So many conflicting ideas ಠ_ಠ
While I personally would like to think there was progress since that quoted version, I guess some tend to disagree; I think you're all probably right about the shades, but I also like where it is now; I think I should try meeting halfway and see what it produces. I guess it also pains me to revert back because that's a few hours of work lost then, but hey, at least I'm honest about that

I guess as Bob Ross would say, "It's just a happy mistake"; better to learn and revert than keep on going, than to continue making something that isn't working out as well.
As for the hair: I'm thinking of meeting halfway on that, too. I just realized how silly that "bowl" cut she has is so I definitely need to remove that bit of hair that wraps around the other side of her head; also might try placing it back a little bit.
Horn: yeah, I shaded that completely wrong

thanks for the model, Ai!
Squinting: yeah, I have to disagree too; I had always intended for it to be more of a "small kid looking at something with surprise and curiosity" look, and I think that a feel like that would be best done with a wide-open, glaring eye. Of course if you think otherwise that's fine too ^_^
Composition: I won't lie when I say that all that talk of compositional qualities when right over my head

I'm pretty new to art in general, and composition is something I haven't quite dug into. Definitely need to read some material on the matter so I can get a better feel for what you're saying and apply suggestions in an educated manner

On a final unrelated note, I'm really pushing myself not to just drop this; while I haven't been working on it intensely lately, I've spent almost a month on it now, and I'm starting to get sick of it (mostly because there were a lot of revisions behind the scenes I never posted) -- Ideas on how to keep focused on this? Perhaps work on two larger pixels at the same time? Take a break from it and work on something else? Just stick with it with no distractions? What works well for you guys?