the areas are long since painted over and I wouldn't be able to locate
the tape within in order to pull it up.

I am trying to avoid doing serious ceiling work, and I am looking for
an easy solution so it doesn't look so bad. I was considering mudding
around the area to make it more gradual. But i would probably have
difficulty matching texture of a ceiling with 5 coats of pain vs fresh
primer and one coat of paint.

c_kubie