Well this is how I thought about Carli. The line of work she was in with Stella wasn't good for her. Like Katie, Carli was there almost since the very beginning. I'm not into the whole daddy/daughter thing either. Christina, well, I don't like a damn thing about her. Carli, like Katie, was loving, caring, strong, a bit vulnerable, but still more than confident in herself to be able to handle, or try to handle things. She just needed someone to be there for her as well.
Katie needed respect, she needed care, like Carli did. I still get butterflies and chills when I watch Carli's VR scene because I love her so much and I did a run today with Katie that made me just want to jump through the screen and hold her.
Most of my life I've been a hopeless romantic, that's why in these games, I look for that one girl (Carli, Katie, Cece, Megan, Caroline, Emily, etc) and I just connect with them. It's a weird thing, but it's true. Doing other runs makes me feel like I'm cheating on the girls I have that connection with.
But Carli is certainly very special to me, probably why I don't play other games with her character model that's under a different name. To me, she's Carli, and I'd never want to change how and what my brain thinks of her.