So just because Viera is probably more likely to be the next race we are not allowed to wish for the Lupins to be a race too? Its a wish, simple as that.
Also disguishable features: Rabbit ears, different feets and a tail..I mean you dont even know if they have the same features as the other FF Vieras and in the end they are just Hyur with rabbit parts.
And again just because the lupins right now dont have much customization doesnt mean that they coulnd have some.
Oh I did read your long post, I just dont agree with it. You might see it as big retcons of lore and this is fine because opinions are subjective but for me it would not be more of a retcon than just introducing Viera:
- Both come from a country that had no real contact to Eorzea at the start of ARR.
- Both dont have an appearance right now in the city states
- Both are beastly, with the Lupin having the head which is a bit more than normal races.
So they also need to put the Viera in a world that before that had no visible Viera. The same with the Au Ra in HW or any other new race. So we as the player just completely have to ignore that we know, that they were not part of the countries before that.
But they also lay the ground for both. Viera are name dropped in Dalmasca and the first Lupin was already in Eorzea. All I am saying is that they could just use that to write both of them in it and since Garlemald uses Lupins they are seemingly not considered as beast tribe. So at least a bit less of a problem than for example the Ixal. (And lets not forget that some scholars still wonder if Au Ra might have dragons or void sents as anchestors, yet nobody is afraid of us)
In the end this is a wish thread. It does not mean that it has to happen and honestly like other said: Fantasia, glamour, flying turtles and things like that are already breaking the immersion. Honestly before we get just another race which are mostly humans with some animal parts, I would have more customization for the existing races, thus they truly wont need any change of the story at all.
Why? It is a world where a turtle is flying, a Rex is swimming in the air, a small race can take on something that is way bigger without any problems. Just look up Worgen of WoW. They dont have the biggest customization but there can be different styles.