It has been far too long since I have written on Cilla vs. Games, and the irony of the post before this one is not lost on me. Life is busy, and life is hard. I have done so many things over the past few years, and I have had very little time. Even as I am writing this, I am going through my Neopets dailies and clearing the map of various quests in Final Fantasy XIV to level my Reaper. But something has been missing from my life for quite some time, and I know that it is the joy I get from both writing about video games and being immersed in the industry itself.

I recently attended PAX East, and it was amazing to put so many faces to names that I have interacted with over the years. I had a fantastic time, but I also left with the sense that by putting my love of video game journalism on the back burner, I have missed opportunities to really be involved in ways that those around me were. It made me truly realize that this is a passion that I want to continue to pursue. I enjoyed freelancing previously, but being employed by Prima Games was the highlight of my career, and when it folded, it was difficult for me to come back from that. But I am.

Every single time I open my journalism-specific inbox and see the emails that still flood in, I get the itch to start again as a freelancer. For myself. To write about what I like, and what I don’t. What I am playing, industry-related events, new news, old news. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t need to go viral, it doesn’t need to be new, and it definitely doesn’t need to be filled with SEO jargon. I am just going to write for me and make my heart happy. And if that resonates with other people, great!

As this is the first time that I have written in a long time, and the social media landscape has significantly changed, you may not know me. So let me give you a little information about myself! My name is Priscilla, but everyone calls me Cilla. Six years ago, I made the move from Australia to the United States. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But now this country is my home, and it has been good to me. I am married with three children, and we are on our rare disease journey after they inherited FOXP4, an incredibly rare genetic condition. I have a Basset Hound named Mimi. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Education (Secondary) with majors in English and Japanese.

My favourite genre of video game is JRPGs, though I will give most games a go. My favourite game of all time is Final Fantasy VIII. I am a Dragoon main in Final Fantasy XIV, a diehard Neopets fan, a Tamagotchi collector, and meeting Ben Starr is the top item on my bucket list.

Mostly, I just want to be a positive space to talk about video games. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the negativity online, and that isn’t me. The world has some pretty heavy things happening, and it can be hard to find joy and hope sometimes. But I hope that being a speck of positivity in the sea of social media will brighten someone’s day. And if so, it is all worth it.

See ya!