Quote:Well, that's fair enough. OTOH, I think that you're failing to make a distinction between "Completely healed" and "Functional enough to fix themselves and keep going in the meantime".
What I think that nearly all the characters really NEED is to spend many, many, many, many, many years in deep therapy in the countryside or by the sea swimming with dolphins and getting lots of positive reinforcement. Anything else is just a bandaid over a sucking chest wound.
I have been known to scare entire classrooms discussing my views on teasing, rednecks and such. I have no intention of ever getting over that. That does not mean I cannot deal politely with such people, or that I explode at the slightest joke or, for that matter, purchase fully automatic weapons and carry them into packed highschools for purposes other than intimidation or population control.
Misato, for instance, is self-admittedly pretty fucked up. On the other hand, she holds down a steady job (and a pretty fucking important one at that!), lives on her own, and generally displays all the other characteristics that one would expect of a mature adult. I'm not going to say that the way she manages all this is exactly what a wise person would call -healthy-, but it inarguably works.
Likewise (and leaving aside Rei, who is Different), Shinji and Asuka, by the end, will still have Issues, but they'll know what those are and know what they need to do to fix them and how to deal in the meantime.
Blessed be.
-n
(Bob, recruit this man. We can use him. --Prereader Agent N)
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."