Of Interns and Influencers

Synopsis: After a rejection from her dream college, Marinette falls into a dejected, unmotivated mindset, watching the lives of her classmates on social media as they venture into adulthood. When successful video blogger and influencer, Adrien Agreste, announces his father's contest to find a fashion design intern, Marinette finds her spark again – especially with the bonus of meeting her favorite vlogger.

Chapter I

The cool breeze coming from Marinette's window was quite nice. It was nice enough to make her feel worse about feeling like trash on such a beautiful day.

The sun was shining, but it was a warm, comfortable warmth different from the hot intensity of the previous summer days. Early autumn air made for a lovely, lukewarm weather; perfect for children to ride bikes on Paris' cobblestone streets. Birds chirped along with the sound of her parents' bakery door tinkering open with every customer, and the smell of fresh pastries wafted in.

Despite all this niceness, Marinette was slumped in a cocoon of pillows and pink sheets. Hair messy and unwashed for who knows how long, bags under eyes from nighttime internet surfing, crumbs on the bed from her morning plate of pain au chocolat and mille-feuille and macaroons – yes, for breakfast, dammit. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a real meal, other than sneaking the bakery leftovers into her room to indulge while in the comfort of her bed.

Marinette scrolled through her phone – she switched between her phone, laptop, and desktop computer depending on her laziness level – doing her routine…check-in with other people's lives.

Her finger thumbed up mechanically, other arm holding up her head, cheek squished by her knuckles.

"Ooh, Alya posted," she said to no one in particular. Except for, maybe, the cat snuggled up beside her. Her thumb paused on a photo of Alya, posing on a vibrant lawn, a beautiful cathedral-style university building behind her. A bag was slung on her shoulder, with a notebook in the crook of her arm. Alya's hazel eyes were bright in the sun, trimmed hair shining. She wore summery clothes – jean shorts paired with a white tank top beneath an open flannel shirt.

The caption said: my intro to media writing prof loves me ;) #ParisInstitutduJournalisme.

"Aw, Tikki, she looks so happy!" Marinette gushed proudly, as she typed up a comment articulating her support for her best friend. She would have been first if it weren't for Nino's "that's my girl" comment (followed by a plethora of heart emojis) only a minute before hers. He beat her this time.

Marinette continued scrolling as she stroked Tikki's reddish-orange fur, fingers focusing on the black spot on top of the cat's head. With the updated posts from her friends from high school – seeing them excited and thriving in the first few weeks of school, following their respective dreams – came the recurrent feeling of wistfulness. It was routine by now, second nature to Marinette after a whole summer of feeling it.

Ever since her dream school, L'Université Parisienne d'Art et Fashion Business, sent her rejection letter right before summer break, Marinette felt deflated. All the confidence and spunk she had built up through high school seemed to wither away. She felt like someone else: an insecure, lost, dejected…failure version of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. All her friends and lycée classmates were going on the next step of their lives, and she was left behind, chasing after something that didn't want her. So, she'd stopped chasing.

Marinette's beloved sketchbook sat untouched in her desk drawer, collecting dust since the start of summer. Her fabric and sewing materials were locked up in a box in her closet. In retrospect, she probably should have seen it coming – the arrogance in applying to only one school certainly smacked her back in the face. The universe was in balance now, but Marinette was still lying flat on her back from the brunt of her own ego's mistake.

Whatever, Marinette thought spitefully, when the universe gives you nothing, give it nothing back. Besides, it wasn't so bad being surrounded by delicious homemade French sweets, an extra cushion of Freshmen-15 (minus the Freshmen), and spending her time watching her favorite video entertainer-slash-social media influencer-slash-model, Adr—

"Marinette!" her mother's holler gave her a jolt just as her thumb was about to land on the video-streaming app. Light footsteps sounded before her room's hatch door was swung open to reveal the trim blue-black hair and petite form of Madame Cheng. Gray almond eyes were narrowed in disapproval, matching the frown.

