WAIT the atk on titan au goes so hard tho?!? penny for ur headcanons? š
I give my headcanons away for free, like air. Here you go :)
Mordor works very well as Paradis, and Sauron makes sure that his people hate the outside world by blaming it for the existence of titans, giant humanoid monsters that eat people. Titans fuel the hate of orcs and keep the Free Peoples away.
But it doesn't work: when the West discovers the existence of Nine Special Titans, expeditions will be sent to capture them and obtain the power to defeat Sauron.
Talion had been a part of several of those expeditions, but the last was a complete disaster, as the pure titans hate most of his fellow rangers (and their families at the Black Gate).
Talion was saved by what he had considered a foe: another titan, but this one was radically different from the others: it was intelligent, smart. It took him away and once they were in an isolated, apparently safe area, an elf emerges from the nape of the monster, even though Talion struggled to recognise him as one, looking as battle-worn and old as he does.
Celebrimbor explains everything to Talion: for centuries, he had been trying to obtain all the other 8 powers, in order to defeat Sauron- and take his place, which he didn't tell Talion. But now the titan's power has completely drained his life force and Celebrimbor is at the end of his life.
Faced with the chance to avenge his family and friends, to protect his land and defeat the source of all evil in the world, Talion accepts Celebrimbor's offer and becomes the new host.
They began their quest to capture the remaining powers, which leads them to their conquest of Mordor.
A few more things, about the Ackermanns:
Their concept isn't so much different from that of the uruk-hai (both are "enhanced" living beings of a race), so in this AU they are another product of Sauron, created to balance the immense power of the nine titan hosts, or just as an experiment.
They are special soldiers, they can't be turned into hosts or pure titans and it's not easy for other races to distinguish them from a regular uruk. But orcs can see it, as these "special forces" accomplish feats that no other uruk can.
Sauron can't control their minds, but indoctrination easily eludes this issue.
I've also written something in the past about the Nine Tribes of Uruks and the Nine Titans, here it is: https://www.tumblr.com/allofthefreedoms/726620457668886528/9-titans-for-9-tribes-part-1?source=share
https://www.tumblr.com/allofthefreedoms/726630486614638592/9-titans-for-9-tribes-part-2?source=share
