Serious DO NOT CALL IT CP.

[DormNes]

Some people chose it as a personality trait.

like most things that are great, there are posers and people to take it into cringe...

 

[Cindy]

Whether or not someone uses UU is the ultimate litmus test to gauge someone’s media literacy regarding the source material that our roleplay is based upon; Either they’re able to determine that the popularized term is a thematic misfire and entirely a misnomer, or they’re so consumed by years and years of roleplaying fanfiction that they’d prefer the name that has neither substance nor contextual precedent in perversion of one of the setting’s foremost factions, regardless of its adherence to canon. That, or they’re just continuing to say it for the bit and I will gladly continue to spar with them in the theatre of battle as a fellow troll…

Coming up with unique interpretations of limited information presented in a setting is cool, but some adaptations stray from the baseline so far that it becomes dissonant with what it was meant to resemble to begin with. What someone uses to refer to the Combine is a dead giveaway to me whether said someone is still stuck in 2012 imo.

Here’s a reputable source.

Universal Union

The universal union is a non-canonical substitute term for the Combine, popularized by many Half-Life 2 Roleplay fandoms. Despite being used once as a mere descriptor in one of Dr. Wallace Breen's speeches, much of its meaning has been expanded and quasi-legitimized over the years by various...

hl2rp.fandom.com

>Not Overwiki
“Noncanonical substitute term” you say?

 

[Simman102]

someone is still stuck in 2012

it's weird to see such pushback on it after the Helix 1 lore team went through great lengths to make the distinction between the UU and the Combine very clear

 

[FMDev]

i just think universal union sounds cooler

 

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

it's weird to see such pushback on it after the Helix 1 lore team went through great lengths to make the distinction between the UU and the Combine very clear

"its weird to see some people saying one thing while another group of people said another thing"


wdym the community isnt a singular blob with uniform opinions? you're out of your mind.

 

[deathwolf]

Whether or not someone uses UU is the ultimate litmus test to gauge someone’s media literacy regarding the source material that our roleplay is based upon; Either they’re able to determine that the popularized term is a thematic misfire and entirely a misnomer, or they’re so consumed by years and years of roleplaying fanfiction that they’d prefer the name that has neither substance nor contextual precedent in perversion of one of the setting’s foremost factions, regardless of its adherence to canon. That, or they’re just continuing to say it for the bit and I will gladly continue to spar with them in the theatre of battle as a fellow troll…

Coming up with unique interpretations of limited information presented in a setting is cool, but some adaptations stray from the baseline so far that it becomes dissonant with what it was meant to resemble to begin with. What someone uses to refer to the Combine is a dead giveaway to me whether said someone is still stuck in 2012 imo.



>Not Overwiki
“Noncanonical substitute term” you say?

universal union sounds cooler and i learnt it at 13 so it will always sound cool sorry not sorry😎

take it ic

 

[Ond]

Whether or not someone uses UU is the ultimate litmus test to gauge someone’s media literacy regarding the source material that our roleplay is based upon; Either they’re able to determine that the popularized term is a thematic misfire and entirely a misnomer, or they’re so consumed by years and years of roleplaying fanfiction that they’d prefer the name that has neither substance nor contextual precedent in perversion of one of the setting’s foremost factions, regardless of its adherence to canon. That, or they’re just continuing to say it for the bit and I will gladly continue to spar with them in the theatre of battle as a fellow troll…

Coming up with unique interpretations of limited information presented in a setting is cool, but some adaptations stray from the baseline so far that it becomes dissonant with what it was meant to resemble to begin with. What someone uses to refer to the Combine is a dead giveaway to me whether said someone is still stuck in 2012 imo.



>Not Overwiki
“Noncanonical substitute term” you say?

What’re you gonna do if I just keep calling it UU

 

[Maytree]

Hey, wanna see me annoy people?

*Clears Throat*

Universal Union.

Here me out. Clears throat aggressively and inhales.

Vortussy.

 

[Alexander The Great]

Here me out. Clears throat aggressively and inhales.

Vortussy.

heard

 

[Havok]

"its weird to see some people saying one thing while another group of people said another thing"


wdym the community isnt a singular blob with uniform opinions? you're out of your mind.

Maybe it should…

 

[deathwolf]

Mark Laidlaw doesn't know what the UU is but he's super bad at lore and admits the community has developed layers of meaning around it- I don't see Mark Laidlaw seething at his creation being ruined looks to me like he's accepted the community has given a definition to the Universal Union

 

[Thood74]

wdym the community isnt a singular blob with uniform opinions? you're out of your mind.

Maybe it should be…

Well of course you would think that, Havok.

Anyways, I think it doesn't matter if you use the title Universal Union - or any alternatives like Unification State - or just want to call them The Combine. So long as everyone understands what you are talking about it's a-okay, and it even opens up the opportunity for making a distinction between the alien empire and their occupational government which could make for some interesting scenarios that otherwise wouldn't happen.

 

[Cindy]

What’re you gonna do if I just keep calling it UU

old man shakes fist at cloud or w/e

 

[Erkor]

Mark Laidlaw doesn't know what the UU is but he's super bad at lore and admits the community has developed layers of meaning around it- I don't see Mark Laidlaw seething at his creation being ruined looks to me like he's accepted the community has given a definition to the Universal Union

 

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

This is totally me when the author is dead (figuratively) and the fandom seizes ownership of the meaning of his work (literally)

 

[Maytree]

Mark Laidlaw doesn't know what the UU is but he's super bad at lore and admits the community has developed layers of meaning around it- I don't see Mark Laidlaw seething at his creation being ruined looks to me like he's accepted the community has given a definition to the Universal Union

Tbh. UU Defenders' emphasize of Marc Laidlaw supposedly cheering GMOD Roleplay community for renaming the Combine to the Universial Union is a little overexaggerated. He doesn't think the fanmade term to be "baffling" or a glorious substitute name for the Combine, it's just more like he was like "Oh... Huh, I guess that was a thing by roleplayers at one point" and moved on to never really dwell on it again.

In my personal opinion on the matter, I just think the Combine or Breen using misleading labels for themselves such as "The Universal Union" is counter-productive to their bloodstained principles of extreme rationalization and anti-idolization, and just to as of who they really are in general. The Combine is more like an undefinable "Embodiment" or "Promise" with double meaning; like the Combine Harvesters you would see in today's farms, or a system to transcend their consciousness between life and death (Half-Life)

I don't tend to observe the big baddies behind the Combine as textbook "conquerors/imperials/rulers", but just godly space worms who experienced an existential crisis (such as the fear nothingness after death) and are actively medicating themselves to not die of natural causes. They certainly don't have any interest governing Earth, aside from harvesting the planets for its resources and to cull humanity for transhumization (Stalkers, Soldiers, Advisors). The Shu'ulathoi already have their enormous Overworld they're also modifying to survive past the Big Freeze-- Hell they only saw the Gman as a DNA Sequence and tried using him to create a literal bacteriophage (a known viral structure used to kill Bacteria). Conquering other planets for prolonged occupation would be useless.

My beliefs aside... Marc Laidlaw had actually made past statements that he doesn't believe in canon when making HL2, so trying to make a server "lore accurate" is utterly useless. Everyone's free to call the Combine to in whatever way they want. We can probably just kill two birds with one stone and just name the bill that Breen signed to "The Universal Union Act".

 

[Ond]

old man shakes fist at cloud or w/e

I’ll keep doing it then, just to annoy loreheads

 

[Laura]

don't particularly care me thinks