i've been replaying this on loop and i'm feeling:
1) mesmerised by the terror in naim's eyes and how he goes totally non verbal when he's scared like fucking hell joe what shit have u been through to be able to display fear like that. the way he's so terrified he's choking on it, unable to speak or do anything but frantically tap on the glass as tears well in his eyes ugughfhfg it's so fucking visceral i feel sick I LOVE YOU JOE BIRD
2) dazed by how gently ryan talks naim down. hey! it's alright. naim, it's alright, it's alright! look at me. hey, it's alright while he has both hands on his waist like oh my god ryan whelan you beautiful kind boy. what's that quote like "No one will understand the violence it took to become this gentle"... he's so careful and soft with naim it makes my head spin
and finally, arguably most devastating 3) the fact that ryan reassures naim by saying it can't get you there's people right here naim, it can't get you! not realising that it isn't true. bc naim not only witnessed ryan being attacked by the entity at the roller skating rink but also hunter the night he was killed. he watched hunter be strangled through glass just like this, and even though naim broke through the door and chased after calling his name the entity still killed him.
like for ryan this is just naim freaking out because he's frightened of the entity but for naim he fully thought he was about to die. and when he looks up at ryan through the glass, he's not just scared, he's also likely thinking in that moment of hunter and that night, and how ryan is going to watch him be killed just like him.
