Yamada]]. {{spoiler|When he finally works up the courage to confess his love to her, his message is garbled by train doors closing ''on his neck'' before he is whisked away.}}
* It took until the very last episode of ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]
* The lynchpin of the ''[[Ah! My Goddess
* ''[[Eve no Jikan]]'' has robots who appear emotionless, but are revealed to secretly be [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]]. Both they and their human masters [[Fantastic Racism|are not comfortable with this]].
** Sammy in particular is a good example: she hides her concern {{spoiler|and growing affection}} for her master Rikuo, and is {{spoiler|afraid to be seen at the cafe even after he finds out she's a regular}}.
* Played with in ''[[To
* Played straight by Saito and Louise in the first season of the ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[Blood
* Played mostly straight with the members of Ichika's [[Balanced Harem]] in ''[[Infinite Stratos]]'', but wonderfully averted with {{spoiler|Laura, after being [[Defrosting Ice Queen|defrosted]]}}. Half an hour after she knows she's in love with Ichika, so does everyone
* Although ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' begins with Wendy offering to marry Van as a reward for [[Standard Hero Reward|saving her hometown]], Wendy never confesses her deepening feelings for him, despite some good opportunities. Instead, her feelings for him are displayed mostly through [[Green-Eyed Monster]] moments. {{spoiler|Her decision not to say anything when they part in the finale looks a lot like an [[Aborted Declaration of Love]], but since they end up being reunited in the [[Distant Finale]] --at a time when she's actually old enough to be in a relationship with him-- things work out in the end.}}
* Although most of the girls of ''[[
* Deconstructed in [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]. Sayaka Miki ''does'' have her chance to get together with an [[Ill Boy]] Kamijou as her friend Hitomi Shizuki ''does'' ask her if she loves him.
* Kotetsu from ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' has this tendency to the point of it being a [[Fatal Flaw]]. He doesn't like hurting people or worrying them with his own problems, and so prefers to keep unpleasant information to himself. This is a frequent cause of misunderstandings and leads to quarrels with both his daughter and his partner.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Smile Pretty Cure]]'', Yayoi decides to pull an April Fools prank, saying that she's going to get transferred to another school. It's all fine and dandy, except for one hitch - the person she told it to was Miyuki, who panics and begins spreading the news, spiraling into Reiko holding a farewell party with the rest of the class and Yayoi unable to say anything because the other girls keep putting words in her mouth. It isn't until Akaoni reveals the truth through a manga Yayoi drew and lost that the girls realize that it was a lie. They're pretty disappointed at her... until they realize it was Miyuki's fault for believing it in the first place!
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In the 1990s [[Marvel Comics]] series ''Sleepwalker'', Rick Sheridan finds himself unable to explain his sudden sleeping problems, caused by Sleepwalker being trapped in his mind, to his girlfriend Alyssa, mostly because he's afraid of how he thinks she'll react.
== Comics ==▼
* Charlie Brown's inability to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl in ''[[Peanuts]]''.▼
** Inspired by the rejection of a proposal to marriage Charles M. Schulz offered his girlfriend in 1947. The woman later married a fireman, the woman and Schulz remained friends for life, but Schulz was significantly affected by the rejection. [[Unrequited Love]] was a constant theme in ''Peanuts''.▼
▲* In the 1990s [[Marvel Comics]] series ''Sleepwalker'', Rick Sheridan finds himself unable to explain his sudden sleeping problems, caused by Sleepwalker being trapped in his mind, to his girlfriend Alyssa, mostly because he's afraid of how he thinks she'll react.
* ''[[Spider-Man]]'' suffers from this trope '''in spades''', with Peter Parker unwilling to reveal his dual identity to his Aunt May, because he fears the shock will kill her, and later because he doesn't want her constantly worrying about him risking his life as Spider-Man. It became even worse when Peter wouldn't tell his first girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, the secret either. He never told Mary Jane while they were dating, either -- ''she'' had to tell ''him'' that she knew his secret.
** When May ''does'' find out and talks to Peter, it's [[Heartwarming
** This is subverted in the [[
*** And when Ultimate Peter ''does'' tell May, her first reaction is not to say she's proud of him, but to kick his 15-year-old ass to to curb.
*** And Ultimate May does indeed have a heart attack brought on by a shock shortly after. It was caused by other shocks in addition to Peter's secret, but still, his concern wasn't totally unfounded.
* The current{{when}} ''Cable'' series tends to get sapped of any and all momentum it may have built up at least once an issue, as all the conflict roots from Bishop's complete inability to simply '''explain''' his apparent [[Face Heel Turn]] to the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] he's been working with for years, despite countless opportunities to do so.
* For most of his super heroing career, [[Shazam|Captain Marvel Jr]] couldn't tell anyone his name, because it happened to also be his [[By the Power of Greyskull|transformation phrase]] (minus the "Jr"). (He's now known as Shazam, having taken over for Billy Batson, who took over for the Wizard Shazam as guardian of The Rock of Ages.)
* ''[[Mouse Guard]]'': Incredibly, it's the {{spoiler|[[Hot-Blooded]] [[Boisterous Bruiser]] Saxon}} who embodies this trope. In Winter, we learn that he's been sitting on his feelings for {{spoiler|Gwendolyn}} for years. {{spoiler|He spits in the
* Happens several times in the ''[[Squadron Supreme]]'' limited series. Sometimes it's sheer plot convenience, as a character is found withholding information that could've averted a problem later on. Other times, it's due to higher-priority instructions given during brainwashing...
* [[The Sandman|Death: At Death's Door]]: Despair and the ghost of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] like each other, but can't admit it.
* One rare example in ''[[Elf Quest]]'' (rare because the elves tend to
* Jon in [[Garfield]] has a really serious case of this. He can't even spit it out when his [[Love Interest]] is not present!▼
▲* One rare example in ''[[Elf Quest]]'' (rare because the elves tend to practise [[Brutal Honesty]]): Zhantee keeps his love for Leetah a secret, likely because Leetah is lifemated to their chief, Cutter. He's open about his respect and admiration for her, but never says that his feelings are romantic. When Cutter finds out, he tells Zhantee that they could have been a threesome ''centuries'' ago if Zhantee had only told him. Too bad {{spoiler|this is moments before Zhantee dies}}.
