Ok I think I’ve fixed the related topics/ suggested topics issue now. Sorry folks, took me awhile to get the time to figure it out and fix it. I have separated the component into it’s proper templates as well. Please update the theme component and let me know if you have any more issues.
In the meantime, I have removed the username-only and category page column functionality. The topic author still shows on all topic lists, including the category page, but avatar column can only be changed in the topic list views now. No avatars in related/suggested topic footers (like the default).
Thus there are only two settings that give 3 different options on desktop view and 2 options for mobile.
Selecting the first option will show author avatars in first column in topic lists in desktop view (same as default on mobile) and the second option will place the author avatars in the last column in both desktop and mobile view. Leaving both unchecked will put the author avatars in their default middle columns.
edit: updated the OP