*looks up misspelled word* the definition is that you're an idiot and you spelled it wrong you fucking moron

Jamais Vu

Masterlist || Series Masterlist

Prev || Next Chapter 22: And I Oop! 🤭 Jungkook x Reader: enemy to lovers AU

Word count: 1739

Warnings: Swearing, an over confident douchebag and Y/N and JK are major teases Premise: “There’s an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It’s when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger… Nothing is ever familiar” – Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

AKA Jungkook goes in search of the girl who got him expelled.

It’s embarrassing how long this chapter took me to write  🤦‍♀️ If you would like to give feedback or be tagged in this story please send me an ask/message 😊 Tagged list: @inspinkyring​ @betysotelo18​ @kardia-apo-marmelada​ @casspirit0705​ @preciouschimine​ @therealsugababe​  @lucedelsole97​ @deolly​ @lexy9716​  @thesweetest-peas​ @sannsia​ ​ ​

STORY CONTINUED BELOW THE CUT

A large group of excitable females crowded one end of the bar as the man behind it took two bottles and spun it around with dramatic flare before pouring a generous amount of alcohol into a shaker. Squeals of delight erupted from the crowd as he threw a handful of ice cubes into the air and successfully caught them all behind his back. He finished off the flashy routine by placing the shaker top back on the canister and entertain his audience one final time by dancing in body rolls while he shook up his concoction.

“Who’s thirsty?” He yelled out and in an instant the females grew feral with enthusiasm as they pushed and shoved each other, trying to be the first person to gain his attention.

Y/N observed the scene from the other side of the bar as she waited for her turn to be served. A girl with fire engine red hair managed to wrestle her competitors off and secured the position at the front of the bar.  She patiently stood before him, hoping her pleading eyes was enough for him to convince him to invite her for a drink.

Y/N’s nose crinkled in distaste. While she didn’t know the red head by name (she went by the name Red), she had seen the girl around the Basement and knew enough to know she deserved better than him.  

“I’m absolutely parched.” Her tone was slow and drawn out in attempts to sound sultry.

Y/N couldn’t contain the fake gagging noise she made. In her eyes the scenario was completely cringeworthy…maybe Red did deserve him.

‘I wouldn’t be caught dead chasing a guy like BeatBox Jae.’ She thought to herself.

Unfortunately, the sound she had made was loud enough to catch Jae’s attention.

An overwhelming amount of excitement welled in his chest when he realised he had the Kim Y/N in his sights. He turned his attention back to Red and gave her the most charming smile as he could muster as he made another big show of slowly pouring out two drinks.

“Sorry, bar’s closed.” He said with no hint of remorse then picked up the drinks and made his way over to Y/N, leaving the humiliation to sink in with poor Red.

“Here.” Jae said as he set the frosty martini glass in front of Y/N “I made you a drink, Beautiful.”

Y/N scoffed in his face and pushed the drink to the side, her blatant act of rejection did not even damper his mood.

“You’re an asshole you know, right? I can’t believe you did that to her!”

Jae nonchalantly shrugged off the comment as he took a sip from his drink. He didn’t care about the feelings or problems of others…if he wanted something, he knew that as the Maknae of The Basement Boys there wasn’t much that was unattainable by him. With a face that looked like it was carved by angels and an ego that was extensively fed his adoring fans of guys and girls…Jae was a lethal combination of charisma and arrogance.

It was exactly this attitude that repelled Y/N from him. “Don’t be like, Beautiful…let me take you out on a date and show you how much I like you.” “Oh really?” Y/N leant forward so that elbows were resting on the bar and cupped her face in her hands, making sure to looked up at him from under her long lashes with a cute pout. “Tell me three things you like.”  

Y/N was never discreet about her dislike towards Jae which only made him want her more. The fact that she was now showing genuine interest, made Jae feel like he was finally getting a head in a race he was lagging in.

“That’s easy… You’re hot as hell.” He said with enthusiasm and raised his hand so he could count the reasons as he listed them off “…cute too and the most gorgeous thing in the world.” He grinned proudly to himself, feeling satisfied that he answered the question well.

“Is that all?” “You only asked for three…did you want me to say super sexy too?” His response was smug

Y/N had to force a smile to hide her grimace. Of course the only traits he favoured were those of her appearance. She knew better than to ask those kinds of questions, especially to someone like Jae but once in a while she had the unstoppable urge to remind herself that men were trash.

“Sorry I don’t date guys who fuck around while they have girlfriends.” Y/N pulled herself of the bar and broke the illusion of interest she had Jae under. Though her abrupt change of attuite was enough to give him whiplash he was able to recover quickly.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, Beautiful.” “That’s not how I see it.” The tension grew thick in the air as they stared each other down.

For regulars of The Basement, it was common knowledge that Jae was one to sleep around. However, with her sharp observation skills as The Shopkeeper, Y/N was able to piece together his hidden shame. From what she could piece together it seemed that only the members of The Basement Boys were aware of this convoluted secret and the matter was kept within the crew.

“Don’t be silly Beautiful.” Jae was the first to speak, breaking the tension by playfully ruffling her hair and returning back to his same jovial self “Besides if anyone has to worry about significant others it should be me…your boyfriend has been giving us death glares.” “What?” Y/N asked trying to figure out who in the world he was talking about. Nods his head in the direction behind her before revealing who he is talking about. “SeokJin’s big buff cousin over there.” she turned around spotted a Jungkook looking disgruntled standing a few people back in the line for the bar. Their eyes met briefly before he turned the other way, pretending he wasn’t watching Y/N. “That’s not my boyfriend.” she said rolling her eyes “He’s just angry because he’s a sore loser.” “Thank God.” Jae exclaims as he clutches his chest overdramatically “I thought I had competition for a second.” “You don’t have to worry about that.” Y/N reassures him with a smirk “You actually act to be in the race to have competition.” She cheekily blows him a kiss and leaves him, no longer interested in getting a drink.

Y/N was well aware of the type of person Jae was, so never in a million years would she fall victim to his charms. If anything, she found it enjoyable to shut him down.

‘That should take him down a notch.’ She thought to herself

Jungkook was still facing away from Y/N as she drew closer to passing him on her way back to the balcony, she had every intention to walk by and ignore his existence and yet she had the unstoppable desire to mess with him too. Still high off her interaction with Jae, her body moved on its own accord and before she knew it her body was crashing into his as she purposely tripped herself. As if on instinct Jungkook was quick to wrap his arms around her to prevent her from falling.

“If you wanted me in your arms, all you had to do was ask…there’s not need to trip me over” Jungkook’s eyes widen at her accusation which caused her to chuckle. His arms dropped from around her and he stepped back to create space between them “I don’t blame you though…I am pretty irresistible in my new shirt.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” He spat out in disgust “I don’t want anything to do with you, especially after I saw you help humiliate that red headed girl.” “Um…Sorry what?” Y/N’s mouth hung open in disbelief, he didn’t really believe she had anything to do with that? “Don’t act like you weren’t involved in that. I bet you couldn’t handle not being the center of attention for once, that’s why you called that bartender over to you.” “Excuse you? I’m not sure what you saw there but you must really have your head up your ass if you think that I had anything to do with that.” “Oh pah-lease!” Jungkook’s arms were crossed defensively “You might have everyone fooled but I see you for who you are… you’re nothing more than a spoilt princess!”

