This is just a quick update on the current status of this story! TL;DR VERSION: The fic is NOT dead and the revisions to the first six chapters are complete! I strongly advise everyone to re-read those chapters now, including the first "main" chapter as I changed and added a few very important things!
However, it may be a while before I come out with the next chapter; see below for details!
Big Update: The Revisions are Complete, New Chapters will Eventually be Forthcoming
Good news, everyone: After spending a whole lot of time on them, I've finished the revisions for the first six chapters of this story! They are now in their "final form" and ready for everyone to read! I recommend re-reading not only Chapters 2 through 6, but also the "main" story in Chapter 1, as I did add and change a few very important things in the first chapter where Steven and Connie die!
As you all may remember from my last update and from the notes at the beginning of the first chapter, a lot of the changes and revisions I made have to do with the Jasper/Lapis focused prequel to this story, "Doing Something Better," that I'm currently writing. The reason the revisions are now done and Chapters 1 through 6 of this story are in their final form is because I've gotten far enough in the prequel by now that all my ideas about the characters and their development have now fully solidified/crystallized (Gem-pun, heh).
It's not just my ideas on Lapis and Jasper that have changed as I've mapped out the prequel story, but my ideas on all the characters, and that's why I made major revisions to all the chapters of this story. The first/main chapter as well as the chapters for Lars, Lion, and Spinel have especially been majorly changed/overhauled from their original forms!
As before, reading the prequel "Doing Something Better" is by no means a requirement in order to read and appreciate this story. The prequel isn't even done yet anyway, and won't be for a long time! This story is able to stand completely on its own and separately from the prequel, and it should be very possible to appreciate it without reading the prequel! However, for those who wish to specifically gain a better insight into Jasper and Lapis' parts in this story, especially the parts regarding their relationships with and views on Steven and Connie, I do recommend the prequel! As I'm writing this story concurrently with the prequel, those of you who read both stories will find some spoilers in this story for the not-yet-completed-and-posted chapters of the prequel. However, none of those are things that should be too surprising.
The next chapter will actually be Jasper's, while obviously featuring a little bit of Lapis as well although Lapis will be getting her own separate chapter. However, I can't promise you that the chapter will be posted soon: It's still very much a work in progress, and I'm currently working on revisions (in this case for wording/grammar/syntax and such rather than any major plot-elements, so nothing big will change) for Chapters 4 to 8 of "Doing Something Better." I have a lot on my plate working on both fanfics simultaneously, and I've also become quite busy and have a lot going on in real life! So bear with me, and please be patient as the next chapter may not come out for weeks or even months! But as before, I promise you that this fic is not dead and I will not allow it to die!
When it comes to waiting for new chapters of this fic as well as the prequel: I'd say to view it the way we all viewed the wait for new episodes of the canon franchise back when it was still airing! There will be hiatuses and I can't necessarily tell you just how long those hiatuses will be, and I apologize for that, but just like Rebecca always did, I can tell you with certainty that more is coming and I won't leave things unfinished! Heh.