Sorry for the late reply! And also i couldn’t read all of that i’m a liiitle short on time right now
It does seem like a good idea! Animation does live up with little details like thees but as i stated above it will be a lot to do, as you know the animation library is huge, but if you’re willing to take it i’m sure there’d be no problem since it is just a tail after-all (and ears is it?)
For the tail model i’d suggest two or Tree segments (dependin on length) but you probably should start off with three and just not make a model for the third if the tail is short
The style i personally use is this
This is from a mermaid i used and it follows the tail style of something like the squirrel in SH with it’s connected segments
There’s also the Harpy but i couldn’t find good shots of her
Also if you haven’t you should check out the tutorial i made here, it doesn’t give much info on the animation motions, but it should get you started
Sorry for the stiff tone and rushed writing, but i’m a little busy with things, so…
Out!