I turned twenty-eight over a week ago, but there was no sounding of the trumpets, no fanfare, no confetti, no candles, no cake. A simple text message from my supervisor at work chimed in at 10:30: “Happy b-day,” it said.
That was when the thought struck me: Oh, today is my birthday.
But that was over a week ago. I feel no older than I was before. No more special than any other day of the year. Just the fluttering of these ridiculous bangs against my tepid skull reminds me that I’m overdue for a haircut. I’ve been keeping my hair long as some sort of exercise in love, I suppose. The guy I was seeing for a while liked girls with longer hair. He would take a few strands between his thumb and forefinger, study it carefully and then say, “Don’t get me wrong, you’re pretty now, but just imagine how much prettier you’ll be with long hair.” As if caught under a spell, I decided not to cut it.
Now that my hair is down to my shoulders, I have nightmares involving hair: Women with Rapunzel-like twines that keep growing and growing and growing; Women with long hair covering their faces; Women sauntering up to me and offering me a strand of hair that, no matter how much I tugged, had no end in sight…
It got so bad that when one of my coworkers, whose religion does not allow her to cut her hair, sneaked up on me from behind, just a glimpse of the flapping twine descending upon me was enough to wrestle a scream at her face.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she apologized and backed away. I felt really embarrassed after that and now can barely look the woman in the eye. I know you probably think I’m crazy, but seriously, when you’ve had short hair for over ten years, hair begins to feel foreign to you, like finding animal fur scarves with animal heads in your grandmother’s closet, the kind women used to dangle around their throats in the ’30’s and ’40’s.
And like clockwork, after unloading on unsuspecting readers, I will restore your sanity with fresh releases.
– & (and) v2, ch.7: I think Kaoru’s got it right when she says that adults have a hard time being straightforward about love, and so they choose to beat around the bush. When you’re young, you confess your feelings and go out. Simple as that. But when you’re older, for some reason, you start feeling the need to beat around the bush, and take as long as you can to tell them your true feelings. I think that’s the situation ALL the characters are in right now.
||Read Online||
– Gad Sfortunato ch.3: I don’t know why but midway around this chapter I started wondering where these character’s fit in Italian society. I mean, it seems like all of them are drawn to each other because of their sexual orientation, and no other people exist inside their little bubble. The world Basso has created for them is like a homosexual utopia or something.
||Read Online||
– Natsuyuki Rendezvous v3 ch.17 + Extra: By now most people have already seen the anime, but I hope you will continue reading this manga. It’s absolutely wonderful and beautiful to read. This chapter especially proves to be quite pivotal now that Rokka finally tracks down Hazuki to a place she and her husband have been to before. Here is where past and present begins to collide, and where Rokka and Shimao may be able to meet again.
||Read Online||
– Nobody Cry Story 1, Part 2: The heroine has become the sort of sniveling little girl I had hoped she wouldn’t become, but honestly it wasn’t so bad. At least she was humble enough to deal with issues between her and her best friend, and I do appreciate how she’s actually emotionally vulnerable with Haruaki.
||Read Online||
– Sekine’s Love v3 ch.15 & Sekine’s Vacation: I like how he “thinks” he’s made such a big move and expects Sara to “get it”, lol. This guy is so freaking adorable.
||Read Online||
Side note: You may notice only read online links for the release. I know it sucks, but I’d like to do something to combat the projects being uploaded immediately on manga aggregator sites like Mangafox. At first, I was like, “Oh, well, what the hell. We can’t stop them anyway.” But I no longer feel that this is the right attitude to go about it because I am also starting to feel the weight of what supplying these bastards implies for the future of scanlations.
As for the reader, I pay for hosting out of my own pocket. There are no ads and it’s fast. What more could you ask for? Still want download links? Download links will be available X amount of days after release. My staff will take a poll to decide how many days that will be shortly.
Happy belated birthday~ I know the trouble about long hair now, ever since kindergarden, my hair has been either shoulder length or shorter. Then at the end of high school and now through college, my hair is boob length. And it sucks even more that I have really thick Asian hair… I’m always overheated when I have it down. I do love having it long for lolita though!
Thanks :).
About b-days — how much do you know people that congratulate you without checking its date through facebook or anything else?
Birthdays are overrated anyway. And so is long-hair. Although I grew mine out down to my chest in a type of exercise-in-love, as well, and then chopped it right off after I proved my worth.
Thank you!
Thank yoooouuu. A day with new Stiletto Heels releases is always a good day.
great upload, like always
Happy Birthday, Mimi!
I liked your little reviews. &’s adults’ romance looks cute, the way you describe it. Makes me want to read more stories like this (oh how I love josei).
And it’s sooo true that that side of Sekine is sooo adorable .<
I'll still be looking forward to your Natsuyuki Rendezvous releases. I'm one of those who require reading the original story, the manga, first, before I can watch its anime adaptation. And Kawachi Haruka's line art is too cute to be missed.