* This trope plays into the origin of [[Doctor Strange]]. When Stephen Strange finds out that the [[Badass Grandpa|Ancient One's]] disciple [[Bastard Understudy|Baron Mordo]] was using his magic in an attempt to kill his master, Mordo placed a spell on Strange making it physically impossible for him to warn the Ancient One of Mordo's treachery. Strange ultimately asked the Ancient One to make him a diciple as well so he could learn magic. The first thing the Ancient One does is remove Mordo's spell; he was aware of his evil all along and kept Mordo as a diciple so he could keep an eye on him.
* [[Star Wars|Han Solo]] laments after Chewbacca's death that he never told his best friend that he loved him.
{{quote|
* In ''[[Alpha Flight]]'', Eugene Judd (aka Puck), one of the team's founders, has had a longstanding crush on teammate Helen Hudson, but has never been brave enough to tell her, as he figures a woman like her could never love a "dwarf old enough to be her grandfather", as he himself puts it. Note that Puck's ideas of fun include wrestling bears (which he first did when he was eight years old) yet he still is not brave enough to spit it out and tell Helen he loves her.
== Fan Works ==▼
* One ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1730427/1/Anguish fanfiction] had Drizzt trying to tell Catti-brie how he feels about her at the most perfect moment -- on a balcony during a ball -- {{spoiler|only to be interrupted because Delly was having a baby.}}▼
* A plague of this happens in many, many, ''many'', ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'' fanfic stories. Harry falls for Ginny Weasley (or insert your own particular favorite shipping character here... it doesn't matter who you're shipping, this is so common...). Ginny falls for Harry. Unfortunately, since neither character seems capable of opening their mouths and admitting their feelings to the other character, you get chapter after multitudinous chapter of [[Wangst]] about it.▼
** Who says this is limited to Harry Potter fanfics?▼
* This happens in [[World of Warcraft]] fanfic [[Children of the Stars (Fanfic)|Children of the Stars]], where Keleria - madly in love with Ayuri and most certainly wanting to express her feelings - ''won't'' allow herself to spit it out rather than wanting to and just getting cold feet.▼
▲== [[Fan Works]] ==
▲*
▲* A plague of this happens in many, many, ''many'', ''[[
▲** Who says this is limited to ''Harry Potter'' fanfics?
▲* This happens in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' fanfic ''[[
==
* In the movie ''[[Spider-Man (
** There's also Mary Jane. If she had just said that she got fired from her job, about half of the conflict in the movie would disappear.
** Peter is unable to tell Aunt May about how Uncle Ben died until late in the second movie. Justified in that he was partly responsible.
* Used in [[Star Wars|The Empire Strikes Back]] to comedic effect. C-3PO notices that the hyperdrive motivator had been damaged by blaster fire and tries to tell Han Solo a few times. Each time Solo shuts him up, so when they try to escape from an Imperial Star Destroyer by escaping to hyperspace and the drives peter out, 3PO says the equivalent of "I told you so" and Solo gets a look of extreme embarrassment and moves off to fix the hyperdrive. If 3PO had just been able to talk to Solo, he might have plotted a course away from the Imperial blockade and found a place to hide out and repair the ship. He also would never have gone to Cloud City and would have made it to the rendezvous with the rest of the Rebels.
* Used rather movingly in the 1989 ''[[Batman]]'' film. Bruce tries to tell Vicki he's Batman, but he just can't bring himself to actually say it. When she gets tired of waiting and walks away he disgustedly mouths "I'm Batman" to himself.
* [[Tear Jerker|Tragically used]] in ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]''. Shu Lien and Li Mubai are deeply in love with each other and pretty much everyone knows, including themselves, but Shu Lien's first love and fiancé was actually Li Mubai's best friend, and he tragically perished in an event that Mubai still blames himself for. Therefore, to not shame the dead guy's memory, they can't act on their love. {{spoiler|And don't do so until Li Mubai is fatally poisoned and, in his last moments, he shares a [[Last Kiss]] with Shu Lien.}}
** Maybe it would disgrace the late friend's memory according to Asian codes of honor. However a Western hero could be safely assumed to approve of his best friend and girl getting together after a decent interval of mourning. In fact heroes have even been known to ask their best friend to "take care" of their girl if "anything should happen" with pretty obvious sub-text.
*** And [[The Wheel of Time
* Averted in ''[[Ghost Rider]]'': Johnny's love interest confronts him about breaking their date... so he tells her that he turned into a burning biker skeleton possessed by a spirit of vengeance. Naturally, she finds this preposterous, but when she sees proof that he was telling her the truth, she unhesitatingly steps up to help him.
* One of the protagonists of ''Better Than Chocolate'' keeps starting to come out of the closet to her mother, only to have her mother interrupt, assuming she was trying to disclose something else.
* In ''[[Jay
{{quote|
{{spoiler|'''Jay:''' Say it, don't spray it.}} }}
* In ''[[Amelie]]'', the titular protagonist plays numerous games with her [[Love Interest]], ostensibly in order to whet his curiosity about her, but actually because she's painfully shy and terrified of the prospect of actually making a connection with him. The two times she attempts to set up a meeting with him with the genuine intent of introducing herself to him, her shyness causes her to freeze up and she finds herself incapable of approaching him.
* In ''[[
* This is basically the entire plot of ''[[While You Were Sleeping]]''.
* In ''[[Mirror Mask]]'', Valentine is almost physically incapable of saying outright that he's sorry.
** "If I was to say [[Tongue-Tied|s-s-something apologetic]]... it would reflect my feelings in this matter.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* The fall and damnation of Satan, the eternal struggle between heaven and hell, and the loss of quite a few demigods is all due to all characters in ''To Rule in Hell'' performing an extended dance remix of this trope.
* In ''The Rise of Endymion'', the eponymous main character spends a great deal of energy angsting over a period of time that his love spent unaccounted for while he was off touring planets, having kidney stones, and eluding the Space Pope. No, really. He deduces that this time was spent with another man, and angsts accordingly. At length. Of course, he can't bear to ask her about it; otherwise she might have told him that {{spoiler|thanks to some time travel tomfoolery, the other man was ''him.''}} However, considering how much of the plot's pacing hinges on said lover's constant reluctance to give information that would explain anything to anyone, maybe not.
