hmm honestly I'm not sure about calling Tamaki shy? AT least not as a teen, idk it doesnt feel like that best describes what's going on with him
yeah, like it looks a lot more like dude is trying to brute force his way through multiple forms of anxiety than being shy.
like we do see him talk to new people, and he even seems to have the most extensive friend group of same aged friends among the big three, and we even see him talk shit⦠he just doesnt seem to be able to look at people or doesnt want folks to look at him as he does it
like his not handling praise or criticism well is tied to his self esteem/self confidence/self worth issues caused by the expectations placed upon him for having such a great quirk and not the personality that folks expect of someone with his quirk
also he's pessimistic and very outspoken about his pessimistic opinions and finding openings to put himself down/compliment other people
i guess that's the thing why Tamaki doesnt come off as shy to me? Most of what can be interpreted as shyness can easily be attributed to anxiety while otherwise he's relatively outspoken about plenty of things.
just an anxious mess with no self confidence and natural pessimist doesnt strike me as lining up with the 'soft shy boy uwu' thing the fandom has decided to interpret
granted I do think that even if he got properly medicated for the anxiety and/or was getting therapy for it, that he still wouldnt particularly be a people person and still wouldn't be a fan of crowds or strangers watching him/doing shit in front of crowds
he'd probably still be a pessimist too
he's just be able to keep trucking through shit without shaking and sweating and getting stress ulcers
and he'd still probably prefer if he didnt have to make eye contact with people
but none of that really strikes me that much as shy
