Random Acts of Flyness (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - First Dimension: The Meaning of Your Name - full transcript

(cacophony of sounds)

Najja/Terence:
Black face.

Gena Golden:
Yes... you my nigga.

Stand yourself up
or roll yourself over

or do whatever it takes
to bring your body-spirit

close enough to your screen,

so that your head
fits inside this vortex.

I'll wait.

Okay, for those of you
who find use in connecting

to the yet seen
via initiation...

say the meaning
of your name aloud.



Voices:
Rainbow. Seven. Brighter.

Gena:
Place your hand here.

Close your eyes.

Conjure your face
in three dimensions.

Don't move.

Open your eyes.

Starting with the third.

Now the second.

Now the first.

Now...

say it with ourselves...

All: Black face.

Voice (robotically): Given where
your game design career has taken you,

I'm surprised that you
are taking this new game



in such a religious direction.

I wouldn't use
the word religious.

Voice: How would you describe
it for a player who you know

isn't as well-read as yourself?

I wouldn't have to.

Voice:
Well, let's say you did.

They would feel it.

It's about healing
from shame and silence

and everyone knows what
those energies feel like,

so the game play is m...

Okay. (Chuckles)

The challenge of finishing
this one is completely different

from the challenge
of finishing the BLKS.

The challenge here isn't
explaining what the game is.

The challenge is...

innovating a medium
that goes beyond a game.

A... winner, loser,
disembodied simulation.

A conflict.
Like...

what is the medium that
puts the pain into steps?

Steps that, like,
once you finish them,

you're one-millimeter closer
to understanding the contour

and... size of your wounds.

That's what I've
been thinkin' about.

That's what AJJAN is.

It's about me tryin'
to code all of that.

Me writing the code for

little Black digital me
to go on the screen

to understand
the skin and carbon,

bone and blood,

me puppeteering her.

(squelching)

Voice:
Well, is it working?

Uh, we do have some things
we need to work through, but...

Voice:
No, I mean the real-life stuff.

Najja: Excuse me?

Voice:
The shame and silence...

all healed up?

(rattling)

Ash (on recording):
Remember in chapter 12

when he refers to
the ghost inside him.

Think of the cloth
in the box that I gave you

as that ghost.
And when...

Put that away.
Stay ready.

(recording stops)

Jana ya: Hey, Auntie.

Oh, let me see
what color you got!

Copper!
Great minds think alike.

(laughs)

Hey, new boyfriend.
What's your middle name?

- Xavier: Uhhh...
- I know. It's this funny thing I do.

I try to guess your first and
last based on your middle name.

Tell me.

I actually
don't have one.

(laughs) I love a
no-middle-name type of Black man.

That means you have
very few ancestors.

You probably
only have, like,

one first cousin,
right?

- She's good, right?
- (both chuckling)

Jana ya: Xavier.

Mm-hm. Your first
name is Xavier.

Like that Martin Luther
King type from "X-Men."

The diplomatic one.

Matter of fact, let me
see what your name...

Najja: J, don't.
We don't have to do that.

Why not?

- It's fun.
- No, it is, but I just...

- wanted to ask you...
- Wait, Auntie, what happened to your, uh...

- Both: Partner.
- Jana ya: Mm-hm.

- I told you that already.
- Okay. The one who name

- started with a D.
- Terence?

Jana ya: Yes. His middle name
started with a D, remember?

Yes, I remember,
he's good.

He moved. He's moving.

- You know.
- Jana ya: Okay.

I'm sure you'll
tell me more later.

So, where's your mother, J?

It's just us.

She needed to do
some grieving.

So, she went to the
cemetery to be with Granny

for a sec
since we up here.

So, she drove all this way
and dropped you off

and... decided not to
say hello to her sister?

She was like, "Oh, I'll see
Naj at the birthday celebration."

You know your sister.

Y'all want me
to walk you home?

No, we drove.
It's a lot to carry.

Ooh! He good to
have around the house.

- No, no, no, no, no.
- I can tell.

- He's... We're just transitioning...
- Bunny: I'm late.

I'm late.
For a very important date.

Najja: Yo! What I tell
you 'bout not speaking?

Bunny:
No time to say hello.

A nigga must
make haste.

(cartoonish music playing)

Jana ya: Hey, Auntie!

