[ITW-12/24]TossGirl-celebrity crush + Idra makes Tossgirl cry

From Naver Sports (Sports Q interview, where users submit questions and she answers them, mediated by a reporter), 12/24/09:

[Here are some interesting excerpts. The full interview follows.

Any celebrity you wanna spend Christmas with?
- Hm... Lady GaGa? I'm a fan. Her unique personality is great, and I usually like female celebrities instead of male celebrities. She sings well too~

Favorite movie/food to eat/food to cook
- Titanic? And the Lord of the Rings too. I like pizza and meat. Honestly.. I am not a good cook but I make good shrimp dishes^^ Easy to make so I made them for family sometimes.

If you can go back to the past, would you still choose being a progamer?
- Possibly. I really liked games. But as I got older I've thought about missing studying. If I go back now, I would've studied. Also I was lonely a lot being the only female progamer. If I were to lead a normal life, I might have met more people.]

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How's holiday going?
- Just practicing. Preparing for the next year. My family plans to watch Avatar on Christmas and have dinner. It's been a while sine the last family dinner. I'm looking forward to it.

How much do you practice? With whom?
- I have three four-hour practice sessions, totaling 12 hours. Sometimes I do more. I practice with the team's newcomers or people that I know online. They're not well-known, so you probably don't know them. ^^

Ever thought about changing the race? How good are you on other races?
- I used to be a Protoss, so I'm good at sniping Terran with Protoss. Protoss is strong against Terran. I can use other races to fight Terran but not other races. I've played Terran for a while, so I don't plan to change. But personally, Protoss is really attractive.

Why Terran? Who's the best progamer ever, and why?
- Back then there were many female progamers. To play Terran, you need to do a lot and it's a complex race. I had a fast hand, it fit my style, and I had pride in playing a race that others don't play. There're many good players, so it's hard to pick one. The end result is important for progamers, so I don't know at this point. Good progamers are the ones who are distinguished and honored when they're retired.

Any build order you like or think that it's good? Any race you're confident against?
- I don't wanna reveal builds. It's a secret ^^ I have to make a living too ^^ Zerg is easy to go against. It used to be hard because there were many difficult maps. But nowadays the balance is good, and it's easy for me to do Bionic because I have a fast hand. Protoss is hard.

If you play (Z)

Jaedong now, what winrate do you honestly expect?
- Differences among progamers are slices of paper. The currently good ones have put a lot of effortt and luck has been good on them too. Progamers' skills have been standardized. If the build order is on my favor, I might win couple games against him because I'm a pro too.

How do you keep up with your appearance?
- I don't. I don't manage my body appearance. Rather, I'm a bit weighty because I ate a lot of fast food as a kid. But thanks for thinking I look good ^^

Boyfriend? If not, ideal?
- None. There're cases of successful progamers with lovers, but I have to try harder against my male progamers. A boyfriend is a luxury because I have to practice and am busy. Ideal is someone who can wait for me patiently (I don't really check my cellphone, so I don't really contact.) and understand my job as a progamer. ^^

Any progamer that fits the ideal?
- They're all so young...^^ I don't see them as guys but as progamers that I have to overcome. Many younger progamers. It used to be different. ^^

Best friend in STX SouL?
- (P)

Shuttle. Only person that I have the personal contact of. He's bright, so once you get to know him he's friendly. I like that kind of personality. ^^

Outside of STX?
- I don't have anybody that I keep up with personally. And it's hard to befriend the Young progamers...maybe a generation gap?? ^^ I didn't really feel that kind of thing, but now I do. For example, I don't know how many members the Girls Generation has, and since I don't know those kinds of things I can't hold conversations. ^^

STX's chance of winning the ProLeague 09-10?
- We'll win most definitely. We missed it by short Last season. But this season we have a good lineup on each race. We do have weaknesses, but since we're so solid I believe we can win.

When do you expect to play on ProLeague?
- That's something that the coaching staff decides. I don't even practice in the team residence, so it might take a while. It's a crucial time for the team, so you can't bet on behalf of me. ^^ It's too early now. But I've been preparing hard, and though playing on ProLeague is #1 priority it's also important to focus on the individual leagues prelims.

What do you think about the (P)

Stork/

Bisu/

Jaedong/

Flash quartet?
- They got where they're now because they have put a lot of effort...it's a tough question ^^; I don't know what kind of answer you want.

Any former female progamer you're a good friend with? Who's the best progamer currently? Please don't say things like "it's hard to pick one."
- (Z)

JongMi. Her personality is the opposite of mine. She has really a bright personality, and our difference actually makes us fit. We weren't not friendly at first, but we have gotten closer as we played as female progamers for a long time~ hm ^^; since I'm a Terran I watch Flash's games a lot. They're often astounding, and though he lost to (Z)

HyuN recently I was astonished by his play. My pick for the best progamer currently is Flash ^^

You have some history (?) with (Z)

YellOw. You think you can beat him on ProLeague?
- We're both pros, so I'll play thinking that I can. Whether the opponent is Young or old, nobody is easy, so I'll prepare 100%.

