[spoilers]where did all the peeps in there come from?

[Poopfeels]

We got a solid origin story for maelle/alicia, and we know who is 'painted in' based on whom and whose soul is where.

This leaves pretty much everyone else though unaccounted for, in that are they just mindless projections based on their painter's whims, or are they fully fledged self aware sentient beings? Sciel, Lune, every unnamed NPC in lumiere? What / who were those people? Surely not everyone in lumiere could be based on real people / memories of the painters? And even if they are, do they have agency over themselves?

I can see how you could maybe paint a close facsimile of a person you're deeply familiar with and know well enough, but there's far too many people in lumiere for that to be the case for everyone?

The one thing that lodged itself into my mind about the ending was how Lune approached the tear in the canvas when it first appeared, and the look she gave Verso when he did what he did at the end. To me it seemed like she became aware that she's a character. Could someone explain this element of the game better?

[C1REX]

This is a matter of opinion.
After watching Maelle's ending it seems that they are not fully independent. Gustave was made again and others were also repainted with new personality. Even Verso was changed.

So it seems they are only real in a sense of memories and intentions of the painter. How real is the painting. Are memories real?

[Crimsomrider]

The Canvas is a self-sustaining ecosystem once the initial foundations are in place.

Aline painted the initial people in, they lived in Lumiere just like any other race would. After the Fracture caused by her and Renoir she couldn't paint anymore to create what she wanted, but that didn't stop Lumiere people from evolving and continuing to maintain their civilization. They had their full autonomy to not only come up with Expeditions, but to stand up against their creators till the very end.

They are their own people as both Lune and Scielle get to reason with Renoir, and the only way they can get controlled is if they get repainted, which they can't because only Clea is capable of doing so and she does this only to Painted Clea out of spite. And Aline would never do it to them because respects them as her own creations and was willing to die to protect them.

Not to mention that the story ensures to show that they are their own individuals with their actions completely their own. Verso, Lune, Scielle - it's not enough just painting someone, but to know their very essence. Which is what true art is about, it has to come from the heart.

[Veylox]

It's one of two options ;

- Either the broken version of Verso is eternally painting everyone, keeping the world moving, and every person, every event is dictated by him.
- Or once they're painted, worlds start evolving on their own, people are born etc, and painters are still free to rewrite anything they want, but they can also watch things unfold