Matt Returns
matt-returns.bsky.social
Matt Returns
@matt-returns.bsky.social
Type 2 Fun Haver. Un-retired adventurer. Maker of things and stuff. A ship that is deeply unsatisfied with ALWAYS being safe in the harbor, but still knows what harbors are for. Damn the Torpedoes! Full speed ahead.
As someone who also works in IT, this is DEFINITELY how society will collapse. Some under qualified, over certs nepo baby is going to “full send” a rollout of some half-baked AI Code that nukes the entire societal infrastructure on a Friday evening at 4:59pm. Roll-back strategy? Never heard of it.
April 25, 2025 at 2:01 AM
And one day, years later, that child will come and try to find me. And just in that seeking I will live forever, championed against the crushing behemoth of progress and conformity. He will take a walk, and see the stars, and see life in that moment.

And my small rebellion will have triumphed.
March 24, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Maybe others will join me and mine. Maybe one day along the road, a small child will see us, blazing along a twisted road, leaves in my beard and fire in my eyes. And then just maybe, then will remember it and tell their friend of the crazy wild man they spotted, family in tow, howling at the moon.
March 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Their victory will be as hollow and dry as they are. They will find no joy, or passion, or love in their kill, as I have already spent it all. And then maybe, just maybe…
March 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
And once they wrestle me to the ground and end my joyous journey, and they almost certainly will, it will have been far too late! I have already won! They cannot make me unsee the beauty I’ve seen, as they cannot unswim my rivers, or unride my trails. They cannot unhug my children, or unwoo my wife.
March 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
They will have to catch me on remote dirt roads. They will have to level every forest and raze the mountains. They will have to crawl , painfully, over every jagged rock and cactus spine that my deserts put in their path. They will have to boil every ocean, drain every lake, and dam every stream.
March 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Above all; I want to die knowing that living is the best revenge. That whatever twisted, poisoned souls seek to destroy everything that does submit to them may well destroy me, but it won’t be because I lied down and wept until I drown in my own tears. They will have to catch me first
March 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I desire to see my wife scream at a sunset, to shout with joy at the majesty of this world’s astonishing natural wonders. I want to watch as the earth quakes beneath the crushing weight of her enthusiasm for a cup of good coffee.
I want her to know how much joy she brings me
March 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I desire the embrace of my children. To hold them when they’re frightened and to see them overcome their own fears in time.
I desire community. I desire to bleed for something greater than myself, knowing that my life has meaning, and it’s the meaning that I choose.
March 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
It won’t be perfect, nor do I desire perfection. Nor fame or outstanding riches.
I desire dirt under my nails. I desire sand in my teeth. I desire to pick gravel from my bloodied and tired limbs. I desire the smell of desert creosote, of engine grease, of my lovers kisses to seep from my pores.
March 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I will explore this world, and devour every adventure I’m able. I will find new roads to travel, new wildernesses to explore. With every mile, every step, I will do it as a resounding and concussive FUCK YOU to the powers that be, and all those who grovel at their feet.
March 24, 2025 at 8:46 PM
I will, as a direct and conscious act of rebellion, LIVE. I will stab at the heart of oppression by living freely, by seeking joy.
By drinking deeply from the springs of community, self expression, and adventure.
By eating as many forbidden fruits of sex, love, and passion until my belly is full.
March 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
So I will deny them that last small thing, and give up the rest to the wind. While I cannot be the one to right wrongs, to pull triggers, to grind and burn and force this terrible, ugly machine to its fiery demise; I do not have to lay down and submit to the joyless misery they would have me endure.
March 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
And yet, is that not the plan of the absolute authoritarian? Am I not their IDEAL citizen? To torture a Protestant work ethic into a moral stalemate? To work and slave to justify my existence, only to hate myself and everything around me for my own flaccid submission? This is their best scenario.
March 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
The above helps no one. All of the above is an utterly and completely wasted life. Petty and impotent existence. Pointless rage. Meaningless potential. Thoroughly examined, and yet without any lasting value. Unwilling to throw myself upon the gears, but equally resistant to joy and happiness.
March 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I’ve been living a worse, a secretly toxic option. The option where I do NOTHING. I sit and stew in my own agony, a heady mix of guilt, self loathing, and anger. Angry at fascists, certainly, but more-so at the feckless “liberals” that paint their bombs and taxes with rainbows and passivities.
March 24, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Should I run? Should I sell the home my wife and my children grew up in, and seek a less oppressive regime? I lighter form of the nearly universal capitalism that pervades every modern society? Should I ignore it all, as it is not ME they’re hunting (yet) and bide my time? All unlikely solutions.
March 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Should I take up arms and fight with the young people? Should I volunteer all of my time and energy to the revolution? Should I help plan? Help build? Help mend? Help destroy? Should I lead or follow? I’m capable of both, but seemingly have little access to either. What good is there for me to do?
March 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
What am I to do? The evil surely needs combatting, just as the dishes need doing and the trash needs taking out.
Hell, the roof needs fixing and plumbing needs replacing as well.
Should I forego all joy and laughter until these fascists are rightfully hung by their heels in the town square? (cont)
March 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
… There is also an IMMENSE amount of beauty and joy to be had. There is boundless nature to be explored and appreciated , and new communities to engage with.
There is friendship, love, sex, art, adventure, peace and freedom to be wrung out from this life like a sponge… (cont)
March 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
… There is an IMMENSE amount of suffering in the world. My nation in particular is definitely experiencing a distinct and undeniable rise in textbook fascism, and the bad guys are here and in power. It is not up for debate. There is no question of their motives or ideals.
… (cont)
March 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM