Chapter Text
You are my sunshine
The perfect solangelo anthem. Why does everyone always start with the basics? No such thing this time. We’ll start with a song you most assuredly never heard of because it’s in Italian, but believe me if I say that it screams Solangelo all the way to Tartarus. First of all because it’s in Italian. (Of course, it’s translated). And for the rest, you’ll see. I give you my word that you’re going to adore it and that maybe I’ll see through “You are my sunshine” in another chapter. Maybe, because there’s really nothing to explain about that song. Now let’s get started.
(All rights for this intro reserved to Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan) if you know you know
link to the song in the notes
Scooby Doo by Pinguini tattici nucleari
- I decided to translate she/her as he/him in order to make it have some sense
- This song is from Will’s pov and he’s talking about Nico
Lyrics:
Vive dentro due vans
e la maglia dei guns
He lives in a pair of Vans
And a shirt of the Guns
Nico is emo. Vans are emo. So basically he wears them a lot (maybe not as much as converse but still).
Now, if you don’t know what a shirt of the Guns is, here’s the link:
https://images.app.goo.gl/gXtZqcYuxCYsNRfx8
Here’s Nico’s style in just two verses.
Vuole fare l’attrice
ma, mamma, no
He wants to be an actor
but, oh dear, no
I simply love the reason why this relates to Nico.
Nico is a natural liar, a spy, an actor. Let’s just go back to The Titan’s curse, where in a line he says: “I’m good at making stories up”
Nico makes up excuses and pretends that he’s feeling just fine and healthy and hasn’t used his powers at all. This is what Will’s referring to with “He wants to be an actor”
“But, oh dear, no”, Nico’s talent to disguise people doesn't work with his boyfriend.
Scaccia tutte le advances
Primo anno alla Dams
Passa ore a imitare Marilyn Monroe
He refuses every approach
Freshman year at Dams
He spends hours copying Marilyn Monroe
Nico refuses every approach. Especially physical ones. He also refused Will’s offers to cure him during battle. (Or tried to refuse, then he just kind of slumped against Will, but anyway)
Dams it’s the Italian University of visual arts, media and interpretation. The correlations here are a little bit hard to interpret, but I have a few:
-This school is located in the north of Italy, relatively close to where Nico used to live.
-Again, theatre and acting are mentioned. If Nico was a son of Dionysus it would fit perfectly. But Hades is known for being a sarcastic drama god as well and Nico totally got that trait from his father.
-It could be a reference to when Nico got trapped in the bronze jar. You can surely remember how the jar was positioned in the middle of a stage, with a whole show prepared for Nico’s death.
So basically it would make sense for him to go to that school.
Or maybe it’s just Will messing with him cause Nico is Italian and kind of an actor and has had experiences with stages. So as some would call an extremely clever person “Hey, what’s up Harvard?” Will refers to Nico as “Freshman year at Dams” whenever he’s being a gloomy Italian drama queen. And freshman cause he’s tiny.
The Marilyn Monroe part makes no apparent sense, but I found an easy and logical explanation. Marilyn Monroe was from Nico’s time. Well, almost. But that’s the only possible reason.
Scratch those last three lines.
Nico di Angelo and Marilyn Monroe are total soulmates. Just read these Marilyn’s quotes and see it yourself.
“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best”
“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love”
“It's far better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone — so far”
So yeah, it’s pretty fucking clear how Nico would feel related to her.
È vero che nessuno la capisce
Come i dark o il libri di Nietzsche’s
E un vecchio fa finta di nulla
le tocca una tetta sul tram
It's true, no one understands him
Like Darks or Nietzsche's books
And an old man, pretending that nothing's happened,
touches his ass on a tram.
No one understands Nico. He’s been through so much. I won’t be ranting about all the things that happened to him cause I don’t want no angst honey.
Let’s just say he’s had it harder than any other Rick Riordan character. So basically no one can comprehend his pain.
Darks and Nietzsche’s books are things no one understands.
Then we come to these slightly disturbing lines.
(Ooookay, hehe, this is the only part of the kind in this song, I promise. Also I changed a word because Nico is a boy apparently)
Let’s just connect it to the gods, shall we? They hurt their children by making their lives impossible and pretend nothing ever happened.
Desperate attempt of correlation, but the gods are old men, aren’t they?
Or we can interpret it as Nico being super hot and having a lot of boys drooling over him. And Will being jealous. So he calls Nico’s hypothetical admirer “old man”.
Or we can just skip these two lines, cause from now on it gets better and better.
Non si fida di chi è troppo felice,
Di chi mette solamente le camicie,
E le poesie di amore che le han dedicato
le conserva dentro lo spam.
