Every single time I scroll through the Percy Jackson fandom—whether it’s Reddit, Tumblr, TikTok, or that one cursed corner of Twitter—I am met with the same tired, braindead take: “Bianca di Angelo is the worst. She abandoned Nico. She was selfish. She chose the Hunters over her own brother. She died for nothing.”
And every single time, I feel my eye twitch so hard I’m worried it’s going to permanently detach from my optic nerve.
Do you people even read the books, or do you just skim the wiki and project all your unresolved sibling issues onto a twelve-year-old girl who was dealt the absolute shittiest hand in the entire book series? Let’s break this down, shall we, because I am so unbelievably tired of this slander.
First of all, she was twelve. TWELVE. She had just found out that her entire life was a lie, that she would always be in danger, and she had also watched Annabeth "die", all while being the sole emotional support system for a hyperactive little brother who didn’t understand why they couldn’t just leave.
But oh no, when she finally gets offered a chance at a family—a sisterhood, a place where she doesn’t have to be the sole caretaker, a place where she can actually be a kid for once—she’s suddenly the devil incarnate for taking it? Give me a break. She didn't "abandon" Nico. She made ONE singular choice for herself in her entire miserable existence, and the fandom acts like she personally threw Nico into Tartarus herself. She left him at CAMP HALF-BLOOD, the place that was DESIGNED to take care of demigods.
And the "died for nothing" crowd sends me into a blind rage. She didn't die for nothing. She died to save her friends. She died because she was a scared kid who panicked and grabbed a figurine because she just wanted to give her brother a gift. She was THINKING ABOUT NICO. Isn't that what you WANTED? And that got her killed, too.
Was it a reckless decision? Absolutely. But she was twelve. Twelve-year-olds do stupid things! She'd been at Camp for a WEEK. She had NO training. She didn't know any better! She didn't have the tactical brain of Annabeth or the plot armor of Percy. She made a split-second call to do something for her brother, and it cost her everything. And what does she get for it? A fandom that calls her "useless" while simultaneously crying over Luke Castellan, a twenty-something-year-old who actively tried to destroy Western civilization and personally betrayed everyone who loved him.
Oh, but Luke had a "tragic backstory," right? He had mommy and daddy issues and a scar on his face, so we forgive him for literally trying to kill Percy multiple times, and being the reason behind everyone's death in the fandom. But Bianca, the one who just wanted one moment of freedom, is irredeemable? The misogyny is staggering.
And let’s not forget the "she should have stayed in Elysium for Nico" argument. You mean the same Nico who spent years moping and blaming Percy for her death? The same Nico who literally chose to stay in the Underworld and made it his entire personality? Bianca told him to move on over and over again, and Nico never listened, to the point where she HAD to choose rebirth, otherwise Nico would just keep destroying himself. She told him to live his life. She gave him the Mythomagic figurine as a final goodbye and told him to just. stop. contacting. her. And what does he do? He holds onto that bitterness for years, and somehow that’s her fault too?
Absolutely not. Bianca di Angelo was a traumatized, overworked, terrified pre-teen who made one choice for herself. ONE. She is not a villain. She is not a bad sister. And she is sure as hell NOT selfish. She was USED, and I am so sick of this fandom reducing her to a plot device for Nico’s angst. She deserves better. She deserved a chance to grow up. And she deserves a fandom that actually has an ounce of media literacy instead of parroting the same misogynistic, surface-level hate every single day.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go scream into a pillow.
