#((Alya might have Marinette's identity and be guardian understudy which is a position no one else has))

[miraculouscontent]

A theory I’ve had after pondering the whole “Ladybug is pushing Chat away! She’s neglecting him!” nonsense, which was always so silly to me because - if anything - Season 4 has shilled more for Chat Noir than even past seasons.

Going off of Season 4, we can see Ladybug:

1 - trust Alya with her identity (unknown if she would’ve picked differently had she had more choice/wasn’t on the verge of a mental breakdown)

2 - inviting other heroes to fight more (unknown if it’s to serve as a replacement for Chat not being around or because she genuinely thinks they’ll be needed)

3 - been put in helpless positions that require someone to save her without Chat Noir’s assistance (”Optigami” where Adrien was taken outside and “Sentibubbler” where Rena insisted that it was a two-person plan) or done everything completely on her own (”Glaciator 2″)

What you’ll notice right away are the big unknowns of it all. Even though we know that Marinette has trauma from “Chat Blanc,” she’s never stated directly to anyone that she’s been purposefully leaving Chat Noir out of things. At best, she’s doing it unconsciously. She’s also complimented, reassured, and stood up for him multiple times over the course of Season 4 (”Truth,” “Guiltrip,” “Hack-San,” “Ephemeral”) with all those examples being pre-”Kuro Neko.”

This leaves room for guessing games and the only one who can play them is Chat Noir, a biased party who believes that Ladybug is slighting him/doesn’t care about him (again, “Hack-San,” and soon after the scene where Marinette was texting Alya about how to make Chat happy) because he’s not “””in the loop.””” Because Ladybug doesn’t voice anything on the matter and everyone except Adrien (and Plagg to some extent) think this is a thing that’s happening, Adrien is the only one that the audience gets to hear talk about the subject.

Thus, because Chat is “””left out of the loop,””” the audience is led to feel a similar impression that that’s what Ladybug’s doing. Circumstances such as “Sentibubbler” with Rena’s plan (which Rena told Chat was Ladybug’s so Chat already has false information) were completely out of Ladybug’s control but the audience is more likely to blame her because Chat is blaming her.

Chat, as far as I can see, has not been “neglected” by Ladybug, but people feel that way because that’s Adrien’s biased opinion of it and the only thing they have to go off of. Even with Ladybug bringing in extra heroes, she literally can’t call Chat Noir in the way she calls them, which she has stressed before (”Silencer” also proved that her texts only get to him after he’s transformed). In addition, Chat Noir has been taken out/not shown up to fights in ways that have nothing to do with her (”Mr. Pigeon 72” and “Ephemeral”), but because he’s getting less screen time as Chat, the audience is convinced that this is a thing that’s happening and the only one to blame in that case is Ladybug.

Same thing with Alya knowing Marinette’s identity. Ladybug isn’t keeping things from Chat more than before, it’s just that she’s sharing information with someone else, and likewise with sharing hero work.

She’s not relying on Chat less; she’s relying on everyone else more.