Red blooms that bleed vividly into the light of both sun and moon, eyes warm as the summer fields -- all that she is reminds me of my own heart and also of my own mind. Either at conflict or at ease with the other, oh how shall I pick which one to listen to? 

Misaki

Misaki loves to wander around the forest alone with her own thoughts...but she's not truly alone. She can hear the thoughts of the wind as it whispers among the trees like a friend's stories, feel the touch of the sunlight piercing through sun-dappled canopies like a loved one's embrace and taste the sweet scent of the flowers like a treat given by a friend. She seems a little too shy and quiet but her tiny cat mask gives away the childlike demeanor everybody wants her to hide. She is her own person and that is enough to make her feel free.

"Briefly like spring time,

I have come, but I will go.

Life is too fleeting."

Tora

She is named Tora. To defend one's land is her duty and it takes up too much of her time. Sometimes she wonders if it was better to have been an ordinary person, tilling farm or making rice, singing songs with her friends and eating with her family at the dinner table. But this is the life that she's been given. She is grateful, but she feels her days and her nights are too short -- life is but similar to the passing of sakura blossoms. She will never know just when the blades or the arrows of her enemies will end her days. In this she feels sorrow but also gratitude -- to die for your people and your country is enough to make the hardship and unpredictability of warfare easier to overcome.

Growing up with six older brothers, all Hagumi wanted was to fit right in with the guys. She took up arms and fought in the skirmishes along with them. But that was only in her wildest of dreams. She's stuck feeding the chickens and cooking dinner at home. Not that she hated doing all the women's work, but she longed for adventure... sans the killing. One day she was forced to do what she had imagined doing -- she must fight to protect her brothers' innocence. Oh great, I was just joking, she thought nervously. Well, I could handle a broom so why not a spear? She's quite sure she could do it. After all those daydreams and watching numerous training and sparring with the scarecrow, she could survive the battlefield, right?

She inhabits the gardens and meadows, her being floating in the air as the wind takes her to other flower fields, meandering in the simple beauty of floras. The sun, she adores. And, it is in the moonlight that she takes comfort with, lulling her to deep slumber until the sun would embrace her with her warmth. Her song you'd hear as the wind blows, singing in the duet with its airy spirit. So, each time a gentle breeze would touch your skin by the meadows, know that she is with you, loving every simple being that nature has brought for all of us to revel and love.

Belonging to no land, Salima conjures magic for nomads, making sure that their lives are comfortable and full of magic. She looks up to her older brother Baldouin, studies spells and tries to learn Magical Philosophy and Diplomatic relations like him. He dotes on her and makes sure she is always safe in her travels. She, in turn, is fond of Margaret and wishes her brother would forget his studies for a while and follow his spirit for once. One only falls in love once for a person like Baldouin, she thinks. She travels to distant lands with her brother's friend Daario whom she has taken quite a liking to. Oh, and her Flaming skies enchantment is a work of art and is rather a bit of a terror to see but is still a wonder to behold.

Jo March “Late at night my mind would come alive with voices and stories and friends as dear to me as any in the real world. I gave myself up to it, longing for transformation.” Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (film, 1994)

I have been in love with Jo's person --there is something about Jo that I see in myself. I am tempestuous, full of restlessness and full of stories filling my mind and heart to the brim, often times occupying my days and long into the night. I love our home so much but I long for adventures, to see the world and all its simple beauty. Like her, I am a little bit on the boyish side who prefers anything than that which confines me to one place, always seeking the dirt and sweat.

I meant to draw her for tomorrow, you know, Wednesday? Ha, really now.  If I were to become trapped in a desaturated world, I'd be Wednesday. Or maybe anyone from Tim Burton's world. Anyway, quick inktober for today though. I've got some things to do within the day but of course before sleeping, I shall read. If not, I shall definitely become young Ms. Addams here.

Dorian loves to make all kinds of potions. His expertise in herbs, fungi and river water makes him a favorite candidate for a membership for the elite order of naturalists. He doesn't like authority though, and often gets into trouble with Geeta. He's fond of waking up early in the morning to walk around the forest and after that he'd prefer to take his tea in the greenhouse with his friends.

Naturelle loves impromptu magic duels...she's a natural at it. Oh and she's good with puns too. Anyway, she inherited her abilities from her father who happens to be a cousin of Baldouin. Well, she does like being related to Salima, but that solitary wizard who can't even talk to her good friend Margaret without making mistakes in his spells? Why, magic casting expertise runs in the family, why can't he keep his calm like the rest of them? In her spare time she loves to explore the school's impressive architecture and hopes to create the next best library filled with sunlight and an indoor river. One can dream, she says.

She's brave, highly imaginative and has lots of spunk. Coraline is one of my favorite films, though I have yet to read the book. Neil Gaiman's books have always been so whimsical with a touch of innate intimacy and familiarity. I believe I shall love Coraline the way I do with his other books.

She's a witch of wisdom, with knowledge that goes far back to the early settlers of the land, heart as strong as the desert. She prefers to stay in one place despite her nomadic upbringing, believing that her spirit is always travelling with the wind even though she is still as a rock. Like an oasis, her appearance changes like the passing of day. She is actually Baldouin and Salima's mother, but it is rumoured that their father is the spirit of the desert himself, and hoping to keep Fairuza forever, gave her the ability to live her life like a moon -- in cycles. Baldouin thinks she is like a phoenix, young then old then begins again like the rising of the sun and moon. Of course, the bit about Fairuza's husband is all myth, since he is as human as her children. So, is she the one who is a magical being, or is her husband truly a spirit of the desert?

Rouen fights rebels from using magic for selfish reasons, mostly against those who raid villages and spread terror across the land. She is also a strong advocate for the right to do magic for uses other than scholarly studies.

Jane Longfellow

Jane is the daughter of two adventuring professors of the village school. Having been to many strange places, they told all of their journeys to Jane. Her imagination would run wild but what she loves the most is using her magic to conjure amazing images of her daydreams and her parents' stories out of thin air to the amazement and admiration of all those around her.

~

 This year's Inktober was both such a thrill and a challenge. It was filled with so much thought and whimsy, technical difficulties and headaches as well. But with all these, I am happy. 

 Cheers to all of us who did this lovely dance with ink. 

She lives deep within the depths of the mysterious forest, sleeping high amongst the tallest trees and walking among the humblest of creatures. She feels every sigh of the wind and hears every word from every living being. Her touch lets her see into the lives of others, making them a part of her soul, their memories becoming hers as if their lives were hers as well. The remains of those who had lived with her she incorporates into her clothing as a way to let them live on, that even in death their lives will continue to be remembered and still be part of the forest.