I fail to see the problem, in this case. The thing is, TP to me has never been driven by the fetishes contained in it, rather than its superb writing. And I think it's the same for most people in this thread, even if it's a low-key feeling. What drives me to play this game is the characters personality (and looks, but let's put that aside): Meghan's shyness and sweetness, D (SD?) sassiness, Sara's clueless and ambitious persona, etc. Even the Wife is appealing to me, as I see through her actions, I think there's very much potential with her storyline. If Deem has to change some content to deliver it to us, he's welcome since it will be amazing anyways.
Only a few changes have to be added: MC being definitely a handsome individual, yet he still has the same quirky and overall fun personality. You could change the pill with simple gifts (that would also improve the shop-boutique functions, maybe even giving us another "shop girl") and ??? could still be there to actually sell you marijuana and drugs, maintaining his "???ness".
Yeah, we lost some of the flavors of the ice cream, but we're getting quality Vanilla that grew in Mexico, pristine, away from every single form of contamination, that's how good it is. Consider it like this: every writer must deal with a lot of corporative bullshit that will cut parts of his story (for example comic book writers and editors) but it's up to them to make the best they can even in such conditions if they want to deliver it to the public. I think Deem is perfectly capable of such.