okay, about familiars tho. The modern fantasy situation I was writing ten years ago got to the point where I was like "living magic practicioners can have spirit familiars" therefore "spirit magic practicioners can have living familiars" (and subsequently wrote a short story about a very large cat familiar who'd take up an entire bus seat for their human ghost magic practicioner). And then "familiar type creatures can be magic practicioners" therefore "familiar type creature magic practicioners can have familiars that are familiar type creature but also non-familiar people including humans".
Which is how you get a sapient tree monster magic practicioner with a ghost of a human landscaper as their familiar. The possibilities are truly endless.