** To be fair, he did ask, and she tearfully told him she had a baby, and begged him not to ask further.
* In [[Robert Jordan]]'s ''[[
* A recurring theme in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s books, where couples spend entire books (occasionally several) pining for each other until something forces one or both to admit their feelings. (See: F'lar and Lessa in ''Dragonflight'', Afra and Damia in ''Damia'', Sebell and Menolly in ''Dragonsinger'')
** The most absurd example has to be in ''Dragonsdawn'', where Tarvi didn't tell Telgar he loved her until she was about to die... and they had been married for years and had several children.
* In the book ''Destiny'' (book 3 of the Rhapsody series), dragon-blooded [[Marty Stu]] Ashe cannot reveal the identity of his new wife to his soulmate, the equally [[Mary Sue|sueish]] lead character, Rhapsody, for reasons that were never made very clear (possibly spelled out in greater detail in the previous book). It turns out that the wife was Rhapsody herself (who had the memory magically zapped from her mind for the same reason Ashe couldn't tell her himself).
* ''[[Rebecca]]'' (Daphne du Maurier). {{spoiler|The heroine is convinced that she's a complete failure compared to Rebecca, her husband's first (dead) wife, until she finds out that Rebecca was evil and the husband never loved her and murdered her. Which cheers her up immensely.}}
* Sophie Hatter in ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (
** Done a lot more literally in [[
* In ''[[Black Maria|Aunt Maria]]'', the protagonist Mig spends a good part of the book trying to convince her mother that {{spoiler|the evil Aunt Maria has turned Mig's brother into a wolf}}. The mother refuses to believe this and continues to insist that he's just around the corner, mostly due to the fact that {{spoiler|Maria also enchanted the mother to basically hang around and be a housekeeper}}.
* In another of Diana Wynne Jones's other books, ''[[The Homeward Bounders]]'', no Homeward Bounder is allowed to tell anyone else still in play about what they really are, and who ''They'' are.
** Jamie also repeatedly mentions how well it turned out that he never tells Helen about Him On His Rock, though there were situations where he nearly did.
* In Isobelle Carmody's "Ashling", Rushton and Elspeth love each other, but neither of them admit it until Rushton has an emotional breakdown and tells her that he thinks that she doesn't love him because he can't use his psychic powers, when she was actually ignoring him because she thought he was carrying on with Freya. So sad.
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** A character fighting alongside another for several days before realizing the other character is his long lost father (''[[John Carter of Mars|The Gods of Mars]]'').
** A woman [[The Promise|accepting a marriage offer]] from the [[Romantic False Lead]] because she thinks [[The Hero]] should have told her he loved her.
*** And when she's been kidnapped, and the hero has helped her, she coldly declares that how he acts in the future will determine what she thinks of him. A little hurt, he manages to shrug, and it's her turn to be
** A man in love with a woman thinking she's already married because she mentions she loves another man when really she's just talking about how she loves her brother (''[[Tarzan]] at the Earth's Core'').
** A character thinking he's a genetically engineered monstrosity when really he's a totally normal amnesiac human (''[[
* [[Stephen King|Stephen King's]] ''[[Dark Tower]]'' series does this a hell of a lot: {{spoiler|Whoops, pregnant with a shapeshifting daemon baby and I'm one of the fathers}} and {{spoiler|there's two of us.}} Funny part is {{spoiler|I never had my way with you. My seed is being passed to you by an oracle who'll proceed to rape you for a good 30 pages.}} Gosh darn, can't not love Stephen King.
* In ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (
** In the ''[[
** And let's not forget ''[[
* In the ''[[
* Just about every single heroic character in ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'', and its sequel series ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'', suffers from this. Nobody who has has ''any'' sort of vital information about ''anything'' can reveal it straight away, either because they for various reasons
* ''American Wife'' has one of the most tragic examples of this trope.
* In ''[[
* Most, if not all, of [[Jeeves and Wooster (
▲== Live Action TV ==
* The first season of ''[[Everwood]]''. One of the fundamental source of Ephram's antagonism toward Andy is the latter's seemingly inexplicable decision to uproot his family and move from New York to the eponymous little mountain town. We learn in episode 1 that Andy did it because his wife made him promise before she died. Ephram even points this out in the season finale after Andy finally tells him (after they've worked out their differences): "You know, this would have been a lot easier if you had told me straight away."
* This drives most of the entire story of ''[[Mad Men]]''. If Don Draper came clean about his "dark secret", then he would be able to straighten things out with his wife, stop looking over his shoulder generally, and would have saved his brother's life.
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* One of the worst ongoing examples is from ''[[Monk]]''; the title character has obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it's almost never mentioned, even when it would help. On one occasion, he shook hands with two white women, then a black guy, then asked his assistant for a wipe, like he frequently does. The black guy assumes Monk is racist, and explicitly asks him if he has any excuse. They tried to say Monk wasn't racist with Natalie saying "He loves Rainbows!" and Monk doing a rainbow-type of a hand motion.
* Subverted in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', "Once More, With Feeling", in which several "Can't Spit It Out" plot threads that could have been milked for weeks, if not seasons, are dragged into the open by a demon's musical curse.
** Since this was [[Wangst|season six]], the plot threads were still milked, but in a different direction.
** Another ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' example occurred in Season 3's "Revelations", where Willow wants to admit that something to Buffy which gets interrupted by a fight. Then Willow lies to Buffy to avoid saying what's going on and it later nearly costs Willow her relationship with Oz. Could've saved a half a season's worth of relationship drama (and she helped break up Xander/Cordelia).
** Yet another example was Xander's crush on Buffy in the first season. It took the entire season before Buffy caught on to the blatant hints as well as Willow's crush on Xander.
*** Errr, Buffy was aware of Willow's crush on Xander ''very'' early on, because Willow had ''told'' her. This leads to the [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] that Buffy was also aware of Xander's interest early on (and let's face it, he was blatant enough you'd have to be pretty blind to miss it), but was politely pretending not to spot Xander's signals both because Buffy doesn't want to poach on Willow's territory and because she herself was more interested in Angel. Until Xander drags things into the open by asking Buffy and not Willow to the Spring Fling, at which point Buffy has to either accept or openly refuse him.
** A whole lot of tragedy in season 3 could have been avoided if:
*** Buffy had come clean to the gang about Angel's return from Hell, instead of keeping things secret. The fallout from that is where Faith started seriously having trust issues about the Scoobs.
