Of course she judges and she finds them lacking. The narrator isn't an objective one - everything is colored by Lavellan's emotions after the trauma of losing her world, which reflects Solas's own sentiments after creating the Veil and waking from his slumber. No real person from flesh and bone can go through something like it and just... shake it off. And Lavellan doesn't have the luxury of thousands years old slumber to deal with even half of her pain, or even deal with it in peace, as she's thrown into another world-shaking events. That she's biased and treats Elvenhan hardly is not just expected - it would be weird if it didn't happen. In fact, given everything that's happen, she's holding up quite well, biased evaluation of Elvenhan or not.
But it's either unfair or too early to say that elvhen civilization has no redeeming qualities, given that we don't know exactly where the story will go or how it will end, or to say that author only demonizes Evanuris and Elvenhan or anyone who is mean to Lavellan. It's ironic to accuse author/protagonist of black-and-white assessment, when assessment of their action/work is no less black-and-white.
We're peppered by small gestures, be it mean or kind, all throughout the work - like elves from expedition to Deep Roads defending her from Pride or some elves from palace approaching her with curiosity and her noticing that their attitude towards her changes in time, even if slowly by her standards, but probably in fast pace to those used to having pretty much all time in the world - that you choose to focus on negative I think speaks more of your perspective of Feynite's work rather than Feynite's work per se, or so it seems.
I'm going to repeat - given that we know from Solas and fractions of history we saw while going through Eluvians in Trespasser that Evanuris were indeed pretty power-hungry and were about to destroy the entire world (and are probably going to return in canon story as some sort of blighted terror to swallow all), what makes you think that they weren't pretty terrible, at least in that moment in history, given that the Leaders are already established, even if not yet to be recognized in Elvenhan as gods?
Plus - you're nitpicking at a detail that is happening relatively early in the story; at that point the story meanders in establishing Elvenhan, the power structure and the fact that both people and its leaders became settled in their ways.
That doesn't mean that the story will continue to paint them all as relatively simplistic - Mythal might be painted to have a pretty dark side now, but she's still pretty goddamn nuanced. June's hidden and more vulnerable side, as well as terrible decision that pushed him to killing his mother and probably the reason why he is the way he is has been revealed to us through Haninan - and soon we're likely going to see Andruil, though to what end we're yet to see.
Plus, if anything, the random elf dudes are not doing anything people don't do even if they're not ruled by power-hungry dictators - they complain at those in power (especially that their meeting and hijinks that ensued are likely a hot topic in the city, duh). In other news, water is wet and the sky is blue.
Besides - it's implied through narrative that if the time didn't change, it would be Haninan and Solas who'd likely hear the exact same conversation, no Lavellan required (given that it's also heavily implied that Haninan is a father-figure who molded Solas in his youth).
I mean, something had to motivate the guy to start the rebellion to defeat the false gods and those enslaved by them in the canon story, only to lock them away to prevent them from destroying the entire world... right?
Haninan might have been the one who'd given her the impulse, but it was Pride who cornered her and basically spelled out to her her that she's patronizing him and keeping him in the dark, even though he does everything in his power to help her and earn her trust. So basically she gives him the same treatment Solas gave her in the game. That's not the first or last time she realizes that in many regards she mirrors Solas faulty behavior to a T.
So, really - she doesn't grow? She isn't shown to change her mind?
Plus... she's only wrong with small things? Because feeling that she contributed to the death of Compassion by a string of her choices and actions, or in fact destroyed the world by not killing Solas when she had possibility to do so are small and inconsequential things?
The woman is basically swimming in guilt, finding faults in almost everything she does and questions herself at almost every step. That you don't see it is one of the reason why I wonder whether we indeed read he same thing.
Also... she should be changed to what exactly? A person who treats dwarves as lesser beings? Acceptance of civilization that is doomed to experience a downfall and pull entire world with it unless things change?
I'm not exactly sure what you're demanding from the character at the moment.
