but in this case Stephen is being pretty offensive, claiming that scents like cinnamon and pine trees are the property of his religion.

I got the impression he thought they should only be used during the Christmas season (which is true at least in the case of gingerbread.)

A person's background isn't always obvious, and of course you can't tell someone's religious beliefs on sight, but some people are visibly ethnically Jewish.

I know Jewish people who have been deeply hurt by statements like that, so I would be careful. But this is Olivia's voice, not yours, and she's not one to shy away from controversial remarks.

Character!Stephen's parents have never been the same as real!Stephen's parents!

I've never had the impression that Character!Stephen had as many siblings as real Stephen does and in most fics he doesn't. That's why I thought you were using details from the real Stephen's life to make up this Stephen's family. I'm glad I was mistaken!

But it works with Stephen's experience here if you take the "oh, you like this" lyrics as excuses Ned is projecting onto him, rather than an accurate description of his real feelings.

Oh yes, that's how I imagine the narrator, projecting his own feelings onto the teen, and that's why he keeps calling it "this supposed crime."