Chill City FM

Fall break started for me yesterday so I got to spend the afternoon hanging out with Sonic. Still one of my all time favorite games to throw on when I just want to kick back and enjoy some fun, easygoing gameplay. There’s something about the simplicity of these old games that never gets old for me. Here’s to a lazy day in Chill City just enjoying being a kid again. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend so far. And stay rad ✌️😎


#SonicTheHedgehog #SegaGenesis #RetroGaming #90sGaming #SaturdayMorning #GamingNostalgia #RetroGames #Nostalgia

1 day ago | [YT] | 156

Chill City FM

These game screens were one of my favorite little details to build for “Wiz Kid.” I wanted to expand on the green monochrome computer graphics I created for “Unsolved Mystery,” but this time push things further into that colorful Commodore 64-era pixel art look…more specifically, the kind of 8-bit multicolor bitmap/sprite graphics you’d associate with classic C64 adventure and RPG games.

It also gave me an excuse to sneak a little more Adventures In Chill City storytelling into the video, from the inventory screens, maps, objectives, radio frequencies, Willow, Night Owl, and even a few moments that feel like you’re actually playing your way through the mystery.

I think these turned out way too rad to only flash by for a few seconds in the video, so they deserved their own post. 😎🎮

#ChillCity #ChillCityFM #AdventuresInChillCity #WizKid #Commodore64 #C64 #PixelArt #8Bit #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #80sNostalgia #1980s #Nostalgia #IndieArt #RetroAesthetic

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 27

Chill City FM

One of my very favorite things to collect is VHS tapes. When I first started collecting It was always so tempting to want to buy everything you see just to grow your collection, so early on I set a personal rule that only the real bangers would make it into the collection. For me, what constitutes a banger is its intrinsic value and relative to the interests of the collector. Here are a few of the treasures I uncovered over the past few weeks on my neverending hunt for ancient artifacts. Man, im super stoked about these! I feel like the Indiana Jones of VHS tapes 📼

#vhs #vhscollector #retrovhs #80svhs #vhstapes #80scartoons #retro #retrovibes #80skids #80stv

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1 month ago | [YT] | 285

Chill City FM

📻 CHILL CITY FM BULLETIN

Citizens of Chill City, I’m officially taking the station live. 📡

Starting now, Chill City FM will be gradually integrating more daily livestream broadcasts… giving you another way to tune in, kick back, and keep the Chill City signal coming through while I’m away between seasons.

I’m approaching these less like traditional livestreams and more like daily radio programming slots from your friendly neighborhood radio station… 88.7 Chill City FM.

Some days you might catch a laid back morning commute broadcast. Other nights, we might keep the signal glowing well after hours. You never quite know what’s going to be coming across the airwaves.

I’ve also been running some overnight tests of the Chill City FM broadcast network, seeing how well we can keep the signal going through the wee hours and into the next morning. As you might expect, there have been a few technical hiccups along the way…. so thank you to everyone who’s been hanging in there with me while I work out the kinks and get the station running smoothly. If you ever experience any technical issues during a broadcast, please let me know in the comments. Your reports from out there in the field help me keep the signal strong.

Most importantly, this gives me a way to keep all my Chill City citizens vibing together on some good old fashioned reruns until my return.

So keep that dial locked.

📡 88.7 FM CHILL CITY FM
Stay Rad and be Excellent to Each Other.

✌️😎

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 177

Chill City FM

I’m lucky enough to live near a really rad arcade where literally all the video games are free to play… the only games that cost money are the pinball machines. Even those let you earn tickets that you can trade in at an old-school prize counter, which makes the whole place feel even more like stepping back in time.

Every now and then, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, I like to roll down there solo, blow off a little steam, and reminisce about what it felt like to be a kid in the ’80s. There’s something about the glowing cabinets, the sounds of the games, and just wandering around with nowhere else to be that makes the whole experience genuinely therapeutic.

I went down there this past Friday night and had an epic time, as usual. They have so many ridiculously good games, but here are a few pictures I took of some cabinets that I thought looked especially rad from back in the day. 🕹️✨

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1 month ago | [YT] | 400

Chill City FM

Happy Friday Chill City!! Your faithful Mayor here, reporting in….

