In reply to Rhetorica:
I'm glad and relieved to see apologies and amends rather than digging in and defensiveness.
If you're interested in improving in type design, I hope one of the takeaways for you from this situation is that the real substance of the endeavor resides not in the fiddly decisions on terminal shape or ligature invention, but rather in all the parts you bypassed by starting from Slimbach: proportions, vertical metrics, spacing, character of curves, etc.
Start your next project from a blank file, be up front about the influences you are consulting, and I imagine "typography will give you another chance."