I need you to protect me. Can you do that?

Fine, fandom. You don’t want to gif Mako and Stacker? I’ll fucking gif Mako and Stacker, because if there was ever a relationship that carried the emotional impact of a film, it’s fucking this one. Without a doubt, we saw their relationship from start to finish and it was complete with a role reversal. Stacker protected Mako in Tokyo, and now she’s protecting him on Operation Pitfall. And this scene is just my absolute favorite because Stacker’s a soldier from top to bottom, but here we genuinely see the father that he’s become to Mako and the person she looks up to and the one she gets her strength and drive from. And without words, although the words hurt just as much, they managed to destroy me emotionally with this small gesture, a you-blink-and-you-miss-it moment: Stacker saying to Mako, “Hey. [We’ve got a job to do, let’s go do it.]” A subtle tipping of her chin; a quick, inconsequential shrug of his shoulders, and immediately Mako straightens, squares her shoulders, taking his strength as hers and they’re ready. They’re ready to save the world together. In Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero, Stacker comments that young Mako reminded her of himself; “Quiet, serious.” Based on this, I feel like their relationship is significantly based on their body language, and how they conduct themselves around each other. There were just volumes that were spoken about their relationship in this one scene and this one moment that it made seeing it in theaters 8 times worth it.