(ding)

[♪ ♪]

Bunny: Hey. Hey now.
Hey. Tickets are $47.

$47 for what? What
kind of movie is this?

Bunny: It's 6D.

The D stands for...

(echoing):
Dimensions.

What a maroon.

Ah!

Najja: Stop!

[♪ ♪]

Bunny: Ah!

Uh-huh.

Ooh!

(discordant music plays)

(softly):
Shh. I'm hunting time.

Time... time... time...

(suspenseful music plays)

(cymbal crashes)

(deep drum thumping)

(music stops)

(Bunny gasps)

(discordant music plays)

(Bunny groans)

(yelling)

Bunny: Oh, it sure looks
like I'm a goner now.

I see the light.
I see the light.

It isn't my time, is it?

Maybe it is my time.

Give my best to the missus.
Tell her I love her. (coughs)

I've been muted.

I killed a bunny.

What a profoundly
untimely thing to do.

[♪ ♪]

I'll just start
with the first one?

Najja: I don't think it
matters, the order...

Yo, you know
what I should do?

I should do, like,
somethin' like (croaks).

Okay, clearly, this

particular ritual
isn't workin' for you.

The expectation
should not be that

I'm gonna, like, instantly heal
from my "good boy" syndrome.

You're good
and you're dead.

Oh!

It's good to be alive.

I keep my head on right.

I'm now no longer late.

My debt with time I've paid.

Enough... to feed my crave.

Najja: Time.

I've killed it once again.

Time... won't...

Najja/Terence:
...puppet me again.

Actually,
I say that by myself.

Time is not what
you need to heal.

Yo' mama...

she not yo' mama.

Can't even face you in
public with family present.

(echoing): Girl...
time is not yo' issue.

Bro Bunny needs to get to
hoppin' on your real issue,

which is, you know,
that your whole, whole

throat was all locked up.

(combined voices): It's, like,
the whole shit is totally locked up.

You know
how I know?

You let your sister

call you Auntie.

And you liked it.

You love that denial shit.

Girl, you tryna
make, make a game?

And you ain't got
the boss right?

You try to make a world.

A whole world.

(deep voice):
You ain't even collaboratin'

and listenin' to the one
you walkin' on.

You should know better.

For real.
I'm tellin' ya.

Hello. Hold up. Hold
up! Hold up! Stop!

Najja: Stop!

Was that you?

What?

("We Are Starzz" by
Angel Bat Dawid playing)

Glorious didn't come, did she?

Aunt Denise: On the
next episode of "Orun,"

"Your Bawdyspirit."

Ever wonder why
that bad body of yours

feels like it's the same thing
as that pure spirit of yours?

Join your seventh-dimensional
self to explain to itself

the nature of this
inseparable being

that is the literal

intertwinement
of the physical body

and the ethereal spirit.

All on the next episode
of "Orun ."

(percussive music plays)

Zandra:
Are these Najja's keys?

Terence: Yeah.

They look mad ancient.
(chuckles)

Yeah, she told me it's so
that they can't be copied.

Hm... Tell her I hope
that the ritual goes well.

Ancestors and spirits whose
names I know and don't...

please help me to see
through my intention...

to find
my own place...

and heal through my
dispossession wounds...

and to apply
the medicine...

of integrity...

a a and...

Presence.

Presence, yes.

And all that other stuff
that I need to stay alive

and stay at peace while
I'm being stolen from.

Amen, ase, amin.

Zandra: Amen.

(light music playing)

[♪ ♪]

Voice: Destination.

(voice chattering)

(clicking)

(louder clicking)

(clanking)

(rapid clanking)

(clicking, clanking music plays)

Najja: "The photo
box is in the closet

"and there was film cans
in the oven and the fridge.

"So, alas, it
was too activating

"to get your things together
like I said I would.

"But... it will be
beautiful for you

"to tend to each
of your objects.

"Turn the lights off when
you're not using them.

"And be gentle with
my things, Terence.

"Love you.

"P.S. Be gone when I'm
back as we discussed.

"Smooches!

"Uh, P.P.S.

"Thank you for what you did
for our ritual this afternoon.

"I know the bunny
costume was hot

"and I know how difficult
it is to play a role for me.

"Anyway...

"I think we healed a lot,

striving for progress,
not perfection."

