Will buds grow right while being bunched up close together?

They will be just fine and I wouldn't do any further thinning or defoliation at all. More leaves = more energy = more bud growth!

I’d flip right now.. then thin things out at day 21 or so of flower. Also your middle light is blocked quite a bit there.. I’d try and get all that light directed at your plants

I thought the humidity was supposed to be a little higher in the vegetative stage, yet I'm not sure. Mine usually runs somewhere around 45%. I run a humidifier and I've got two small fans running and a box fan for my exhaust. It's hard for me to control the humidity. It just runs what it wants. In my last grow the humidity seemed to run higher when my girls were flowering. But it makes sense bc of all the buds. How does one get the humidity down in a situation like that

Yep, it looks good to me. Good job training!

Oh, I think I remember you telling about that incident somewhere a while ago... Hope this grow doesn't end with the same result! They look pretty good to me right now - but you may have to do more defoliation further on down the road... Just make sure you keep the humidity low - 30s to 40s and that you've got good air circulation... Should be just fine! Good luck