*** Faith had ever told the Scoobies about her horrible living situation and general lack of income or support, at which point they (presumably) would have been entirely glad to help her with it. As is, Buffy apparently [[Failed a Spot Check]] on her visit to Faith's motel room. (Xander's own visit there occurs closely enough to the point of no return in Faith's arc that he wouldn't have had much chance to tell anyone, and he ''does'' make an effort to reach out to Faith later on, that is refused.) And Giles and Wesley never even bother to check.
*** Giles or Wesley had ever told Faith that 'deal with her', in the context of her manslaughter of Deputy Mayor Finch, apparently meant 'operational stand-down and visits to a Watcher-mandated therapist' as opposed to 'execution'. Instead, everyone keeps talking about the necessity of doing something about Faith without ever actually telling Faith ''what'' they intend to do, so she assumes the worst, especially since she was already having trust issues with them and vice versa.
** A different application of this trope occurs with the Spike/Buffy relationship in Season 6, which she conceals from the Scoobies because she's ashamed of it. Tara eventually finds out, but has to guess it from Buffy's expression. It's only when she says to her old flame Riley, "I'm sleeping with Spike" (even though he already knows, having caught them in bed together) that Buffy finds the courage to end their [[Destructive Romance]]. When the Scoobies find out after the event they're shocked, but generally supportive as they know Buffy has been going through a rough time.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "Doomsday". After Rose chokes out "I love you" to the Doctor (transmitted as a short-term holograph into the parallel world she's trapped in) it's his turn. "Since it's my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler--" [[Tear Jerker|And then the transmission cuts and he vanishes.]]
** Even when {{spoiler|he gets a second chance to tell her}} in "Journey's End", {{spoiler|the Doctor is too broken to say more than "Does it really need saying?"}}. However, {{spoiler|his part-human clone}} fares better.
** Also in 'The Satan Pit', where it looks like he might finally ask another character to pass 'I love you' along to Rose, the Doctor bails out at the last minute - in a very sweet way, mind. "Tell Rose, tell her...Oh, she'll know."
** "Let's Kill Hitler" reveals that this was a problem for Rory before we met him. In this case,
* ''[[Lost]]''. The episode where they all think Sawyer has Shannon's inhaler, if he just told everyone he didn't have it there would have been no torture, but also no first Kate/Sawyer kiss...
** And then of course, the castaways ignore good advice that is spit out. Even by themselves. "Don't wander alone in the woods full of tree-smashing monster-thingies." Always good advice. But no....
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* In the series ''[[Smallville]]'', arguably every problem befalling the characters stems from Clark's refusal to tell anybody about his powers.
* This trope caused a lot of problems between John and Aeryn on Farscape.
* On [[Lizzie
* In ''Terminator: [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', if Riley talked to John, John talked to Sarah, Derek talked to either of them, Sarah told people where she was going OR they just had a nice, normal family dinner once in a while, they would figure out in about 5 seconds that Jesse was holding Riley hostage, that she had pretended to be a school official to get info on John, was lying to Derek and is not on their side. Instead they remain oblivious and one of them gets killed.
** You're asking the ''[[Dysfunction Junction|Connor family]]'' to act like normal people? That's pushing it.
* A lot of problems in the show ''[[
** However, {{spoiler|he does tell her about them later, in the First Season when she witnesses Sam beheading one of the souls.}}
* Almost every single thing that happens between Serena and Dan towards the end of the first season of ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' could have been avoided if she had just told him about Georgina.
** Can also be used for Blair, Chuck, and those "three words, eight letters."
* If it weren't for this trope, there would be no ''[[Sports Night]]''. Every character on that show is far too busy talking and having emotions to ''f#&%ing communicate'' with each other.
* The second season of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' could have been about fifteen minutes long if characters who were on reasonably cordial terms at the end of the first season a) remembered each other's phone numbers and b) bothered to discuss the, y'know, impending pestilent apocalypse with each other.
** The Mohinder/Bennet subplot was a particularly awful in this regard: Mohinder spends the entire season obsessing about the world-killing virus. Bennet waits until the second to last episode of the season, after their partnership has imploded and Mohinder has consequently ''shot'' him, to mention, "Oh yeah, the Company has been experimenting with that for decades."
** Season One has a number of more specific examples of this, with metahumans hiding their powers from others. Particularly notable are Nathan's constant lying to everyone about his flying (he doesn't even think to tell his ''[[Good Thing You Can Heal|invulnerable]]'' ''daughter'' what he can do), and the half-dozen or so times Claire tries to tell her parents (or, as she later admits, "trying to not tell" them) about her healing.
* This trope is the fuel that powers every soap opera ever written and is what allows them to keep babies switched for years, lovers separated and family members feuding. In addition to situations where a character is too afraid to say what needs to be said, soaps love to use "last minute interruptions" where JUST as someone is going to tell their big secret to the person who needs to hear it, someone else comes in the room and not only derails the conversation, but usually says something that ends up convincing the one with the secret that it's a good thing they haven't said it out loud quite yet.
* The last two episodes of the first season of ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'' has Bertie making several attempts to get Gussie to confess his love for Madeline Bassett. The first time, Gussie loses it just a little and starts rambling on about newts at length until Madeline, who is actually ''waiting'' for him to confess his love, gets fed up and leaves.
* In ''To Love and Die'', Hildy tracks down her estranged father, stalks him to his workplace, gets a job working for him, finds out he is a contract killer, follows him to and interrupts his latest hit, is consequently captured by his associates and interrogated on suspicion of being a rival contractor. One would think that the perfect time to finally reveal that she's his daughter would be when he has her tied to a chair and is demanding, on pain of death, to know who she really is, but even then, she manages to spend the entire interrogation rambling, and doesn't blurt out the truth until he's already given the order to kill her and is seconds away from leaving the room (fortunately, he listens).
* ''[[Big Wolf
* ''[[Frasier]]'': the titular character's brother, Niles, spends seven years pining after Daphne, his father's physical therapist and (default) housekeeper (in fairness, he does spend much of that time married). Despite trying to confess his feelings to her several times, his attempts are continually thwarted (usually owing to his own fear of rejection or, unwittingly, by Daphne herself). {{spoiler|He remains unable to give voice to his emotions until the eve of Daphne's marriage to another man, and even then only after learning that Frasier has already let slip Niles' little "secret"}}.
** In the final season of the series Frasier and Niles' father, Martin, displays a similar inability to confess his growing feelings for his girlfriend, Ronee.