[♪ ♪]

(recording plays)

Winston Duke (on recording):
Usually, wunderkind movie execs

walk a back lot of a studio

with a, a cynical optimism
that's at once armor...

(fast-forwarding) - Kemele
heads the groundbreaking

Quadruple X Enterprises.

Their film division,
Quadruple X Studios,

grossed over $1 billion
in the last four years.

And that includes the upcoming
tentpole "The Six Force,"

an adaptation of stories
collected by the company's

wildly popular and
controversial mobile app,

Bitch Better Have My Money,

which has procured
reparation payments

for millions
of descendants of slaves

all while collecting a modest
fee on each transaction.

(camera clicks)

(inhales, exhales)

Probably paid
a million over asking.

Mandy:
Oh, you talkin' to me now?

- I said you were right.
- Mandy: Damn right, I'm fuckin' right, nigga.

Niggas always actin'
like they listenin'

- when they not fuckin' listenin'.
- Terence: New update.

- App Voice: Bitch Better Have My Money.
- Mandy: Ooh! Download that

right quick. Tonight's
your night. I can feel it.

Especially after you let
Najja talk to you like that

for the four millionth time.

All in her,

(mimicking Najja):
"Be gone when I'm back

as we discussed. Smooches."

Whole passive-aggressive ass.

Like, nigga, I just
let you chase me around

a major metropolitan city

in a full bunny costume
with a gun

as a part of your
little ritual,

just so you could
stop the master's clock

by affecting the ethereal
with the physical.

So, in what world do I not
follow directions precisely?

And the gratitude was a P.S.?

I thought we led
with gratitude.

App Voice:
No matches for Terence.

Nigga, I told you not
to fuck with that app.

You look
desperate as fuck.

- And plus, I told you...
- Mandy, chill! Shut up!

Who the fuck is this
nigga callin' Mandy?

Both: I'm Terence.

(yelling)
No more Mr. Nice Terence!

I'm goin' fuckin'
full capitalist on that ass!

You know why?

Because Mr. New Haircut
over here

insists on usin'
derogatory terms like

"Mandy" and "pain body"
to refer to me.

I am not made from all the times

you was a bitch-ass
nigga all the time,

as he was a victim.

Matter of fact... I'm the
only fly shit about you.

As I said... I'm Terence.

(groovy music playing)

♪ Good guy, it's a ♪

♪ Good guy,
it's a good guy ♪

♪ Good guy, it's a good guy ♪

♪ Tell you niggas who I am ♪

♪ I'm survival in your plan ♪

♪ You niggas pledge
to Uncle Sam ♪

♪ I pledge to break the dam ♪

♪ And destroy
fuckin' Arrendale ♪

♪ With a wave of yams ♪

♪ Don't test me cuz I cram ♪

♪ 'Cause I found the answer
in the castle made of sand ♪

♪ I keep you niggas alive ♪

♪ Long as you read the plan ♪

♪ You better read the plan ♪

("About Love at 21"
by Liv. E playing)

♪ And when you came
back inside my door ♪

♪ I couldn't've been
alarmed 'cause ♪

♪ Lovin' you, yeah ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Lovin' you ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Lovin' you ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Lovin' you ♪

♪ It's as mental
as I'll ever be ♪

(panting)

Xavier: Time?

So, after this,
that's it?

I would just be able
to fall out and...

ritual over.

Amen and ase.

I don't know.

We might have to add
one more thing.

(Xavier chuckles)

(light music playing)

- Okay. You ready? One more.
- Xavier: One more?

Najja:
You can beat that last time.

Ash:
Welcome to the appraisal.

My guides work through me
to appraise any object

that may have attracted
itself to your body-spirit.

Appraisal of this object
yields a valuation story,

which tells me which
of your many, many,

many, many, many wounds

the object may have
attached itself to.

I'm so happy to have a special
guest this week, Terence.

Terence... what would
you like appraised?

[♪ ♪]

So, this is Ethartie.

It's been in my family
for... over 200 years.

Hmm... Woo! Oh.

Why did you do that?!

Uh, sometimes the
objects have, uh, agency.

They do as they please.

Uh, this just means that
there is another object that is

more intertwined
with your wound.

So...

what ya got?

I don't have anything.

Come on, let me see.
Gotta have something.

