M&M [#1 Sachama Fan]

During the Banner Ceremony I know they both blush, but there's a major difference in their looks.

Odward looks at him with a mixture of sadness and hope, but also a bit of shame. We know he was already embarrassed to be there, but he was ashamed to be in Casper's pressence under another Banner Team. I think his look is like a silent apology, obviously missing him, but most importantly, he locks eyes with him and doesn't look away. I think he was willing to try to fix things.

Casper initally looks at him in confusion, but I can also feel a certain shared emotion with Odward, like if he just wanted to forget everything that happened. But it quickly shifts to a more angry expression, like if he was thinking "I can't believe you changed us (me) so quickly", maybe feeling it like a comeback because Casper called him "replaceable". And then, in clear contrast with Odward, he looks away. He can't bear himself to look him in the eye, not with all that buried guilt that he refuses to accept and just prefers to externalize it as resentment towards Odward.

Casper implicitly denied any chance at fixing things by looking away.

The next scene happens on episode 5, when they're at the market.

As soon as they notice the Knight's pressence, Callista looks at them smiling, because she's ready to bully them. But Casper just frowns, most likely at Odward, and this is confirmed because he literally walks towards Odward to talk to him, and just HIM.

Casper teases him and basically says "you changed me for this?" (because we need to understand that every single time they talk about something related to Odward leaving the team, they mean the breakup)

It's CASPER the one looking for Odward, looking to torment him in an attempt to make him feel how he feels. Replaced. That was ironically what Casper said he could do with Odward.

And when Key mentions the Bard's egos, Casper looks so hurt, because he knows Key's right, deep down he knows that's exactly the reason his relationship with Odward ended, but again, that same ego is what prevents him from accepting it, and he ends up redirecting the insult towards Odward because he unconsciously prefers to keep hurting Odward before accepting he was in the wrong. (And it's not like Odward doesn't have an ego, he definetly does, but I believe 100% that Casper's ego is more toxic than Odward's)

This very clearly affects Odward because he knows in part is true, but he doesn't redirect his pain like Casper does, he just swallows it and saves it for himself, preferring to escape the situation instead of keep wasting time on fighting with Casper. He already had enough of that.

He's still sad about the breakup and the fact that Casper is now picking on him for it must really hurt him, because it was Odward who broke up with him in the first place. It's like he doubts his decision but it gets instantly reaffirmed because of Casper's behavior.

Odward walks away silently, with his glasses covering his emotions completly (trope that's been used to hide the character's real emotions behind the shine of their glasses) while Casper just smirks and walks away victorious. Because he managed to hurt Odward, just like he wanted. It's his payback, but we all know that isn't what he really wants.

Let's talk a bit about Odward's character development now.

During the next episodes we see how Odward is slowly (super slowly) bonding with the rest of the Knights

He even admits to be a loser like the rest of the team. I think this is cute because he's including himself as part of the Knights, even if he calls them losers <3 Although he's still mean to Key during this scene, he's working on it, and I think part of his snappiness is because of the whole deal with Casper and how that has him on edge.

Out of everyone in the Knights, Ssyelle is the most important factor on his change and evolution with his feelings. She's the ONLY ONE who brings him back to earth, she's literally the only one that shuts him up and I think this helps Odward snap out of the defensive wall he put in front of him to deal with the void Casper left on him, and realize he has a real chance to make new connections. And he also immediately respects her as captain and I think she is his first true friend in a long time (I might do a post about that in another moment), but it's important because Odward is moving forward and Casper is being left behind because HE refuses to let go and just focuses on his rage and pain he can't control because of his ego.

He even starts sitting with them after the game against the Shadows (which I think was his turning point)

But I think a very subtle clue that the show gives us that he's still hurt and sad about the breakup with Casper is when he mentions to Key that his room is a mess, but it's hard to tell.

