Aaaaah. ^_^ I like this girl. She’s almost, kinda sorta DSB (ha! no, really) before she got over the whole ‘noooooooooo, can’t go outside!‘ issue.

This trope usually is a woman (I don’t think I’ve come across the ‘Shy Guy’ yet) and she stays home, usually with a cat or something else small and furry. Not that she’s reclusive exactly, but she either:

1. Has been terribly burned by past experiences
2. Can’t keep up with the mad/outgoing/highly sexual best friend
3. Simply prefers her own company

Credit: Gerald_G

Not only that, but this girl is usually wicked-talented at something crafty/art. She draws/paints/writes/sculpts . . . you know the sort of thing. And it’s usually through this craft that she meets the guy that eventually chases her.

And it is a chase. This girl is never the instigator or the pursuer, she is the pursued and that chase tends to make the body of the story. It’s not that she doesn’t want to be loved or known, or taken out, more that she needs to be coaxed out of her shell.

This trope is often blended with the Crass/Foul Mouthed Best Friend to make the contrast between the pair very clear. What I’ve also found is that this trope can be compared with the Secretly Sexy Woman, but The Shy Girl doesn’t go through quite so obvious a metamorphosis. Instead she is usually permitted to go on being shy, but with a man on her arm who ‘loves that about her’ or who ‘just wants to protect her.’

Of all the tropes I’ve covered so far, this one—I feel—runs the biggest risk of throwing out twee plot lines.

Aaah well. She certainly has a home and, just to make sure I’m not making this up, I’m going to keep reading and reviewing. 🙂