Ah... Oh.

- That's just my I.D.
- Uh-huh.

- Do not throw that in the water.
- Shh.

(Ash inhales)

(speaking Yoruba)
Ororo olamina change.

Ororo olamina change.

Ororo olamina change.

Change, change, change.

Loose change, intellect
change, property change,

loose wind, loose change.

So...

wanna take a guess?

Wanna take a stab
at your valuation story?

No.

I'm not a good
guesser, so.

(Ash chuckles)

(whispers): It's sorta
like a part of the show.

You kind of have to.

Uh, okay.

So...

which wound did this
I.D. attach itself to?

Uh, American passport.

So, it sort
of signifies...

that I belong here...

or that this
stolen land that we,

you know, live on...

You know, like,
I have a place here...

even though I don't believe
that for obvious reasons.

Uh, I.D... Home.

I decided not to
just, you know, like...

jump into living
with Doreen

after what happened
with Najja 'cause,

you know, I'm tryna
learn how to attune

to my needs
and whatnot...

even though I think I'm only,
like, 29% serious about that.

I don't really know
what "attune" means yet.

And I, I really thought
that the app was gonna

totally handle the
whole housing situation

'cause the whole point
is we get our shit back.

I don't know about you,

but every single one
of my friends has hit

all sevens on BBHM
and the copycats.

So far,
no dice for me.

So, the story of the
wound is there is...

no justice
on stolen land.

It's steal
or be stolen from.

It's a brand.

Identification
of stolen property.

Me.

Somethin' like that.

Audience,
what do we think?

(mystical music plays)

So, one dark day,

the wind blew
through the tree.

The tree danced in return.

The tree could
not see the wind,

the lover who made him dance,

and the wind,
who loved the tree

and how well they
danced together,

grew wary of this
invisibility.

So, the wind being the wind,

primordial, willful,
and obsessed

with transformation and change,

the wind went
to the original god,

not all these new gods
made in our image

with arms and legs and faces,

but the original
dark, gooey god...

who don't look like much,
but moves like everything...

and said, "OG,

"could you change me
into whatever I need to be

so that the tree will see me?
And love me back?"

- OG said playfully...
- OG: "You tryna get bodied?"

Ash:
The wind said, "Yaaas, King."

- OG said...
- OG: "Cool, what kinda body?"

Ash: "Something smooth,
soft, that smells good."

OG: You mean in the sense that the
body has mastered the skill of smelling

or that the body
emits a pleasant aroma?

Ash:
The wind specified the former.

Gotta be specific
with your requests to OG.

You will get what you ask for.

So then, of course,
OG does their thing

and cooks up a body
to body the wind...

(music stops, resumes)

And now the wind is here,
with us, walkin' around.

And on day zero,
what do they do?

They go on up to that tree

and they rub their new
skin against that bark,

and they feel those leaves
fall on their new face,

and they are just as content
and bodied as they can be.

So much so, that they use their
new nose to sniff down to the roots

and lick the tree.

And they do this all the time.

Feel and play
and dig and sniff.

And within a few days...
the tree dries up.

No more leaves, no more bark.

The tree don't look too good.

And the wind gets to wondering,

"What-what's wrong
with this tree?

"Is it me?

"What is this new body doing

to my beloved bark,
roots, and leaves?"

So, the wind goes
and looks in a river,

a part of the river
that's flat and still.

And what does he see?

A snout, pointy ears...
and pink skin.

The body, the mind,
the spirit... of a pig.

- Child: Don't kill him!
- XXXX: Serious question:

Why you always choosin' pigs
to place your soul into?

♪ Whoa, na ♪

(leaves rustling)

(Najja mumbling)

Najja: Sacred fire...

I'm listening.

Tell me...
what ritual is required?

What does
“collaborating with you...”

Mean?

Glorious has been
my sister my whole life.

How do I make her my...

(fast-paced music playing)

[♪ ♪]

(fire crackling)

XXXX (whispering):
End is our rebirth...

not yours.

Celine: Why you got us
out here? It's fucking cold.

Fuck! (Exhales)

You know she got
Jesus on her side.

Jesus.

Who you got? Huh? Me?
Some fuckin' trees?

Huh?

(light music playing)

[♪ ♪]

[♪ ♪]

[♪ ♪]