Friday nights feel a little different around here tonight. 💜

For the first time in a while, there’s no new Chill City premiere waiting for us at 7:00. No countdown. No live chat filling up with familiar names. And I’ve gotta admit… I’m missing our normal Friday night hangout more than I expected.

I hope all of you are out there having a rad Friday night anyways… finding your own little way to channel that Chill City energy, shake off the week, and keep things excellent heading into the weekend. I just want you all to know that wherever you are tonight, I’m right there vibing with you in spirit.

For now, I’m gonna hit the highway for a little while. Sometimes you need to get out of town, clear your head, and see where the road takes you before you find your way back home.

Tonight, that road is taking me to my favorite arcade to blow off a little steam, drop a few quarters, and treat myself to a small trip back to the past.

Season 2 may be over, and the Mayor may be taking the scenic route for a bit… but Chill City isn’t going anywhere.

A sincere Thank You to each and every Chill City citizen from the very bottom of my heart. Keep the lights on for me…. I’ll see that skyline again soon.

Stay rad. Be excellent to each other. And have one hell of a weekend!!

— Mayor Rad McFly ✌️😎

1 month ago | [YT] | 335

Chill City FM

Hope my Chill City fam are keeping things rad today! Already making good use of my time off spending a little time with ALF this morning. He wants to watch Short Circuit 2 and i honestly can’t think of a better way so start the day! Johnny 5 and ALF make great company on a lazy Sunday. ✌️😎

#ALF #ShortCircuit #80s #80sMovies #80sSitcoms #Nostalgia #80sKids #80sNostalgia #80sTV #Nostalgiacore #retroVHS #VHS #retrovibes

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 234

Chill City FM

📡 CHILL CITY FM NEWS BULLETIN 📡

Attention, citizens of Chill City! We’ve got a big one coming up…

🎬 The Chill City FM Season 2 Finale premieres THIS FRIDAY at 7PM CST!

I’m honestly super proud of myself for honoring the 20-episode commitment I made to myself at the beginning of the season. I’m not even gonna lie, there were times when I wasn’t sure I was going to pull it off. Because as you all know, I’m not going to release a video unless I feel it’s something special and worthy of presenting to you all. But I dug deep and created 20 episodes I am super proud of. Especially this last one… I really can’t wait for you guys to see it!

And before we close out another season, I just want to take a moment to say something that still feels completely surreal…

Chill City is now home to more than 30,000 citizens!!!! 🌲🏠🌲

I know I’ve said this before, but when I first started Chill City, I genuinely thought it would just be me making my little videos and sharing them with a handful of random people who happened to stumble across them. Never ever did I imagine these creations would allow me to connect with so many awesome people from so many different places. And I mean it when I say that you guys are my friends. I look forward to hanging out and vibing with you all in the chat every Friday night.

Every memory you share in the comments, every story about growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, every time someone tells me Chill City reminded them of a person, a place, or a moment they thought they’d forgotten… it makes this fictional little town feel a little more real. And when some of you tell me that tuning into Chill City has helped you through a rough patch, given you somewhere comforting to escape for a while, or simply made a difficult day a little easier… I feel that deep in my heart. Because the truth is, Chill City has helped me tremendously too.

Creating this place, telling these stories, making the music, and getting to share all of it with you has become something far more meaningful to me than I ever expected when this whole crazy adventure began.

After Friday’s finale, I’ll be stepping away from regular episodes for a brief hiatus while I refocus some of my attention on serving my students and recharge the creative batteries a little bit. But don’t worry… Chill City isn’t going anywhere. I’ll still be dropping random posts, hanging out with you guys in the comments, and continuing to build things behind the scenes. In fact, I’ve got some pretty big plans for our fair city.

My goal during the hiatus is to work toward launching daily Chill City FM live streams, finally getting a Chill City merch shop up and running, and continuing to develop the stories and mysteries hiding beneath the surface. Because when Season 3 arrives, The Adventures in Chill City mystery series will continue as well. Rad, Tasha, Eddie, Willow… their story isn’t finished yet. There are still mysteries to solve, secrets buried around Chill City, and plenty of strange things happening after midnight. And if everything goes according to plan…

SEASON 3: tentatively arriving late October.

