Talk:Lady Wifi/@comment-120883-20170509022847/@comment-32340720-20170912203949

There might be a personal reason Tikki has for it. She is usually much more concerned, like in this episode, when Marinette's identity is at stake. She is the one who expresses concern over it. She is the one who is most relieved when they barely escape anyone finding out. Marinette is usually less concerned with it, and she seems very sad about it at the end of this episode when telling Cat Noir they can't know their identities. She seems sometimes to want him to know, and other times, adamant that he never finds out, but she is nothing on Tikki, who outright panics. This worry is not present in Plagg, so either Plagg is secretly a terrible person, or Tikki has a deeply personal reason for keeping Marinette's identity a secret and I do not think it has anything to do with Cat Noir. Nor do I think it has anything to do with paparazzi, as French and American papparazzi are very different.

I think Marinette herself goes with Tikki's wishes because she doesn't want that attachment to Cat Noir, not because she was told to. She's way, way less concerned when she thinks someone might know who she is than Tikki is. Marinette kinda treats superheroing like a job, and keeps it strictly business. She is not very personable as Ladybug, unlike Cat Noir. When she saves someone, Ladybug doesn't usually stay with them long, preferring to take care of the akuma first and foremost. She doesn't seem to like to interact with the civilians for long, to the point she even brushes Adrien off in "Volpina". Cat Noir takes the time to make sure they're okay and understand he'll take care of things, as seen in "The Gamer" with Marinette. This is why their dynamic works as well as it does, because while he protects the citizens and Ladybug, Ladybug herself can focus on the akuma without worrying as much.

I think that Marinette puts up a wall between her and Cat Noir, with their identities being part of that wall. I think her actual concern is not him learning who she is, but her finding out who he is. I think that's the real problem she has- she does not want to know who Cat Noir is. She says in a webisode that if it weren't for Adrien, she might have feelings for Cat Noir before quickly refusing to think about a world without Adrien. From that, I kind of wonder if Marinette doesn't like Adrien just so she doesn't wind up with feelings for Cat Noir, at least partially. Notice how in "Copycat" she doesn't actually believe Cat Noir is in love with her, or so she says.

However, I think she doesn't want that. Tikki is adamant that their identities must be kept a secret, and so Marinette treats being a superhero with a professional approach, not a personal one. Adrien was not told any of that, and so, he takes a more personal approach.

So while Tikki insists on it, I think Marinette goes with it because she doesn't want an attachment to Cat Noir if she's going to be professional about being a hero. Compare their reactions to thinking the other is dead- Ladybug is obviously upset, but keeps it together in "Timebreaker", where Cat Noir makes no secret of the fact that he's devastated in "Animan". He is more emotive. She cares about him, she trusts him, but she resists the idea of caring about him as more than just a member of the team. However, since she gets pretty sad about it, there's I think a part of her that does want to know, but she tells herself and him that they can't know. Not even can't. Mustn't. There's a huge difference between what she says in "Origins" and what she says in "Lady Wifi". In the latter episode, she says "must". Can and must are obviously different- must is definite, can is not.

That's just my take on it.