Any celebrity you wanna spend Christmas with?
- Hm... Lady GaGa? I'm a fan. Her unique personality is great, and I usually like female celebrities instead of male celebrities. She sings well too~

Any moment in your progaming career that you enjoyed and that you regretted or wanna take back?
- I enjoyed beating male progamers at prelims. ^^ A regretful moment was when I lost to non-Korean players at ESWC. I felt good after beating Chinese players, but after losing to (T)

IdrA, I cried a lot (though I don't usually cry; maybe the national pride got me.). It felt horrible.

What do you think about disrespectful comments about you online? How do you deal with them?
- I have an individualistic personality, so I don't care about them. Since I'm a woman there're disrespectful comments about my appearance and so forth. But I try not to care. I Just try to focus on comments that look inside of me.

Gain and loss as a female progamer? And besides progaming, dreams for your future as a woman?
- I can carry on because of my career. Something bad is that though there're progamers whose record is as good as mine but I get spotlight because I'm a woman. Dreams as a woman are probably the usual - raising kids well, living happily with a good husband... but First I need a boyfriend to think about all that ^^; I've been a progamer since I was a teen, so I haven't really thought much about that kind of things.

When you retire, do you wanna stay around progaming?
- I do, but I also wanna go back to studying. My sister regrets that my studying got interrupted. Maybe I can continue working, but I can probably Study for university. My parents want that.

(Z)

January became a coach.
- I lack too many things to be a coach. I haven't really thought about that. I just wanna do my best as a progamer.

How should a girl go about becoming a progamer?
- She needs to prepare from her early age. You need to get the license, so you need to stop thinking that you're a girl and give your everything when facing male competitors. I have been able to carry on because I won female tournaments, but I'm concerned for people who wanna start now. But if you wanna try, I'll give my best advice ^^

How do you approach this tough path?
- Belief in yourself. Belief in a human's limitless potential. Some are born with skills, but if you give 100% you can get close. I have to try hard to catch up with them.

How did you feel after beating (P)

Reach at the Heritage?
- I'm an old progamer too, but I started out looking up on Reach... He was what Jaedong and Flash are for young people nowadays. So it was rather an honor than an excitement when I beat him. It felt good because I had prepared everything by myself.

Any other game beside StarCraft you play?
- Back when I was 20? I played Kart Rider and I was rather good ^^ But I don't play other games nowadays.

Favorite movie/food to eat/food to cook
- Titanic? And the Lord of the Rings too. I like pizza and meat. Honestly.. I am not a good cook but I make good shrimp dishes^^ Easy to make so I made them for family sometimes.

If you were to transfer, which team?
- I've been with STX for a long time, so I never thought about transferring. I wanna stay with STX.

If you can go back to the past, would you still choose being a progamer?
- Possibly. I really liked games. But as I got older I've thought about missing studying. If I go back now, I would've studied. Also I was lonely a lot being the Only female progamer. If I were to lead a normal life, I might have met more people.

Best player at STX?
- (Z)

Calm who recently won a title. I've heart that (P)

Kal is good with other races too. Everybody is good ^^

StarCraft 2?
- I don't know since it hasn't been released. I'll have to think about if afterwards.

When was your prime?
- I would like to think that there wasn't one...but some think that when I won female tournaments was my prime. I'll trying hard, so I hope it becomes fruitful and I hope to make the prime that I think of soon.

Your sister is an actress. Becoming one yourself? Who's prettier?
- I haven't thought about it. Some have offered me stuffs and I've taken lessons, but it doesn't fit my personality. My sister is cute. All three of us are pretty^^ I have a twin sister too.

Any progamer you wanna play with?
- Someone has asked me what would it be like playing against Jaedong. So, Jaedong.

Your weakness and strength?
- Weakness is my normality and lack of style. It's also a problem that if I like a player I go with his style. Sometimes I push myself doing that. Strength is my psychological game during multi-gamed match. I use some unusual builds and make the opponent lose confidence.

You after 10 years?
- 10 years later I probably will have been married and be a pretty wife ^^

Anything you wanna accomplish before retiring?
- One reason I can't retire is that I haven't accomplished anything. I have many desires and wanna achieve many dreams...I wanna win at ProLeague and also go on at individual leagues.

You like the nickname "Empress"? Any others that you like?
- I like that one. I envy those who got their nicks from their styles. I don't have such because I don't have those kinds of styles. But I like "Empress" because Only I can have it ^^

How are you wrapping up 2009?
- I didn't accomplish much in 2009, but I consider it a prep for 2010. I'm trying hard, so I'll show something to fans who are waiting ^^

2010 goals?
- Win at ProLeague and passing individual leagues prelims. More mature and stylish personality.

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