What five years looks like

Inspired by my good friend and here piece: [link] I decided to try this myself.
Forgive the rambling.

CHARACTER:
Five years ago I got to drawing this character named Raine. This was my FIRST drawing of her, and I drew this at church of all places. I was testing out this idea of having her be quite different from myself, and have dark hair, something I thought was very appealing for a heroine. Originally she was German, a pyromaniac, and she had a rose tattoo on her arm. Then she became a fire-witch-thing, and the rose became a mass of scars in the shape of a rose –given to her by a Vampire. Her character changed constantly in morals and style. She was a skater, a punk, a goth, an emo. I tried a variety of things, very closely following my transitions through high school. Her ethics changed from being prudish, to sleeping around, to only sleeping with her “BFs” but all stemmed from this rooted idea that I had where she was raped at 14. All those different life-styles came from her experience of being raped, but through re-writes I decided against that whole portion of her back-story, so now Raine is back to being prudish AND virginal, and I like her best this way. She then went from being German to Half-German-Half-Chinese, as she appears today.
Her hair has always been long, and black, but there were times when it was curly, short, and even dyed. She had blue-streaks for a time, one half-side red and the other black, even some pink tips. Again, closely following my transitions through high school and the things I found appealing. Her style in the first picture shows where I was at the age of 16-17 and so deciding to re-draw this, I kept her in this outfit, (for the sake of comparison) even though Raine does NOT dress like this anymore.
I could talk for HOURS about her character's transformation, but most of you don't care, you want to know about the art...
ART:
As you can see, 5 years ago my lines were...rounder. Shoulders more sloped, limbs a bit thicker, anatomy a bit…weak. The face you ask? Corrupted by anime you say? Why yes it was! *hangs head in shame* It took me YEARS to drop that terrible habit and get back to something resembling real art. Anime KILLED my style, and talent. I have never recovered. Anyways. My lines were light and sloppy, they were unsure and a little etchy. My lines now are more defined, even a little harsh. My anatomy is, I guess, more rectangular. I have a better understanding of weight distribution, and perspective (though, as you can see, FAR from perfect) and my over-all penmanship is cleaner, like I figured some things out along the way.
I am actually surprised by how much these two look alike. It actually really depresses me to see them side-by-side like this given how much I CRINGE at the first (left) one. I guess I haven’t come as far as I would have liked to believe.

Tell me what you think after comparing the two, and what you would like to see from me (improvement wise) in the future. You all know I only want to get BETTER.

Check out what happened to my signature too. XD
Raine © me