Track 26: Witch and Familiar

Welcome to episode twenty-six of the Mixtape Book Club Podcast.

In this episode, Ellen and Mal welcome author Nickelkeep to discuss fics involving Witches and Familiars. Fics include Nickelkeep’s Leviathan series, Mail Order Familiar by Amethystaris and BlueMasquerade, and Familiar Man by bendingsignpost, among others.

You can find our Mixtape Book Club Ao3 collection here, containing the stories we’ve discussed on the podcast so far.

A transcript is available for this episode, here.

As always, Mixtape Book Club contains swearing and discussion of adult topics. Please listen at your own discretion, with attention paid to any little ears that might be nearby!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Our Guest – nickelkeep

You can find all of nickel’s Destiel works on ao3 under nickelkeep. You can also find them on twitter as nickelkeep.

Another witch/familiar fic we discuss: Something So Magic (5176 words, T)

SPN Quarantine Zine Volume 3 will be available from December 20th, 2021! Make sure to follow on twitter or on tumblr for all the updates.

Featured fics

Leviathans series by nickelkeep
Published 2020, total 19k words, E

Where Angels Fear to Tread (7460 words)

My Heart Above My Head (5995)

Fools Rush In (5726)

Barrow, Alaska has come to be known as the top of the world. People come from far and wide to say that they’ve been as far north as possible without going to the North Pole. Barrow only has one major law that’s strictly enforced. Don’t be outside after the sun goes down.

Cas has lived here his whole life, and now runs the Raven’s Nest, a Bar and Gathering Place for his neighbors. On the last day before the town plummets into darkness for nearly two months, a stranger arrives in his bar, and is unable to find shelter before night falls.

When Cas lets the man stay, things start to change, and despite the dark, there may be a new light.

Mail Order Familiar by Amethystaris and BlueMasquerade
Published for DCBB 2019, 62k words, M
Art by Hitori Alouette

Dean Winchester was a Familiar meant for the wide-open spaces of the frontier. An ad in the paper combined with increasing pressure from his grandfather to sign a contract with a Witch of Samuel’s choice was just the motivation Dean needed to leave the big city behind.

What he expects to find is a year of hard work and rough living cleansing the land of magics that corrupted it centuries ago. What he doesn’t expect is that the Witch waiting for him just might be exactly what he has been looking for his whole life.

Castiel Angelus is cautiously optimistic that the Familiar he’s agreeing to work with, sight unseen, will be a good fit for his power. He’s chosen to work on the frontier in order to escape his demanding family and their unceasing ambitions.

He finds that Dean’s compatibility is beyond his wildest dream. Their bonds, both magical and personal, will be tested to the limits as they encounter the source of the corruption and seek to defeat it, before it’s too late.

Familiar Man by bendingsignpost
Published for DCBB 2021, 65k words, M
Art by Hitori Alouette

For years, Castiel has focused on his medical degree over his magic before ultimately (and quietly) combining the two. As a natural born witch, he has an innate connection to magic.

Or rather, he did.

With that connection strained to the point of breaking without the help of an animal familiar to center him, Castiel’s mojo has all but worn out, and he has yet to find anything close to a match. To top it off, a crossroads demon won’t stop pursuing him for a pact, but Castiel would rather die without magic than sell his soul.

As his connection continues to fizzle out, he uses all but the last dregs of his power to cast a newly crafted spell that should, theoretically, lead him to a suitable familiar. And without enough magic to cast it again, whatever animal he finds is the one he has to keep.

Other Witch and Familiar Fics

• The Weight of a Promise by saltnhalo (5,939, T) – Witch Dean
• Such Familar Magic by saltnhalo (26,279, E) – Witch Cas
• Unfamiliar by riseofthefallenone (29,252, E) – Witch Cas
• Magic Quarantine Ride by goldenraeofsun (9,995, M) – Witch Cas
• I’ve got ninety-nine problems (but a witch ain’t one) by Shelobs_web (3,554, G) – Witch Cas
• Bluebells by Hollyblue2 (6,188, T) – Witch Dean
• Wild Touch by QuillsandInk (13,000, E) – Witch Cas
• Voco Familiarem by Zation (54,068, E) – Witch Dean
• The Gift by xHaruka17x (8,301, T) – Witch Cas
• Nepeta Cataria by ThursdaysWaywardWriter (4,084, T) – Witch Cas
• Unbound by through_shadows_falling (85,463, E) – Witch Cas
• You Cast, I Charge by SomethingBlue42 (42,452, E) – Witch Dean
• Familiar Shelter by Destielshipper4Cas (8,814, T) – Witch Dean
• Moonflower by K_K_Tibal (18,137, T) – Witch Cas
• Where The Cracks Form by jupiter_james (42,422, E) – Witch Cas
• Cursed or Not by Ltleflrt (115,223, E) – Witch Cas
• Felix in Aeternum by EllenofOz (23,837 (wip), E) – Witch Cas

Other links

• Love Destiel? Join the community of readers and writers at the Profound Bond Discord server. We have a Mixtape Book Club channel there!
• Our RedBubble shop is here. Any profits will go directly to Random Acts. (We just wanted our logo on a mug!)

What’s your favorite witch & familiar fic? Please let us know, we’d love to hear from you!

Our intro music is “Angel with a Shotgun” by The Cab, arranged by Ellen