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WE HUG NOW EDIT OF VALZHANG ON TIKTOK?!?!?!?!?!,! IN THE BIG 2025?!?!?!?!?!

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Maybe in another life

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Haruki Murakami

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In Defense of Calypso, an essay on Rick Riordan’s daughter of Atlas.

(Note: I will not be discussing the characterization of Calypso or the dynamic between Calypso and Leo Valdez within Trials of Apollo, as I believe they were unsuccessfully written to follow the bickering couple trope. I feel similarly towards the characterization of Nico di Angelo and Will Solace and their relationship in The Sun and the Star, and I feel it unfair to judge the dynamic that was written to mimic the popularity of Percabeth.)

“I'm coming back for you Calypso," he said to the night wind. "I swear on the river Styx. (House of Hades)

Ogygia exits in a pocket of time, similar to the Lotus Casino that trapped Nico di Angelo as eleven years old for decades. When reading a book, you have to remember the context in which it was written; It is unfair and frankly illiterate behavior to justify your hatred for innocent writing by warping the context of a children’s book. Rick Riordan, as senseless as his modern characterizations of the PJO cast are, would not write one of his few romantic relationships involving a main character to be predatory. Young adult fantasy has a target audience of people as young as 12 years old, who (in most cases) would not be able to derive insightful commentary with such extreme and complex dynamics. Instead, the characters and relationships presented should follow a storyline that focuses on relatable teenage experiences with a narration that reflects adolescent thought processes. A pedophilic character and a predatory relationship dynamic is a trope that is generally considered too graphic to successfully write within a series such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Instead, the relationship between Calypso and Leo is supposed to be an optimistic end to two characters who have dealt with longstanding heartache and loneliness. It can be considered an undermining of satisfactory character development, as having a character who struggles with loneliness find peace in being alone in a world that emphasizes the absolute necessity of alloromantic relationships would be a unique ending to the story and important messaging that romantic relationships do not “fix” a person. However, bashing Calypso for the profitable route that the author decided to follow (which is understandable, as the success of his previous novels within fandoms was partially because of the popularity of the romantic relationship between Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase (or “Percabeth”)) is not intelligent media consumption.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians emphasizes an overarching message of disability, how a person may struggle with disability in a world that doesn’t accommodate them, and how disability limiting a person’s abilities does not limit their character. The series is fundamentally a commentary on disability and trauma, as it was written to engage and represent Rick Riordan’s son who struggled with ADHD and dyslexia. While our main cast similarly struggles with these same two disorders, characters like Tyson, Nico di Angelo, and Leo Valdez are written more intentionally to represent disabilities such as Down syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder respectively. As the series develops, we see themes of trauma and long-lasting consequences of psychological and emotional distress, as it is assumed that the audience ages with the series and can digest mature themes more successfully. Calypso, because of her centuries-long isolation and repeated heartbreak resulting from the only close relationships she manages to develop, struggles with abandonment issues. It is not a stretch to say she may also struggle with social cues, similar to how a neurodivergent person may struggle to understand what behaviors are appropriate or not. To call her “mean,” “toxic,” “abusive,” or anything along these lines undermines the trauma responses Rick has made the effort to represent. Instead, it stands to demonize people with mental illness, assuming that their struggles define who they are and the relationships they have. The treatment Calypso receives for her trauma-based behavior is not applied to the male cast of characters, assumedly because of the standards misogyny has created for all women, even fictional.

Referencing the aforementioned defense of her “bad” behavior, many have criticized Calypso because of the curse she unintentionally placed on Annabeth which is seen in the House of Hades.

“We did nothing, the demons said. Your beloved has unleashed a special curse—a bitter thought from someone you abandoned. You punished an innocent soul by leaving her in solitude. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Annabeth feels her despair. She, too, will perish alone and abandoned.” (House of Hades, pg. 235)

However, it should be considered that, before Annabeth and Percy Jackson (and Nico di Angelo), no demigod had traveled to Tartarus, never mind surviving it. The demon encountered by the duo was not a common enemy, but a monster that could only be encountered within such a deep part of the underworld. Calypso, rightful in her bitterness though not in who she blamed for it, could not have assumed that Annabeth would encounter the Arai and suffer at their hands. (Note: this is assuming that Calypso had intentionally placed this curse, as it is equally likely that it was an unintentional manifestation of negative emotions)

According to a poll conducted by the Tumblr blog riordanverse-ship-polls, 93.9% of 346 voters feel, neutral or positively towards the ship between Leo Valdez and Jason Grace. 49.4% of these voters state Valgrace as their OTP or one true pairing. Additionally, the Valgrace tag on Tumblr has 2.1 thousand followers, and the tag that marks a romantic relationship between the two on Archive of Our Own has 1,651 fanfictions written (as of February 17, 2025). It is not unfair to assume that this pairing is popular within the fandom. This begs the question— how many people express hatred towards Calypso and her relationship with Leo Valdez because they would prefer a relationship between Leo and Jason? When scrolling through the Caleo tag on Tumblr, the Valgrace tag makes an impressive number of appearances. It is a common experience to see female characters hated in a movie, television show, book series, etc. because they “get in the way of” a ship between two men. It is a result of deeply rooted misogyny within fandom culture, which believes that male characters and relationships between men are inherently more complex than female characters and female relationships. This is not intended to be an absolute opinion, but instead a question that I ask every Valgrace shipper— are you holding female characters, specifically Calypso, to the same degree of morality that you hold the male characters? (Note: I do not intend to bash Valgrace or Valgrace shippers, but seeing the loud minority of them post Valgrace and anti-Calypso/anti-Caleo content under the Caleo tags is beyond frustrating. Ship and let ship!)

