It’s time for Episode 72, and we have good news and bad news. Good news: Kyo is back, yay! And he even has a report on his trip to Virgina – and New York, with its tiny tiny apartments, as it turns out – to share with everyone! The bad news is, Istanbul is dead. Well, dying. At least he sure sounds like it. Sorry about the coughing over this week’s episode; action is being taken to fix this! Anyway, the entire episode starts off with original musical content generated by the cast – yes, more of it – and goes on to introduce Railrunner, Smokey’s cousin who is a train fan and a ‘foamer’! Istanbul talks about the new generation of Pokemon slated to release later this year and gives this week’s Istanbul’s Words That Sound Dirty But Aren’t, and Halfwit…well, she can’t remember what she was going to talk about. Ah well!

Once the e-mails get going, we’ve got lots of author and book recommendations, suggestions on how to develop your plot and deal with writer’s block, and other things too: one listener has good luck with parents understanding his sexuality, while another isn’t sure if he should tell a parent at all. Two listeners write in about the very full year that 2012 was for them, and one listener asks for help in figuring out how to get away from a toxic home situation. Even the cast chimes in on the writing issue, since almost the entire cast either writes or has written at some point in their lives!

Next week’s topic is all about music! You know, that thing where you jam a bunch of noises together (and maybe some words) and it sounds all pretty. Write in and tell us what you like, who your favorite artists are, any songs you prefer, how music affects you…and hey, if you have any songs you’d like us to use for our music break, send ‘em on in! We’re always looking for more!

Music: Chrono Cross – Another Inspiration from OCRemix