The Seven Year Retrospective #16 - Learning Humility (Patreon)

Welcome to a brand new week folk, and number sixteen on Mr Cavanaugh's Seven Year Retrospective Top Twenty. The title really is a mouthful, I know - and no dirty jokes about that either, thank you!

The story falling at number sixteen on the top twenty is a story that was previously exclusive to patrons pledging $5 or more a month: "Learning Humility". It's a devious little tale where Arrow actor learns not to disrespect the character of Mr Cavanaugh. While we're on that topic, I must add that I'm a thousand miles away from the shrewd mysterious businessman character that represents me in my stories. In reality I'm all awkwardness and dumb jokes, but I quite like the transformative man of mystery mythos that has slowly built up over the years and through my collaborations with the likes of The Craftsman and Bizz.

Stephen Amell has long been one of my favourite celebrity transformation subjects (perhaps victims is a better term, as most of my transformations involving him have been at his expense), dating back to this little story from July 2013 where the Green Arrow was bodyswapped with a fan. While I've written a fair few stories with Amell as his Arrow character, it's actually the ones involving him as an actor that have most stood out to me in my mind - indeed this is only one of two stories involving Amell to have made it onto this top twenty list, so keep your eyes peeled for the other higher up the rankings!

Worth addressing is that the storyline for "Learning Humility" was actually decided by a patron-only poll, with the option of having Amell himbofied and forced to work in a men's strip club obviously winning. I'll actually confess that my vote went to the first option (Stephen's sent to a world where his cousin Robbie plays the Green Arrow and Stephen himself is a nobody forced to be a caterer on set!) because I'm a sucker for stories where important and successful people endure a riches-to-rags scenario while somebody less successful takes their place. Plus, Robbie Amell's perhaps even more delightful to look at than his older cousin! 

That said, I actually really liked all five possibilities I offered in the poll and would have been happy to write any of them. Weight gain transformations (option two) are something fun that I haven't actually done too often and male-to-female is another transformation subgenre that I haven't personally explored all that much in my own work, plus there was the scandalous addition of Robbie Amell once again. Option four would have had Stephen as a member of my "household staff" (oh if only such a thing existed in reality!) through a bodyswap which perhaps would have been the most conventional (and maybe least exciting) choice given my back catalogue. 

All in all, I'm really happy with how the story turned out in the end and I hope you've all enjoyed revisiting it with me too. As for if poor little Stevie ever made it back to his life as a successful actor... I'll never tell!