* Odo of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' spent the better part of a decade in love with Kira without ever being able to confess his feelings to her (well, unless you count {{spoiler|his [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] to what turned out to be a changeling that had taken Kira's form}} or the {{spoiler|confession made by a 200-year-older future Odo in "Children of Time")}}, to the point that when he finally does Jadzia comments [[Lampshade Hanging|"It was about time"]].
* Multiple examples of this trope are mixed in with the thick [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] between Castle and Beckett in the show ''[[Castle]]''. Some are almost painful to watch.
{{quote|
'''Martha, his mother:''' Go on.
'''Castle:''' I-I...
'''Martha:''' Oh, Richard, Richard. For a man who makes a living with words, you sure have a hell of a time finding them when it counts. }}
* In the ''[[Leverage]]'' episode "The Double Blind Job", Parker, who often has trouble in social situations, can't quite bring herself to tell Hardison that she has feelings for him, and ends up blurting out "I have feelings for... pretzels." Unusually for this trope, Hardison knows exactly what she really means, and responds, "They're right here when you want them."
* ''[[The Fast Show]]'' - The Ted & Ralph sketches wouldn't exist without this trope.
* ''[[The Office]]'' does this with Jim and Pam, with Jim not revealing his feelings for Pam. In one episode, Jim has been jinxed into not speaking and Pam tries goading him into talking (and thus, losing the game): 'It looks like you have something to say.' Cue longing look that says more than words could. {{spoiler|He eventually spits it out in the season two finale.}}
* ''[[
{{quote|
''(long pause)''
'''Troy:''' ...Did you...say it already? }}
* In the ''[[
* In ''[[Zoey 101]]'', Chase spends 3 seasons pining after Zoey. In one episode, he tries to text his feelings to her, and her cell phone falls into a fountain. After Zoey finally finds out how he feels...he gets [[Put
* In ''[[Merlin]]'', most of the problems presented in each episode could be quite easily solved by briefing King Arthur as to what is going on. For example, when {{spoiler|Lancelot came back from the grave}} in the season 4 episode Lancelot Du Lac, nobody bothered to tell the king that {{spoiler|Lancelot was a magically-controlled zombie}} and as a result didn't know that {{spoiler|Guinevere had been enchanted}} and so was forced to {{spoiler|banish her from Camelot the day before their wedding.}}
* ''[[Married...
* Barney goes the entire fourth season of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' without telling Robin he's in love with her, mainly because he's terrified she'll laugh him off because he's built such an infamous reputation as a shallow, womanizing sleazeball. He does tell Lily (who then tells Marshall) and Ted figures it out halfway through the season, but Lily and Marshall don't know Ted knows and vice versa, so all three of them sit on their hands in impatient silence for several months waiting for Barney to get a grip or Robin to get a clue.
** Half the problems in season 7 could be fixed if Barney and Robin would ''just fucking talk to each other.'' Barney's convinced Robin doesn't love him and Robin denies it as well, but she almost certainly does, (apart from subtext, Ted "realizes" she's in love with Barney in a vivid moment of epiphany that would make no sense for Future!Ted to describe to his kids using such explicit language 18 years later if he wasn't correct). However, Barney successfully convinced Past!Ted that he is no longer in love with Robin, and the show does ''not'' make it clear whether or not he's lying, (or for that matter, whether or not Ted still believes him), so Ted doesn't have sufficient knowledge to tell Robin that Barney loves her, and it's unclear whether or not Past!Ted believed Robin's denial at the time either. And then there's Lily, who knew Robin had feelings for Barney in the season premiere, but (unlike Ted) doesn't know about Barney and Robin's one night stand last November or that Barney's feelings for Robin had a resurgence. Since Robin was in a relationship for several months between the season premiere and February sweeps without being confronted by Lily about it, it is unclear what Lily knows/believes and has kept mum about it thus far. It's gearing up to be the most [[Kudzu Plot|snarled-up trainwreck]] of [[Poor Communication Kills]] ''ever''.
* Ross doesn't tell Rachel he loves her for the entire first season of ''[[Friends]],'' chickening out every time the opportunity arises. This has the unfortunate result of Rachel only finding out from Chandler while Ross is on a trip to China, and when she realizes she loves him too, he's already met someone else there.
* Doubled down in "Tableau Vivant", a third-season episode of ''[[Modern Family]]''. Phil can't bring himself to tell Mitchell, his brother-in-law, that he's fired as the new agency's lawyer. Mitchell can't bear to tell Phil that he really doesn't like the work, which is in addition to his regular job.
* Inverted when Lisa Landry met Terrence in ''[[Sister, Sister]]''. Lisa ''did'' spit it out to Terrence when meeting him. Unfortunately for both her and Terrence, it was the wrong kind of "spit it out."
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* This is the premise of the song "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by [[The Police]]. The narrator is in love with a girl, but can't work up the courage to tell her. (Also "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." Same narrator, I guess.)
* Likewise "I Want to Tell You", by [[The Beatles (
* Same with "When You Walk in the Room", most famously covered by The Searchers. "Wish I could show you how much I care/But I only have the nerve to stare".
* And "The Sound of Settling" by [[Death Cab for Cutie]].
** Also, "Company Calls Epilogue."
{{quote|
* [[Radiohead]]'s "Creep" is about a self-loathing guy who tries to work up the nerve to admit his feelings, but can't. The "she's running out the door" verse implies he spectacularly fails.
* In "Living Next Door to Alice", most successfully covered by Smokie, the narrator has been in love with his neighbor for 24 years, but couldn't tell her.
* "Everybody Knows (Except You)" by The Divine Comedy. The narrator can tell literally anyone about his feelings, and does (his parents, his friends to the point of driving them crazy, random strangers on the street and even making a small child cry) but he cannot bring himself to tell the one oblivious object of his affections.
* "Hiccup" by [[
* "Hello" by Hawk Nelson as well: "Every time I want to say, 'Hello'/ Every time I want to stay, I go/ Can never find the words to let you know/ Sometimes you plague my mind a million times..."
* "Unsaid Things" by [[McFly]]: "And I've still got so many unsaid things that I want to say / And I just can't wait another day / I wish she knew"
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* "If Only You Knew" by Patti Labelle: "I must have rehearsed my lines / A thousand times / Until I had them memorized / But when I get up the nerve / To tell you the words / Just never seem to / Come out right".
