sorry if this doesn’t make sense but do you see any flaws in Gil? Like is there aspects of him that you think are actually deserving of criticism
Oh, plenty! He's not perfect and I'd never claim that he is.
And preemptively while I do have EXPLANATIONS for all of his behavior they are not EXCUSES for his behavior.
First and foremost, he definitely has some internalized prejudices towards the ocean at least. It's very possible that he has some towards saltwater MONSTERS like Lagoona as well but he's never explicitly said anything harmful about Lagoona's kind specifically. Of course when you're raised by parents like Gil's who try their hardest to shield you from the outside world and instill dozens of fears into you about a certain minority of people, it's very difficult to get over those fears, especially for somebody like Gil who damn near canonically has an anxiety disorder and has shown to be very paranoid at times.
Of course he has shown a desire to fix his mindset and has worked towards getting over those prejudices by spending time with Lagoona and getting to know her and her culture better. People say that his progress keeps getting reset which. I don't see it? After Escape from Skull Shores he never says anything distasteful about the ocean again and is even comfortable with becoming a saltwater monster in Great Scarrier Reef.
Something else Gil does a lot early in his character arc is actually self-victimization of his freshwater scareitage/him being freshwater. Most of his internal struggle in EFSS is this unjustified fear that Lagoona's parents won't like HIM because HE is freshwater. When he's explaining his fear of the ocean to Lagoona it's because HE'S scared he'll be TARGETED for being FRESHWATER. The only negative thing he says about the ocean that isn't directly tied to this self-victimizing mindset he has is when he says the ocean is full of whale piss. In one of Lagoona's diaries Gil accuses Lagoona of being anti-freshwater when she suggests the swim team train in the ocean for a bit (which side note is a bit insensitive of Lagoona because freshwater fish do run the real risk of severe dehydration if they swim in the ocean for too long which includes Gil, though the way he goes about this is very accusatory and selfish). Lagoona fucking full names his ass and he immediately realizes what he just said and later leaves Lagoona a note apologizing for his words. It's implied that he already had something on his mind at the time (likely bitch-ass parents related) so he was just extra defensive that day. And lastly, (and this is elite ball knowledge) when you deselect Gil from your team in the Skultimate Roller Maze game, one of his voicelines is 'is it because I'm a freshwater monster?' in an accusing tone.
All that's to say that while he does have some internal prejudice towards saltwater that he actively gets over, his biggest flaw in his early character arc is this mindset (instilled in him by his parents) that saltwater monsters and creatures are out to get HIM SPECIFICALLY because he's freshwater. Obviously this is a pretty big character flaw with him but we see him get over himself throughout his arc.
Aside from the saltwater-freshwater bullshit, Gil has two more character flaws that I personally find very prevalent with him.
The more obvious of the two is his tendency to be a pushover or permissive of others. He's a people-pleaser who hates conflict and will do anything to avoid it and to avoid making people upset, most of the time without really thinking about how the way his avoidance can then in turn hurt those he loves (which is often Lagoona). Obviously him avoiding Lagoona at Gloom Beach was something he did that had hurt Lagoona's feelings, but it was out of the INTENTION to try and protect her feelings and spare her any heartbreak. He literally outright says this when the issue first starts.
Lagoona: you can tell me anything!
Gil: well I can't tell you this, okay? I don't want to hurt your feelings.
When he lies about his parents being okay with his and Lagoona's relationship he does it not only to try and protect himself, but to try and both please his parents AND please Lagoona. Naturally he wants to do both because he's a dumb teenager who both wants to be in love and make his parents proud. Obviously this was not good of him to do, but it's understandable why he did it and he never wanted to INTENTIONALLY hurt Lagoona.
His avoidance and permissiveness is obviously just made worse by the way his parents treat him. They're mentally and emotionally abusive to him, and very likely physically too given just how terrified of them he is. Fawning to them and their demands is the way he learned how to get them off his back and avoid punishment. It's not because he inherently chooses his parents over Lagoona like people claim, it's because he's scared shitless of them and they've already taken him away from Lagoona once before.
The last super important flaw for him I'd like to mention is related to the previous one. People don't realize that Gil is actually very naive. Despite the horrible way his parents treat them and saltwater monsters, he still genuinely believes that they'll cool down and come around to Lagoona eventually. Of course, WE know that will likely never happen. But because Gil's still just a kid who has so much love in his heart that he wants to share with everybody close to him, he still loves his parents and still sees what little good in them there may be. This occasionally applies to other adults outside of his parents as well, particularly Farnum and likely Van Hellscream too. Because of the way his parents treat him he likely seeks the approval of other adults and SOMETIMES overlooks their behavior in lieu of believing that they're not malicious.
Some other flaws he has are that he tends to be sarcastic and very often lets his emotions get in the way of his thought process.
Basically to make a long fuckin story short he's a fucking pussy. /silly /hj /aff
That's all to say that yes, I very much see flaws in Gil. Those flaws are half the reason I like him so much and they help balance him out with Lagoona. I typically don't like characters that can do no wrong and their worst character flaw is that they shed too much (looking at you Clawd even though I do like you too), and Gil is one of THE best written characters in the franchise whether you like it or not. The way he approaches conflict and the way his paranoia affects his thought process is VERY realistic, but unfortunately he is HHHHHORRIBLY utilized which leads to his character and the nuance that comes with it being neglected by the narrative and ESPECIALLY the fandom.
It's okay to criticize these aspects of his character, but calling him a racist or abusive or toxic when you just refuse to understand his character in the first place is NOT okay, NEITHER IS EQUATING HIM TO RAPISTS.
