cellar like a church

job

Wyll/Astarion

Popular fanon for Astarion (if he has a real job post-canon and isn't just an adventurer or house husband or villain) is perfumier or tailor(/fashion designer) because two things we know he can do is embroider and repair clothes, and (I think this is canon?) make his own perfume blend. And he has opinions about fashion. And I think both of those are cute, and could potentially be done while nocturnal (unlike say getting back into law which would sadly probably be a lot harder for a vampire lol) so I'm a fan.

As for modern AUs, I don't have strong opinions but I think I like it best when he's in law. I wish I saw more fics where he's a judge - like tbf it's hard to reconcile a successful prestigious career with a version of his backstory, but also that potentially makes it more interesting to explore. Though that might be against the spirit of the question since that was his canon job 200 years ago lol. Oh well.

As for Wyll, for a non canon job in the world of BG3... he could teach kids fencing lol like he's doing when you first meet him? Idk I'm bad at thinking of jobs for a medieval fantasy world. Anyway in a modern AU I've seen him as a public defender and social worker a few times, and I think those make sense for him. He's a monster hunter in canon (though not really by choice...) but like the nicest most sympathetic monster hunter ever lol considering he risked eternity in hell to spare Karlach because she gave him sad puppydog eyes, and he has a line about how the worst monsters he's ever met were respectable people, etc. Dude is driven by wanting to help people. One thing I haven't seen but might be good is doctor - especially since he has a politically important father with high expectations for him. But that only works if you don't adapt his whole exile thing.

Griffith/Guts

I can't imagine canon Griffith as anything but what he is - thief turned mercenary turned nobleman turned godking. Even if he gave up on his dream for some reason he'd still be a mercenary imo. I could see canon divergence scenarios where Guts ends up doing like, guard work or something though.

In a modern AU Griffith needs to be something where he's climbing a ladder. Politician is the most obvious and best choice imo, but something corporate could work if he has a good reason to care, or he could be a gangster in an organized crime AU. But it has to be something where reaching the top gives him power to enact some kind of change.

Guts could be anything blue collar and physical. Construction, bouncer, bodyguard, etc. Or he could be a pro athlete.

Xena/Gabrielle

Canon universe, I've always loved the idea of an AU where Xena was still a warlord when she met Gabrielle and Gabrielle ended up seduced into a life of evil while being a moderate check on Xena's sadism. I mean yeah there's a bunch of conqueror AUs that have a similar premise, but I like the idea of Xena still being on the road to conquering when she meets Gabrielle, and Gabrielle not being her enemy but still a naive ingenue who wants to pick up a sword. Those are kind of noncanon jobs lol.

Modern AU - I mean canon has Xena as a surgeon which is pretty great and fitting. But I like her being more blue collar and physical so I love the idea of her as a firefighter, or maybe a boxer or other competitive fighter, something like that.

Gabrielle could be a writer. Either fun fiction or maybe self help books lol. Or run a coffee shop that hosts a lot of community organizing stuff maybe. Or both. I could also see nurse, doctor, or therapist pretty easily.

Hawkeye/Trapper

I can't imagine an alternate reality where Hawkeye is anything but a surgeon, BUT I can imagine him losing his license to practice and... idk probably removing bullets from gangsters for cash under the table lol. I had the idea once for a noir canon divergence AU where he got a blue discharge and ended up becoming a PI because he had a friend who could get him into it. But that job was just based on tropes lol, based on canon I don't think there's any good answer to what he'd do if he wasn't a doctor.

There's a potential AU where Trapper ended up a priest lol since there's a (jokey tbf) line where he says his parents wanted him to be one. He might make a pretty good therapist if he got into psychology too.

family situation

Wyll/Astarion

Well Astarion's is unknown, at least til the prequel book comes out lol. I don't really have any headcanons for his family though. I guess I like to think he had at least one sibling. I also kinda dig the headcanon that he was forced to kill his family shortly after being turned, and maybe doesn't even really remember it, but it's also nice if they're alive out there and he can meet them again. Also I think he grew up rich and spoiled. Makes for the best contrast with 200 years of slavery.

We learn a lot about Wyll's childhood and family in canon, and I don't really have any headcanons and probably won't until I play more of the game and get more info first hand, so I'll skip this one.

Guts/Griffith

Well we know Guts' childhood very well, but I'll throw out one headcanon: a lot of the mercenaries in Gambino's band were genuinely quite nice to him - we see a couple chiding Gambino's physical abuse during the sword training scene eg. And that made the betrayal worse when they tried to kill him after the whole Gambino confrontation, and reinforced the sense of instability in Guts' life.

As for Griffith, I think he was orphaned early enough that he doesn't remember his mother. Imo he could've been surviving with other street kids from a very young age, being used to help with begging at first because he's cute before getting into stealing.

Xena/Gabrielle

We know both their backgrounds too, but a couple additional headcanons: I think Xena was a lot like Gabrielle when she was a teenager, before the raid on Amphipolis, ie discontent, uninterested in heteronormativity, and craving adventure. Her brother's death got her to leave and become a pirate, but it didn't make her who she is. I mean, she organized and led the armed resistance to that raid before he died.

And Gabrielle... idk actually lol, her little pre-xena village life is too boring for me to spare a thought for. I guess, some people take that "I have the gift of prophecy" line as genuine and suggest she had propheetic dreams as a child. I think it was a bald-faced lie to try to get Xena to take her along.

Hawkeye/Trapper

Despite his mom dying when he was young and impressionable Hawkeye had a nice childhood imo, raised with progressive ideals and able to be open about his interest in men with his dad. Lots of friends at school, hung out with the popular kids, etc. It's canon that he's been left leaning all his adult life at least, but I think he was a bit less outspoken and confrontational about it pre-draft.

I imagine Trapper having a lot of strife in his family, and eventually becoming estranged from them. Just a few little jokes and asides that add up for me, like Trapper seemingly being raised very catholic but not being religious, and some negative comments about parents.

bugs

Wyll/Astarion

Unfortunately the answer for Astarion is terrible. Really big spiders, since they'd have the most sustenance. Outside of being forced to subsist on them, I don't think he'd like any bugs. I think he's an ew creepy crawlies guy at heart. rip.

Wyll... yk I could see him being a tarantula guy. Unless there's something that textually contradicts this, I think he'd find them cute.

Guts/Griffith

Idk... I feel like Guts doesn't have enough whimsy to have a favourite bug. I think Griffith should like butterflies - flying imagery, transformation, pretty aesthetics, they suit him. But he actually prefers... honestly, spiders again. They just epitomize creepiness to me, and I think that's fun as a contrast to his vibes. Because he lowkey does have a bit of a fondness for monsters and looked-down-upon things.

Xena/Gabrielle

There might be a canon answer to this but if there is I don't know it. Xena likes worms, because they're good bait for fishing. Gabrielle loves butterflies and moths. And big fuzzy bumblebees. She likes the basic cute ones.

Hawkeye/Trapper

Hawkeye does not like any bugs imo, he's another ew creepy crawlies guy, based on his attitude towards mice. He can deal with them, but he would like to not have to. His least disliked bug is probably like butterflies because they're the least annoying.

And I'm gonna say Trapper's favourite bug is ladybugs because one of his daughters drew him a cute picture of one in a letter. Outside of that I don't think he'd have a bug opinion.