* The [[Broken Record|rather minimal]] lyrics of [[Mercury Rev]]'s "Car Wash Hair" hint at this:
{{quote|
''Can I run my hands through your car wash hair? }}
* Jim Croce's "I'll Have to Say 'I Love You' in a Song"... because of this trope. "Every time the time was right/All the words just came out wrong..."
* "The Chase" by Kane ([[Leverage|Christian]] [[Angel|Kane's]] band) is about how this causes a breakup.
{{quote|
''Over [[Love Confession|three words]]
''{{'}}Cause you could hear it in my voice
''See it on my face
''You left me with no choice
''But to leave you
''For [[Title Drop|the chase.]] }}
* "Big Brother" by [[Kanye West]] provides a friendly example. He made the song when the relationship between him and [[Jay Z]] hit a rough patch.
{{quote|
''People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em. }}
* This is shown to be the backstory in "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," written by Doug James and [[Michael Bolton]], first performed by Laura Branigan. And now the singer finds the words when it's too late, because "someone's swept your heart away."
{{Quote|''And I don't wanna know the price I'm gonna pay for dreamin'
''Now that your dream has come true....}}
▲* Charlie Brown's inability to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl in ''[[Peanuts]]''.
▲** Inspired by the rejection of a proposal to marriage Charles M. Schulz offered his girlfriend in 1947. The woman later married a fireman, the woman and Schulz remained friends for life, but Schulz was significantly affected by the rejection. [[Unrequited Love]] was a constant theme in ''Peanuts''.
▲* Jon in ''[[Garfield]]'' has a really serious case of this. He can't even spit it out when his [[Love Interest]] is ''not'' present!
== [[Puppet Shows]] ==
* ''The Muppet Frog Prince'' had a particularly silly version of this. The Princess's evil aunt places a spell on her where she is unable to speak straight. Despite trying her hardest to explain that "Tant Aminella" (Aunt Taminella) is the evil witch, no one catches on. Of course, this is aimed at kids, so no deep plots here (not bothering with spoilers tag since it's painfully obvious to anyone over the age of about... 8).
== [[Theatre]] ==
* [[Older Than Steam]]: ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' uses this trope. Tybalt confronts Romeo, challenging him to a swordfight. Romeo tries to explain that there's no reason for their two families to keep feuding, since he and Juliet recently got married. Tybalt won't let Romeo get to the part about marriage, assuming Romeo's unwillingness to fight is simply the act of a coward. Then Tybalt makes the whole conversation moot when he [[It's Personal|fights and kills Mercutio instead]].
* Both [[Simpleminded Wisdom|Le Bret]] and [[Romantic False Lead|Christian]] try to convince ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'' that he should tell Roxane that he loves her, but he's too ashamed of his perceived [[The Grotesque|grotesqueness]] due to his big nose (and has serious [[Mommy Issues]]) to entertain the thought.
* The chorus of "If I Loved You" from ''[[Carousel]]'' describes an inability to overcome nervousness and proclaim your love to someone.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* Kaidan in ''Mass Effect''. He grows a bit of a backbone in ''Mass Effect 2''. Shame...
** Possibly [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that Tifa was actually doubting her own memories. Cloud's story had details that she thought he couldn't have
** On another note, Tifa's inability to tell Cloud her feelings for him is a definite
* There's also Irvine's inability to mention {{spoiler|his past association with the other main characters and even the villain}} in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. He alludes to it for a while, but it takes a rather random event to make him open up with it.
** Actually, there is one almost painful cutscene in FFVIII where it becomes clear that when they were kids, literally ''every'' main character knew ''every other'' main character, despite all the dramatic introduction scenes that have happened by this point without anybody ever saying "Excuse me, but haven't we met?"
* Hope of [[Final Fantasy XIII]] sees his mother killed due to [[Idiot Hero|Snow's]] actions, and it takes Hope about half the game to actually confront him about it.
* A significant portion of the conflict and tension in ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]]'', Hector and Florina's entire support conversation set is based on Florina being unable to say two words to Hector, when all she wants to do is thank him for saving her from certain doom in Laus. It takes Hector and her pegasus fighting to get her to finally spit it out. Of course, her [[Shrinking Violet|androphobia]] didn't exactly help...
* Used absolutely heartbreakingly in ''[[Prey]]''. Tommy asks himself in the mirror why he won't just tell Jem he loves her. He eventually does {{spoiler|after having had to kill her.}}
* An interesting example: It takes a borderline [[Heroic BSOD]] (or maybe [[Villainous Breakdown]] is better considering [[Neutral Evil|the character]]) for Viconia in ''[[
** Of course, this is entirely in-keeping with drow culture. Hell, in the few cases where drow ''have'' fallen in love, the relationship tends to collapse under the weight of suspicion. [[Love Hurts]], especially when both partners have [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]].
* [[Knight in Shining Armor|Casavir]] from ''Neverwinter Nights 2'' has this problem. He can't even admit his feelings to people who ''* aren't* '' the one he's in love with, though said feelings are painfully obvious to [[Jerkass|the rival]]...
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** Anden in the fan module ''[[A Dance With Rogues]]'' has severe issues with this trope, probably due to his ''extremely'' [[Lawful Good|straight-laced attitude]] in a world of [[Black and Grey Morality]].
* Toward the end of ''Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time'', Toadbert recovers his memory, and becomes frightened by the brothers? gathering the Cobalt Star shards, but runs away before he can tell anything. He tells the brothers to rub some dirt off the sketch he had given to them earlier, which reveals {{spoiler|the other Shroob Princess}}, but gets turned into a mushroom before he can say anything else. Peach is about to tell the brothers about the Cobalt Shard before a flying saucer attacks, and misses several opportunities to tell them before Bowser pieces together the shards, {{spoiler|freeing the elder Shroob Princess}}.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Paper Mario:
* Most of the problems in the last act of [[Phantom of Inferno]] could have been solved early on if Reiji had done what most normal people would have done and greeted {{spoiler|Cal}} as joyfully and warmly as what he had expressed in his monologue and explained to her why he ran instead of using the opportunities that she gave him to speak to be confrontational and non-expressive. ( {{spoiler|"...Leave Elen out of this." "Cal..." "..." "Wait, Cal!" etc., etc., etc.}}) Made doubly frustrating by the fact that she approached him looking for an excuse to drop her vendetta.
* ''[[Yo-Jin-Bo]]'' is absolutely ''full of this trope''. Jin is the worst about it, but all of the guys do it. Even when confessing their feelings, it often comes out as "[[I Uh You Too]]" and [[You Should Know This Already]].