And should we ignore all the change that happened after, say, she got her Ghostly Entourage and experienced something of a possession, which eventually led to very tight friendship with Compassion, Curiosity and Rage and appreciation of the world in which Fade flows freely into the world?
Also - Pride is a special case and you know it. So it's unfair to bring him up in such straightforward narrative assessment. It's all kind of messed up situation with him: she loves his past version and she wants him back, while at the same time she doesn't, because it means that he's doomed to be unhappy and set in his ways, she's both off-put by how different Pride is, but at the same time attracted to his purity... really, it's a whole category on its own and the biggest personal cluster**** she has to deal with.
Just because it's subtler doesn't mean that she doesn't change. But Elvenhan, elves and Evanuris risk doom if they won't change in more meaningful way. We know what will happen if they won't. Whatever may be salvaged from Elvenhan, its current incarnation and approach simply doesn't work. She knows what will happen if things won't be change. We know it. What exactly is to re-examine here - they have to change, otherwise everything is doomed. But I'm yet to see the story to go to a point to asses that everything Lavellan does and proposes is 100% right. Heck, she herself isn't sure she herself is right.
Pride in that particular timeline is still very young, while Lavellan has not only experienced things that are mostly alien to creatures of this world, but she also intimately knew a very old, wise elf who had time to grow as well as share his own wisdom with her (be it directly or through her seeing what his struggle done to him).
In that sense Solas schools Pride THROUGH her. It's not just all Righteous And Inspiring Lavellan Who Is Always Right. Most things she draws from aren't just abstract concepts or unexplicable inherent wisdom, but her own, heavy experience, or experience of those she surrounded herself with, whether she shares something smart with young Pride that stems from her time with Solas or the world he left behind, or creates her first barrier while remembering how Dorian or Vivienne had done or explained it.
So... what equal treatment we're talking about exactly at this point? Clearly Pride is yet to grow as a person, and Lavellan is yet to make sense out of her feelings to him. Both of them are hot messes, which is why it confuses me that you'e treating Lavellan like she's not, or that for some reason she isn't growing or will not grow further. Her change will simply be different that Pride's because both have a different sets of issues to overcome. Character growth can mean many things.
I send you to what I've mentioned above. This Solavellan fanfiction is different from others precisely because we see Solas when he WASN'T all about greyness and complexity, but in the (sped up process) of getting there as well as observing what may or may not have got him there.
Also, I'd like to point out that Solas himself, at the end of Trespasser, admitted that what led to Evanuris rising to power was because "war breeds fear, fear breeds the need for simplicity - good, and evil, right and wrong, chains of commands" (in other words: black and white).
So yes, it seems that the canon world that gave birth to him has fallen PRECISELY because it or its leaders lost the ability to see nuance (an issue that is not alien even to our current, modern IRL world, especially given the latest turmoils).
In other words, I think you're may be missing the point.
I'm not really sure what's your problem here: she says that she disagrees - she doesn't make any definitive statements or continues the debate, nor the narrative bends over backwards to support her.
In fact, the whole thing ends with Pride offering to further explain to her the tenets of elvhen society in order to help her understand it and she calmly accepts his offer to teach her about it during them dining together.
So... she's willing to listen. Not exactly much room for interpretation here indeed.
I'm not really sure what you expect me to say, when we have such vastly different impressions of her work it does indeed feels like we're reading a different piece of fiction. And I'm saying it as something of a 'casual' reader of that or other pieces of fanfiction - I simply genuinely get a different impression from yours while reading that particular work. If anything, it's certainly interesting to see how a single work can attract such different perspectives.
But sacrificing people IS bad. It should be avoided at all costs if unnecessary. That people in power do it doesn't mean that they can forget it. Because sadly oftentimes they apparently do. And then it just turns into a slippery slope.
Just because someone in power is somewhat exempt from making certain sacrifices in that regard shouldn't forget that sacrifice is bad, just like a soldier or executioner shouldn't forget that killing someone else is generally a bad thing as well, even if it's their job to do it.
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But that's my opinion.