I believe I have addressed the reoccurring arguments in opposition to the ship between Calypso and Leo Valdez from Rick Riordan’s “Hero of Olympus” series, and those who incorrectly label Calypso as a mean, toxic, or abusive character. Greek Mythology does not allow for characters to be strictly “good” or “bad,” but instead allows readers to see the complexity of each action and its consequence. Though written for a younger audience, the same level of understanding must be given to the characters of the Riordanverse series.

(Please note, I am a 17 year old with limited experience with academic writing. Any constructive criticisms are welcomed, but I ask that you be considerate when disagreeing.)

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do i think caleo should be together? no. do i think they should have babies that are dragon-esque due to calypso's titan blood enhancing leo's fire powers making them closer to gods than to men? maybe.

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Magnus Hjalmar Munsterhjelm (Finnish, 1840-1905)

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Hell is others ..

.. And you.

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Sue zhao/Ryan O'Connell

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there’s something so adorably perfect about Frank being Jason’s praetor. because i feel like Jason’s always been kinda intimidated by him and know that he’s his superior officer Jason just doesn’t know how to act around him. like it takes all his self control not to salute him after Frank asks for him to pass the milk

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hello kai! i've seen your posts about calypso and her role as percy's what-if. i don't hate her nor have i regarded her character very much, so i'd like to ask more about your thoughts on her? 👉👈

(only ofc share what's comfortable for you ✨ bc some ppl can be really weird about hot takes XC aka mga taong kinain na ng sistema)

YESSSS. honestly the main thing i love about calypso is that she's one of the few tidbits of moral ambiguity about the titan war. granted, this premise isn't as well-developed as it could've been throughout the series, but calypso asking percy if he fights for the gods because they're good or because they're his family has always stuck with me. more than that line, though, the way she's so resigned to her fate really makes you go like ... damn idt she deserves this...

in such an unfair set-up, percy is leaving behind and hurting someone no matter what he chooses - a big deal for him given his thing with loyalty and all. the only way he can help camp is to continue fighting for the gods who have been unjust, and the only way he can help calypso is to abandon his family and friends. it's a nice escalation of ttc's exploration of what it truly means to be a hero.

a lot of botl is thematically about finding your own path and facing the consequences of the choices/ghosts you make along the way, so i find it sad that whenever people talk about calypso it's only ever adjacent to p&a rather than her role as one of the many choices presented to percy in this book. rachel ofc is percy's draw to shirk all his responsibilities in the demigod world by escaping into normalcy, while calypso is the escapism into eternal paradise. you can also (maybe retroactively) argue that nico is another option, for percy to kind of go rogue and embrace the darker/more violent aspects of himself that he taps into in botl (the geysers and mt etna). we know percy ends up choosing annabeth; she's his tether to humanity, to all the aspects of percy that make him percy.

calypso is percy's what-if not just romantically, but also for him as a character. he could've been the hero with a happy ending! but their story is doomed from the beginning; percy wouldn't be percy if he accepted her offer, and that's exactly calypso's curse! how much can either of them truly struggle and have agency against their fates!

so while calypso may only appear for one chapter, when you look at her character in the larger scheme of what it means for percy, the book, and the prophecy... i think it's just neat :3

one last thing i'd want to highlight is that calypso's chapter is actually written very beautifully <3 ogygia really did have that perfect escapist but muted paradise vibe, and calypso's character is a very sad one. she makes no demands of percy even to the point of trying to hold off on burdening him with the knowledge of the story of her curse then her inevitable offer for him to stay. she knows he's going to say no she's trying to save herself the pain, but she's doomed to ask and be refused anyway.

in how she's written hoo onwards, i think that characterization of her as resigned is utterly lost, and it's just induced an extremely bad-faith interpretation/perception of her character.

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just saw a valzhang meme i made in a valzhang edit on tiktok, i feel like i've completed my life mission

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clawdeen wolf from monster high is sooo frazel!daughter coded you guys don't even get it

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weird things I drew while intoxicated pt. 1

♡ my daily pjo art tag ♡

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For @hazellvsq

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always these two faggots

can you tell i kinda got lazier as i progressed

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can you guys please STOP fancasting frank as those twink a$s asian models. this guy is HUUUGGEE oka? he's fricking 6'5(195cm) for GODSSAKE. this man is a WALL, he's got inhumanly amount of MUSCLE and FAT. HE. IS. NOT. SMALL. he can NOT be small. it's physically impossible for him to be so. he is a BEAST. so pleaaseeeee cast him someone as big as possible. the bigger the merrierrr.