Vancouver Fantasy & Sci-Fi Group

### 🛡️🥚 Is chivalry a scam… or the last thing holding society together? - A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV Show discussion)

This Tv show has a 8.9 IMDB rating!

Short summary
This Game of Thrones universe show is smaller, tighter, and way more human than I expected.
Instead of dragons and throne-room chess, it follows a broke hedge knight (Dunk) and his too-smart young squire (Egg) - two people trying to stay decent in a world that rewards cynicism.
And that’s why it feels weirdly perfect for 2026: it’s about reputation, class, public spectacle, “honor” as branding… and what happens when being good is treated like being naive.
Come even if you’re not a lore nerd. If you watched the season, you’re in.

What we’ll explore

• Dunk - good man, good myth, or lucky idiot? What moment made you trust him… or lose patience with him?
• Egg - innocent kid or future political animal? What do you think he’s learning about power right now?
• Honor vs survival: is “chivalry” a real moral code… or just a story the poor are taught so they’ll behave?
• Public spectacle: tourneys, trials, crowd judgment - why are humans addicted to watching conflict play out in public? What’s the modern version of that?
• Class resentment: the show keeps pointing at “the game” as something elites play while ordinary people absorb the consequences. Does that hit harder than dragons?
• The 2026 question: if you try to live by a code in a cynical world, do you become stronger… or do you just become easy to exploit?

How we’ll do it

• Quick hello + first round: “What scene is still stuck in your head?” (one sentence each)
• We pick 3 anchor moments from the season and use them to argue the big themes
• No lore-flexing required - we’ll keep it grounded in what actually happens on screen
• Wrap (optional): “Is being honorable naive… or quietly revolutionary?”

What to watch

• Season 1 (6 episodes)
  If you’re not fully caught up, you can still come - just know spoilers will happen.
  DM me if you dont have access to the show and I will give it to you

Optional reading (if you want extra flavor, not required)

• George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight (the Dunk & Egg novella this season is based on)

When and where

• 🗓️ Date: Sunday, March 21, 2026
• 🕒 Time: 5 PM
• 📍 Location: Online, over discord. Link in comment section

Cap 12 + waitlist
Small room on purpose so it stays a real conversation.

Side note
This is Westeros. Expect violence, cruelty, and some “wow… humans are ugly” moments.

# Sci‑fi short story night

## 🐯📄 Would you trade your mother tongue for belonging? - Ken Liu’s “The Paper Menagerie”

Discussion only - its a short story (you can finish it in one sitting).

### Short summary

This story looks gentle at first: a kid, a mother, and a little origami tiger that feels like childhood magic.
And then it starts doing what great sci‑fi does: it turns a personal relationship into a knife.
It’s about assimilation, shame, the way “fitting in” can quietly turn into cruelty, and how love gets translated - badly - when you’re embarrassed by where you came from.
If you’ve ever cringed at your past self… or cut off a piece of yourself to be accepted… this one lands.

### What we’ll talk about :

• Warm-up: What line or moment hit you like “oh… I’ve done that”?
• When does “becoming normal” turn into betrayal - and who decides where that line is?
• Is the story basically saying love is a language - and if you refuse the language, you refuse the love?
• The brutal modern question: are we all being “trained” into sameness now - by school, status, feeds, and group vibes?
• If you feel yourself getting emotional reading it… do you resist that, or do you trust it?

### Structure of the event :

• Quick hello + one-minute round: “What stayed with you?”
• I’ll read 1–2 short passages out loud to anchor the room (optional, but it helps).
• Guided open discussion - moments first, theory second.
• Wrap: “What did this story accuse you of?” (optional, but fun)

### Reading

Ken Liu - “The Paper Menagerie”

Link to Full text reprint:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5838a24729687f08e0321a15/t/5bf2bdfa562fa782871c6252/1542635003373/The-Paper-Menagerie+by+Ken+Liu.pdf

### When and where

🗓️ Sunday, March 22, 2026
🕒 1:30PM - 3:30PM
📍 Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L4 North (492) Meeting Room

### Cap 12 + waitlist

### 🧠🤖 Neon Genesis Evangelion - would you get in the Eva if it broke you?

Discussion only - no screening.

Short summary
On paper, Evangelion is “teen pilots a giant mech to fight monsters.” In reality, it’s a show about loneliness, coercion, identity, and the awful feeling of being needed only when you’re useful.
It’s also one of the few anime where half the room leaves saying “masterpiece” and the other half says “I’m still mad.” Perfect.
This won’t be a lore flex or a trivia night. It’s a compare-notes night: what hit you, what disturbed you, what you think it’s actually saying.
Come even if you watched it years ago - I’ll do a quick reset so nobody feels lost.

