Hi guys welcome to my essay:
Here are the cultural references I caught playing Touchstarved ANDDD my Eridia worldbuilding theory + observations. I’ll cut to the chase for you babygorl, Eridia is inspired by Middle East + Mediterranean. One could even argue, Turkey.
We will be looking at 3 things: Eridia’s physical structure(Architecture, geography), word origins, cultural references (like food, clothing, weapons)- with the current non-backer available knowledge we have right now.
I double-checked with internet but Im open for feedback correct me if I’m wrong OR you have any additional input🧍♀️
1) Eridia’s Structure:
Eridia’s architecture is confirmed to be somewhat inspired by Istanbul. This was confirmed in the livestream now posted in the RSS youtube. The houses we see in Lowtown are examples of the old turkish houses that were mentioned. We also come across mosque-like towers and domed structures. Also very prominent in maybe not specifically Istanbul architecture but def Middle East overall.
Evidence A: a1) Eridia Lowtown houses / a2 a3) traditional Turkish houses. A3 more picked to fit the vibe of Lowtown the source is Researchgate
Geographically, lowtown and Hightown are also VERY Istanbul given that the Lowtown seems poorer compared to Hightown, which is similar to the European side of Istanbul across theeeee drum roll pleaseeeee BRIDGES! CORRECT! Boom Istanbul land geography reflected in Eridian structures! Since we know Eridia is also separated by a bridge between Lowtown and Hightown, it feels not unique to Istanbul alone but at least resembling the European & Asian halves of Istanbul
Vere mentioned the weather being “Dreck”, idk what that really tells us geographically but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
THEORY: Location wise, Eridia is giving Mesopotamian locations. With river and all. We know Vere had said “this was more than a miserable (sth i dont recall before my laptop broke so I cannot replay the game rn someone reblog this w that Vere scene)” which leads me to believe that Eridia was once abundant-ish. Mhin also said its not that bad and the streets are now considered eroded (makes sense bc of water damage.)
The senobium is also a religious learning place and could serve as an institution more resembling of a historically islamic school: a Madrasah. Which also studied the sciences commonly during the Ottoman period. Madrasahs can be secular or religious. The Ottoman ones did study the sciences but outside of Ottoman Madrasahs I’d love to hear if they were secular or not (Even Ottoman Madrasahs were not entirely secular institutions.)
2)Word Origins:
Senobium written as Cenobium for us- is like a monastary that encourages community more than solitary. And the word itself has greek origins, coming from the word koinobion apparently). Leander is also probably greek bc of his name origins(Leandros- look up the myth of Oleander), but we can also see some other symbols/ references related to other greek myths like the pomegranate wine, the triple moons, the keys (HECATE AND OVERALL UNDERWORLD SYMBOLISM WAKE UP PEOPLE HE’S A- gets killed) waterways are also somewhat common in ancient sites (for any city close to a water source)
Eridia as a name can possibly originate from the name of the Greek goddess Eris- and it makes sense given the chaotic nature of the city. Mhin themselves said Eridia was never perfect which hints at some level of inevitable chaos.
3) Cultural references:
Mhin’s dagger- looks like an Italian stiletto dagger.
Evidence B: Mhin’s dagger vs an Italian stiletto dagger
Leander’s dagger- that’s a khanjar. These daggers are sometimes used to symbolize “manhood power and authority”. But take what I say with a grain of salt and feel free to correct me :)
Notes: Keep in mind that these dagger references are meant to show the blade not accurately determine where the blade is from-the argument is made for a region not a location. One could even argue this to be an Indian khanjar because of the handle.
Evidence C: c1)Leander khanjar / c2: Persian Khanjar / c3:Ottoman khanjar
Vere’s decorations feel Italian as well when paired with Mhin’s dagger. Kuras’s earrings are feel like they can be somewhere in Middle East (not super sure), Ais himself is an outsider to the city so no wonder nothing he has particularly matches what’s going on as Eridia’s vibe.
We look at Mhin’s blouse? Giving European bbg idk what to say especially those sleeves. And the overall silhouette.
Oh and btw. The lamps are Turkish/Moroccan lamps. And we have a silly little cup of what might be a funny Turkish coffee cup in MC’s room :)
(More evidence will be in reblogs)
But now that we are at the end of it all, if u actually came this far allow me to now get a bit more sentimental with my words: Dear @redspringstudio I don’t know if you will read this or see this post. I’m also sure we cannot get a confirmation(for now) if any of these are true or not. Either way, I have so far never seen Middle Eastern references in a horror game before. Neither have I seen it done well-made too many times. I have followed the old work of some of the developers on the team and had came across a similar, heartwarming world building with again, Middle Eastern tones to it. Everything I have said today might be a speculation, perhaps I am really reaching with some things I say. But at the end of the day it really really warmed my heart to play this demo and not only freak out about the characters, but the world as well. To look around, frantically take notes and double check my current knowledge to make sure I was not delusional when making this post is really something not a lot of games can make me do. This is yet another reminder that representation matters, and that small hints in a good world building can really touch someone. I remember giggling with my friends and going insane over collecting the evidence for this post, and it will forever be one of the sweet memories I have had when playing visual novels for me.
Enough of being mushy go like and reblog so I didn’t end up wasting my hours and shit/j