‘A spoilt princess?’

That comment really struck a nerve with Y/N. She had been called many unfavourable things in her lifetime and she had never been offended because to some degree the things they said were true so it never bothered her…she felt there was no point in getting upset with the truth, she accepted every aspect of herself - whether it be good or bad. However to be called a princess and a spoilt princess at that really pushed all the wrong buttons within her.

Y/N refused to conform to her mother’s notions of the importance of beauty and the concept of using her physical attributes to have things handed to her. Y/N valued independence, intelligence and hard work…to have this stranger discredit her like that was deeply insulting to her.

“Look here you jerkfaced asshole.” Y/N’s eyes narrowed as she scowled up at the tall male towering above her. “Maybe if you were a better competitor, you’d be able to win once in a while and then you wouldn’t have to take your passive aggression out on me.”

Jungkook couldn’t hide the grin that had taken over his face, even when Y/N was losing against him she had always managed to keep her emotions in check. This is the first time he had seen her flustered and openly frustrated…He enjoyed seeing her lose her composure.

“Whatever you say…” Jungkook closed the distance between them so that he could lean closer to her “…Princess” 

Y/N stiffened when she heard his smooth husky voice whisper in her ear, stirring an unfamiliar feeling of anticipation and delight within her. Those feelings quickly turned to repulsion when her brain had finally caught up to her and realised who she had been talking to. She let out a sound of disgust and pushed him away from her.

“Go fuck yourself, Asshole!” she spat before turning to leave him.

Jungkook watched Y/N storm off as he buzzing with satisfaction of knowing he had be the one to get under her skin for once.

the girl working the summer camp at my school in the morning is irritating me so much hahha... like she’s this total hippie crunchy person which is totally cool & fine but like I get into the school and there’s granola IN my keyboard?? and she made this passive aggressive sign for the water cooler about reusing your paper cup to save Mother Earth and I’m like.... gonna take that dowwwwn. and then today I get in and the homepage on my computer is set to some new age looking search engine that says it plants a tree every time you search, which is nice, except that the search SUCKS ASS so i had to go into settings and add google back.

I’m just like what the fuck?? this is MY workspace, don’t change my shit and leave it messy

distract | nj

▶ summary: There’s only one way to tame a raging fire. Namjoon knows just how to do it, effortlessly and sweetly.

“Because being blamed for something you didn’t do is exhausting! It’s draining, because you don’t know if you should pretend to take the fault so you could make some friends and be a socially-abiding employee when all you want to do is be free!” You let your bag fell flop at the side of the bed on the floor and, lashed out some more.

“...And if you’ve been with me long enough, you should know that I’m not the type to listen to anyone’s shit. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they are, if they’re lying through their claws, I won’t be smiling and telling them all the things they want to hear. And if you know me, you’ll understand that I will not be a tact sugar-coated liar who licks ass for a living.” You paced left and right by the window glass that looks out the balcony.

The curtains are left open and the neighboring buildings were the only thing that can be seen. Namjoon stood, leaning by the door with his arms crossed, observing, analyzing, listening and attempting to execute the best possible reply in this dangerous situation.

One wrong thing he says, will make this all a lot worser than it already is. 

So he chose to be quiet.

“This company is ridiculous. The co workers are oblivious and they’ve made a fool out of me during a department meeting. I didn’t misplace the drugs. I didn’t even touch a cytotoxic carrier. How could they say that I did it?” There’s defeat in your voice and it didn’t go unnoticed by Namjoon. He is after all the one that usually had to perk his ears up when moments like this comes.

Hands over your head, you turned to face Namjoon, with the bed standing between you and him and you exhaled, “I just need your hug.” A weak smile passed your lips, a small shrug on your shoulders and pleas in your eyes was all it takes for Namjoon to lunged over to you, and pulling you into a warm embrace that’s known to heal all the pain you’ve ever felt.

His sturdy chest against your forehead, and you could feel his arm around your shoulder, holding you as close as he could, while he plants a firm kiss on the top of your head. Your hand flew to his upper arm to keep it there, inhaling his heavenly cologne and taking the advantage of being this close to listen to his heartbeat.

When things go awry, Namjoon knows just how to cater to you. Even when at first, he was awkward in giving. He learnt a lot from you. Namjoon bares to you a side the world never knew existed. In exchange, you show him the side you’ve kept to yourself for so long. Together, you completed each other.

But it’s not all joyous ride together, with each other. There are side of Namjoon that you simply couldn’t comprehend— the workaholic side, the humility on things he should boast about, the perfectionist in him that rejects all mediocre and safe options simply because it isn’t risky enough; and there are sides of you that Namjoon find petty and unneeded—like your insecurities, your constant need of validation and turbulent mood swings that sometimes drove him beyond insane.

Namjoon’s intricated way of thinking fits your complicated thoughts in the most outstanding way. You both could talk for hours on the rooftop at midnight. Spilling your most intimate feelings about things going around you, identifying constellations in the night sky, soft murmurs of kind words that strangers will never hear from you; these conversations rarely reside on the surface—knowing Namjoon.

His poetic ways of putting words into a sentence and how they sound like nonsense to shallow minds was a way you two connected. His passive-aggressiveness met your sarcastic remarks, to equate a disastrously perfect couple. Namjoon and you were a imperfectly perfect equation that mathematicians hadn’t figured out yet.

Namjoon puts a distance between you both and you whined at the sudden loss of warmth to which he giggled low in return. With his dimply smile, he slide his hand down your arm and filled the gaps between your fingers with his before guiding you out of the room and into his studio.

The door labelled: Mon Studio, Sound Engineer; on the outside.

He pushed you down to sit in his seat while he stays standing up behind the chair. “What...why?” Your thoughts are scrambled as you watch him dart his hand out from each side of you, clicking on the mouse rapidly as he tries to search for a file you didn’t know off. “Hold on a minute okay, babe.” He trailed his voice as his eyeballs starts to fidget on every corner of the heavily crowded desktop full of track icons.

“Wow your desktop is very organized.” You threw a sarcastic remark and he chuckled short, “...Haven’t got the time to sort them out properly. Been busy at night, you see.” He tutted his tongue, suggestively, before biting his lips. “Oh really...?” That is a judgemental statement disguised in a form of question, from you to him.

He shrugs a bit and the chair rocked as he passed, “Yeah, my wife can’t keep her hands off of me. But can you blame her?” You snapped your head around at him, digging your against your cheek while trying to come up with a good clap back but Namjoon tipped his chin at the screen so that your attentions falls to it instead of him.

“You sir, have a very distracting face.” You heard your own voice in the video he played on his desktop for you to watch. You remembered this video. It was taken in Ilsan, on your first Chuseok together with his family. The camera focuses on him and his deadly fashion style. He had a Ray Ban glass on, with a red beanie.