"Marinette, enough is enough!"

Tikki gracefully slid out of Marinette's arms to her place on her favorite black cat pillow – in time for Sabine Cheng to cross the room and pinch the phone from her daughter's hand. "Your father and I did not raise you to give up so easily. When was the last time you left your room?"

As her mother noticed the piles of clothing and miscellaneous items peppering the floor, plates of previous kitchen excursions, wrappers, and an overall mess, Marinette's grumbled, "A couple days…or something…."

Sabine rested her eyes on her daughter's downcast face, eyes softening. "I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks," she found a spot to sit on the crowded bed, "And looking at you now, I think you haven't seen your true self around either. Sweetie, everyone feels lost at some point in their life. It may not feel like it now, but it's at that hardest point where you can be born anew and stronger than ever before."

Marinette found her eyes twinging with emotion, but she smiled, feeling supported and loved by her mother. "Thank you, maman," she murmured, muffled by the embrace the two shared.

"Now, let's get yourself cleaned up and downstairs to help at the bakery," Sabine got up and made her way to the exit hatch. "Today's a busy day! And how else are you going to keep up the revenue from your picture-blog-whatchamacallit without our delicious cakes?" With that, her mother left Marinette mull over her words, feeling like she was stuck between a sprawling landscape of uncertainty and a warm, dark hole of safety and comfort.

Her bed-mussed hair fell into her hands as she moaned, "Oh, what am I doing, Tikki?"

She rubbed her palms into her bleary eyes, making exaggerated noises of discontentment. When she realized she sounded a lot like Chloe when the spoiled girl used to whine to her father, her head snapped up, an expression of resolution on her face. "First, a shower!" She jumped up from her soft bed before she could change her mind.


"An order of eclairs and palmiers, coming up," Marinette said brightly to the customer on the other side of the counter, a kind-looking woman holding a young, pig-tailed girl on her hip. She went behind the glass display cabinets and gathered the desired pastries, placing them neatly in a white box before going back to the counter to ring the order up. The young girl clutched the box excitedly as her mother paid.

"Thank you for coming, enjoy!" Marinette chirped as the last customer of the day left the Dupain-Cheng Patisserie and Boulangerie. Marinette leaned against the counter, feeling multitudes better than earlier that day.

Tom Dupain came from behind her, spots of flour on his apron and face. Her hulking father cast a familiar shadow, before she felt his comforting hand on her shoulder. "What a day, eh, Marinette? Busiest we've had in a while! Must be the weather."

Sabine was collecting the pastries and bread left over from the day, placing them in packages to give to shelters that came to retrieve them every evening. "The macarons you made were a hit today, sweetie," she gave her daughter a see-what-did-I-tell-you look, earning a sheepish blush.

It had been a while, but her baking skills were still present. The pink macarons were sold out, and the neat photo of them she'd posted was a hit on her social media account as well. She earned supportive comments from friends, as well as others exclaiming, "finally! I thought you'd left your account," and "yay more desserts, glad ur back," and "recipe pls?"

"I learned from the best," Marinette beamed, beginning to assist her parents in cleaning up the bakery, as the reddish tinge of sunset faded slowly to the warm, cozy darkness of late summer.

Half an hour later found the Dupain-Chengs sharing a traditional Chinese meal at their dinner table. As the three ate heartily and chatted about their day, Marinette realized how long it had been since she'd last spent time with her family like this. Much less, her friends, other than digitally. She made a promise to herself to invite Alya and Nino to hang out sometime soon. Even if she felt like she was at the lowest point of life thus far, she owed it her loved ones to maintain her relationships with them.

As though reading her mind, her phone vibrated on the table beside her plate with a text from Alya herself.

Alya: MARI OMG

Alya: OMGGGG YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS

Alya: [link] "my dad's looking for an intern? + Q&A | ADRN AGRST"

He uploaded a new video?! Marinette's mouth fell open as her eyes drank in the title of video Alya had shared. She could not even fathom what it could mean or why Alya thought it was important enough to send to her. Her heart beat faster as her mind contemplated the implications.

