Interview with Calm Wind · 12:33am Oct 29th, 2019
Interview with Calm Wind
by Nailah
“Alright, now tell me my dear friend, what inspired your username?
Response:
The name i used to go by with everything that i did online was “Flashgunner” and i even have a fanfiction.net account under that name that still exists but hasn’t been touched in at least 9 years. However, it was a name that i came up with when i was 13 to play online games with friends (Like Quake 3, team fortress classic, Counter strike 1.4,5,6, etc.) So when i got here and created an account, i decided it was time to ditch the old name and come up with a new one.
How did i decide on Calm Wind? I literally just thought it sounded nice haha. I threw that in there, made up my user quote, chose a stock photograph of a feather with a blue backdrop as my avatar picture and created my account. So yeah, really isn't much to it.
“What drew you into Mlp?
Response:
Tripped and fell down the rabbit whole completely by accident. There was a point in time when a friend (artist) and I had considered working together to write and illustrate children’s books. That never happened, but at some point during my first, rather dead end job, the thought had come to mind again, but i refocused it to wonder if i could write for children’s cartoons. I had no idea where to begin, but i had written fanfiction for video games a lot in the past (old fanfiction.net account) so i felt a good place to at least try to get some feedback would be to find a popular cartoon, get a feel for it, and write a short story styled after an episode to see what fans of whatever cartoon thought of it.
So i went to look at current popular cartoons at the time and i was absolutely shocked to find out that the most common answer i got/found was… My Little Pony? I used to watch the Saturday Morning Family Channel in the mid 90’s when i was a kid, i’d watch the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, Master’s of the Maze, and Maximum Drive, among other things, but there was always a point in time when My Little Pony would come on (can’t remember if it was G3 or reruns of G1) and like all little boys my age i ran away screaming to avoid the cooties.
So i was very perplexed, but i HAD to know why this new show was apparently so popular. So I went to youtube and looked up the show, the first episode that showed up was Hearts and Hooves Day. (The second Season had just ended at the time). I watched it. And… I immediately had to look around to make sure no one could see that i had actually enjoyed it haha. I was caught offguard by the animation quality, the fun characters, the well timed gags, all of it. So i watched some more, finally getting a better look at the mane six and quickly realized how well done the cartoon was. The main characters are six heavily conflicting female stereotypes that clash so much, you could put any two of them together in any situation and it will be entertaining. Thats masterful character personality work clear as day.
So i looked deeper and looked into who was involved. I Found the creator was named Lauren Faust. I had never heard of her before, but… then i saw who she was married to. Craig McCracken. Who is he? Well he and another great cartoon legend by the name of Genndy Tartakovsky are the two people responsible for some of the most successful cartoons ever to run: Dexter’s Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack. Lo and behold… a lot of people that worked with them on these cartoons were called up to help Lauren Faust with MLP G4. It all made sense and i proceeded to watch every episode out at the time because i had to see their work again.
After doing a thorough watching of all the episodes i took to paper and wrote Soft Spoken with a Big Heart, my first pony fic styled to be like an episode starring Big Mac, who at the time had had very little developement. The rest is history.
“Who is your favorite pony and why?
Response:
Soarin. I instantly loved the Wonderbolts when they first appeared and for the longest time Soarin was the only Male Wonderbolt of any relevance. So before i had an OC i tended to use him as a self insert of sorts as the pony i think would be cool to be.
“Favorite episode and why?”
Response:
That’s a tough one, Either a bird in the Hoof, Bridle Gossip, Power Ponies, or any Episode with Discord (Im a massive Star Trek TNG Nerd). I could probably name more i i tried, i never did have a ‘favorite’ episode picked out. Though i can say that im not the biggest fan of the later Wonderbolt episodes (gasp) but its only because i had established my Wonderbolt characters for so long before Rainbow Falls aired and suddenly they were ALL WRONG AHHHHHHHH. hahaha.
“What inspires you to write?”
Response:
I love telling stories. Always have and always will. Crafting narratives, teaching lessons, and leading readers on mystery hunts that lead to intense discussions are all so entertaining to me. I love to influence as well, nothing makes me feel as good as hearing i’ve inspired someone else to take up a project of their own.
“Give us the background of the author! Tell us all about you. Well in a short summary.
Response:
Well, im 30 years old, former tri-sport athlete for 18 years, i spend too much time lifting weights in the gym, and i have a desk job as a risk-arb analyst for a hedge fund. So yeah… writing time is limited, but i make sure i have time to do so, it’s been worth it and continues to be worth it.
“Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Response:
Nothing in life comes easy. To all the younger aspiring authors out there and on this site, there was a point in time when no one knew who i was either. I wrote a few stories, but aside from a couple of shipping fics, my following didn’t take off until several years, several stories, and one bit of exposure from a group competition. It only happened because i stuck with it over time.
Also, there is no better way to learn how to become a writer than experience. No one learns how to ride a bike without falling a few times first. You are not going to write a best selling novel right out of the gate, and you will likely have a hard time creating solid characters if you’re still young and haven’t experienced the world in full yet. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep trying your hardest, and always listen to what people have to say about your work.
Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of interviewing you, you have truly been a pleasure to talk too. I hope you continue being awesome.
-Nailah.
Link to Calm Wind's fimfiction page: https://www.fimfiction.net/user/68543/Calm+Wind
Nice to see someone else who fell in partly due to researching on telling kids/tweens stories.
How in the heck do you get all these adorable pony pics? Where does your dealer get them?
Back in 2013 a life long friend of mine said he watched MLP:FIM (he was in college and his roommate was a brony) and naturally my response to this revelation was. "Man you've really gone off the deep end, watching a show geared towards pre-teen girls." And he replied that. "The animation is pretty good, and the characters are nice... Just watch the first two episodes of season one." I of course blew him off sarcastically saying. "Right, like that'll EVER happen." So, I watched episodes 1 thru 4 of season one on Netflix. Declaring myself insane, and swearing off pony for good. But, it wasn't long that I ended up watching all the episodes that existed at that time. (Seasons 1-3 if I remember correctly) and at the conclusion of season 3 episode 13 of MLP:FIM I then said to myself that I was done for good. But a few months later, I found myself wanting more, and seeing fan created content on YouTube (music, dramatic dark/grimdark readings, art and animations, etc.) eventually lead me to this site. I can say that I've been a brony for about 5 years now, and despite G4 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic being over and done with. I'm probably going to remain a brony, and pony loving faggot because I enjoy the creative, positivity of this fandom.
Thanks,
Lukefor suggesting that I watch the first two episodes.