What we’ll explore

• The “get in the robot” problem: if you were 14 and your parent basically said “pilot this or people die”… is refusing cowardice, honesty, or sanity?
• Shinji - weak, normal, or brave in a different way? When did you feel sympathy for him, and when did you want to shake him?
• The adults: are Misato/Gendo/NERV protectors… or users? Be honest - who feels most morally disgusting, and who feels tragically human?
• The Angels: are they enemies… or emotional tests wearing monster costumes? Which fight felt like an action scene, and which felt like therapy with explosions?
• Instrumentality: if loneliness could be “solved” by melting everyone into one mind… is that peace, or is that death? And what’s the modern version of that temptation?
• Endings: TV ending vs End of Evangelion - which one felt more truthful to you, and why? (No “correct answer” — just defend your take.)

How we’ll do it

• Quick hello + first round: “What scene is still stuck in your head?” (one sentence each)
• 5-minute reset: versions + what we’re focusing on (so we’re aligned)
• We’ll pick 3–4 anchor moments and argue from the scenes (moments first, theories second)
• Optional wrap: “What do you think Evangelion is really about?” (one sentence)

What to watch (so we’re talking about the same thing)

• Main focus: Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV series)
• If you dont have time to watch the entire TV series, watch these 4 movies, which are a retelling of the story :
• Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone
• Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance
• Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo
• Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time

When and where

• 🗓️ Date: Sunday March 22
• 🕒 Time: 6:00 PM
• 📍 Location: LoveLarte Cafe (https://share.google/PilkPO2CtvD7740Iu)

Cap 12–15 + waitlist
Small room on purpose so it stays a real conversation.

Optional content note
Evangelion gets heavy. Expect themes like depression, coercion, grief, violence.

### 🧙‍♂️📖 Lord of the Rings (Session 2) - when does “home” stop being safe?

Book club discussion - The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapters 4–11
(A Short Cut to Mushrooms → A Knife in the Dark)

Discussion only (no reading aloud). Bring any edition - print, ebook, audiobook notes, whatever works.

Short summary
Last session we somehow ended up with 13 people in the room - our own Vancouver Fellowship.
Yes, Tolkien’s Fellowship is nine. Ours is thirteen. We’ll survive. (Probably.)
This section is where the story stops being “cozy adventure” and starts feeling like a pursuit.
The Shire fades. The world gets bigger. The danger gets quieter - and somehow scarier for it.

If you’ve only ever known the movies, the early book chapters have a totally different texture: slower, funnier, creepier, and way more human.
Reading for this session :
We’ve already covered Chapters 1–3.
For this meetup, read:
- Chapter 4: A Short Cut to Mushrooms
- Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked
- Chapter 6: The Old Forest
- Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil
- Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-downs
- Chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
- Chapter 10: Strider
- Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark
If you want a soft re-entry (optional): skim Chapter 3 again (“Three Is Company”) to get back into the road vibe.

The arguments we’re having in our discussion:

- The “Shire bubble” question:
Does Tolkien make home feel like something worth protecting… or like something that keeps you soft and unprepared?
- Fear done right:
The Nazgûl barely talk. They don’t monologue. They just hunt.
Why is that style of evil so effective? What kind of fear does it create compared to modern villains?
- Tom Bombadil:
Is he wisdom? nonsense? a tonal mistake? or Tolkien’s way of saying “the world is bigger than the Ring”?
(Also: would you cut him from the story if you were adapting it?)
- The Prancing Pony / Strider first impressions:
Would you trust Strider if you met him in real life?
What does the book do to earn trust (or not earn it)?
- Friendship under stress:
Which hobbit feels the most real to you in these chapters - and which one would drive you insane on a long trip?
- The Weathertop moment:
When the story gets truly dangerous, what changes in the tone?
Did you feel the shift physically, or did it sneak up on you?

What the event looks like :
- Quick hello + one sentence each: “what image from these chapters stuck in your head?”
- I’ll do a 5-minute “where we are on the map” reset (so nobody feels lost)
- Then we stay close to scenes and choices (not lore trivia, not book-report vibes)
- If the room gets quiet, I’ll throw a specific moment on the table and we’ll wrestle with it together

When and where
🗓️ Date: Saturday, April 4th
🕒 Time: 2pm
📍 Location: nə́c̓aʔmat ct Strathcona Branch,
Nellie Yip Quong Room

Cap + waitlist
I’m capping this at 13 again if I can - because last time the “13-person Fellowship” energy was perfect.
If it fills, hit the waitlist.

Heads-up for next session (so you can pace yourself)
Session 3 will finish Fellowship of the Ring:
- Chapters 12–22 (Flight to the Ford → The Breaking of the Fellowship)