Hai, I didnt realize this thread was a thing, but I wanted to share more so, bump bump. Also pls ignore me if someone shared this info. While it is true that the Chinese Zodiac is based on the year we were born in, people born around January and February would have to re-check their Zodiacs. This is because we follow the Chinese Year, and not the Western Year. The Chinese New Year is usually somewhere around February. An example, would be myself. I was born on January 8 2000, which based on the years, should've been a dragon. However, because I was born before the Chinese New Year(around Feb) of that year, I am instead, a rabbit. Along with your animals, there are elements associated with your year too. Earth, Gold, Water, Wood, Fire. That means that in (12x5=) 60 years, the cycle of elements and animals would repeat itself. There are various relationships between the elements too. Now, on to Chinese Year myths, brought by me and the knowledge my parents passed to me: Did you also know, that your third, sixth, ninth and twelveth year of the cycle are your unluckiest ones? Especially your twelveth (own zodiac) year. For example, if you were born in the chinese year of 2000, you'd be unlucky in the CY of 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, and continuing forward, 2015, 2018, 2021.. To fend off the bad luck, people recommend having real gold brought with you everywhere. Red underwear is a lucky item too. There are also various Chinese New Year myths. For example, don't cut your hair anytime soon after the CNY, as it will bring bad luck. You are also not to wash your hair on CNY, as it washed away the bad luck. We also like to keep these red cut outs of the chinese character: 福, and hang them upside down. The word represents wealth, and hanging it upside down is meant to "have wealth and prosperity raining down upon the household". There's a lot more interestingly stupid myths and traditions, but these are just a few I can think of from memory.
For all the people who are like "WE DON'T NEED MORE CHINESE STUFF!" or "WE ALREADY HAD A CHINESE NEW YEAR HUNT! oooor the people like "WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE DOG/PIG THINGS!" Shhhh bby. It's not a hunt for dogs or pigs or dragons OR the Chinese zodiac. We just want shards, for cute Avis. It's not hard to understand. Also I knew about the different elementals and I already thought about it it would be an interesting idea but might be too hard to incorporate. We'd have ten Avis just for 1 animal- which is cool but to much hassle for the devs (and me).
It's also important to note that the Chinese calendar is different than the Gregorian one. Chinese new year is usually held late Jan to early Feb (it depends on the year) so January people might have the wrong Chinese zodiac all this time.
The Chinese zodiac has more specific animals- they use 5 different elements and each has different personality traits. You could both be a tiger but different elements.