He doesn't trust those who are too happy
Those who only wear shirts
And the love poems dedicated to him,
He keeps them in the spam folder.
Nico is pretty gloomy and moody (especially in HoO) and tends to distrust people in general.
The second verse is a dam good reference to the Hawaiian shirt episode.
I don’t think many people have dedicated love poems to him (cause they’re too scared and he’s taken) but I can totally see him doing that lmao.
It also indicates that Nico doesn’t care about any other boy. He belongs to Will.
(refrain)1
Qualcuno ti da un cocktail,
Con chi dormi stanotte?
Lo capirai soltanto se lo butti giù.
Someone gives you a cocktail,
Who will you sleep with tonight?
You'll only get to know it if you drink it all
This is drunk!Will and drunk!Nico flirting at a party in the Hermes cabin. Simple and clear.
(refrain)2
Siamo persone losche
Facciam male alle mosche
Togliamoci le maschere alla Scooby Doo
We're shady people
We hurt flies
Let's take our masks off, Scooby Doo-style
Nico is a shady person.
Will wouldn’t hurt a fly, because, you know, he’s a doctor.
But
Nico wouldn’t hurt a fly either, he’s never been one for violence and does only what needs to be done.
If someone only even tries to mess with Will’s loved ones, he becomes just as shady and scary as Nico.
Let’s take our masks off and don’t have secrets between each other, that’s basically the main point of this song. And also something that Will wants to do with Nico.
Also, the Scooby Doo reference is Will kinda teasing Nico cause he’s skipped like the last seven decades, but at the same time he’s teaching him some 21st century popular culture.
(refrain)3
Voglio quello che tu non mi mostri
I tuoi demoni e tutti i tuoi mostri
Cosa pensi quando resti muta
Tutti i dubbi su cui sei seduta
I want what you're not showing me
Your demons and all of your monsters
What you think about when you're quiet
All of the doubts that you're sitting on
This is the best part of the song and the most solangelo-like.
Does it need an explanation? I don’t think so.
Grida “sbirri merde”
E suo zio si offende
Alle cene in famiglia, lei fa quel che può
He shouts "fuck cops"
And his uncle gets offended
At family dinners, he does what he can
Nico shouting “fuck cops” “fuck authority” “fuck the system”
Oh girl, I can totally see it.
He’s a small adorable angry rebel.
And Zeus getting offended (cause, ya know, he’s the divine symbol of authority) is the best things.
Always considering he doesn’t start throwing random lightning bolts on Nico’s trail. Whatever…
Now just picture a family dinner with Hades, Persephone, Demeter, Nico and Hazel.
And Nico struggling to be a good diplomat in order to not get turned into a dandelion again, but in the end just giving up on that and starting to snap sarcastic comments at everything his step-mother says.
Dura come i Bender
Iron come Maiden
Ma poi piange coi gattini su TikTok
As hard as Bender
As Iron as the Maiden
But then he cries at kittens on Tik Tok
Nico is tough and brave and strong and powerful.
But he’s a just a smol cute adorable kitten lover on the inside.
Ha affittato una stanza con una di Monza
Sembrava un’amica ma era una stronza
In un anno, se tutto va bene, finisce il contratto e se ne va.
He's rented a room with a guy from Monza
He seemed like a friend but he was an asshole
In one year, if everything will be fine, his contract will be over and he will leave
The guy from Monza could be Minos or Percy. You name it.
Notice how he says “ if everything will be fine” because when you’re a demigod you never know.
I suoi veri amici scrivono tutto con gli asterischi
His real friends write everything with asterisks5
These are Leo, Frank, Percy and Annabeth
E ascoltano ancora qualche vinile col giradischi
And they still listen to some vinyls with the record player
These are Hazel, Jason, Reyna and Piper
Quando ballavi danza classica facevi un gioco
Chiudevi gli occhi e sognavi di essere in mezzo a un foro
E noi siamo sempre un po’ fuori luogo ma sorridenti
Con un assolo di chitarra in radio in questo fottutissimo 2020
When you did ballet you used to play a game
You closed your eyes and you dreamed of wildly dancing in a crowd
And we're always a bit out of place but smiling
With a guitar solo, on the radio, in this fucking 2020
Read ballet as Mythomagic and the trick is done.
Nico and Will are just a mix of cuteness and fluff and smiles. They’re totally out of place sometimes, like when they start to flirt snapping at each other. Take the “Significant-annoyance-in-your-case” scene as an example.
Also, imagine that Will’s been playing the guitar during the entire song, and immediately after this line the song rocks a solo that would make Apollo proud. Yeah, that’s Will playing. Just believe it.
This is it.
Now go listen to this song.
And then listen to Demons by Imagine Dragons. That’s Nico’s answer.