There are still so many places we haven’t visited. So many memories we haven’t rediscovered. So many mysteries we haven’t solved. And so many stories left to tell.

30,000 citizens and counting…

Not bad for a little imaginary town that started inside my head. Thank you for believing in it. Thank you for sharing your memories with me. And most of all, thank you for helping make Chill City feel like a real place. Maybe that’s where Chill City has always existed anyway…

Somewhere between a memory and a dream.

I’ll see you Friday night at 7PM CST for the Season 2 finale.

Until then…

Stay rad, Chill City. ✌️😎


Your Chill City Mayor,
Rad McFly

2 months ago | [YT] | 193

Chill City FM

🌲 CHILL CITY FM // LATE NIGHT SPECIAL BULLETIN 🌲

This is Chill City FM with one final bulletin for all detectives currently tuned in…

The countdown has reached its final seconds.

Chapter 6: The Final Countdown | Part 2 is now premiering.

This is the grand finale of Adventures In Chill City: Quarter Past Midnight… the moment every mysterious message, hidden cassette, coded transmission, and late-night clue has been leading toward.

The truth is finally within reach.

But before the mystery can be solved, Rad, Tasha, Eddie, and Willow must follow the signal to its source… and face whatever has been waiting for them at quarter past midnight.

The clock is running out.
The final transmission is coming through.
And the biggest mystery in Chill City is about to be revealed.

So grab your flashlight, turn up your radio, and join us for the thrilling conclusion.

🎙️ Now broadcasting: Chapter 6 | The Final Countdown: Part 2.

⸻

Someone outside the camera’s view entered a command. The owl symbol flashed. A voice shouted through the recording.

“Player Two… move!”

Player Two opened the coin door, removed a small green circuit board and ran toward the employees-only hallway. The image dissolved. Another file appeared.

VIDEO KID PRIVATE DEMONSTRATION

UNAUTHORIZED COMMAND DETECTED

SIGNATURE: NIGHT OWL

Then one final record.

COMPONENT VK-2

ARCHIVE INTERFACE KEY

RECOVERY STATUS: UNKNOWN

Player Two had escaped with the VK-2 key. The countdown continued.

52

Suddenly every monitor flashed red.

SYSTEM FAILURE

PRESS START TO RESET

Willow’s voice crackled through Rad’s radio.

“Do not reset.”

A second identical voice followed.

“Reset immediately.”

Rad froze. Then he saw the owl symbol beside the second command.

“Not this time.”

He ignored it and guided PLAYER ONE deeper into the wireframe town. Beneath the footbridge, sparks burst from the relay. A laminated card pointed toward a large red switch.

RESET

Tasha reached for it, then stopped. The handle was buried beneath years of dust. Below it sat a smaller unlabeled switch surrounded by fresh scrape marks. The instructions had been changed.
The hardware had not. Three clear tones sounded through her radio.

Reset.

Tasha pulled the smaller switch. For one terrible second, nothing happened. Then the relay stabilized.

“Nice try.”

Smoke filled the utility chamber around Eddie. The steel door slammed shut behind him, and the switch locked beneath his hands. A long warning tone screamed through his radio.

Danger.

He released the switch and rushed to the door. Locked. The cable feeding the lock vanished behind an old pipe. Eddie grinned.

“I’ve seen this before.”

Months earlier, he had discovered that old maintenance doors usually had manual releases hidden nearby. His fingers found cold metal.

“There you are.”

He pulled the lever. The lock released, and Eddie climbed into the night.

At headquarters, corrupted commands flooded Willow’s screen. Her speech device froze.

NO VOICE.

NO CONTROL.

Willow calmly lifted the analog transmitter.

One tone: Continue.

Three tones: Reset.

One long tone: Get out.

Her voice was gone. Her guidance was not.

19

The download reached ninety-three percent. At the arcade, two commands appeared.

RESET NETWORK

LOCK ARCHIVE

They switched places. Then switched again. NIGHT OWL wanted him to rush. Rad remembered the floppy disk. The computer had never asked for his name. Only his score. He entered:

641300

PLAYER VERIFIED

A third command appeared.

LOCK ARCHIVE

Rad selected it. The archive reached one hundred percent. Willow slid a blank floppy disk into the drive. Copied. Finished.