“Is it me or is this coloring is just off?” You were not well-versed in using video cameras especially the modern ones so you tend to ask Namjoon everything about it since he reads the manuals. Namjoon appeared to be walking towards you and together, you both were figuring out how to use the video cameras. Before it falls to the ground, of course. The camera was still recording although it cuts off for about 0.8 seconds due to the fall. Namjoon is heard to be rather flustered, “It’s just slipped out of my hand...!”

And you calmed him down with an assurance, “Look it’s not the end of the world okay? It’s fine. It’s okay. We can still use our good ol’ phone to film stuff and it will be just as fantastic.” The screen flashes black before turning into a scene at a beach. Namjoon looks younger here. Of course he does, it was taken in 2010, he was 16.

As indicated by the dates below.

The video focuses on him, grainy and low quality but still, Namjoon looked stunning. “I can never get over how beautiful you are.” You commented, sounding like you’re in-trance. Younger Namjoon looks very innocent, and he was just filming his feet walking by the sandy beach, the sound of waves hitting the shore was the only thing you hear.

“This is at the height of the porn watching thing, right?” You shot and Namjoon covered his eyes, smiling shyly. “Can’t you just watch without making anything funny?” He gushes and you took the chance to annoy him some more. “You’re making me a pervert for watching a 16 year old you, are you trying to send me to jail? Jail bait.” You darted. Namjoon shakes his head cutely and grinned at the screen.

“I’m going to take my wife here.” Sixteen year-old Namjoon sounded determined. “I want her to enjoy the sound of the waves and the breeze...” Video-Namjoon added and you snarkly say, “We did more than just enjoy the sound of waves and breeze when we were there, Little Namjoon.”

Namjoon slammed the pause button and you exclaimed, “But why!”

“I’m not going to play this video if you keep being like this, stand up.” He said, biting his smile and you did as he told. He sat on the chair and gathered your waist so you sat on him. “You need to shush and appreciate this video,” Namjoon leaned his chin on your shoulder and you pressed the space bar so that the video resumed.

“That night on the beach was fun.” You added quickly and Namjoon pressed his forehead on your shoulder now, vibrating in place to hide his chuckle. “Can we be PG13 at least for the rest of four minutes, please?” He darted his eyes on your side profile and you glanced at him, “We are Rated R baby, you know that.”

“Okay. Can we pretend that we are PG13?” “For three minutes? Yeah.”

Namjoon’s video showed you sleeping on the bed next to him. Bare shoulders and he plants a kiss on them before sliding out of bed. “PG13 my ass.” You shot and Namjoon pressed his lips together, “Sweetie, look here!”

“No!” “Why not?” “Because I have a zit on my face.”

Then the video switches to all the vacations you both went together on. The part where Namjoon went to Rome. When he broke the pan holder. How he snapped the chair into half. And you’ll be behind the video camera laughing your head off. “All I did is hold them.” He sounded sorry.

“Oh honey, don’t worry about that.” You would say. The screen goes black and to present-Namjoon who is in a black turtleneck with ash grey hair-do, fixing the camera to focus. “Hey baby...” he greeted, exclaiming. “You just left for work after a strenuous midnight workout and I’m making this video to thank you for it.”

You had to clamp your teeth down your lower lips to stop the smile from getting wider than it already is. “So if you remember, you had a pretty bad day yesterday and you took it out on me...” Namjoon pulled down his turtleneck and showed an angry red kiss mark, “But I’m not here to complaint. I’m here to do anything but that. I’m here to say to you that if you ever have a bad moment in life, I’m at your disposal.”

Namjoon inhales deeply, “Everytime you say you had a bad day, which usually began by how badly people treated you; I just want you to know that it doesn’t make you a bad person to feel angry about it. I also want you to know that if it ever come across your head that you’re horrible person; which you aren’t by the way, I want you to rewind to the beginning of this video where you assured me that eventhough I’m clumsy and a hopeless King of Destruction, you always make me feel better about myself.”

You absent-mindedly went, “Aww.”

“When I accidentally break things, I get very upset. Because it makes people think that I’m in capable of taking care of things. I see their faces when they were about to hand me some objects. I understand their fear of me destructing it, but at the end of the day, I’m human and I have feelings.” Namjoon sighed. You took his hand into yours and patted them gently. “You make the darkness less dark, you make the edges less sharp. You make the winter feel warmer, you make my weakness less weak. You make the bottom less deep. You make my crazy feel normal.”

You are the who. Love is the what. And this is the why.

Namjoon’s video ended with you and Namjoon on a hammock together, enjoying the breeze on a tropical country beach with coconut in hand. “Baby, who do you belong to?” Namjoon asked you while the camera showing his face and yours. He was laying his head on your stomach.

“An idiot.” You shot.

Namjoon’s smile is gone in a second before him replying with a wide grin at the camera, showing all his teeth, “But I am your idiot...” shows the wedding ring to the camera, “Foreverrrrrrrrrrrr.”

You were dying of embarrassment, behind him. He vowed to embarrass you and you vowed to annoy him; for the rest of your lives. 

Turning over your shoulder, to face him, you link your forehead to his and smiled, “...Why are you so distracting.” Namjoon inhales and whispered, “...I made the video to keep your mind off of negative things, is it working?”

Yes it is.

Jane Foster Week Day Two

A/N: Loosely based on this post.

.02 Associated Quote

Science never solves a problem without creating ten more. -George Bernard Shaw

Bucky would never forget the first time he met Jane Foster.

It was sometime after their climactic battle against Thanos for the fate of the universe. The mad titan was dead. Bucky had a new arm and full control of his mind. Him and Steve were picking up the pieces of their friendship/romance/whatever you called random fucking these days. All in all, things were okay.

They had a place on Long Island and went upstate every few weeks to the main Avengers base. Steve and Tony had worked out their issues and were back to their kind of sort of best friend relationship. Tony hadn't quite forgiven Bucky yet, but he'd stopped trying to shoot him when he walked in the room, so that was progress.

Bucky was at the base eating lunch one day when Steve walked in He had a woman with him, one Bucky had never seen before. "Hey Buck, I'd like you to meet Jane. Jane, this is Bucky."

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. She had a nice smile.

"Likewise," Bucky said. He went back to his peanut butter sandwich while Steve and Jane sat beside him at the bar top.

"She was just telling me about the time SHIELD confiscated her equipment," Steve said before turning back to Jane. "Did you really drive all the way out into the desert to get it back?"

"Thor needed a ride, and I needed my stuff back,," said Jane. "I didn't know for sure then that he could do it, but it was that or sit on my ass and mope."

'Can't do that,' Bucky thought. He wasn't invested in their conversation, but they were fun to listen to.

"No, I completely understand. I would've done the same thing," said Steve. "That urban legend about me and the grenade? Not a legend."

Jane laughed. "Reminds me of when I tried shielding Thor with my body in the middle of a fight."

Bucky stopped chewing.

"You tried to shield Thor?"

"Twice."

Bucky's head turned slowly towards her.

"No offense, Jane, but I don't think ten of you working together could do that."

"None taken, but in my defense it was a life or death situation. I try to do whatever I can to help save the day, be it making some funky new device or trying to defend super powered aliens. Probably why I punched Loki that one time."

