YMMV / For a Diamond Is a Marveled Thing

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Thor's desire to please his father and family is read as stemming from a lifelong history of emotional abuse from family pressure.
  • Frigga of all people is subject to this. Where she's generally treated very well in fanworks in favor of highlighting Odin's flaws, this series points out that a Frigga living with and allowing a truly abusive Odin is inherently complicit to said abuse despite her individual kindness.
• Growing the Beard:
  • Tax Benefits was at the time of its writing one of the longest installments of the series, with many readers accepting it as their headcanon "happy ending" for Steven and Connie and providing catharsis from the events of SU:F's Together Forever episode.
  • While all the previous parts were well praised for their portrayal of the post-SU:F Steven, character interaction, and worldbuilding, The Salmon Loki And The Bigger Fish is generally considered the first major turning point of the series as it fully thrusts the canon into full crossovers with the MCU and opens the door to the larger universe.
• Older Than They Think: The series was being written shortly after the first trailers for Steven Universe: Future were being released, with Tax Benefits and Exit Left being written as the series was still airing. Things like Jasper and Steven's growing relationship, Steven's PTSD and growing distance from the Crystal Gems, and discomfort with marriage/possible permafusion were all predictions that ended up being right on the nose. Even Asteria Diamond's appearance, which has a marked similarity to the "Chad Steven" shown in the SU:F Everything's Fine, was drafted before the series ended.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • A Love Affair, But Exit Left, which focuses on Steven and Jasper's relationship, gave many incoming SU readers of the series who previously didn't like Jasper a new appreciation for her, and the bond she developed with Steven in canon.
  • Odin, who is often in fanworks depicted as a careless parent at best and a villainous abuser at worst, is starting to veer into this as of Prodigal Suns. While no effort is made to excuse his abusive behavior, he's still portrayed as a rounded character with moments good and bad and a self-awareness of his mistakes.