Oh I share your feelings on these challenges! That pressure to be clever with interpreting the prompts (as if the world will be scrutinising our inputs LOL), the pressure to produce something presentable at all, what media to use - yep, been there, done that. I've largely stopped trying to do these challenges any more - if I do anything I'd rather play in a more intimate forum like drawesome than something global like Inktober. Not that I end up doing those either!
I really like your purple versions, by the way! And well done for working so hard and finishing that whole month's worth. Whatever you think of the individual pieces, it is a great achievement!