Not sure what makes Highlanders with eyebrows “lore forums material” but the part I’m confused about is how do we have Highlanders who are not from Eorzea considering they supposedly only sprung into existence in Ala Mhigo.

I let the two Gerolt reflection clones slide because they’re obviously there as a joke. Others could possibly be explained via an overheard throwaway NPC line in Aleport I believe it was, where someone accuses a Highlander as being part Roegadyn, which despite being an insult could have some truth to it due to their nose shape and overall physique. Tural has no Roegadyn though other than one explorer and a bunch of Lominsans who only came recently so the only explanation is that they’re just being used when they need a large, physical NPC but not that large.

Otherwise, players cannot play Far Eastern Hyur, X’braal, Shetona, etc. You could headcanon as such but in-game we specifically play and are referred to as the versions of the races that are present in Eorzea, plus seemingly refugee Au Ra, Hrothgar, and Viera since none of those show up in Eorzea before Garlean involvement in their homelands and don’t show up in ARR or as NPCs who have lived here all this time. Just like how “Midlander” refers to the midlands of Eorzea, so too does “Highlander” refer to its highlands. Not that of any other region. Neither technically exist outside of Eorzea even though others may use the same models, so player Highlanders will always be Ala Mhigan.

Meta-wise, they’d probably need to add a whole other face like they did for stubble Derplander. Though if enough people keep bringing it up, particularly at fan fests, we might get it.