"Sorry, Papa, Maman – I have to take this," the words jumbled out of her mouth as she left the table tapping at her phone. Her parents shared an unsurprised (but nonetheless confused) look between them.

Up in her room, Marinette sat at her desk in her pink swivel chair, feet tapping away. She was simultaneously waiting for the video to load and for Alya to answer her video-call request. Tikki jumped gracefully onto Marinette's lap, full tail waving as if sensing her owner's anticipation.

Ayla's face showed up on the phone propped up against Marinette's computer monitor, golden eyes wide behind her glasses. "Girl, did you watch it yet?!" her friend burst out.

"No, it just loaded right now," Marinette told her before muttering under her breath, "I can't believe he uploaded twice this week!"

"Oh, this one is different – you're gonna love this, Mari!" Alya exclaimed. "FYI, I'm so recording your reaction right now."

Marinette was used to her friend's journalistic instinct to document everything. Especially something related to one of Marinette's favorite things: her obsession with Adrien Agreste, known as ADRN, the video blogger, model, and son of the renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. She never missed a single weekly video, never resisted liking every post and photo he posted. Originally, she was drawn in by his gaming videos – he was the best Ultimate Mecha Strike III player she'd ever seen (besides herself). Now, she sucked in every content he created, from his reaction videos, to his occasional advice on learning Chinese and Physics, to modeling tips and vlogs.

Of course, there was also his effortless charm, irresistible good looks, and sometimes cringe-worthy puns. It was not so difficult to see why he grew so successful online, even without his father's influence.

Biting her lip, Marinette clicked play on the video. It opened with Adrien's lovely black cat, lounging on Adrien's typical rolling chair. Adrien's voice in the background with a ridiculously high pitch greeted viewers with the usual, "Bonjour, Adrien here and welcome to the video! Don't worry, it's me, this is my true form – yep, I'm a cat! See, my eyes are still the same—"

A meow interrupted his voice, the cat blinking lazily.

"Plagg, you ruined it. It could have been..." Adrien face popped into view, blond strands bouncing on his forehead, "Purrfect."

Marinette squealed. "He's so cute, oh my god!" She ignored Alya's mutter of, "My ears, woman…"

The scene jump-cut to a sheepish Adrien in his seat, Plagg curled up in his arms. "Sorry, guys. Not my proudest moment. But let's get on with the video. Yes, second one this week – and for good reason. I'm starting off with a huge announcement but stay tuned for a surprise Q and A after."

Adrien paused to pick a coffee cup off-camera, "But first, coffee," he said taking a long sip and smacking his lips after (with an entertaining zoom-in on his mouth). "Black, because my manager says I have a 'problem with sugar.' Anyway, as you all probably know by now, my father is the head designer of a fashion brand…or whatever. You may have heard about it. Recently, he has made the decision to hold a contest for eligible aspiring designers."

Marinette felt her jaw slacken, as she tried to wrap her head around his words. "No way…is this real?"

Faintly, she heard Alya saying, "Oh, yes, I can always count on you and your dramatics…can't wait to show Nino this."

Adrien continued, "Basically, design something that fits the theme of Transformation, whatever that means to you. With that, attach an explanation as to how your design fits the theme, as well as the theoretical mechanics, materials, and methods of the design. We'd also appreciate if you were to post the design online with the hashtag 'GabrielTransformation2k19' to take global feedback into account. Just know that regardless of how popular your design is, that won't be the determining factor. All applicants have equal opportunity. One winner will be chosen to be a temporary intern-in-training at Gabriel Fashion Industries for three months, under observation by Gabriel Agreste's personal team of designers. If deemed a great contribution, they will become an official paid intern at the company, AND – stay with me here – get a full ride to the prestigious L'Université Parisienne d'Art et Fashion Business!" Adrien paused to take a breath, "That was a mouthful…. you won't believe how many takes that took. I'm inspired to make a full-on blooper video..."

