Matrix sentinel deformation issues?

Hi. I am trying to create the sentinel from the matrix. The long tenticles are complete but I can not get them into the fluid form that looks better. I have tried using curves as well as manually trying to manipulate them but it causes deformations to the mesh. How can I get them to look like the reference image without any deformations to the tenticles? The project is nowhere near complete so i know there is a lot of stuff missing. Please only comment regarding the shape modification for the back tenticles. Thank you in advance for your time.



have you tried using bendy bones?