I don't think a person so disciplined and so worried about appearances as Odward would have a messy room, but we're told that he does. And I believe it's like that because, even if he's making new connections and finding his place, the void that Casper left is hard to fill and he suffers that alone (personally, I'd love for him to open up more about his feelings with the Knights during S2)

He also genuinely worries about the Knights when Key's Tama goes crazy, reacting first to help Ameline, telling Milo to go aid Ssyelle and yelling Key's name when everything is chaotic.

And ofc he did everything he could to prove Ameline's innocence. Even HE was confused when Ameline hugged him and told him he had a good heart. I think this is when he fully accepted these are his friends and his new team.

He also celebrates Key's victory when he learnt to control his Tama (I just realized he's petting his hair too omg so cute)

With all of this, we can conclude that Odward has found his new place, has found new meaningful people in his life, and even if he's still hurt because of Casper, it doesn't bother him as much as it did before. He lost his snappiness and this constant angry and defensive state he was in, because now he has friends

MEANWHILE...

Casper hasn't improved one bit. He still refuses to see his mistakes and he doesn't have the support he needs to overcome all his negative feelings and his denial. He only has Callista, and I don't mean she doesn't care about him, but she's definetly going in the wrong direction and influencing Casper to do the same.

While Callista bullies both Key and Odward, Casper doesn't dedicate A SINGLE WORD towards Key, and only picks on Odward, calling him traitor and actually WAITING to get a reaction from him. He's still fixiated on making Odward misserable because of his non-resolved feelings and this need of revenge and jealousy born from his denial over the situation because of his ego blinding him.

And it's only when Odward looks away, that Casper walks out. Because he didn't get the reaction he expected. But Casper still managed to open the wound on Odward's heart, since during the next scene, we see how he puts his defensive wall on again and is, indeed, more snappy towards Key while discussing a plan to help Ameline. But even with all this, he openly admits he cares about them (in his own way)

And well, we've reached THE game. Episode 11.

Casper is fixiated on Odward from moment ONE. When the game was about to start, Odward is just focused on the game, while Casper smirked to him, trying to get on his nerves once again.

Casper teases Odward with the first goal, asking him if "he misses that sound", indirectly asking him if changing teams was worth it, that he should regret his decision to leave the team. To leave HIM.

But what Casper didn't expect, was for it to backfire. Odward proves to Casper that he can shine even WITHOUT him, that he's in a better place, that he found a new place with new people, and this pisses Casper off... I can't even imagine how this must've hurt him, regretting the words he told Odward, that he could replace Odward easily, while in reality, he feels like he was easily replaced now.

And then the flashback montage...

Casper is angry, hurt, done, furious, sad, just in a big mix of emotions that haunt him, trying to keep provoking Odward. But Odward looks surprisingly calm, there's no anguish on his face or an overwhelming emotion like on Casper's face. He's looking at him like if saying "I'm moving on, this isn't about us, this is about the game", which I imagine, bothers Casper even more.

I love how this montage is told from Casper's perspective, because he yearns for Odward again and he's remembering every single moment with him.

While he looks at Odward, hurt and full of resentment, Odward is looking forward, concentrated on the game ahead and trying to move on.

I really like this progression on his facial expression because he looks like he went from that anger to a painful and shocking realization. In the last picture he looks like he may cry...

And he kinda does...

But this whole dance full of feelings isn't indiferent to Odward. Even if he entered the game with the mentality of leaving everything behind, it's too hard to let him go and it affects him anyway, also being about to drop a few tears.

But even with all those mixed feelings, the true emotions always come forward in the toughest moments, and it was Odward the first to run to Casper's side after he got burnt.

And the looks they exchange say absolutely everything with no need for words.

They still love each other, Odward holds him softly with an intense fear of losing Casper on his eyes, while Casper looks back unable to believe that Odward still cares so much about him, because while Odward got new friends, a new team and got to heal a bit, the only thing Casper had was hatred and resentment towards himself for being the one to blame for losing Odward.