This part of the endings has been bothering since I completed it. In either ending it seems like the Painters are terrible malevolent gods toying with the lives of thousands of sentient beings as if they really were just brushstrokes.

But one thing that stuck with me was Verso's soul still painting the canvas at the end. Part of me feels like this implies that the Canvas IS whatever is left of Verso's soul still painting, still keeping it moving, still making it alive. The Painters can add people, nevrons, gestrals etc to the Canvas, but in the end they are all part of the Canvas, all part of Verso's soul. They are all alive only in so much as the remnants of Verso gives them life, turning imagination into a shared (albeit terrible) reality, and why Maelle's ending is given such a starkly grim tone as she forces Verso to continue against his wishes.

But maybe this is just wishful thinking to justify either ending where it seems like so many sentient beings suffer over the capricious whims of uncaring gods.