Saw this post on a P.M. Seymour video.
okay so not to be a huge nerd but ive been getting a lot of rbs on my siphonophore post talking about how it resembles the elden beast from elden ring - and it does!! but this is also where i reveal that im a huge nerd and have considered the design of the elden beast a lot in my runs platinuming the game and my recent attempts to 100% in seamless co-op with my girlfriend :3
so, while the elden beast being a siphonophore does make thematic and design sense (especially with the idea of the law of regression in mind- all things yearn to become one, as a siphonophore is many things that are also one!) but my main theory is that the elden beast is actually a nudibranch sea slug!!
so first im just going to show a couple of photos that i think show off the design aspects particularly well :3
this one, i feel, shows off the basic shape and how it translates into the elden beast veryyyy well. additionally, the gills are taking on a very tree-like shape- a design we see in the elden beast though this species lacks numerous ceras
here we see a nudibranch with a ton of cerata- the little tentacle things on this guys body :3 though the elden beast doesn't have this many, they seem to very much line up in appearance.
this one's a stretch- but it's appearance when it flies during the elden ring attack always reminded me of these guys đĽ°
my last one to show off- the hooded nudibranch. the tree like texture in the ceras and the gold nerves running through lines up exactly with the elden beast :3
i highly, highly doubt that the design being based off of a sea slug is just a, "that looks cool" thing. so how does this line up thematically?
firstly, i find it important to mention that nudibranches are pretty much parasitic. to eat something they latch onto it and begin eating, though keeping the stinging cells of it's prey to defend itself. to this extent, this lines up with the Golden Order's takeover of the lands between - the Erdtree parasitically latching onto the Greattree, taking those who once fought for it for their own. it's important to note here that the Crucible Knights served under Godfrey while he was Elden Lord- not before, and the misbegotten (specifically the leonine ones) seem to bear connection to Radagon, insofar as one bearing the Golden Order Greatsword and knowing incantations of the Golden Order. The Erdtree ate away at it's prey, while keeping it's stingers for itself.
Secondly, the reproduction aspect. Nudibranches are simultaneously male and female- an idea that is translated into the earthly form the elden ring was stored into, the dual beings Marika and Radagon.
Additionally, nudibranches are known very well for not possessing shells, though this isn't quite true for it's larval state- many nudibranches possess shells up until adulthood- perhaps emblematic of the beast shedding the form of Marika/Radagon to fight you.
Of course like always there's probably more to this idea that I'm not picking up on, and if anyone has any further theories I'd love to hear them :3 this is just my autism brain rambling after rotating it in my head all day.
Hey, I made a little guy. They're named Slugboo.
Those are lemurs and you drew them really well here.
Pulled out my sketchbook to draw some cats. Scratch that - monkeys. Or are they racoons? đ¤ Thatâs what I love about these guys. They resemble other animals but are also completely unique. Hope to see them in real life one day!Â
I got the idea for a mage using a teapot from quota of all places. I was just board and decided to do some quizzes. One of the results was a magic teapot, Then BAM! New character idea. Sheâs also a necromancer.
The first drawing I ever posted online! Just a little sea slug with a love of swinging dangerous objects at things much bigger than it. I love my little dude.
nonbuginary
April 28, 2023
Iâm so sorry for the long post but please please please pay attention and spread this
What is the EARN IT Act?
The EARN IT Act (s. 1207) has been roundly condemned by nearly every major LGBTQ+ advocacy and human rights organization in the country.
This is the third time the Senate has been trying to force this through, and I talked about it last year. It is a bill that claims "protects children and victims against CSAM" by creating an unelected and politically appointed national commission of law enforcement specialists to dictate "best practices" that websites all across the nation will be forced to follow. (Keep in mind, most websites in the world are created in the US, so this has global ramifications). These "best practices" would include killing encryption so that any law enforcement can scan and see every single message, dm, photo, cloud storage, data, and any website you have every so much as glanced at. Contrary to popular belief, no they actually can't already do that. These "best practices" also create new laws for "removing CSAM" online, leading to mass censorship of non-CSAM content like what happened to tumblr. Keep in mind that groups like NCOSE, an anti-LGBT hate group, will be allowed on this commission. If websites don't follow these best practices, they lose their Section 230 protections, leading to mass censorship either way.
Section 230 is foundational to modern online communications. It's the entire reason social media exists. It grants legal protection to users and websites, and says that websites aren't responsible for what users upload online unless it's criminal. Without Section 230, websites are at the mercy of whatever bullshit regulatory laws any and every US state passes. Imagine if Texas and Florida were allowed to say what you can and can't publish and access online. That is what will happen if EARN IT passes. (For context, Trump wanted to get rid of Section 230 because he knew it would lead to mass govt surveillance and censorship of minorities online.)
This is really not a drill. Anyone who makes or consume anything âadultâ and LGBT online has to be prepared to fight Sen. Blumenthalâs EARN IT Act, brought back from the grave by a bipartisan consensus to destroy Section 230. If this bill passes, weâre going to see most, if not all, adult content and accounts removed from mainstream platforms. This will include anything related to LGBT content, including SFW fanfiction, for example. Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, Tiktok, Tumblr, all of them will be completely gutted of anything related to LGBT content, abortion healthcare, resources for victims of any type of abuse, etc. It is a right-wing fascists wet dream, which is why NCOSE is behind this bill and why another name for this bill is named in reference to NCOSE.
