History Main / CannotSpitItOut

* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' has [[{{Tsundere}} Inner]] [[DefrostingIceQueen Moka]], who refuses to admit her [[EveryoneCanSeeIt increasingly]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan obvious]] affection for [[NiceGuy Tsukune]].

* In ''Literature/SpaceGlass'', even alone on the Aggressor, in cozy conversation, Amy can't bring herself to tell Bob about her crush on him.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did it, but it did it right. Cloud is convinced he used to [[spoiler: be a member of [[SuperSoldier SOLDIER]]]], and all evidence points towards this -- he has the uniform, the sword, the skills and the glowing eyes. However, [[spoiler: after leaving town to join SOLDIER, he failed to get in, and instead enrolled as a basic grunt. After a mission that took place in his hometown in which his idol Sephiroth, went insane and burned it all down, maimed the closest thing he had to a childhood friend, nearly killed his best friend, and stabbed him through the chest, he was patched up by EvilutionaryBiologist Hojo as part of an experiment. However, the combination of the drugs and trauma completely destroyed his mind, and when they escaped and his friend Zack died defending him he utterly snapped, adopting an elaborate system of FakeMemories and osmosed identity from Zack, who actually was in SOLDIER. And so Cloud relates the events of that day as if he was in Zack's position. Aforementioned childhood friend Tifa, is spooked by the fact that Cloud can tell the story accurately despite him apparently not being there. Little does she know that Cloud was with them on that mission, but disguised as a Shinra grunt. The discrepancy causes Tifa so much confusion, doubt and worry for what might happen if she confronts Cloud over this that she chooses to bottle up her concerns. The end result of this is when Sephiroth starts telling Cloud various half-truths in order to drive him insane, Tifa's lack of understanding of the situation finds her unable to refute any of Sephiroth's claims.]]

** On another note, Tifa's inability to tell Cloud her feelings for him is a definite Cannot Spit It Out as well.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'', Literature/SherlockHolmes can't even seem to ''process'' his feelings towards Beth Lestrade, let alone spit them out. After she makes a thinly veiled AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, he can only say, [[TearJerker/ChildrenOfTime "Good night, Beth."]]

* [[TearJerker Tragically used]] in ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''. 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 LastKiss with Shu Lien.]]

*** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Doomsday]]", after Rose chokes out "I love you" to the Doctor (transmitted as a short-term hologram into the parallel world she's trapped in), it's his turn. "Since it's my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler--" [[TearJerker And then the transmission cuts and he vanishes]].

* In one of the [[TearJerker saddest]] moments of ''VideoGame/Mother3'', Bronson brings news to Flint, the father of Lucas and Claus, but has trouble getting it out.

* A few of the minor spirits never seem to get around to telling Yuuto how they feel in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia''. 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.

* How anime fans (and indeed anyone with half a brain) react to ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi''. They keep saying the word "friend" but you keep thinking one of them should just blurt out the obvious.

* ''LightNovel/HighschoolDXD'':

* A magically-induced variation of this trope figures in the origin of Comicbook/DoctorStrange. When Dr. Stephen Strange was staying at the Ancient One's retreat, he discovered that the Ancient One's disciple Baron Mordo was trying to kill his master. Mordo found out and placed a spell on Strange, magically gagging him whenever he tried to warn Mordo's master. Recognizing Mordo's evil and the need to counter it, Strange offered himself as the Ancient One's new disciple. The first thing the Ancient One did was remove Mordo's enchantment from Strange, which he knew about all along ("A student can have no secrets from his master.")

* Happens twice in the [[TroperWorks/ThePrivateDiaryOfElizabethQuatermain Elizabeth Quatermain]] series. First, when one character proposes to the woman he loves, he can't quite bring himself to actually ask the question (luckily, she answers it anyway). The second time, another character just can't say the words until he's practically arguing with the object of his affections, finally blurting it out in an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove.
* This happens in VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft fanfic Fanfic/ChildrenOfTheStars, 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.

* ''American Wife'' has one of the most tragic examples of this trope.

