#swampbending

When I imagined an VLD Avatar AU, I knew right away that I wanted Lance to be an Airbender. Waterbender is the more obvious choice, and I like Waterbender Lance, but I felt his fun-loving personality matched better with Airbender culture. Lance and Aang have a lot in common. His sky bison is Kaltenecker, of course.

At this point in Avatar history, the Air Temples have not been built, and the Air Nomads are more nomadic then they are in Aang’s time, frequently crossing paths with the semi-nomadic Northern Water Tribe. That’s how Lance and Hunk become friends.

The pacifistic element of Air Nomad culture is still developing, so they have an army in this time period.   

I also knew that I wanted to Pidge to be a swampbender because of her connection to plants. I thought it would be interesting to play with the idea of civilizations deteriorating instead of developing, so in this time period, the Swamp is a thriving center of spirituality, learning, and culture. The swampbenders of Katara and Sokka’s day are the remnants of this more prosperous society. It made sense for Pidge to be from one of the more advanced societies in this AU.

I think the Holts would be studying the Spirit World in this AU because the connection between the two worlds is stronger in the Swamp.