FennekeMay created this beautiful rendition of Philomela with some strings attached as the early morning dawns on her.

While many have asked me if Philomela is a sort of "Pinocchio" story... that is not the case.

Throwing away any of that idiotic Disney mess that was the 1940 cartoon, Pinocchio was a cautionary tale of what happens if you do not try and "fit into society" but let yourself be "puppeted" by other people with malicious intent.

It starts out with Pinocchio doing the usual shenanigans anybody of his "age" (young teen) might do.
Also the cricket exemplifying his conscience gets hammered to a pulp by pinocchio himself who does not like being told what to do.
Cue Pinocchio entering a spiral of mischief and punishment, doing worse and worse each time.
Being haunted by the ghost of the talking cricket he has two choices either become an hard working person or stay a puppet.
Slowly he crawls out of the mess he made for himself by starting to work hard to repair for all the mess he caused, even then... he was a dunce at school and litterally gets turned into a donkey while trying to get decent grades.
She still fights against life, by now having understood that it was his bad attitude that gave him his own problems.
Ends up saving his father from his own bad decisions which stranded him on a boat inside a monster and in the end... he gives all of his hard earned money of his first year of work to save the Fairy which had fallen hill.
He does get to become a "real boy" in the end.

Also: "I once had strings, but now I'm free... There are no strings on me!" is a direct quote from Pinocchio... while he was on his spree of mischief.

But ... this is not what Philomela's story is about.

Philomela's story is about obsession.
And she is the object of it.
She is beautiful and elegant ... on pictures at least.
But the reality of her condition is that of a body unable to move if not winded, and winding takes hours for very little that can be accomplished in the brief time of life she gets given.
She is (essentially) "only good for taking pictures of".
She is even given an actual sex organ at some point... and it is only the source of pain, the opposite of pleasure.
She is ordered, bossed, and when she takes action she gets destroyed.
But she gets destroyed also when not allowed to take action and following orders.
Because the person who buys her wants to see how she is made.
What makes her tick.
So he can make more of her.
To sell to other people.
In the middle of the story she gets ahold of "magic" which allows her to finally "be free".
But still... she ends up wasting the magic, and in the end when very little magic is left... helping others, once again, destroys her.
The last time she rebuilds herself, in the final third of the story, she does so with her own strenght.
...she is truly free, and in control.
She still keeps helping others, but on her own terms.
And this time she does not get destroyed.
But decides she needs an extended vacation and ends up building a dream world where she goes to live.
Will she ever come back? I have not decided yet.
And i hope the original comic artist gets better (send Graphographer some wishes 😉💖👍) so i can tell this story to you all.

That is... quite a lot of strings attached to this character.
And in the end she is a puppet.
Once they wind her she has to obey.
Or else.
But she is not Pinocchio.
If anything, Pinocchio's very first action is the removal of his strings.
For Philomela... that is the very last thing she does.
Even then she chooses not to be "a real person".
That is only a mask she puts for others.
She accepts who she is... and works with it.

• Support The Artist Here: https://ko-fi.com/fennekemay
• Artist page: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/fennekemay/
• Artist page: https://www.artstation.com/vervemay
• Commission Info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commiss.....ns/fennekemay/

Original SONGBIRD™ "race" spawned by   Tegerio 's work
• Support The Artist Here: https://www.patreon.com/tegerio
• Support The Artist Here: https://www.zazzle.com/store/tegeriana
• Artist page: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/tegerio
• Artist page: http://www.twitter.com/DocNoTweet
• Artist page: https://docphlogiston.tripod.com/
• Commission Info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/tegerio
• Commission Info: https://docphlogiston.tripod.com/commish.html

High detail redesign of Philomela by   Honovy
• Support The Artist Here: https://ko-fi.com/honovy
• Support The Artist Here: https://www.patreon.com/Honovy
• Artist page: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/Honovy
• Artist page: https://twitter.com/HonovyArt
• Commission Info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/Honovy