I also concern about the so called 'manga-reader' sites which put your works on their sites without permission (even adding the pages some nonsense footnote). I'll support what you guys gonna do about it. Your online reader is nice after all.
Thanks for the support. I understand that these manga-reader sites have some advantage to them. I mean, they store a wealth of releases that would otherwise disappear off the face of the planet if – say – a group went under and it will never be licensed. On the other hand, it’s the fact that they profit over it that really pisses me off. I think it’s highly unethical.
However, while what I’m doing will not prevent the releases from being updated there, at least we will get some satisfaction out of making their uploaders work for it.
Honestly, it’s a lost cause. I think the best thing to do is, instead of writing posts about how “evil” they are, to try and educate people in the Japanese language. Maybe have inserts in releases that will teach them some Japanese phrases. You know, like, to get them interested in learning the language, so that eventually they will be able to understand and buy the manga in its original language.
Japanese manga is actually not that expensive. $6-$7 per tanko from a store like Kinokuniya or Yesasia, which ships worldwide. The price of a latte at Starbucks. 🙂
The latest chapter of Sekine’s Love ends with such a major cliffhanger!!! Can’t wait to read the continuation – thanks for your hard work ^^
Happy belated birthday Mimi! I totally agree with Rexy’s comment “Isn’t it funny how when we’re kids we make this hullabaloo about being one year older but then when you’re an adult you either dread it or forget it.” The fact that I have these feelings makes me nostalgic for my childhood.
Lol! Your coworker invoked a scream from you and yet she’s the one who apologized? Did you think it was cousin “It” coming at you or something? I’ve had short and long hair (currently I have really long hair), but more often than not, I’m rocking long hair. The reason being is that I’m too lazy to make the effort to get it trimmed on a regular bases. Plus, as a Chinese girl with pin straight hair all her life, I wanted long, luscious wavy hair for summer, so I got a digital perm (totally recommend for girls who are lazy with their hair like I am) and needed to keep my hair long. The downside of long hair though are longer showers and having to use more shampoo and conditioner.
Not all straight hair is equal, heh. If one needs a digital perm to surpass all the hassle, one must get a digital perm.
Happy belated birthday, and thank you so much for Basso! ^.^
Happy Belated Birthday! and thank you so much for the releases and the reader!
Happy Belated Birthday!
and thank you so much for another chapter of Sekine-kun! <3
Happy belated birthday 😀 Wishing you a great new year of your life with loads of romance, success and fun^^
The links for the online reader work perfectly 🙂 Thanks for the hard work as usual!!
Sekine is really so damn cute. Can’t wait to see what follows this cliffhanger^^
I also agree about Kaoru’s remark in “&” and can kinda symphathise with her. I also missed the train during my teenage years and early twens when it was so simple to convey your feelings. Nowadays it’s just so awkward to be an adult and trying to figure the other person out …
First of all, Happy belated birthday!!! 😀
And thanks so much for the releases!!! ^^
First of all, Happy belated birthday!!! 😀
And thanks so much for the releases!!! ^^
Happy birthday Mimi! Isn’t it funny how when we’re kids we make this hullabaloo about being one year older but then when you’re an adult you either dread it or forget it. I’ve had moments when, days after my birthday had passed, I’d forget how old I was. (Once I had to count it out on my fingers because I couldn’t believe it.) I’m 28 as well and over the last year and a half I’ve been wondering if it’s too late to get my hair colored blue or purple. I missed out on that hair rebellion in my teenage years and now I’m feeling too cautious. Maybe the both of us should make concessions– you get a trim and I’ll get streaks?
Happy birthday Mimi! Isn’t it funny how when we’re kids we make this hullabaloo about being one year older but then when you’re an adult you either dread it or forget it. I’ve had moments when, days after my birthday had passed, I’d forget how old I was. (Once I had to count it out on my fingers because I couldn’t believe it.) I’m 28 as well and over the last year and a half I’ve been wondering if it’s too late to get my hair colored blue or purple. I missed out on that hair rebellion in my teenage years and now I’m feeling too cautious. Maybe the both of us should make concessions– you get a trim and I’ll get streaks?
I can picture you doing that in your sixties, actually. Hahaha. But your grandchildren might cover their faces in shame and go, “Ugh! Gramma Rexy, that’s soooo early-21st century! We ‘hologram’ our hair these days.”
Actually, I went out and cut my hair yesterday. Got an a-line bob. My coworker who’s in his fifties(?) was like, “Oh, hey there, little boy.” [insert a haha/nudge here] I really wanted to hit him in the jaw.
So you’ve got to go out and get those streaks!
thank you so much for Sekine’s Love finally Sekine made a real move so excited for the next chapter I may spoil it on my self and search for raw scans 🙁
thank you I love u to the moon and back
Thank you for the delightful releases (oh, Sekine-kun)!!!
thank you sooooo much <3 Damn I love Sekine he is so adorable makes me want to hug the guy
Thanks a lot for the releases – and a belated happy birthday -, but the dl links are all messed up.
You have HTML errors so none of the links work…