im so conflicted, i cant help but think of trigun again and how here the story is clearly touching on how thorfinn wants to do everything himself, separate from "normal people" (away from the people he cares about), but yukimura uses the discussion for some heterosexual crap 😔

he has einar confusedly say "do you want to help thorfinn that badly?!?!" as if he wasnt also literally leaping into harm's way for thorfinn just a bit ago and frustrated with being left on the sidelines, a literal page ago. gudrid has less power and seems to apparently care a normal amount beyond leif and bug eyes and the woman that wants thorfinn dead, and the whole discussion gets turned into a girl crush moment, with her saying that anime "y-you idiot!!' after hitting a guy. the scene at least couldve been a normal moment to show she cares more than the other three, and does values thorfinn as a friend, but it feels like it skips straight to romantic implications. i personally feel like she hasnt been developed well enough yet, and, sure, theyre with thorfinn, but she doesnt feel like close friends, and this is used to hint she's developing romantic feelings, with leif making a fucking "man and woman" joke to tell you it, so it's just... dumb as hell.

it also feels weird that einar previously had no trouble falling in love w arnheid in the last arc, so he's probably more normal than thorfinn concerning that, and would be able to understand what gudrid's saying (if thats what the story is pushing), and they could probably bond since they both like thorfinn in some way, she could say he's also crazy for what he does to help thorfinn, but it's turned into a men and women cant understand each other moment that's supposed to be funny. the scene is also dedicated to this moment, not hinting what they could do later, or if they'll bring it up to him again. like that heterosexual writing really ruined a moment on multiple aspects... crazy