I don't think she 'accepted that it takes the time it takes', she seems to feel guilty about taking so long. She wanted to pause her Patreon from February onward and she wanted to release Ian's part early. Just read her
post from Jan 29. Unfortunately it only has gotten worse.
Ok, "accepted" is too strong a word. But she
did take the time to do the rework, including fixing much more than she had originally planned. And from the sound of it she's also taken the time to add a lot of smaller outfit and art customizations in chapter 10, giving even more layers to every scene, adding several new characters—and stressed slightly less about the long development times in the weekly updates, even though she suggested releasing Ian's part early. So if not "accepted", then at least "reluctantly admitted that it takes longer time than hoped", and in the extension of that—and this is the speculation part— decided that she might as well add Ed's part now instead of later.
Nothing was removed. But after the first 2 chapters nothing happens any more. He walked in on her once, posted on her peoplegram once and then was a perfectly boring gentleman for the last 2 months!
Ooops, my bad. I thought the Peoplegram detail was removed in the remake, so I took your "completely gone from the game" as "removed in the remake".
Well, yes. Maybe she had planned for a real path and had the background lying around for 2 years and now decided to finally use it?
It could be. That was the case with the Axel and Seymour backgrounds, but they were also posted a long ago by the studio that made them. My impression is that the rest of the backgrounds from the later chapters were made before the episode they were added to. So while we don't know, I think it's more likely that it was made for this chapter.
I mean what could actually happen? He telling her for the umpteenth time how beautiful she is and then? All I can think of is Lena getting aroused by his admiration. Which is already Stan's path.
Yeah, I agree on this, it would be similar to Stan's part. And if she ended up posing for him to draw her in private as well, and it's how she's being desired or admired that acts as the key to kickstart the path, it would not only be similar to Stan's path, but several others.
Also I'm struggling to see Molly's part in all of this. Ed's someone Lena isn't expected to be attracted to, and someone she
shouldn't let watch her undress or somehow get further involved with. So if Molly for some reason would support it, I think it takes away some of the tension. But with how sweet Molly is and how gentleman-like Ed is most of the time, I can't really see Lena and Ed starting something behind Molly's back either. Though Eva must have had some idea of how to do it from the beginning. It would've been easier if Ed was slightly more like GGGB Arthur, and that might also have been the original plan.
Maybe the parents who are very proud of their child? Especially if they have high expectations ("Look at them, they're so special!"). For some reason I think if Ian was the son his parents were proud of, they might have his picture or even painting hanging on the wall, much to his discomfort and embarrassment.
Yeah, I don't think it's weird to have a painting or a drawing of a loved one in ones living room. Though the one instance I can think of where there's an extra motivation for having a painting/drawing instead of a photo, would be Ed and Molly. I went back and checked it, and before and after the life drawing event both Ed and Molly talk about how he used to draw (as you probably also remember). Molly even says that his artistic side was one of the things that made her fall in love with him, and: "I remember when I was the girl you used to draw". So: An old drawing Ed made of Molly when they were young and had just gotten together, and which means a lot to them and therefore still hangs on their wall? It's guesswork, but I think it makes sense.