It's amazing what late night ruminations of any random topic on Discord can lead you. It just occurred to me that the house in the Sector 5 slums as occupied by Aerith and her adoptive mother (Elmyra) really doesn't make much sense given the setting. It's a slum, filled to the brim with what Shinra dismissively considers to be the expendable dregs of society, with barely a Gil to their name and worth. The Sector 5 market on the next screen over from their idyllic home is a veritable hodgepodge of improvised housing and decaying stores - heck, there's a guy whose cramped, tubular home is a literal pipe, albeit wide enough to accommodate some basic amenities. By contrast to the seedy, hustle and bustle of Wall Market, the Sector 5 slums are miserly and austere and if Crisis Core is anything to go by, full of children eager to pickpocket any unsuspecting visitor not two seconds after they walk in.
So next screen over you have some of the most out of place, scenic and desirable real estate in probably any sector slum there is. I mean, look at this place. In all of Midgar, with its massive, towering pillars of wrought iron and steel, here is the one place touched by sunlight and nature.
Sure, like the rest of the slums it has plenty of rusted, decaying infrastructure that looks like an obvious safety hazard for anyone larking around in this general vicinity, but the house is next to a waterfall! There are flowerbeds, fruit trees and not to mention the house itself looks like the dwelling of a Shinra executive's summer villa, built from wood and stone and bereft of the typical, ubiquitous corrugated metal elsewhere. The interior is fully furnished with all the homeliness you expect from a kind, unassuming ordinary family and generally this looks like the absolute zenith of prime real estate you can find under the more prosperous city above. It's Narnia by slum standards.
So this raises the question. How is this possible? I know the Turks keep an eye on Aerith but they're primarily there to snatch her at an opportune moment, though I concede they probably would intervene if someone were to physically attack her. But hey, that's just Aerith - there's also the matter of Elmyra. Even when Aerith is out and takes the gaze of the Turks away from the home for the day, how on earth did Elmyra get this property built in the first place, and how is it still here without anyone from the slums warring for it? It's prime real estate. Anyone living in terrible squalor the next screen over would kill to break in and make this their new residence. I'm shocked that organised gangs haven't initiated a turf war to claim the area, or that no aggrieved, envious individual has never taken it upon themselves to commit aggravated arson out of spite.
Elmyra's only a normal, unassuming widower. It's not like she secretly has considerable leverage over the local politics of the slum that insulates them from the slum hordes. At least I don't think she does - imagine if the FFVII Remake in its attempt to expand on the character go too far and reveal she's actually one of the heads of a massively successful Echo Herbs drugs business or something!
And no, the excuse that Aerith's miraculous ability to grow flowers in the slums somehow wows and placates the locals doesn't cut it for me. Maybe it works in the world of Animal Crossing but surely not in a society where there is no real governance or a police force and there's a guy living inside a literal pipe!
Your ideas, people. How are the Gainsboroughs able to keep this lovely real estate without being the victims of burglaries, squatters, arsonists, gang warfare, etc?
So next screen over you have some of the most out of place, scenic and desirable real estate in probably any sector slum there is. I mean, look at this place. In all of Midgar, with its massive, towering pillars of wrought iron and steel, here is the one place touched by sunlight and nature.
Sure, like the rest of the slums it has plenty of rusted, decaying infrastructure that looks like an obvious safety hazard for anyone larking around in this general vicinity, but the house is next to a waterfall! There are flowerbeds, fruit trees and not to mention the house itself looks like the dwelling of a Shinra executive's summer villa, built from wood and stone and bereft of the typical, ubiquitous corrugated metal elsewhere. The interior is fully furnished with all the homeliness you expect from a kind, unassuming ordinary family and generally this looks like the absolute zenith of prime real estate you can find under the more prosperous city above. It's Narnia by slum standards.
So this raises the question. How is this possible? I know the Turks keep an eye on Aerith but they're primarily there to snatch her at an opportune moment, though I concede they probably would intervene if someone were to physically attack her. But hey, that's just Aerith - there's also the matter of Elmyra. Even when Aerith is out and takes the gaze of the Turks away from the home for the day, how on earth did Elmyra get this property built in the first place, and how is it still here without anyone from the slums warring for it? It's prime real estate. Anyone living in terrible squalor the next screen over would kill to break in and make this their new residence. I'm shocked that organised gangs haven't initiated a turf war to claim the area, or that no aggrieved, envious individual has never taken it upon themselves to commit aggravated arson out of spite.
Elmyra's only a normal, unassuming widower. It's not like she secretly has considerable leverage over the local politics of the slum that insulates them from the slum hordes. At least I don't think she does - imagine if the FFVII Remake in its attempt to expand on the character go too far and reveal she's actually one of the heads of a massively successful Echo Herbs drugs business or something!
And no, the excuse that Aerith's miraculous ability to grow flowers in the slums somehow wows and placates the locals doesn't cut it for me. Maybe it works in the world of Animal Crossing but surely not in a society where there is no real governance or a police force and there's a guy living inside a literal pipe!
Your ideas, people. How are the Gainsboroughs able to keep this lovely real estate without being the victims of burglaries, squatters, arsonists, gang warfare, etc?
Carlo Kinky. Very interesting though! I wonder if Elmyra was another Madam M in her own prime? I suppose having ties to Wall Market is enough reason for the severe age on that poor woman's angry face. 
Make sure to try and include more substance in your posts so we can keep the discussions up throughout the forums! I love seeing all the new posts 