Leo Valdez is not a fucking incel!
Full disclosure that I am a gringo and will touch on how xenophobia impacted a Latino character. I did check this with my Afro-Latina found brother @jasontoddssuper though!
Apparently people think Leo is an incel because he flirts a lot??? But he isn't! He's a traumatized autistic boy! That and Rick Riordan is xenophobic but I'm going Watsonian right now.
So what do we know about Leo's childhood? His mom died when he was 8. His Aunt Rosa made his family blame him, so he was sent to foster care, where he was neglected at best and abused at worst. He was also often bullied by girls at school.
As another Leo who was ignored and bullied as a kid, I can say from experience you play into expectations to get love. Mine were gender roles, his were stereotypes. Latine people of all genders are often oversexualized and stereotyped as "spicy flirts." Children are often aware of bigotry and stereotypes no matter how hard you try shielding them, and I don't think anyone but Esperanza would care to. If you're what people expect, they can't be disappointed, and maybe if they aren't disappointed they'll be proud. Flirting is also surprisingly affective at getting bullies to back off, which I know from watching my friends and my own tactic of fighting back not doing anything.
Leo learned to be flirtatious because it was how he got out of trouble. Because he was expected to and wanted to be loved. We see that when he becomes friends with other kids who love him for who he is, he gets less flirtatious. Because it was a coping mechanism and trauma response. Because he feels safe on the Argo II.
And I think this trauma explains why Leo "fell" for Calypso. They didn't get along at all, nor did they have any similar goals. But without his support system, without feeling safe, Leo reverted back to how he got by as a kid. He started to flirt. And Calypso gave him love for it.











