User blog comment:SayuriDarling/The House of Hades Official Discussion/@comment-24058332-20131016162724/@comment-24058332-20131016170716

I guess hate is a strong word for people's feelings regarding their relationship. In respect to your opinion, I feel that Rachael and Thalia never had boyfriends because they really cannot at this point. Thalia was only alive for about a book or two (can't exactly remember) until she joined Artemis's hunters and swore to love no man. Then with Rachael, I feel that she could have a boyfriend if she chooses to and its more of her own personal opinion or she just hasn't met someone yet. And in regards to both of them, I feel that both these characters are pretty minor considering Leo's role in the books. The fact that they don't have any kind of romantic involvement isn't as noticeable or "care worthy" for lack of a better term as Leo's is because they don't show up as much or play as much of a role. Now going off what you said about Leo creating his position as the 7th wheel, I can't argue there with you because it really does seem like he kind of forces himself into a position where he is the odd one out. But then again you can't really blame him since in the first few books he was 3rd wheeling with Jason and Piper and now its a juxtaposition of the previous events. Then responding to your thoughts about Calypso, it was pretty short-sighted of her to go off and curse Annabeth since Percy had already fallen in love with her. But then, you can't really blame Calypso for being so angry when Leo lands on the island since Percy promised her that he would get her off the island and it only took another 4 books to find out that she's still there. I do agree that the entire thing throwing him onto the island all of a sudden and running into Calypso was a bit weird but I felt the pace that the relationship developed was okay. He's on the island for about 2 or 3 weeks before he gets off so being a teenage hormonal boy and having a good looking female only 20 feet away with no competition is kind of a once in a life time chance for him. And it's Calypso's curse to fall in love with whoever washes up on the island but the problem was the every character before him had already found someone else. Now Leo is here and its probably the only time she will have a chance like this. And it really is kind of Percy's fault for not following up with the god's since there was considerable downtime before the second series started from the first series. Percy even mentions in this book that he should have made it a priority to go and check up on the god's. Also going off of what you said about Leo developing as an independent character, if he reflect on his past, he was independent for the longest time. Going between foster homes and losing his mother to a fire were some of the hardest things for him to cope with alone. I think his fatal flaw is that unlike the rest of the characters, he has to go about his own problems by himself. He isn't trying to save the world for someone he cares about, he is just doing it because he has to. I feel he's been alone enough to develop as an independent character since he's been by himself for 3 and a half books. And to call Calypso and Leo a joke of a pairing seemed kind of harsh to me considering he only acts the way he does because he doesn't have someone else to vent his feelings to or try to connect with. His swearing on the River Styx to get Calypso off the island is not a short-sighted promise because Calypso is the one person he can connect with without having to force himself to be funny or act brave like Percy or Jason. Around Calypso, Leo acts like himself and that's why I feel that this relationship should really happen.