The sandwich fell out of Bucky's hands.

"You punched Loki… I knew I liked you for a reason. Anyway, how's your bridge coming along?"

"We're getting started on a new prototype. Since that incident with the last one, we overhauled the fire safety regulations. Right now, we're looking at a ninety seven percent chance at successful transport. I figure if we can reach one hundred percent and I get myself as far as Asgard, we'll be in business."

"Wait, you're not using a test subject?"

"Why bother? It's my bridge. If anyone's gets first ride, it's going to be… is he okay?"

Bucky was decidedly not okay. His mouth hung open and his eyes bugged out. The sad remains of his sandwich lay forgotten on the floor, and though Steve called his name, Bucky was not in a place to answer. He could hardly hear Steve at all as he sunk deep into his thoughts.

** James Buchanan Barnes Inner Mind Theatre

"It is time to commence my greatest scientific experiment yet!" Jane shouted as she put on a helmet and strapped herself down on a massive rocket.

A faceless man in a lab coat lit the fuse, then ran for cover. The rocket shot out through a hole in the ceiling, Jane riding it like a horse and cackling with glee.

"FOR SCIENCE!" she screamed, soaring higher and higher in the sky. The rocket reached the sun and exploded on impact. Millions of pieces rained down upon the earth. All that remained of Jane Foster was some hair and a scrap of singed plaid.

** "Buck? Bucky?" Steve snapped his fingers in Bucky's face. "You in there?"

Bucky returned to reality with a bang. Literally. That was the sound his chair made when he threw it at the wall getting up. He lunged at Jane, pulling her so close their noses touched. "You must be protected at all costs."

Jane blinked. Steve blinked. Bucky did not blink.

"Uh…" Jane said. "Okay?"

After that fateful day, the majority of Bucky and Steve's free time was spent in Jane's lab. By the third day, she'd gotten over her befuddlement and accepted them into the fold as unpaid, super strong assistants. They moved heavy equipment, made midnight convenience/liquor store runs, and got a crash course in welding when it came time to solder the frame into place.

At night, or whenever Jane's eyes started to droop, they'd ease her away from her station and carry her to bed. She'd offer token resistance, but always gave in and buried her head into the neck of whoever got to hold her that day. It was a peaceful routine for the three of them. Jane got her work done faster, Bucky ensured she didn't blow herself to kingdom come, and Steve got a few nights a week in bed as long as Jane and Bucky's self imposed tasks were completed in a timely manner.

On one such night, which should have been date night at home watching badly dubbed kung fu movies and eating pizza, Steve was in the kitchen getting their drinks while Bucky put the movie on. He was all wrapped up in his favorite fuzzy blanket, so comfortable he didn't think he'd move for the next week. Then his phone chimed with a new text message.

'Hey there! Having a big breakthrough. Think the bridge might be ready for a test run! -Jane'

"Okay," Steve said, as he walked in with two fruity beverages. "Got those mango strawberry smoothies with whipped cream for my best guy!"

Bucky threw the blanket away. It smacked into Steve, spilling the drinks all over him. "We have to go. Jane needs us."

"But-"

"MOVE!"

They were out the door in seconds, Steve fumbling with his jacket as Bucky half dragged him to the car. He threw him in the passenger seat and tore out of the driveway. Steve managed to right himself and buckle in three blocks away from Jane's lab. He glared at Bucky. "Tonight was supposed to be our night, you know."

"Now it's our night and Jane's. Deal with it."

"If you love her so much, you should marry her."

"Not me, we."

"Wait, what?"

They arrived to find the lab intact and Jane exactly where they left her that morning. She had a Chinese takeout carton in her lap and typed one-handed while she ate. On the screen was the same code she'd been working on. The bridge prototype was untouched and unactivated.

"Hey guys," she said. "What are you doing here? I thought tonight was date night."

"So did I," Steve grumbled.

"I got your text. Did anything happen?" Bucky did a full sweep of the lab, searching for fires, leaking chemicals, or rips in the space time continuum. "Did you turn on the bridge?"

Jane swallowed a bite of lo mein. "I ordered dinner first. Physical engineering is hungry work. I've got more if you want some."

Bucky's stomach chose that moment to whine. He took a seat and rolled another chair at Steve. Jane had overshot how much food she'd need, leaving just enough for the three of them. Bucky gobbled down his fried shrimp while Steve stole an entire plate of dim sum. They ate, chatted, laughed, and joked around. Eventually, Steve relaxed and stopped passive aggressively ribbing Bucky about date night. It wouldn't have been the same without Jane anyway. One of these days, Bucky would tell her that. Unless Steve beat him to the punch.

"So I think I'll be ready for the test run tomorrow," Jane said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "It's going to be amazing, though success is only ninety five percent certain this time."

Bucky forgot momentarily that he was supposed to be curbing her reckless behavior and got lost in how adorable she was when she was happy. Or nervous. Or happy and nervous at the same time. "That's great, Jane. And I'm sure whatever inanimate you send to Asgard will have a great trip!"

"Smooth Barnes," Steve hissed in his ear. Bucky elbowed him in the gut.

"Yeah, I still haven't convinced the legal team to let me go," Jane groused, crossing her arms. "As if they get to tell me what I do with my bridge."

"Well, they're the ones responsible for damage control if something goes wrong," said Steve.

"Nothing will go wrong if they'd just let me do it my way," Jane said. "Instead, I have to add all these superfluous safety features that aren't even really safe. I'd be at one hundred percent if it wasn't for this so-called virus protection they installed. That thing is buggier than a swamp."

"So delete it."

"I've tried. The encryptions are a mile long," Jane harrumphed. "Stupid bureaucracy. This is why I was independent for so long."

"I thought it was because they were stupid and didn't believe you," said Bucky.

"True," Jane conceded, "but they're eating their words now. And they'll eat them even more if I can get rid of this virus blocker."

She dropped the empty lo mein carton in the garbage. With both hands free, she typed at lightning speed. Bucky had never seen hands move so quickly. He tried to follow them, but his temples throbbed. He took to watching the screen instead. Line after line of letters and numbers in a sequence which made sense only to Jane. Bucky shared a look with Steve, but the punk just shrugged and shook his head.

"Are you sure you shouldn't just leave it?" Bucky asked as Jane deleted everything she'd written in frustration and started again. "Maybe it really would help?"

Alarms went off around the room as the screen took on a life of it's own. It spat out numbers at a rate of a hundred per second, too fast even for Jane.

"Yes," she said, the color draining from her face. "I am extremely sure."

"What's going on?" Steve got out of his chair as the gate prototype began to oscillate.

Jane screamed. "HIT THE DECK!"

The explosion shook the foundation of the building, which was single floor and made from titanium alloy exactly for this reason. They'd all have to send thank you notes to Tony later. In the meantime, Bucky covered Jane with his body, while Steve shielded the both of them with a metal table. The gate opened part of the way and blew an unearthly wind at them, pushing them backwards. Random bits of unused wires and computer modules flew over their heads. Bucky would have bumps and bruises later. Steve already had a cut on his cheek and lord knows how Jane was fairing.

