A̶h̶ ̶y̶e̶s̶ ̶C̶a̶l̶e̶o̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶l̶t̶h̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶h̶i̶p̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶-̶
Ah, no. Trust me, I will say sike right now because honestly, I completely disagree with the aforementioned, ah, fact or statement.
ANYWAYS.
I'll get on with why I think Caleo is, well, toxic and unhealthy and just a bad ship in general.
I've divided this rant or rather, opinion of mine into four sections, so, um, read on-
First and foremost, let's see Calypso.
Calypso treats Leo like garbage, and often gives him rude comments, most of which don't really fall under the category of 'banter'. The way Calypso talks about and to Leo, along with the way she behaves with him makes their relationship seem almost one-sided. She doesn't really show signs of Leo. 'Tis almost like she used him to get off Ogygia.
In Battle of the Labyrinth, when she is introduced at first, she is shown as this kind, gentle and polite girl who has this feeling of somewhat vague sadness surrounding her, which can be justified due to her staying on Ogygia for thousands of years. When she was with Percy, she had this warm personality. But when Leo landed on her island, she immediately took on this blunt, rude, hard and rough personality, which doesn't make any sense because her personality literally took a 180° rotation. I mean, she had been locked on Ogygia for thousands of years even before meeting Percy, why did her personality just suddenly change when she met Leo, even though the time period between both of them falling on her island was not more than almost a couple of years, give or take? Look, I'm not saying that she should treat Percy like garbage, but does her "anger" really justify the way she acted towards Leo?
Okay, now returning to my first point. As seen in The Dark Prophecy, Calypso has jabbed Leo in the kidneys, claimed that he wasn't her 'rescuer' (though I must say, this point would have stood out and almost seemed close to endearing if she actually loved Leo, and treated him as her equal), then called him 'short' and 'scruffy', started most of their arguments in that book and swatted him after he complimented her.
Next, let's come to Leo.
I understand that he might've loved Calypso, but he was also quite desperate. After remaining as a 7th wheel for such a long time, it can be quite natural that he'd wish for a loving girlfriend. In Blood of Olympus, we see him sacrificing himself to stop Gaia, and partly to get back to Ogygia. He abandoned his friends for a girl he had met and known for not longer than two weeks. Even though it kinda sounds like an over-obsessive, irrelevant crush to me, 'tis narrowly justified.
And Calypso is not the only one calling Leo things. Leo calls Calypso 'mamacita', even though Calypso has shown signs of getting uncomfortable by that name, and has told NOT to call her by that name.
And finally, let's come to the relationship itself.
Caleo was forced. Now, of course it was a forced and rushed relationship, seeing as how a mere amount of 2 weeks was given to its development, and both of them just completely skipped the whole awkward friends/playful bantering buddies stage.
But then again, it was quite literally forced. It was forced by magic.
Since she supported her father, Atlas, during the first Olympian war, the gods sent her to Ogygia and sent a man to go to the island every few years. She’d involuntarily fall in love with them, and the man would usually have to leave. That was her punishment. Obviously, this happened with Leo. Since they were literally pushed together, it felt forced and awkward. There was no development; they hated each other and then they loved each other. Or rather, Calypso hated Leo, and Leo loved Calypso (There you go. A perfectly lovely relationship with equal opportunities and healthy roles. Cheers.)
And last but not least, these are the reasons why I think Caleo is toxic.
Then again, here's my last section.
How it could’ve been better
This point might sound stupid (it is, though) and far-fetched (this DEFINITELY is far-fetched, sorry) but-
Rickcould’vejustkeptthemasfriends
Or he could’ve just cut out that whole Khione scene (even though this one sounds more foolish) because, as we all know, that scene with Khione yeeting Leo out the Argo-II was important and all that with Piper realizing the true power of love that can apparently awaken a bronze dragon and all-
Nevermind, cancel out this one
But the thing about Rick keeping them as friends could’ve been done.
Now, ‘bout the curse that had been placed on Calypso, which states that she’d be sent a hero every thousand years or so, a hero she’d fall in love with and who’d end up breaking her heart and never staying
Well, if Rick wanted, he could’ve easily twisted that curse, because let’s be honest, Rick has already butchered half of the original Greek Mythology (in a good way of course)
The curse said ‘love’; it didn’t say platonic or romantic
The curse said ‘breaking her heart’, but as Garrett Nash once said, ‘friends can break your heart too’
Maybe, just maybe, Rick could’ve kept them as friends.
Just, idk, platonic love.
Not only would it make Caleo A LOT better, it’d also provide a great and awesome character development for both Leo and Calypso.
Leo could realize that he didn’t need a relationship to make him feel validated and cared for.
Calypso would have realized that she really didn’t need to fall in love with every single man she ever laid her eyes on.
And maybe the readers and all of us would realize that a character can be single and not alone and happy.
And maybe Caleo could’ve gotten an excellent relationship as just loveable, bantering friends.
And, uh, that’s it for my post so yeah.
Feel free to:
Disagree
Debate back
Not leave unreasonable hate