to get theories out of the way:
no i didn't hold onto the chapter on purpose (but it's my fault it took so long)
no i didn't wait until someone posted a chapter to upload mine to "keep my claim" or anything of the sort; i've legitimately been swamped and seeing the chapters kinda lit a fire on my ass to finish this chapter - i only had time to do like half before things started piling on earlier last month
waffre did finish ch39's TL a while back, and i've asked the CLRDs I know if I can get that ready asap. i don't know how long it'll take to get the cleans, but i'll make sure to do my TS asap to make up for lost time.
i apologize for being so slow, but i will continue uploading at whatever pace i can regardless of other uploads.
as always, thanks for reading.