The chaos ceased after ten long seconds. The gate's door mechanism rebooted and went back online, bringing about an end to the storm which in turn shut off the alarm system. The lab returned to relative silence as the trio picked themselves off the ground and assessed the damage.

Jane's bridge was in perfect condition. Everything else was not.

"I guess we won't be doing that demonstration tomorrow," Jane said, picking up the snarled remains of her favorite computer with shaking hands.

Steve put an arm around her. Bucky did the same. Sandwiched between them, she allowed her muscles to relax and her knees to buckle. They held her steady. Bucky kissed the crown of her head and rubbed her back. "Steve, what do you say we have a nice long talk with those legal guys tomorrow?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Steve. "For now, how about you come home with us, Jane? We can watch kung fu movies."

He was so earnest, puppy dog eyes fully armed and loaded. Bucky himself would've fallen for it. Compared to that, Jane never stood a chance. She dried her eyes and left her ruined tech on the battered table. They stepped outside, arm in arm, to find an army of police cars and firetrucks waiting for them.

Two hours of paperwork and interrogation later, during which Bucky scared three different officers into wetting themselves, the three of them finally made it home. They cuddled up on the couch, Jane wrapped securely in the fuzzy blanket between them. Sipping mango strawberry smoothies, they watched Bruce Lee beat up thirty guys at a time and let their troubles roll by.

Bucky had read once that sometimes, science caused more problems than it solved. He kissed Steve and Jane as they were lulled off to the sleep, and knew this was not one of those times.

 Name: Abigail “Jett” Russo Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Age: 18 Birthday: January 1 Zodiac: Capricorn Occupation: Engineer Cadet Species: Human Gender: Female Significant Other: Keith Family: Sophie and Emma Russo (Adopted Moms; living), Jordan Russo (Adopted Older Brother; living) Physical Description: Long, dark red hair, kept in a tight bun while at the garrison (but a ponytail when casual). Dark brown eyes. Lean with fairly muscular build. On the taller side (approx. same height as Lance). Slightly angular facial features. Starting in Season 2, she has her hair buzzed on the left side. Personality: (following a 1-2-3 Model). Value - Perseverance. Flaws - Stubborn and blunt. Traits - Passionate, Fearless, and Creative. She is very gifted with mechanics and somewhat defines herself with that. She likes problem-solving. Sexuality: Bisexual Backstory: Parents died in a car accident when she was a little girl, and she was adopted by Sophie and Emma Russo when she was seven years old and has lived pretty happily with them. Note Sophie Russo is Italian (speaks the language fluently and taught it to her wife and children) and Emma nee Wager describes herself as a ‘mutt’, but her maiden name is German (she doesn’t speak it). Jett met Mason Harper when they were ten years old, and have been best friends ever since. Joined the garrison when she was old enough to, and became an engineer. She ended up being placed on Keith’s team as the engineer, with Mason working communications. Jett more or less strong-armed her way into being friends with Keith and met Shiro through him. The three of them ended up being very close as a result. When Shiro disappeared during the Kerberos mission and it was declared pilot error, Jett was very upset and refused to believe he was dead. Within the following year, Keith got expelled for behavioral issues, and a new pilot was assigned to their team. Jett was very distant towards the new pilot, and frequently snuck off-base to go see Keith and help him with the search he’d been conducting for the strange energy source. This does result in demerits on her record, but not enough to get her expelled before series events happen. She’s in the desert shack when Shiro’s ship crash lands, but doesn’t go with Keith because he doesn’t want her to get kicked out of the garrison as well (in case things go ass up). Long story short, she gets dragged halfway across the universe and basically fills the role as Coran’s assistant/protege in everything mechanical. Ongoing Story: In the series, as Coran’s assistant/protege for the most part. She’s primarily the mechanic/engineer for the castle, and also does maintenance on the Lions as she learns more about how they work. As a result, she ends up becoming close friends to Hunk and Pidge as well.  In between seasons 1 and 2, Jett gets caught by the Galra and tortured for information regarding the Paladins and anybody who might have helped them escape. During this time, she does lose mobility in her left hand, hearing in her left ear, and has burn damage on the left side of her head that causes her to lose her hair on that side. Thace ships her out in a pod secretly (and doesn’t get caught), with an encrypted SOS for Blade of Marmora members. Ulaz picks up on it, but doesn’t pick her up before talking to the paladins. He does give them her coordinates, and they pick her up at the end of that episode. She gets put in a pod so her burns heal and her hair grows to have a buzz on the left side. She still has no mobility in her left hand, and will work with Coran and Pidge to design a skeletal-like device that’ll attach to her skin and allow her use of her left hand. Still doesn’t have hearing in her left ear. Story progresses with her doing more awesome engineering with Coran, and growing closer to the team, but she’s also now more reserved after the trauma from Haggar. By the end of season 2, she and Keith are pretty much sure of each other’s feelings, but still haven’t had that conversation about what relationship they have/will have. Things get more complicated after Shiro goes missing again. They do start their relationship during Season 3.  Likes: Engineering, space Strengths:  Problem solving Weakness: Tact Extra: She’s left-handed. She and Keith aren’t dating at series start. They’ve been in that weird, nebulous ‘will they/won’t they’ thing for a few months by that time. Relationship talk gets pushed back in favor of intergalactic war.

Misc. Questions: Favorite color: Red Kind of clothing: When not in uniform, she loves just wearing jeans and a hoodie. Note that she always has no less than three hair ties on her wrist prior to her capture. That goes away afterwards because she no longer ties her hair up. What element would they be?: Earth Theme Song: “Sit Still, Look Pretty” by Daya Alignment: Chaotic Good Socioeconomic level: Middle Class Hobbies: Engineering, music Special skills/talents: Exceptionally good at engineering. Self-taught to play guitar. Patience level: Moderately high when trying to accomplish a difficult task. Role model: Her moms Weapon: None. She’s learned how to fire a gun, and some hand-to-hand combat in the garrison. But she doesn’t fight if she doesn’t have to. Least favorite color: Yellow-green (like a tennis ball. Hurts her eyes) Nationality: Predominantly Scottish heritage. Music they listen to: Very wide variety Religious and to what extent?: Not particularly. She calls herself agnostic. What kind of student were they in school?: She’s extremely hard-working. Although she is gifted in engineering, she doesn’t slack off in anything. If your character has a significant other, what would their song be?: “Something Beautiful” by NeedToBreathe What was your child like as a child?: Always very inquisitive. She was one of those kids who broke the toaster because she wanted to take it apart and figure out how it worked. Do they like the name they were given?: She doesn’t like to go by her birth name, or any nicknames derived from it. She likes being called Jett (a nickname given to her by Mason). Languages spoken: English, Italian Siblings: Older adopted brother, Jordan Russo Wears jewelry?: No. She doesn’t even have her ears pierce. Have they ever wanted to commit suicide: No, but she has suffered from depression-like symptoms when she was younger. Therapy helped her get it more under control. Close friends: Mason, Keith, Shiro. Later Lance, Hunk and Pidge. Wants to have kids/raise a family?: Not a high priority for her. If it happens at some points, great and she’ll be a good mom. If it doesn’t then she’s okay with that too. Passive, aggressive, or defensive?: Defensive Cat or dog person: Cat Person Sworn Enemy: Haggar Ranch or Italian Dressing?: Ranch. Sophie calls this treason (Emma and Jordan agree with Jett) Do they play any instruments?: Guitar. She taught herself how to play when she was younger. Coke or Pepsi?: Coke Hogwarts house: Gryffindor