* A few of the minor spirits never seem to get around to telling Yuuto how they feel in [[Eien no Aselia]]. Unless they do it during the sex scenes, which aren't part of the English release. On a more important note, neither Kyouko or Kouin ever confessed to the other despite the two actually dating. Both have their own reasons.
* Sadira of [[Vanguard Bandits]] has a huge crush on [[The Hero|the Hero Bastion]] that everyone can see(including him if the player chooses). If the player decides to go after [[Multiple Endings|her ending]], she finally manages to work herself out to say it though.
* Not even remotely romantic, but the Arishock in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' is utterly unable to directly complement people who are not followers of his religion outside exceptional circumstances, and even then he seems to understate a lot. One of the earliest 'complements' you hear from his mouth is: "I have a growing lack of disgust for you."
** And on the romance side, Aveline's ridiculously awkward attempts to woo Donnic. In all fairness, she is his superior at this point, so its not like she can just ask him out for a drink, but its still hilarious.
* In one of the [[Tear Jerker|saddest]] moments of [[
{{quote|
* In ''[[
** Whether we're talking about the above, Judith in [[Tales of Vesperia]], or Arietta in [[Tales of the Abyss]], this is one of [[Tales
* ''[[Catherine]]''{{'}}s Vincent can't spit ''anything'' out. As the game involves him getting into an unintentional affair, this causes some problems.
*
* In ''[[Solatorobo]]'', this is pretty much the only reason that {{spoiler|Red and Elh aren't together by the end of the game.}} [[Shipper
* ''[[Star
** Imperial Agent act 2. You can choose actions and dialogue protesting your orders, but {{spoiler|Imperial Agency's brainwashing}} prevents you from actually doing anything against them.
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[
▲== Web Comics ==
* For the first year of ''[http://www.avalonhigh.com Avalon]'', the characters seem (progressively less) unable to say the word "lesbian", which complicates Ceilidh's attempts to ascertain whether her best friend Phoebe ''is'' one ([[Mistaken for Gay|as rumor would have it]]). When she finally asks Ryan outright [http://www.avalonhigh.com/d/20000920.html why he would ask out a lesbian], she learns all about what started the rumor, among other things. Unfortunately, by this time Ceilidh's constant innuendo has half the
▲* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', Haley at one point becomes unable to speak intelligibly at all for some time until she expresses her feelings for Elan by an [[Anguished Declaration of Love]].
* Eric (one of the ''[[Loserz]]'' webcomic's protagonists) has this problem with Alice. Despite the fact that she already told him she liked him. See [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213195835/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/142 here].▼
▲* For the first year of ''[http://www.avalonhigh.com Avalon]'', the characters seem (progressively less) unable to say the word "lesbian", which complicates Ceilidh's attempts to ascertain whether her best friend Phoebe ''is'' one ([[Mistaken for Gay|as rumor would have it]]). When she finally asks Ryan outright [http://www.avalonhigh.com/d/20000920.html why he would ask out a lesbian], she learns all about what started the rumor, among other things. Unfortunately, by this time Ceilidh's constant innuendo has half the school -- including Phoebe herself -- convinced that ''she's'' a lesbian.
▲* Eric (one of the ''[[Loserz]]'' webcomic's protagonists) has this problem with Alice. Despite the fact that she already told him she liked him. See [http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/142 here].
* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'': Shakespeare. Ophelia. Does it really have to be spelled out?
* In the second part of the Love Potion arc of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', Gwynn curses Torg by turning him into a half-man, half-donkey and causing him to bray every time he tries to say something important in order to make sure that he does not tell anyone about her plan. Unfortunately, while on a date with Zoe, Oasis arrives and abducts him, kicking Zoe in the face in the process. Under the curse, Torg is unable to tell anyone what happened, causing Gwynn to believe he mistreated Zoe, but he eventually manages to get Riff to find out the truth.
Line 381 ⟶ 379:
* Nadia from ''[[The Key to Her Heart]]'' hides her sexuality from her friends, and thinks it will help keep anything from getting out if she doesn't let on that she knows about Juliet's "[[Gender Bender|condition]]," not because she's worried about homophobia, but because she's trying to dissuade her lesbian best friend. It's not clear how she thinks the [[Masquerade]] will help, but the general secret-keeping drives pretty much every problem they have.
* Dave and Helen from ''[[Narbonic]]'' gradually become attracted to each other. [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10117 This week] of strips gives you a good idea of their relationship. Eventually, they {{spoiler|end up together}}. Then {{spoiler|break up.}} Then {{spoiler|almost destroy the world.}} Then {{spoiler|get back together.}} Then {{spoiler|plot to destroy the world together.}}
* In ''[[
* It took years (real-time) for Piro and Kimiko to admit that they had feelings for one another in the web comic ''[[Megatokyo]]'', even if it was only about a week in comic time (or about seven weeks if you count Chapter 0).
** Depending on how you look at it, it may have taken even longer in the case of Largo and Erika. Even though it's pretty much a given that they're a couple, neither one has ever voiced his or her feelings for the other in-comic.
** Even more mysterious is the {{spoiler|Yuki/Kobayashi relationship, such as it is. It's been intimated that he's spent years pining for her, and that just about everyone other than Yuki was aware of the fact, but it remains unclear whether she considers him a potential romantic interest or "just a friend". Either way, she isn't telling}}.
*** Actually, her friends did mention they had been teasing him for it within their group. She just seemed to think he was over it for some reason.
*** They were teasing ''her'' about it. But they tease her about everything, so she assumed they were just screwing with her.
* ''[[Collar 6]]'': Halo!
* Oh dear. Lucy from ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'' spends YEARS - both in-world and in real life - trying to come to terms with her feelings before she finally announces how she feels. {{spoiler|Disappointingly, she left it just a bit too late.}}
* ''[http://nopinkponies.keenspot.com/ No Pink Ponies]''. Jess's inability to "Spit It Out" is taken to ridiculous lengths. And heights. And, eventually, depths.
* ''[[The Dreamland Chronicles]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20120624071935/http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/todays-dreamland-chronicles-550/ Silly girl just say something]
* ''[[Squid Row]]'': Mouse
* ''[[Wooden Rose]]'': [http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/chapter1/25.html Lillian]
* In ''[[
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'', both Gil/Agatha and Tarvek/Agatha, though they were not the worst. Then there was Violetta [[He Is Not My Boyfriend|with Moloch]]; later Jiminez Hoffmann and Larana Chroma prompted Zeetha to exclaim "''Everyone'' in Paris can't be like this. I mean, I've seen ''kids''."
