Hey, this is not a translation, but do you know Alia Jackson?
Just another one of us in this vast, vast fandom, no biggie, but one I’ve gotten to know, admire and cherish dearly over the past year.
I first met Alia over this Hope & Legacy analysis video. We were almost done with the editing and, being outreach dodo birds, needed help with its roll-out. And help she did. This was Alia – resourceful and supportive throughout, going above and beyond for a project she’d just joined:
Suffice to say, the reception to said video at Golden Skate was so interesting that, well, like there was a big bang and a new planet was created… Through brainstorm spreadsheets (she really likes them ✨✨), her experience at project management, plus goodwill built up over the years of dedication to the fandom, she made sure that people were heard, options were weighed, and that things proceeded smoothly during confusing, challenging times. The initial 48 hours seemed like the worst of times, but thanks to Alia, it also seemed to be the seed for the best of times.
Quietly but steadfastly, she’s always been about connecting people - all of us - in our mutual appreciation for Yuzu. Right after Boston, she (alongside Beca) collected messages from all the fans and made sure the goodwill was sent to Yuzu. She did it again for Yuzu’s 22nd birthday (700+ wishes, 70 countries!), and compiled her encounters along the way into a demographics survey of 813 of us.
Back when @pamigena came up with the idea of a Media-Only thread to extract media, translations, etc posted to the Yuzu Fanfest on GS, Alia and ShiroKJ quickly offered to help out. For four whole years, 2014-2017, the girls kept up this curation effort. As a new fan, it was such a great resource to me, and surely many of you, but I have to admit I was only vaguely aware of who was behind it until more recently.
TL;DR, if you didn’t know Alia (@aliajackson), you should. She wrote this post on her hysterectomy journey a while back, and it’s been on my mind since.