This is a short guide to give you some actionable steps to get started making money online so you can quit your job and start doing whatever the hell you want with your life.Why am I doing this?Because there’s so much misinformation out there on the world wide web… It can be so confusing to know where to begin. It’s often too difficult to know who to believe, what to do, which industry is best for beginners, and how you can actually begin making money.I know it’s confusing because I was in your shoes not so long ago. Let me give you a brief introduction to me and how I got to where I am today:I joined the US Army three years ago.Almost immediately, I knew it was not for me. You see, the military is an amazing experience and it has provided me with great opportunity, cash flow to get my life started, leadership positions, and some fantastic friends.For many people, the military is an incredible career.My story is a bit different…Almost immediately after joining, I started having issues. My first job was working inside a Brigade operations center (if you’ve been in the military, I was an S3 ops officer). For most people, something like this wouldn’t be an issue. For me, it was a nightmare.Noises seemed to bother me more than the average person.If someone was talking on the phone while I was trying to get work done, I couldn’t focus.If coworkers were having a conversation next to me while I was trying to get home to my wife, I felt like my head was going to explode… I couldn’t focus.For about a year and a half, I was wondering what was “wrong” with me… Why was I different than my coworkers? Why did they all seem totally fine at work throughout the day? Were they out of their minds? Was I the one who was “crazy”?It was a really confusing and dark period in my life… My relationship with my wife was deteriorating because I would come home from work every day in a horrible mood. What little time we had together was disconnected and beginning to turn into an unhealthy relationship. Honestly, I was not treating her well… I would come home from work absolutely exhausted and I’d take out frustration on her in passive aggressive ways that would never happen today.Thankfully, we got to the bottom of the issue. Thanks to working with amazing counselors, connecting with great online resources, and leaning into my relationships as best as I could, we figured out what was going on:I’m autistic.Do you know much about autism? I could write a full book on that (probably will someday!) alone but I’ll just give you a brief rundown:Basically, I have intense “sensory overwhelm” issues… What does that mean? Noises are more intense for me than the average person… I’m more sensitive to smells, tastes, uncomfortable clothing, heat, cold, and just about everything else.For us folks on the spectrum, life is more intense.This is why a 9-5 office job is not an option for me.For some people, becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business is a nice idea… Average Joe might daydream about working from home but never take much action in that direction. Why? Because their job is fine! They are comfortable! Life is good! There is no deep motivation to make a change.For people like me, entreprepreneurship is a necessity.I realized that if I didn’t make it as an entrepreneur, my life would be miserable…I simply can’t function in a normal job like most people. I had to do something.So I did!Through ALOT of trial and error, I was finally able to start making money online. Let me breakdown the process that worked for me. I strongly believe that this is a bulletproof model that someone could use to quit a 9-5 job and start earning enough cash to support themselves online.The process I’m going to outline assumes that you have a full-time job that pays your bills. I’m also assuming you have roughly 4-6 hours of free time in your day where you could start/run a business… If you are rolling your eyes at this part and thinking “Oh but i’ve got a family!” or “Oh but I go out with my friends at night!”...Listen. Do you want this?Do you REALLY want to develop the skills you need to work online?If not, that’s OK! Again, for many people, a 9-5 job can be great!However, if you’re someone like me who simply can’t tolerate their job and needs a way out, this guide will help.There is always a way.There is always enough time in the day to accomplish whatever the fuck you want to do.You need to prioritize, take action, and work your ass off every free moment you’ve got.There are no shortcuts.I’m not going to lie to you… It is not easy. If you want to have real success, you have to be willing to sacrifice, put in the work, and dedicate yourself to whatever you’re doing.There are no get rich quick schemes… Anyone who tells you differently is either lying or never did it themselves.Here’s what works:Step 1: Start a passion project and DEVELOP A SKILL.What’s a passion project? Can be anything.It can be a podcast (that’s what I did!).Maybe a YouTube channel?Twitch streaming is exploding these days! Maybe give that a try? Twitch is not just for video gamers these days… Their platform is expanding and looking to compete with YouTube.Maybe start a blog if you’re a good writer?Here’s the secret: IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU DO.All you are looking to do is develop skills.That being said, if your 9-5 job is already dealing with something you think can be turned into some sort of business (for example, you work in the marketing department at a large corporation), you’ve got a bit of a shortcut. When I started, I had ZERO skills. I was a 22 year old kid with no real experience, no real skills, and a ton of mental health issues… All I had was a passion for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu! I started the Mat-Tricks BJJ Podcast and got to work.For every type of passion project, there are associated skills.Let’s do a case study: Let’s say you decide to start a YouTube channel about your favorite hobby (let’s use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as an example because that’s what I did!).You start filming yourself doing some Jiu-Jitsu techniques with your friends. Let’s say you come up with 10 videos you think are pretty good.Now you need to edit those videos. It’s time for you to hop on iMovie, Adobe Premier, or another video editing software… You start playing around. Your first few videos will SUCK. That’s OK! Everyone’s first stuff sucks :) My first podcasts were horrible! You can’t even find them online anymore because I’m so embarrassed by that content haha.This is part of the process… You will spend a few weeks or months going from “sucking” to “pretty good” at whatever it is you’re doing.Let’s say you’ve practiced editing videos for a few weeks and you finally have a few that you think might look good on YouTube.Now you need to learn about how to rank videos on YouTube. To do this successfully, you will need to learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and also a bit about writing copy (copy is words that get people to take a certain action - in this case, watch the video!).Your first few videos will probably be seen by hardly anyone… Again, this is normal.Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re going to need some social media skills if you want to get anywhere.To help promote your new YouTube channel, you make a Facebook page. You also make an Instagram account. You start writing some posts, getting some of your friends and family to like/follow your pages, and start getting your first fans!Oh! I almost forgot! You’ve also gotta make your YouTube channel look good!This means designing some cover art (canva.com is badass for this), recording/editing a channel introduction video, creating some playlists, and a few other things.After a few weeks/months of learning all about YouTube channel optimization, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and video editing, you’re starting to get some traction!Finally, one day, it’ll happen.You’ll have a video that does pretty well!!!Instead of your usual 100 views, you manage to get shared around by a few of your new fans! You start getting some extra views, people start commenting on the video and saying “this is great!” and stuff like that, and your video starts ranking higher on YouTube because of the traction.Now you’re starting to get around 1,000 views a video! More subscribers start to show up and suddenly you start realizing that you have fans that you’ve never met in real life.Congrats, this is your first real breakthrough and it’s damn hard to get here… Most people give up before this point and go back to trying to climb the corporate ladder.Here’s the thing: you might think you’re starting a YouTube channel… Although that’s true, what you’re really doing is developing skills you can leverage into legit money making activities.Using our YouTube channel example, here’s a breakdown of the skills you’ve developed so far. Each one of these is worth big money if you take the time to become a real master.Video editingSearch engine optimizationCopywritingSocial media marketingGraphic