** Of a non-romantic variation, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130329 it took Tarvek some struggle] to admit that [[Vitriolic Best Buds|he actually cares about Gil]].
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
*
▲== Web Original ==
▲* The entire reason [[Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Web Video)|Dr. Horrible]] wanted to make a Freeze Ray was so that he could work up the courage to talk to Penny. Unfortunately, due to his own terminal shyness and his later vendetta against Captain Hammer, he never does get to tell her how he feels about her. {{spoiler|And then Penny dies}}.
* There's just ''so'' much of this in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' stories, but of course that is a [[Teen Drama]].
* In [[Shadow of the Templar]], Simon and Jeremy are a perfect example. Despite spending years in an exclusive Secret Relationship and risking their lives for each other multiple times, they are apparently incapable of expressing their feelings for each other. Jeremy just acts like a Tease, and Simon hesitates to even think of Jeremy as his friend.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUe3sbtqI2Q This youtube video] hits on a clever way of dramatizing it.
* In the ''[[
{{quote|
* In ''[[Red Panda Adventures]]'', This pretty much sums up the entire relationship between the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel, {{spoiler|at least until the end of Season 3}}. To be fair, Kit does try her best to clue the Boss into her feelings, but cannot out and out confess due to the rigidly enforced class distinctions of the era. The Red Panda? Well...he's just not good with feelings.
* They go into a [[Dating Catwoman|relationship]] anyway, but [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In one episode of ''[[
* This is the cornerstone of Ulrich and Yumi's [[UST]] in ''[[
* Sam too, from ''[[
* In the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* Subverted to an extent in ''[[
** It's ''[[Anything That Moves|Quagmire]]''. What would change if she acknowledged it?
* ''[[Futurama]]''; poor Kiff called Amy ''ten times a day for a year'' trying to tell her he loved her, but never could, hyper ventilating simply when he heard her voice and making her think it was a crank caller. Amazingly enough, he finally did manage to spit it out after Zapp agreed to help. Of course, he only agreed to do so hoping he could get into Leela's pants, and it almost led to Zapp, Kiff and Fry's "death by snu-snu", but he finally ''did'' spit it out.
* In ''[[
** Justified, because [[Interspecies Romance|Nara is human and Marsala is Neo-Sapien]]. That is two different species being brought up here. Can you imagine the complications that would ensue if they did express their feelings for each other?
* In ''[[Codename
* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'': Poor Sally can't tell Jack that she considers him more then [[Just Friends]].
* ''[[Doug]]'' does this a lot when it comes to Patti. She can't spit it out, either.
* ''[[My Little Pony:
** Thing is, she ''would'' have told them, had secret-keeping not been [[Serious Business]] to Pinkie Pie, who proceeds to [[Reality Warper|break the laws of physics]] multiple times to make sure Twilight keeps her mouth shut.
** Another example: from 'A Bird In The Hoof', Princess Celestia meets Twilight's friends for the first time in person. She's been told about them and what they do. When Fluttershy is introduced to Philomeena, Celestia merely asks Fluttershy "Isn't she lovely?" Cue the bird losing a few feathers off of her already near-featherless body and making a horrible hacking cough as though she's dying {{spoiler|(She is. [[Death Is Cheap|She gets better]].)}}. Long story short, the entire episode could have been skipped if Celestia had simply thought to mention to Fluttershy that {{spoiler|Philomeena is a phoenix.}}
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
{{quote|
* [[Zig Zagged Trope|Zig-zagged]] in
** When asked directly, young Prince Lion-O doesn't disclose that he saw a frightening vision in the Sword of Omens during a [[Rite of Passage]] ceremony, both [[Vagueness Is Coming|unaware of its significance]], and all too aware of his father King Claudus's disdain for him as a [[Cloudcuckoolander]]. [[Court Mage]] Jaga deliberately mentions that "[[Seers|Sight Beyond Sight]]" exists, in an attempt to convince Lion-O that its safe to confide in him, which succeeds. Unfortunately, satisfied that Lion-O trusts him enough to tell him eventually, Jaga gives Lion-O an indulgent [[Not Now, Kiddo]], to allow him to get back to a party. Unbeknownst to either of them, Lion-O's vision is very time-sensitive. The next evening, too late to do anything, Lion-O realizes he saw ancient [[Outside Context Villain]] and [[Big Bad]] Mumm-Ra.
** Also [[Zig Zagged Trope|Zig-zagged]] with a [[Sibling Triangle]] subplot between Lion-O, his brother Tygra and shared [[Love Interest]] Cheetara. Rather than explicitly state that they both have feelings for her and asking if she reciprocates, they [[Invoked Trope|complicate]] matters by treating their interactions as ([[Sibling Rivalry|yet another]]) passive-aggressive competition, hoping she'll give an indication of "choosing" one of them eventually. In "Between Brothers" Cheetara finally understands the extent to which the pair have been feuding over her, and apologizes for [[Played Straight|playing this trope straight.]] She admits that she's [[All Love Is Unrequited|also harbored unrequieted feelings]], confessing her love and kissing {{spoiler|Tygra, which is of course the moment Lion-O enters the scene.}}
* ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'': This sums up Sprx and Nova's relationship fairly well, especially in Sprx's case; it's obvious he loves her, and comes fairly close to saying it a couple of times, only for something to interrupt or chicken out at the last second. In the final episode, {{spoiler|it's ''Nova'' who finally spits it out, in order to break Sprx out of his [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] state}}.
* ''[[Miraculous Ladybug]]''; no matter how much she tries, Marinette cannot tell Adrien about her feelings for him, turning into a bumbling, babbling, lovestruck fool whenever he's even in the same room. Ironically, Adrien is far more confident when trying to express his feelings to Ladybug as Cat Noir, [[Loves My Alter Ego|the parallel being almost tragic.]]
* In ''[[Kim Possible]]'', the titular character went through this in the pilot episode - the girl can wrestle sharks and spars with [[Mad Scientist]]s with [[Humungous Mecha]]s on a daily basis, but wasn't able to garner up the courage to ask Josh to the school dance. [[Downplayed]] in that she finally managed it by the end of the episode.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Romance Arc]]
[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]
[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]
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