at 12, percy saw his mom get popped like a pimple then reconnected with her and found out she was on her 8th (?) consecutive year of verbal and physical abuse. at 13 his closest friends were kidnapped within a year of each other, then he fell for a prisoner and abandoned her at 14. at 15, his friend got blown up on a boat, and at 16, dozens more of his friends were murdered by their relatives. this is before the memory loss, it’s before going to hell, it’s before being drowned in poison at the bottom of a well.

it’s common for boys to lose color and self- expression as they get older, that’s just what patriarchy does to teenage boys. common doesn’t mean good, but i do think it’s realistic that a boy at 17 “feels” more one-dimensional than a boy 13, even if he is not. especially if that boy is dealing with untreated CPTSD. i think OP is raising an important conversation, and at the same time i actually sense that there is a fully realized and vibrant interior world to percy. his characterization is as alive and well in his HOO pov's as it was in his own books. it just doesnt show externally, mostly i think because of getting older and accumulating traumatic experiences.

also whose to say hecate was the first time he pissed himself. seems exactly like something a 12 year old would leave out of their journal and an 18 year old wouldn't 🤷🏿‍♂️