I've seen Alya be criticized a few times for speaking harshly to Marinette after Marinette's been through the pain and suffering of the final battle with Monarch, and a few days after Chrysalis invaded her home. That she can't possibly understand the level of trauma Marinette's gone through, and that she shouldn't judge Marinette for her actions because of it.
And it's like... Marinette's not the only person who's been through traumatic circumstances because of supervillains. And I'd argue that what Alya went through in Sentibubbler was more terrifying and traumatizing than both Secret Protocol and Re-creation combined. Alya's just emotionally resilient enough that she didn't freak out and break down about it.
In Re-Creation, Monarch found out Ladybug's secret identity, meaning that if he escaped, she and her loved ones wouldn't be safe... but she also found out his, so he wouldn't have a lot of long-term options, either. And it ended up being a moot point, since Gabriel died that day. She had to deal with the fact that he froze her, stole her earrings, and made the Wish. That he, in a sense, won. But then he made his actual Wish and danced off into nothingness with his wife. Not the most traumatic death scene. She had to deal with figuring out what to do in the aftermath, but the battle itself wasn't that bad. It's telling that we haven't seen her having nightmares about the battle itself, unlike with Chat Blanc. And at least no one but Marinette was immediately at risk.
Then in Secret Protocol, the Butterfly Holder infiltrated her home and tried to trick her into giving her earrings up. The fact that the Butterfly Holder had slept in their house, had been close to her parents, was really scary. She could've attacked while they were sleeping, even kidnapped them and used them as hostages, if she was sure Marinette was Ladybug. "What could've happened" is the truly horrifying part here.
But then there's Sentibubbler. Monarch kidnaps her entire family, including her 6-year-old little sisters, and her two closest friends, takes her phone, and tells her that if she ever wants to see them again, she has to betray Ladybug. AND, she's currently being held hostage as well, under Sentibubbler's watchful gaze. If she makes wrong move, she not only endangers herself, but could cause Monarch to hurt someone close to her, even killing them - he has several of them, he can afford to lose a few. So she has to manage to slip away, make a convincing illusion, and not get caught, or else it's not just her who's in danger. And she has to do it without getting collaborate with Marinette either, though she does have Chat, at least. Even if she manages to get out of this, Monarch still knows her secret identity. He could do this again at any point, if he thought it would benefit him. Even her "fake giving up her Miraculous" plan is only effective if he thinks that she ONLY has her Miraculous to give. If he thinks she has information he needs, he can just do this again.
And notably, even when things turn around and Ladybug's able to join the fight, getting Sentibubbler's amok, her friends and family still aren't safe. Out of pure pettiness, Monarch dismisses Sentibubbler, causing her family to fall. If they hadn't been caught, they'd have been severely injured or killed.
The fact that one wrong move, one slip-up, and Monarch would've hurt not just her, but her family, and that he could easily choose to do so again at any point... that's terrifying. And that threat didn't go away until Monarch died.
Marinette is not the only one to suffer at Monarch's hands, or to be under a lot of pressure because of a supervillain. I'd argue that if like, Marinette was sued for lying about Monarch's identity, most of Paris would have legal standing to do so, in fact, since most of them have been his victim in one way or another.
And Alya, especially, has been put through tough, scary circumstances because of a Butterfly Holder. She just handled it better than Marinette did.
stormborns
vaporwave
