I remember a while back you talked about how Ladybug views Chat Noir as a constant in her life. Like a fairy tale, someone that whose emotions are just playfulness, joy, and bravery. Also, that Marinette never really thinks about him beyond the mask. Can you delve deeper into that? I feel like the point you made a while ago is extremely relevant to the relationship between LB and CN after Wishmaker
I'm pretty sure the Fae Cat Noir Interpretation is my fandom footprint at this point. I do talk about it pretty often, after all. Mostly I talk about it as a part of other posts, so I'll try to compile the main points here into a single cohesive whole.
When Marinette becomes Ladybug, that role of Ladybug is tied to two of the new friends she gained that day: Tikki and Cat Noir. Tikki, in the first season, is the closest thing Marinette has to a guide and mentor. Tikki tells her how her powers work, supports her in her decisions (usually) and gives her advice in tough situations (to the best of her ability).
Tikki is also literally a fae creature. She's out of touch with human life and is sometimes confused by things, but she also isn't someone Marinette has to take care of simply because she doesn't seem to have any personal worries like a human would. Tikki is always optimistic, seeing different situations as possibilities to Create something new. When Tikki falls ill in 'Princess Fragrance', Marinette panics, because usually Tikki doesn't need Marinette to take care of her. Tikki is also bound to keep Marinette's secret, she literally can't tell it, so Marinette can trust her completely.
Now let's compare Tikki to Cat Noir. Cat Noir is Ladybug's partner. He helps her navigate the duty of a superhero when they're both new to it, supports her in her decisions and gives her advice when he feels like she needs it. In addition to this, Cat Noir offers comfort and jokes to break tense situations. Cat Noir is also the one who calls Marinette out when she's letting her personal feelings affect her judgement and he tries to keep her grounded and focused on the task at hand when she’s in a negative spiral. Cat Noir is also very careful to put up the appearance of not needing to be taken care of. When one of the heroes needs support, the other one will provide it but, when these occasions occur, it's always Cat Noir supporting Ladybug.
A lot of Adrien not showing his need for support is influenced by the secret identity rule, because a lot of the stuff that gets to him is caused by his relationship to his father, a topic he isn't allowed to bring up with Ladybug. However, the reason Adrien is so good at hiding his need for support is his father. His father considers him emotional and dramatic, and punishes him severely for being so. He's been trained to believe that he isn't allowed to be emotionally needy, so he hides his needs. As Cat Noir, he also uses humour to deflect, since being the jokester has become something others expect from him and therefore functions to “prove” that he’s just up to his usual funny business.
Even when Cat Noir can't hold everything back and does show his upset, like in 'Glaciator' or 'Frozer', it only appears as a momentary "glitch" to Marinette, since Adrien deals with his emotions by himself. In 'Glaciator', the conversation takes place after he's calmed himself down, while in 'Frozer', there was no need for a conversation at all. Any upset Cat Noir has seems to last for mere moments and goes away by itself without Marinette needing to offer emotional support, making those moments seem unimportant when looking at them from the outside. Instead, to Marinette, it feels like Cat Noir is always brave, confident and joyful.
Whenever there is a crack in Cat Noir's facade, Marinette is quick to notice. She asks him straight out if he's fine, and every time Cat Noir answers that he is just fine. Being disappointed or hurt emotionally is normal for Adrien, so he most likely is his own definition of "fine". And Marinette takes him at his word and drops the topic. This is because Ladybug’s and Cat Noir’s trust in each other is absolute. When Cat Noir tells her he's fine, Ladybug believes him, without question. The salt side of the fandom loves to call Cat Noir unreliable, but the truth of the matter is that he has been so reliable so consistently that Marinette sometimes forgets he's only human and can have weaknesses or be compromised.
Whenever Marinette has seen her partner go down, it has been physically, because of an Akuma attack. As such, the main threat Marinette perceives to her partner are villains. Cat Blanc was a nightmarish timeline that must be avoided at all costs, and Marinette is 100% convinced that what caused it was her identity being leaked, not some emotional threat to her partner. Therefore Marinette can't perceive a threat to her partner in addition to not knowing when he’s in emotional peril.
So, let's take it from the top. As far as Marinette knows, her ally is a being with magical powers, who helps her fight crime and doesn't need her to take care of them. They seem to be untroubled by things like insecurity like she is and she can absolutely trust them. That describes both Tikki and Cat Noir. The impression Marinette has of Cat Noir is very similar to the one she has of her literal fae partner.
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