First off, I'm really glad to see the Symphony back in motion. It was actually what drew me into the UF universe in the first place. I ended up reading the other stuff largely to understand the context of SotS. My girlfriend forced me to sit through Utena years ago, and it was intriguing, but I found it frustrating that nothing ever seemed to be resolved. Along came Symphony, and the rest is history.

As for the Masho, I recently mentioned the massive crossover-y goodness of UF, and a friend of mine seemed to take it as a challenge, trying to come up with something that wasn't in there somewhere. The stumper? Ronin Warriors. Heh. Looks like he loses after all.

That sword does sound familiar, doesn't it? It'd have to be pretty awesome to replace a lightsabre on the cool scale, though.

One sour note, though. Anaximandra strikes a jangling, painfully dissonant R.A. Salvatore chord with me. Drizz't Do'Urden bores me to freakin' tears, and trudging my way through those books has gotten me to the point of wincing at the mention of the word "Drow" in any form. I'll try to reserve judgement, though, because it's Eyrie, and they have a history of taking things I hate and making me like their version in the end.

To hear, one must be silent.