At the arcade, one final question appeared.

DELETE ARCHIVE?

Rad selected:

NO

The timer reached zero. For one long second, silence. Then the town flickered back to life. Streetlights glowed. Storefront signs returned. Street Fighter II restarted. Dragon’s Lair began its attract sequence. Video Kid returned to the high-score table. Mr. Donnelly looked around.

“Huh. Power surge.”

Rad smiled.

“Guess so.”

An hour later, the four friends gathered in Willow’s bedroom. The recovered floppy disk rested on her desk. The original blackout had been deliberate. NIGHT OWL had altered the demonstration, intercepted Willow’s transmissions and turned her inventions against her. Player Two had escaped with the VK-2 archive key.

But the owl symbols remained unexplained. They appeared in damaged files, altered commands and inside the relay panel. Willow searched the archive. Nothing. Rad looked toward the Video Kid leaderboard on one monitor.

“For two years, I thought WIZ was just a name above my score.”

Willow typed.

“You found me instead.”

Tasha smiled.

“I think that’s better.”

“Way better,” Eddie said.

Rad unfolded a piece of cardboard from his backpack.

ADVENTURES IN CHILL CITY

HEADQUARTERS

He taped it above Willow’s desk.

“Do I get final approval on equipment?” she typed.

“Absolutely not.”

Willow smiled.

“Then I accept.”

The Quarter Past Midnight case might be over, but Player Two was still missing. So was the VK-2 key. And NIGHT OWL remained somewhere in Chill City.

Much later, Willow sat alone beneath the glow of her monitors. She searched the recovered archive again. No name. No face. Nothing identifying Player Two.

Then dozens of files bearing the owl symbol appeared. Several were older than the Video Kid demonstration. Before she could open them, every result vanished.

Click.

Her modem answered an incoming connection. Willow froze.

A new file appeared.

PLAYER_TWO_LOCATION

She opened it. A blinking cursor crossed a map of Chill City.

Past the arcade.

Past Pine Street.

Past the park.

It stopped at:

CHILL CITY HIGH

The map vanished. Behind her, the printer came to life. One page slid into the tray. At the top was the owl symbol. Below it:

SEE YOU IN HOMEROOM.

Willow turned back toward the monitor. One final sentence appeared.

THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

The screen went black.



The End?

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2 months ago | [YT] | 237

Chill City FM

📻 🌲 CHILL CITY FM // SPECIAL PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCEMENT 🌲 📻

📡 …you’re listening to Chill City FM, broadcasting from somewhere high above the city…

This is a special announcement for all members of the Chill City Detective Club.

The investigation is almost over.

The clock is ticking.
The signal is getting stronger.
And the biggest mystery in Chill City is about to reach its unforgettable conclusion.

After mysterious arcade messages… late-night radio transmissions… hidden cassette tapes… and a trail of clues leading across Chill City… the time has finally come.

The wait is over. The next chapter in our investigation has officially arrived. The thrilling two-part conclusion to Adventures In Chill City: Quarter Past Midnight begins…

Chapter 6: The Final Countdown is here.

So grab your flashlight, clip on your walkie-talkie, and join Rad, Tasha, Eddie, and Willow for the beginning of the final chapter.

🎙️ Now broadcasting: Chapter 6 — The Final Countdown: Part 1

⸻

The only light still on at 614 Timber Drive came from the upstairs bedroom.

Willow Sinclair sat at her desk while green letters scrolled across one monitor. Police scanners crackled softly. A cassette recorder clicked at the end of its tape. Outside, the homemade antenna swayed in the summer breeze. In the corner of the screen, a timer counted backward.

03:17:42

Willow watched another second disappear. Then she reached for the modified radio beside her keyboard and flipped a switch. Across Chill City, three matching radios came to life. She typed.

“Rad.”
⸻
Rad McFly looked up from the map glowing on his IBM PS/2. The radio beside his telephone crackled.

“…Rad.”

He smiled and picked it up.

“I’m here.”

“Come to headquarters.”

Rad checked his Casio watch.

8:58.

“I’ll be there.”
⸻
Tasha sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor sorting cassette tapes while an episode of 21 jump street played quietly on television. Her radio buzzed.