* Literature/TheWindwaterPack Cian is a bit tongue-tied when he finally tells Moira he loves her. As she put it: “It’s a good thing you’re cute, because that has got to be the most awkward proposal in the history of wolves.”

** In Season 3's "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations}} Revelations]]", Willow wants to admit 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).

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}''

%%* In the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' pilot, Gideon deliberately provokes [[spoiler:the stuttering Footpath Killer]] until he gets so angry he literally can't talk.
* ''Series/DoctorWho''

* 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).

* In ''Series/{{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 PutOnABus to England.

* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures:''

* Most of the problems in the last act of ''VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno'' 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 because she approached him looking for an excuse to drop her vendetta.
* A few of the minor spirits never seem to get around to telling Yuuto how they feel in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia''. 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.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge''

* In one of the [[TearJerker saddest]] moments of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Bronson brings news to Flint, the father of Lucas and Claus, but has trouble getting it out.

* Poor [[VideoGame/CorpseParty Naomi]]! Not only is she unable to spit out her feelings for Satoshi, but because of her {{Tsundere}} nature, she is unable to apologize when she knows she's gone too far, so neither her nor Seiko feel any better and they end up separating [[spoiler:which leads to Seiko's death]]. In ''Book of Shadows'', Naomi actually has a coughing fit.

* In VideoGame/RhythmDoctor, there are two young patients named Logan and Hailey who obviously love each other, but cannot bring themselves to say it.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

%%* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'': Halo!

* Webcomic/DrFrost: As the story develops, TheWatson character Yoon develops an obvious crush on the SherlockHomage character of Frost, which is made clear in every way except a straight confession.

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''

* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}''

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did it, but it did it right. Cloud is convinced he used to [[spoiler: be a member of [[SuperSoldier SOLDIER]]]], and all evidence points towards this -- he has the uniform, the sword, the skills and the glowing eyes. However, [[spoiler: after leaving town to join SOLDIER, he failed to get in, and instead enrolled as a basic grunt. After his idol, Sephiroth, burned down his hometown, maimed the closest thing he had to a childhood friend, nearly killed his best friend, and stabbed him through the chest, he was patched up by EvilutionaryBiologist Hojo as part of an experiment. However, the combination of the drugs and trauma completely destroyed his mind, and when they escaped and Zack died defending him he utterly snapped, adopting an elaborate system of FakeMemories and osmosed personality from Zack. The only person who knew all this was Tifa, who met Zack on the mission. But she was unable to tell him anything in fear of what effect it could have on his mental state. Her inability to do so earns Cloud a MindRape and a HeroicBSOD at the hands of Sephiroth, which Tifa has to fix in a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, after the damage has been done]].

** Especially during the Twelfth Doctor era, the writers have had the Doctor use euphemistic statements instead of straight "I love you", with three major examples occurring in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Dark Water]]" (confirmed by the showrunner as meaning "I love you"), "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]". Clara herself has done this herself with regards to the Doctor on a few occasions, using alternate wording rather than a straight ILY.

* 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. And now she's moving away.

* In one of the [[TearJerker saddest]] moments of VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}, Bronson brings news to Flint, the father of Lucas and Claus, but has trouble getting it out.

* Same with "When You Walk in the Room", most famously covered by The Searchers. "Wish I could tell you how much I care/But I only have the nerve to stare".

* Franchise/CodeGeass:

** ''{{Manga/Rinne}}'': Rinne seems to figure it out fairly early on that he feels something for the main heroine Sakura, even if he isn't sure just what. However Sakura's straight face and calm attitude leaves him unsure as to how she feels and prevents him from saying anything even he worked up the courage to.

* A particularly heartbreaking example occurs in ''{{Manga/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.]]

* ''LightNovel/HighschoolDXD''

* Including it in the Anime & Manga section even though it's technically an Original English Language manga. In ''{{Manga/Dramacon}}'' by Svetlana Chmakova, despite three years of blatant flirtation and although, 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 ''Manga/LetterBee'', 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.

