>>278726
>>Doesn't Verso want to die in the first place?
Well, the thing about Verso is that he is "tired". The real fragment of Verso's soul inside of the Canvas is tired of painting, and the painted Verso is tired of living due to being over 100 years old and having seen so much death and despair. The other thing about Verso is Verso's soul seems to be barely sentient; it's more like he is a memory rather than a person, and I think that's intentional, because a memory is all that's left of Verso. The game does seem to imply Paintings are like lich phyllacteries for Painters, that require or at the very least reflect a part of their soul, so it COULD be his literal soul being enslaved fora few years more, but it may also be symbolic. The thing that muds the waters and people don't seem to notice is that Maelle asks a gommaged Verso that, if she could give him a life where he was allowed to grow old, whether he would want it or not. I don't think the repainted Verso is thus being tortured for the sake of Malle's "dollhouse", but being a repainted version of himself probably makes him notice something is off about Maelle's perfect Lumière. In "The End", just before fighting the final boss, you can see little Verso's spirit playing the piano in the Opera house, so I do not think repainted Verso is being tortured or played as a puppet.
>Personally I think they have free will
So do I. The game seems to imply as much, given the game makes a point to depict painted characters having rich lives with other painted characters. The world doesn't revolve around the Dessendre family, and I think the idea of the game is that even in fiction, in your mind, its characters are real and alive. Painted Verso even rebels against the Canvas, which could arguably be just the real Verso's soul acting through the painted Verso, but then you can sense the utter looks of betrayal Lune and Sciel give him when there is no other Painter around to witness them.
>Maelle isn't a real person
That's the thing, I think she is. She is another character painted by Aline, which consciously or subconsciously is meant to live the life Alicia should have lived. In a way, Alicia died with Verso in that fire, and Maelle is simply her reincarnation or afterlife: another chance at life.
You are right, however, when you point out Maelle died the moment Alicia remembered herself. She took the merge of memories surprisingly well, all things considered, but she still is a different person now. The thing is this new person is no more Alicia than Maelle, as she has lived two roughly equal long lives as two different people. In addition to her life sucking outside of the Canvas, it's understandable why she would like to preserve the Canvas as well: she is half painted and half flesh.
However, the other ending is shown in a pretty optimistic light. Sure, the Expedition gives a last goodbye to Alicia, but it's presumably depicted in a way that should lend itself to interpreting that the family is finally healing. Alicia is still crippled, and for all we know, the only one in her family who still loves her is Renoir, but we could assume that healing from the death of Verso is all it takes for Clea and Aline to start supporting Alicia again. In this ending, Alicia seems all the fine she could be, but even the painted Verso admits to her that her only joy in life will be immersing herself in her own paintings; one thing that is rarely noted, however, is that Alicia may prefer literature to painting: her preferred way of escapism after the death of Verso is noted to be reading, and she seems to be somewhat seduced by the Writers (which is also part of the meta-narrative, but I digress). She is also the weakest Painter of the family, so it may be that, just like Verso preferred music, Maelle prefers writing; we also don't know if powers in one art are commutable with powers in the other, so painted Verso may be condemning Alicia to be a Painter to have a chance at her life not sucking.
>It would be like saying...
Exactly. Just to drive the meta-narrative point further home, at one point during the final boss, Renoir shouts out "ceci n'est pas un jeu!", which is pretty ironic but I think it puts into perspective the entire story of the game.
In my opinion, the endings are about whether you value more the life of the Dessendre family, or the life of Lumière. Neither is necessarily wrong; it's kind of beautiful that a father would be willing to destroy an entire reality just to save his family, but his choice also hinges on the fact that, as an author, he does not see the characters of the painting as his equals.
>December
I mean, all we know about base reality is that the family's Manor is located in Paris, and that 33 of December was the date of Verso's death. We also know Painters have magic mystical powers, so I think it's safe to say it is an alternative world, roughly based in our reality, just like Lumière is roughly based in Paris.
>A life worth living
Well, the names of the Epilogues are "A Life to Love" for Verso's ending and "A Life to Paint" for Maelle's ending. In my opinion, one reflects love for life and reality, despite its hard to swallow truths and the fact that it sucks, and the other love for art, fiction and creation, even if it costs your life.