The video continued, but Marinette was frozen, feeling her heart leaping into another dimension. Her blue eyes were pinpoints, eyebrows seeming to want to reach up to her hairline.

"Oh…" she let out in a breathy whisper. "….my…. GOODNESS! AHHH!" Her voice escalated to a high-window-breaking pitch. "Alya, I can't believe – this is a thing – Gabriel! Top fashion designer—a contest—university—" The poor girl jumped up from her seat and did an unusual mix of victory dance and high knee kicks.

Alya watched her best friend from the phone screen, shaking her head. "You're officially broken." Suddenly, she noticed the ecstatic glee slide off Marinette's face, expression replaced by one of insecurity and worry.

"But wait, what if I'm not good enough? What if, I mean, out of who know how many applicants…. I haven't designed or even drawn anything in a while. I'm out of shape, Alya! What if….?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Alya came closer to the camera, pushing down her glasses sternly. "Uh uh, girl, not under my watch. You've done enough of that moping around. Where's the determined, confident Marinette? Where's the, I'm gonna be top fashion designer and knock all these other losers off their high horses Marinette?"

The girl in question rubbed the nape of her neck. "I never actually said that…"

"No, but with the attitude you had, I know without a doubt that you'd be more than capable of doing so." Alya poked at the camera comically. "C'mon, this is your biggest chance! I believe in you – and, oh, listen, I think Adrien's wrapping up."

Marinette's attention turned back to the video still playing on her computer. Adrien, still reclining in his chair, moving from side to side, yet holding himself to model-like grace. He took another sip of coffee before smiling goofily.

"…. Well, now that you all know about my nonexistent love life and all other important questions you were dying for me to answer, I think that's about it for today. Don't forget, please check out this contest if it means something to you – this is the opportunity of a lifetime, guys! I know all of you talented people are capable of amazing things and I believe in you – yes, you."

Adrien pointed a slim, manicured finger at the camera, (much like Alya did) once again zooming in an uncomfortably humorous way, his classic editing style. The camera panned to Plagg, now in the background staring with deadpanned, glowing green eyes. "And Plagg believes in you too, I'm sure. This is Adrien here, signing out." He did his signature salute and the video ended with his outro.

Marinette was back in her seat by now. Alya watched her through the phone camera, face perched on her palm, gauging her best friend's reaction.

"You're right, Alya," Marinette said finally, "this is a huge opportunity. I would be crazy not to take it." Marinette rested her chin upon her arms folded on the desk, closer to her phone screen. A dreamy smile melted onto her face. "Adrien Agreste believes in me!"

"Exactly, that's the spirit I'm looking for – and for the record, I believed in you first, but okay," Alya had a satisfied smirk that didn't match the jokingly passive-aggressive voice.

Marinette grinned at her warmly, "I know, Alya. It really means a lot."

The two continued to talk and catch up over the video call, before Alya had to go start working on a paper for her Media and Communication course. They hung up, Marinette promising Alya to jump on the challenge and get designing her submission as soon as possible. It was not until the silence following the end of the conversation that Marinette's doubts crept up on her.

Tikki's meow snapped her out of it, as if the cat could read her mind. Marinette sighed, "You're right, Tikki. Alya's right, Maman's right. I can't let one failure keep me down forever. And I can't let another chance to get into my dream school go! I have to do this." Marinette punched a fist into her palm triumphantly, energized once more.

"And I might meet Adrien," she added under her breath in a sing-song voice. Tikki purred around the fangirl's legs. Feeling more like herself than she'd felt all summer, Marinette went about rewinding Adrien's video to when his Question/Answer section started, eager to find out about his "nonexistent love-life."


Hello! I'm new to this side of the fanfiction world (mostly a reader/lurker). It's been a while since I actually sat down and wrote a long-term story, so by all means, feel free to leave constructive advice and comments. Thank you and hope you enjoy!

Ree