* Played straight by Saito and Louise in the first season of the ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' anime, averted early in the second. Particularly surprising considering [[LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana who]] these characters are [[{{expy}} expies]] of.

* ''Comicbook/{{Shazam}}'': For most of his super heroing career, Captain Marvel Jr couldn't tell anyone his name, because it happened to also be his [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull 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.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Asuka kept her real feelings for Shinji secret. She finally managed spitting it out after [[spoiler:getting engaged,]] [[TheILoveYouStigma but even then she was still frightened to say it]].

* FanFic/AGrowingAffection has this as part of Konan and Nagato's backstory. Things might have gone differently if Nagato had not suffered from this.
* [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Danny and Sam]] in ''[[FanFic/FacingTheFutureSeries Hearts and Minds]]'' had difficulty [[spoiler:confessing their deeper feelings for each other at first]].

* In ''FanFic/BlindMansBluff", [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Nick]] just can't confess his feelings for [[MoralityPet Ellis.]] He truly loves him, and God forbid if you ever [[BerserkButton hurt]] [[UnstoppableRage Ellis]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge in front of]] Nick, but due to his general standoffish nature and his residual trust issues from his rocky divorce, he finds it difficult to express his feelings.

* The foundation of pretty much all the tension and drama of ''Manga/SasamekiKoto'' is based on Sumika's inability to tell Kazama that she loves her. Kazama [[SchoolgirlLesbians likes girls too]], and very openly... But Sumika isn't her type, and is petrified that a confession of love would destroy their friendship. [[spoiler:As of chapter 20, the tension is even more balanced on this, from both sides: Kazama is in love with Sumika as well, but doesn't know that Sumika likes girls (or even just her), so she is also terrified that confessing ''her'' love would tear them apart.]]

* In ''AoiKiseki'' the female lead Ageha is unable to interact with her beau without going full {{Tsundere}} and confessing her feelings out of sheer shyness. When she finally works the courage to do so, a nasty fall damages her brain, robbing her of her ability to speak. Ouch.

* In ''Manga/KannazukiNoMiko'' [[spoiler:the plot would have been almost completely different if Chikane had told Himeko about what happened in their past lives.]]

* In ''Manga/LoveHina'' it took the vast majority of the fourteen volumes of the published manga for the male protagonist to even get past "I L...". [[spoiler:The entire ''rest'' of the manga consists of the same happening to the ''female'' lead.]] It's fun to follow, but incredibly excruciating at the same time. It's eventually [[LampshadeHanging referred to this]] in the [[MetaGuy Kanako arc]] [[{{OVA}} OVAs]]

* In ''VisualNovel/ShoujotachiWaKouyaOMezasu'', Yuuka starts to realize that she likes Buntarou, but can never bring herself to tell him directly, either due to fear of rejection, or because she doesn't want to screw up the group dynamic in the event they started dating.

* A variation in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar''. Instead of it being "cannot spit it out", it's "''will'' not spit it out" since the plot revolves around Kaguya and Shirogane trying to force each other into confessing without confessing themselves.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': In chapter 6, Japan was about to confess to Italy only to cut himself short. Nerves got to him. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] later on.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'':
** A great deal of time involving England and America involves both of their inabilities to share their feelings, mixed dangerously with England's {{tsundere}} tendencies and America's JerkWithAHeartOfGold habits targeted right back. This ShipTease has affected the fandom as well as the canon universe immensely.
** 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 ObliviousToLove, either.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' stars Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada, an UnluckyEverydude 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.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'':
** Effectively {{invoked|Trope}} when Negi tries to ask his father's allies who his [[MissingMom 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:
--->'''Jack:''' Oh, by the way, [[spoiler:Arika]] really is your mother. See you later. ''(heads off to bathroom)''.
** 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.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]:
--->'''Kotarō:''' What's with her? All she's saying is, "L-L-L-L" over and over again.
%%** Also subverted early on by Nodoka, [[ShrinkingViolet the last person you'd expect]]. Which makes it all the more unfortunate (as revealed in the ''rushed'' ending) that she was rejected.