Seventeen year olds don't know shit about nostalgia. Percy is remembering things that, to us, happened literally 20 years ago and that's the implied emotional impact. And yet for him, in universe, it was only about 6 years ago

But also 2) this all would hit a lot harder if Percy was not still seventeen. If he was actually thirty and getting his head knocked off with the nostalgia of candy store smells like the place his mom worked when he was 11, it would feel a lot more impactful

1) this plot feels very pointed at me and other older fans who loved these books as kids and are reveling in the nostalgia. Kinda feels like Rick is telling me to read another book. Which I guess is fair

Percy visits an arcade run by the goddess of youth and ends with the takeaway that nostalgia is a liar and being young is not all it's cracked up to be. Then he hunts down old age and fights him until he accepts it's pointless and literally embraces old age instead. 2 things: