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>Also, how dif do you think the long term would be if we never took gil as our man (obviously outside of the lovebond stuff).
I assume you mean if you opted to be platonic with him, rather than if you never rescued him at all? If you hadn't kissed Gil (solidifying Charlotte's feelings as strictly platonic), Charlotte would've still visited him as the Herald. They would not have had sex, obviously, but would've had a nice, cute hang-out session together (I didn't plan specifics), which still probably would've culminated in Gil breaking down and being comforted.
In the long run, Gil would've accepted that Charlotte never saw him romantically and would not have been hung up on it (he already assumed that this was the case, so it wouldn't be a tough pill to swallow). He'd still be very upset that you ceased to exist, but might not have been suicidal. He would eventually continue to do the epilogue thing of spreading news about you and helping people in his own less-flashy way. Rather than killing himself(?) to be with you at the very end, he probably would've "retired" inside Us instead.
Which raises the interesting point that Gil, in a platonic route, probably would've led a more content and overall "satisfying" life versus Gil on the canon romance route (who wasn't *un*happy, but who was never wholly content, either). At the same time, platonic-route Gil, anxious and risk-averse by nature, probably would never have stepped out of his comfort zone very far, and probably never would've hit the kind of ecstatic highs he would've gotten if Charlotte reciprocated his feelings. Up to you what matters more.
If instead you meant what would've happened if Gil was never rescued at all (or was rescued but driven off by bad behavior)... well, it's very hard to determine counterfactuals, for reasons already discussed. I imagine that, in a best-case scenario, his companionship role would've been filled by a different character down the line (maybe Jesse?), and, in a worse-case scenario, Charlotte would've been put on a fast track toward villainy (or at least a significantly meaner anti-heroism). Having someone around not named Richard that 1. brought out her generous side and 2. provided a consistent reality check did a crazy amount to push her into reforming.