design (cover art and YouTube thumbnails!)If you started a podcast instead of a YouTube channel, you’ve been practicing audio engineering, interviewing, social media marketing, and maybe you’ve started venturing into a bit of email marketing.Maybe you started a blog? Congrats! You’ve been working on developing writing skills, search engine optimization, copywriting, website design, and more!You get the point.For every passion project, there are skills that go hand in hand. Those skills are extremely valuable. This brings us to step two.Step 2: Start building a portfolio around your favorite skill.Let’s stick with our YouTube channel example.So now you’ve got some skills!Here’s the thing: you won’t enjoy most of them. You will realize quickly that one or two of your new skills are clear favorites over the others. For example, let’s say you realize you don’t enjoy editing videos… In fact, you’ve decided that you’re going to hire someone as soon as you possibly can to edit videos for you… That’s the thing about starting out: in the beginning, you’ll have to do everything yourself, even the stuff you hate. It’s almost a rite of passage amongst entrepreneurs.That’s why it’s a great idea to partner up with a friend to get started!However, this guide is assuming you’re in this alone, like I was.So you’ve found that you don’t like editing videos but you LOVE writing posts on social media… In fact, you’ve found that you’re pretty good at it! Your small following is liking, sharing, and commenting on your posts. When you see your friends in person, they say things like “great post you made on Facebook yesterday”... Stuff like that.You also find you enjoy designing the thumbnails for the YouTube videos! Whenever it’s time to open up canva.com and design a new thumbnail, you spend way more time than is necessary just because you love what you’re doing.Social media marketing and graphic design are both incredibly valuable skills in today’s market.Time for you to start building a portfolio around those two skills so you can start making some money.If you want to quit your job, you need money ASAP.Here’s the hard truth: you will not make money quickly off your passion project alone.It is a long grind to monetize a YouTube channel… You need a lot of subscribers before you can start making a reliable living off selling merchandise, creating content on a service like Patreon, sponsorships, or YouTube ads… This is a side note but currently a lot of YouTube content creators are struggling because YouTube ads are starting to pay much less money than they did in the past (I won’t get into the details here… Just look it up on YouTube if you’re interested!).If you want to make money quickly, you need to create a business around your skill set and use your passion project as practice.How do you do this? Start networking!If you want to get anywhere in business, you will quickly realize that networking is one of the most important skills you can develop.Don’t think networking is a skill? Think again. Networking is probably the most profitable and important skill you will ever develop.If you can talk to the right person at the right time and have the right conversation, you can accomplish just about anything… Assuming you know your shit!That’s the hard part: knowing your shit… Hence why you’re practicing hard on your passion project!Networking might come easily to you. Maybe you already have quite a few friends who own businesses? If not, start meeting small business owners.What’s the best way to do this? Use your passion project!Using our YouTube channel example: start collaborating with other content creators.In any niche you go into, there are thousands of content creators… Some of them will be way out of your reach (unless you’re lucky and in the right place at the right time!) but many are people who are just a few months ahead of where you’re at. Many of these folks have found ways to start making some money, although they probably are not making a large amount… Again, they are maybe 8-12 months ahead of you.Connect with these people. Invite them to do a YouTube video with you! If they say no, move on to the next person. Eventually, several will say yes.How do you reach these people? Easier than you think if they aren’t too big. Usually, if you just send them a message over social media, they’ll respond. Eventually, you’ll start reaching out to some more influential people in your industry (which is way more complex) but that’s down the road.Start getting to know them. Become friends! Do not rush this process. Do not be fake. Be a real person. Just be yourself!Start growing your network and getting more involved in your niche. How long will this take? It depends! If you love talking to people (like I do), it might take a couple of weeks. If you’re shy and it’s tough for you to break out of your shell (which is OK!), it might take longer. Be patient, know yourself, and be natural.Once you have a few friends who have actual businesses, offer to help them out for free.“What!?!?! For free!??! But where’s the $$$??”Yes, work for free.Again, this guide is assuming you’re starting off like I did: you’re a total beginner! You’re a nobody.Working for free helps you build up a network of people who will vouch for your work.This is HUGE. It is absolutely essential if you want to go from zero to hero.I started out by helping local Jiu-Jitsu academy owners run their social media pages.Once you have 2-3 people who you’ve been helping for a few weeks/months, it’s time to go to step three… The one where you finally make some dough.Step 3: Make some dough.Let’s recap your progress so far:You now have a portfolio of 2-3 business owners who will vouch for your work.You are still hustling on your passion project and putting our consistent content.You are developing your favorite skills and learning all you can.You are continuing to network your ass off however you can.You still work at your job to pay the bills.Ok, time to make some $$$.Time to leverage your portfolio into bigger opportunities.If you’ve been working hard and networking your ass off, people will come to you!That’s what happened to me. My first client for social media marketing reached out to me and asked if I wanted to work for him as a social media manager. I didn’t have to sell him on anything! He wanted me!Why? Because I had been putting out consistent content on social media for almost a year.I had been putting out one podcast every single week for that same time period.Finally, after about 11 months, I was going to get paid. I had finally developed my skills to a point where they were worth money.Will it take you this long? It all depends on you… Again, I was a young kid who knew absolutely nothing. Like I said before, if you already have some skills from your 9-5 job, this process won’t take nearly as long. You’re already experienced!What if they don’t come to you?That’s when it’s time for you to develop a new skill: Sales.Start reaching out to people in your network who you KNOW you can help.If you want to become a social media manager (which is one of the things I do!), start looking at the Facebook pages of people in your network.If you’ve developed your skills to a certain point, you will be able to quickly see who actually knows what they’re doing.Let’s say you find a friend who 1. Owns a business and 2. Clearly doesn’t know what they’re doing with social media… What do you do?Do you message them and say “Hey pay me $1000 a month and i’ll fix your Facebook page!”NOPE!Message them and point out what they’re doing wrong in a really nice way.Maybe something like this:“Hey man! I noticed you’ve been sharing a lot of links lately on your Facebook page… I absolutely love your content and I know that Facebook doesn’t show your content to a lot of people if you’re sharing a lot of links. It reduces your organic reach! If you want your content to be shown to more people, post the links in the comments instead of the post itself!”Maybe they’ll say “Thanks” and never talk to you again.If that happens, onto the next person!You’re looking for that person who says something like this:“Dude thank you so much… Honestly, I’ve got no time for social media. I’m so busy these days running the business that social media isn’t a priority… I know it’s important but I just don’t have the time to learn.”Some variation of that.So what do you do next?Do you say “Pay me $1000 a month and I’ll solve all your problems??”NOPE!Something like this is better:“Man I know how hard it is to get ahead these days… Social media is super confusing at times… I’ve been in the social media game for the past year and it’s tough to stay ahead! Thankfully I get a lot of practice helping out *insert name of one of the people you help for free*”What did you do here?You just wrote something that we call a “brand building message/post”.Basically, some sort of message or post that tells people 1. What you do. 2. How long you’ve been doing it and 3. Who you’ve been helping… All without going over the top and being obnoxious!If you’re talking to the right person, this might be all you need to do. That might be enough for them to want to hire you.However, sometimes you might have to get them on a call.Maybe ask them to hop on a skype or phone call to see if you can give them some tips?