NCOSE used to be named Morality in Media, and has rebranded into an "anti-trafficking" organization. They are a hate group that has made millions off of being "against trafficking" while helping almost no victims and pushing for homophobic laws globally. They have successfully pushing the idea that any form of sexual expression, including talking about HEALTH, leads to sex trafficking. That's how SESTA passed. Their goal is to eliminate all sex, anything gay, and everything that goes against their idea of âGodâ from the internet and hyper disney-fy and sanitize it. This is a highly coordinated attack on multiple fronts.
The EARN IT Act will lead to mass online censorship and surveillance. Platforms will be forced to scan their usersâ communications and censor all sex-related content, including sex education, literally anything lgbt, transgender or non-binary education and support systems, aything related to abortion, and sex worker communication according to the ACLU. All this in the name of âprotecting kidsâ and âfighting CSAMâ, both of which the bill does nothing of the sort. In fact it makes fighting CSEM even harder.
EARN IT will open the way for politicians to define the category of âpornography" as they â or the lobbies that fund them â please. The same way that right-wing groups have successfully banned books about race and LGBT, are banning trans people from existing, all under the guise of protecting children from "grooming and exploitation", is how they will successfully censor the internet.
As long as state legislatures can tie in "fighting CSAM" to their bullshit laws, they can use EARN IT to censor and surveill whatever they want.
This is already a nightmare enough. But the bill also DESTROYS ENCRYPTION, you know, the thing protecting literally anyone or any govt entity from going into your private messages and emails and anything on your devices and spying on you.
This bill is going to finish what FOSTA/SESTA started. And that should terrify you.
Senator Blumenthal (Same guy who said âFacebook should ban finstaâ) pushed this bill all of 2020, literally every activist (There were more than half a million signatures on this site opposing this act!) pushed hard to stop this bill. Now he brings it back, doesnât show the text of the bill until hours later, and itâs WORSE. Instead of fixing literally anything in the bill that might actually protect kids online, Bluemnthal is hoping to fast track this and shove it through, hoping to get little media attention other than propaganda of âprotecting kidsâ to support this shitty legislation that will harm kids. Blumental doesn't care about protecting anyone, and only wants his name in headlines.
It will make CSAM much much worse.
One of the many reasons this bill is so dangerous: It totally misunderstands how Section 230 works, and in doing so (as with FOSTA) it is likely to make the very real problem of CSAM worse, not better. Section 230 gives companies the flexibility to try different approaches to dealing with various content moderation challenges. It allows for greater and greater experimentation and adjustments as they learn what works â without fear of liability for any âfailure.â Removing Section 230 protections does the opposite. It says if you do anything, you may face crippling legal liability. This actually makes companies less willing to do anything that involves trying to seek out, take down, and report CSAM because of the greatly increased liability that comes with admitting that there is CSAM on your platform to search for and deal with. This liability would allow anyone for any reason to sue any platform they want, suing smaller ones out of existence. Look at what is happening right now with book bans across the nation with far right groups. This is going to happen to the internet if this bill passes.
(Remember, the state department released a report in December 2021 recommending that the government crack down on âobscenityâ as hard the Reagan Administration did. If this bill passes, it could easily go way beyond shit red states are currently trying. It is a goldmine for the fascist right that is currently in the middle of banning every book that talks about race and sexuality across the US.)
The reason these bills keep showing up is because there is this false lie spread by organizations like NCOSE that platforms do nothing about CSEM online. However, platforms are already liable for child sexual exploitation under federal law. Tech companies sent more than 45 million+ instances of CSAM to the DOJ in 2019 alone, most of which they declined to investigate. This shows that platforms are actually doing everything in their power already to stop CSEM by following already existing laws. The Earn It Act includes zero resources for proven investigation or prevention programs. If Senator Bluementhal actually cared about protecting youth, why wouldnât he include anything to actually protect them in his shitty horrible bill? EARN IT is actually likely to make prosecuting child molesters more difficult since evidence collected this way likely violates the Fourth Amendment and would be inadmissible in court.
I donât know why so many Senators are eager to cosponsor the âmake child pornography worseâ bill, but here we are.
HOW TO FIGHT BACK
EARN IT Act was introduced just two weeks ago and is already being fast-tracked. It will be marked up the week of May 1st and head to the Senate floor immediately after. If there is no loud and consistent opposition, it will be law by JUNE! Most bills never go to markup, so this means they are putting pressure to move this through. There are already 20 co-sponsors, a fifth of the entire Senate. This is an uphill battle and it is very much all hands on deck.
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES.
This website takes you to your Senator / House members contact info. EMAIL, MESSAGE, SEND LETTERS, CALL CALL CALL CALL CALL. Calling is the BEST way to get a message through. Get your family and friends to send calls too. This is literally the end of free speech online.
(202) 224-3121Â connects you to the congressional hotline. Here is a call script if you don't know what to say. Call them every day. Even on the weekends, leaving voicemails are fine.
2. Sign these petitions!
Link to Petition 1
Link to Petition 2
3. SPREAD THE WORD ONLINE
If you have any social media, spread this online. One of the best ways we fought back against this last year was MASSIVE spread online. Tiktok, reddit, twitter, discord, whatever means you have at least mention it. We could see most social media die out by this fall if we don't fight back.
Here is a linktree with more information on this bill including a masterpost of articles, the links to petitions, and the call script.
TLDR: The EARN IT Act will lead to online censorship of any and all adult & lgbt content across the entire internet, open the floodgates to mass surveillance the likes which we havenât seen before, lead to much more CSEM being distributed online, and destroy encryption. Call 202-224-3121 to connect to your house and senate representative and tell them to VOTE NO on this bill that does not protect anyone and harms everyone.
I make art if you don't know. They/them. My self-esteem won't let me sleep.
197 posts