“Tasha.”

“I’m listening.”

“Headquarters.”

She grabbed her windbreaker.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”
⸻
Across town, Eddie crouched beside his bike in the garage, trying to force the chain back into place.

“Eddie.”

He looked around dramatically.

“I knew somebody was spying on me.”

A pause.

“Probably.”

Eddie laughed.

“I’ll be there in ten.”
⸻
Back at headquarters, three green lights appeared on Willow’s monitor.

CONNECTED.

CONNECTED.

CONNECTED.

She looked toward the blinking red beacon atop the Chill City FM tower, then typed one final note. Tonight we finish this.
⸻
An hour later, four bicycles leaned against the porch. Inside, Eddie slowly turned in a circle.

“I’ve officially decided your room is cooler than mine.”

Rad studied the giant map covering Willow’s wall. Red string connected the arcade, the old video store, Pine Street, the footbridge and the abandoned maintenance shed. Only one location stood alone. The Chill City FM tower. Circled in black. Beside it:

NIGHT OWL

“So this is it,” Rad said.

Willow shook her head and turned a monitor toward them.

02:04:13

“It begins at twelve fifteen.”

A map of Chill City appeared. Four circles blinked.

Arcade.

Footbridge.

Maintenance shed.

Headquarters.

“The network synchronizes once every day. We have seventy-five seconds.”

Eddie whistled.

“No pressure.”

Willow opened a toolbox containing three modified radios.

“My speech device works through these.”

She hesitated.

“But NIGHT OWL copied my voice.”

She lifted a smaller homemade device and pressed a button.

One tone.

“Continue.”

Two tones.

“Stop.”

Three.

“Reset.”

Then one long tone.

“Danger. Get out.”

“It’s analog,” she typed. “NIGHT OWL cannot change it.”

Rad realized she had not built the device for fun. She had built it because she expected something to go wrong. Willow assigned their positions.

Rad would return to Video Kid.

Tasha would activate the relay beneath the footbridge.

Eddie would enter the utility chamber below the maintenance shed.

Willow would remain at headquarters and recover the archive.

A tiny owl symbol blinked beside one damaged file.

“What is that?” Rad asked.

“I do not know.”

“NIGHT OWL’s signature?”

“Maybe.”

The timer continued counting down. By eleven-thirty, Chill City had settled into silence. Rad pedaled beneath pools of yellow streetlight while the FM tower blinked above the town.

At the park entrance, Tasha waited beside the payphone. Before either of them spoke, it rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Then stopped. Tasha lifted the receiver. Only static.

“I hate when it does that.”

“So do I.”

They separated. Tasha disappeared toward the footbridge. Rad continued downtown.

Across town, Eddie lifted a warped floorboard inside the abandoned maintenance shed. A ladder descended into darkness.

“Well,” he muttered, “here goes nothing.”

Inside the arcade, Mr. Donnelly counted tokens behind the prize counter.

“You planning to beat that old game tonight?”

“I’ve been trying for two years.”

“Maybe tonight’s your lucky night.”

At midnight, the last customers drifted out. Street Fighter II played its attract music. Dragon’s Lair flashed DEMO. The soda machine hummed. Rad stood before Video Kid and waited.

At headquarters, Willow watched three blinking dots appear on the map. Everyone was in position. The countdown reached sixty seconds. Then her watch changed.

12:15.

She keyed the microphone.

“Now.”

Rad pressed START. Video Kid vanished into a crude green wireframe map of Chill City.

Tasha activated the relay beneath the bridge.

Eddie forced the heavy switch downward.

Willow completed the fourth connection.

75

74

73

GRID ACCESS ACCEPTED

The tiny owl symbol blinked beside the message. Willow’s eyes widened.

“NIGHT OWL is inside the—”

The lights went out. Everywhere.

Darkness swallowed Chill City. Only Video Kid remained alive inside the arcade.

67

66

65

Emergency lights flickered beneath the maintenance shed. The park disappeared into shadow. Willow’s battery backup kept her monitors glowing while the archive downloaded. A grainy security recording appeared.

VIDEO KID.

A teenager stood before the cabinet, face hidden by static.

PLAYER TWO

(to be continued)

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 135