Magical change of appearance in the lore

[SannaR]

Okay, so while I can agree with everything else you've said. This one actually does have an entirely canon explanation.

Glamours.

Glamours are straight up stated to be full transformations of appearance. It's why you can wear say, the chocobo head or literally any big and expansive armor set and then have it glamoured to 'the emperor's new X' or something else, and vice versa.

Heck glamor prisms were used to hide Rhalgr's Reach for so long and was used into tricking Fordola and the troops stationed at where the Anata tribal quests are at. As the Ala Mhigan flag that we "unfurl" is just a glamor. Also isn't there a comment about part of the Blitzen mount we got from the most recent Starlight Celebration being a glamor as well?

[shadowclasper]

Also, just remembering something on this thread's subject, a recent reveal from Secret Best Part Of 6.4: Plastic surgery exists in-game, and is apparently very accurate, given the only thing that tipped people off was eye color!

That's not exactly gonna work for changing race, but it's still further than you probably expect from the setting.

Oh heck! you're not wrong my man.

Heck glamor prisms were used to hide Rhalgr's Reach for so long and was used into tricking Fordola and the troops stationed at where the Anata tribal quests are at. As the Ala Mhigan flag that we "unfurl" is just a glamor. Also isn't there a comment about part of the Blitzen mount we got from the most recent Starlight Celebration being a glamor as well?

yep, glamours cover a plethora of sins, but the fantasia is implied to be significantly different. If I honestly had to guess it's probably something that gives you the courage to actually go through massive changes and warp yourself through the aethyrite systems, since the way it functions is entirely based on one's sense of both possessions and self identity. You get condensed down into aether with all your objects, thrown to another aetheryte, and then recondense. Your possessions come with you because you think they should and consider them effectively, part of you to some extent. You come out the shape you're supposed too because you think you should be that shape.

I imagine that Fantasia is basically working on those same principles. "Here take this and it'll give you the courage to actually envision your true self hard enough that when you pop out of the aethyrite the fear won't keep you from expressing it that way". That effectively avoids almost all criminal actions involving it because, hey, you gotta -really- fucking- believe in it as yourself, it's not enough to just want to be that shape.

[Cleretic]

Oh heck! you're not wrong my man.

Woman, but I admit with the gatherer headpiece on the character preview it's hard to tell!

But yeah, I thought that was a really good thing to bring up, because the game's general level of civilization and tech (wavering somewhere between 'roughly colonial' to 'World War 1 with anime stylization' depending on where and when you look) doesn't really suggest 'very high-quality plastic surgery' is on the table.