What Are Your Thoughts on Second Male Leads?

[kmlangleyauthor]

Love rivals can be fun if done properly. But if that’s not the sort of story you want this to be, you can always introduce a second male lead as a red herring hinting at a rival and have him end up being a good friend or something

[AnimeKitty]

There's nothing wrong with having another love interest. I actually enjoy love triangles sometimes. The drama can be fun too. It doesn't need it, but maybe that's what is fitting for your story? Just depends on the characters.

[doublemelon]

thats kinda my problem currently too. Mostly i originally planned to have a lightweight story but after finishing the last chapter and taking a break, i came up with a bunch of ideas that would complicate the relationship/story. The problem is that I dont think THAT far yet. So the complication may end up complicate me in the future and pushes the story to a completely different direction

[liaroger]

So ... I'm very biased against this trope so take everything I say about it with a grain of salt. Unless the triangle results in a polyamorous triad or V relationship I personally can't stand love triangles. To me, they're a tired trope that often perpetuates this idea that there is only one right way of being in a relationship and normalises and sometimes downright glorifies jealousy as a sign of love. That doesn't mean all stories with love triangles are like that and it definitely doesn't mean that you were going to do that (and it doesn't mean that all stories who do that are trash either), it's just what I've seen a lot and associate with love triangles now and personally don't like. However, that's my own personal preference and bias.
All that bias aside, I think whatever you go with, there will be people who love your story. Many people like love triangles, otherwise there wouldn't be so many stories with them. I just think that there's a significant amount of people who would enjoy a love story that doesn't rely on a love triangle to create conflict. My point is whatever you go with there will be people who love it, so just go with your gut feeling. These are just my own very biased thoughts and preferences and they definitely don't apply to everyone.

[Quintessa]

I think there would be more complications with 2ml which is good(as long he is NOT irritating and too kind)

[ShoresofAcadie]

I'm actually kind of in agreement. I don't love the way a lot of stories use love triangles to equate jealousy with love (there are way healthier relationship dynamics that still promise plenty of interpersonal drama).

I totally agree though that it CAN be done well (especially if the alternative love interest is fleshed out as an interesting character in their own right), and love triangles that morph into poly relationships can be a fun divergence from the trope!

So @KUUPID ...to your original question, while I don't think a romance story NEEDS a love triangle per se, if there's a particular reason why you really want to add one to the story, I'd say go for it!

[joannekwan]

Speaking as someone who has 3 male leads for the 1 female protagonist, I don't mind them if done well.

I think the main thing to keep in mind is to not fall into the jealousy trap. It's a bit easy and overdone, hence why so many people groan about it.

For example, one of my male leads is pretty jealous but that's because he's a monster and doesn't go by human customs. He also has a particularly vested interest in preserving the connection he has with the protagonist because he needs her to live.

For the other two men, they don't really see each other as rivals. In fact, they only ever have a brief encounter with each other. One is mostly interested in his own business while the other is only concerned because the protagonist hasn't really ventured away from her home to fraternize with strangers before and is worried about her safety.

Also if the second guy is thrown in just to cause drama, but it's obvious the lead will end up with the first one anyway, is another thing I've heard people rolling their eyes at.

In my story the protagonist could feasibly end up with any of them and spoilers she ends up with 2 of them!

Third, each love interest should have their own lives separate from their relationship to the lead. Otherwise it leads to flat characters that only exist for the sake of being a love interest, which is another gripe I hear.

Granted, my monster character isn't very physically separate from the protagonist, but he retains his own motivations and desires and he isn't all about "winning the girl". He mostly wants to survive and maintain what he thinks he owns.

Anyway, hope this helps!

[KUUPID]

Ooh, that's a good idea I don't think I've ever seen much of second male leads becoming friends with the MCs xD

[KUUPID]

I definitely do enjoy love triangle xD I'm always down for some drama, lol.

[KUUPID]

I can relate with this on so many levels xD This is why I'm very hesitant to make my story even more dramatic My first novel completely went in another direction from what I planned initially xD

[KUUPID]

Oof, I completely agree with you on the whole love triangle trope. They're fun to read, but I do get peeved at the whole jealousy aspect (particularly when it just gets too much) and/or the better chemistry the MC has with the second lead... But they never get to end up together Dx

[KUUPID]

Thank you for this advice! It really makes me rethink about what kind of a character I want for the second-male lead... I definitely want a character who has more depth than the typical jealousy-incurring rival love interest xD

[Maps]

Well, my second male lead (that isn't the two lover boys) ends up being my MC's cousin. What I went for was a really close friendship (or bromance) before the reveal, but people ended up thinking my second lead had been with my MC's man at one point since they hate one another. So it can be kinda fun playing with a third lead who doesn't have romantic interest with your main characters. Sometimes people will come up with their own theories and you'll end up being the one entertained.

[caelinalexis]

I'm not sure that there should be a second love interest, seeing as how Yohan could really not give a rat's @SS abt relationships and all that. I'd really just like to see him grow comfortable with the first love interest (I forgot his name O_O) and then maybe develop some feelings. The guy still seemed pretty interested in Yohan from the last time he saw him, anyways. It's really up to you, though.

[jkb4753]

You totally don't need another male lead! Go with your gut, it sounds like you're already talking yourself out of it.

[lomcia]

they dont need love triangles, its nice to see sometimes how 2 people can get togheder whitout 3rd or 4th person

[ML_Peregrine]

I love a good love triangle (I love polyamorous relationships even more because no one ever sees it coming). I don't think a love triangle is necessary, but it really depends on where the story is. If the love triangle is only there to cause more drama rather than to develop the characters and show different sides of them, I think it is a little less effective. What would the other love interest help the characters discover? That sort of thing. I'd love to read it btw!

[KUUPID]

That's very true though xD I can't really imagine Yohan liking anyone for a while, lol. I've been writing and deleting parts with a second male lead 'cause it sorta doesn't fit... Agh.

[KUUPID]

To be honest, I am

[gempompadour]

I like love triangles when they're actually love triangles and not the obvious main couple with a third wheel thrown in for drama. In these cases you know the main couple will get together, it's just a matter of when. The third person is just there for flavoring, orbiting around the two and used to pull one of them away time and time again to create false tension. It's always so obvious that the orbiter is never going to win, and he's tossed out the minute he's served his purpose. Also, they're often not even fully fleshed characters to begin with. Just hot and conveniently there to cause friction.