“Hey man, I know social media is tough. Want to hop on a call? I’ll share some of the tips I’ve picked up that will save you a lot of time.”If they agree, get on the call and start dropping KNOWLEDGE BOMBS.Share everything you know for as long as the call lasts. Don’t hold anything back.Outline every single little thing they should be doing to expand their social media presence. If you’ve successfully worked hard on your skills, you should have enough information to blow their minds.If you don’t blow their minds, you either aren’t talking to the right person or you need to go back to practicing.If you’ve done everything in this guide correctly up to this point, you’ll blow some minds.So how do you “close the deal?”Well, before you ever hopped on the call, you should have first taken some time to figure out what you deserve to be paid for this service.My first paying gig was $500 a month. Why so low? Because that is what the people in my network could afford to pay.Again, you’re new. You might not have reached a point where you’re rubbing shoulders with people running multi-million dollar businesses.If you have, then ask for more!You have to realize that your skills are incredibly valuable. If you have truly put in the work to become an expert, you deserve the money… Even though you haven’t made any up to this point!If you’re an amazing video editor, you can help your clients create professional and amazing videos that will help them make hundreds of thousands of dollars if they use those videos correctly.If you’re an incredible social media manager, you can help your clients build a massive audience, sell more products, signup more clients, and take their business to the next level.If you’re a fantastic graphic designer, you could partner with a t-shirt company and design shirts that sell like crazy.Your skills are worth REAL FUCKING MONEY.That being said, you have to charge what the people in your network can actually afford.If you are talking to someone owning a business that is doing under $300k in annual revenue, they probably cannot afford to pay you $1k per month. That is OK!If you want to make more money, you’ll have to start networking with some more successful people. That comes with time… It might take a little while to start meeting and connecting with the people in your industry who can afford to pay you the big bucks. Again, be patient, work hard, and keep hustling.As I’ve said before, this guide is assuming you’re a complete beginner with no skills and zero network whose desperate to quit your job and start working online.So back to our call.Let’s say you know that your client can probably afford around $500 a month.You’ve spent thirty minutes on the call sharing everything you know… They’re clearly interested, taking notes, and saying things like “wow, this is great!”... You are going strong!Do you say “Hey man, if you want to hear more, you’re going to have to pay up! $500!!!”Nope.YOU WAIT FOR THEM TO ASK YOU HOW MUCH YOU CHARGE.Again, they already know what you do.They’re not stupid.At some point in the call, they’re going to say something like “Alright, this is awesome, clearly we need to work together. What do you charge?”That’s when you say $500.If you follow this process correctly, the client will sell themselves on your service.If you’re a beginner, I recommend this is the process you take. As you gain experience, you can be less generous with your time. However, if you’re new, that’s still a ways away.The process I’ve found that works the best for selling your skills is to provide free advice until they realize they need you around in a more permanent capacity.If you’re talking with the right person at the right time, you should have yourself your first actual client. Congrats!!! This is a huge step. Now you’re ready for the final step: the big bucks.Step 4: The big bucks.So now you’re finally making some money!You finally have a paying client.Do you still keep helping the other people for free? Up to you! Maybe you have a chat with them and see if they’re ready to hire you for something more professional? If you’ve done a great job, this should be an easy sell. However, sometimes you might decide to find a new set of clients all-together because you think you can do better. That’s fine too!Regardless, time to start making some big bucks.How do you do this? Keep networking. Keep hustling on your passion project.By now, your passion project has probably gained a bit of traction. If it’s a YouTube channel, hopefully you have a few thousand subscribers. If it’s a podcast, hopefully each of your episodes gets around 500-1000 downloads. If it’s a blog, you’re getting consistent traffic to all of your posts.Start reaching out to the people who are running successful businesses in your niche. Invite them to be a guest on whatever you’re doing on your passion project.Start networking with people who are running businesses that earn at least $1 million in gross annual revenue… Hopefully much more. Begin making friends in high places.Eventually, one of these people will need help doing what you do best.By now, you’re a real expert in your skill.You should be able to blow the minds of just about anyone who isn’t already an expert in your skill.You’d be surprised how many super successful business owners don’t know the first thing about social media marketing, graphic design, video editing, or whatever else you’ve been working to develop.That being said, they know a real expert when they see one. Although they might not know much about your particular skill, they can tell whether or not you know your shit just by chatting with you.That is why it’s so important to not skip any steps. Real entrepreneurs can smell a faker a million miles away. You must become a real expert with real clients who will speak on your behalf, if necessary.How do you close the deal? Exactly the same way you closed your first clients.Get them on a call and start dropping knowledge bombs. Blow their minds with free advice until they ask you how much you charge.This time, ask for the big bucks. Be sure you’ve done your research prior to the call and you’re asking for what you’re really worth. Typically, around $1000 a month is considered entry level work for most skills (obviously, it will depend on the specifics of what’s being asked). If you’re going to be spending a significant amount of time working for this client, expect to charge $2-3k per month. Trust me, you’ll be working hard for this person and you’re worth every penny.What if they say no? WELCOME TO THE GRIND!Onto the next person.Keep it up and you’ll suddenly find yourself working with some super successful people who are paying you real money.Congrats! You’ve done it.You now have the potential to have a real business based around selling a skill.I know I was using the example of social media marketing/YouTube channel in this case study but I hope you see how this can be applied for any skill you might have developed.What’s next?Is it time to quit your job? Well, that’s up to you!Some people bail out as soon as they have enough money to cover their bills. Personally, I recommend you hustle for a few more months to make sure you have a long-term relationship with your new clients.Relationships can go south. Personalities might not match up. There’s a million reasons that things with your client might not work out. It might be worth your effort to ensure you’ve got some legit clients who will be paying you for a long time.That being said, you can now rest assured that you’re a real professional.You can do this! You’ve got the skills you need to make it as an entrepreneur.Congrats! I know how hard it is… There are long nights, missed opportunities with friends, and plenty of frustration.Oh! And say goodbye to your lunch break at work. That hour of your day is now dedicated to working on your passion project or helping your clients.I feel confident that the process outlined in this guide can help anyone go from zero to hero and start earning money online, even if they have zero skills and zero network.How long will this process take you? It really does depend on a lot of factors. Maybe you don’t have a family and you are hustling 6-8 hours per day after work? Maybe you have a wife and 3 kids and you can only work 2-3 hours per day on all this stuff? Perhaps you connect early-on with some excellent entrepreneurs who decide to help you out?For me, it took about two years from the time that I recorded my first podcast on my cell phone while driving in my car (absolute shit) until the point I was earning a few thousand dollars a month.Nowadays, I’m doing everything that I can to make sure this process is as easy as possible for people who are trying to break free from a job they cannot bear to keep.If you're feeling lost and you've made it this far in the post... Reach out. Please! I'm here to help :)And no, I don't have an MLM to pitch...