#I foolishly thought this arc was about Alya learning a lesson on first viewing

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It's obvious that the reason adrien didn't fall in love with marinette right in the beginning is because he was already in love with ladybug but I think the reason ladybug didn't fall in love with chat noir is because marinette doesn't fall in love as ladybug. The part of season five where the lovesquare reverses has the most episodes where marinette is not ladybug (marichat in elation and lady noire in passion) or where ladybug has forgotten her responsibilities (jubilation).

I haven't seen anyone talking about this and maybe I haven't been around the fandom long enough to see this discussed or maybe it's just too obvious to point out but I thought it was a detail interesting enough to be worth mentioning that marinette doesn't fall in love as ladybug because she's too busy worrying about saving paris.

I've seen some Marichat fics take this approach and I think it's got potential. Marinette is the kind of character who tends to compartmentalize so it makes sense that she'd be all business while Ladybug, putting herself in a mindset that keeps her from falling in love. Unfortunatly, canon doesn't back this read. Marinette falls in love and expresses romantic interest while Ladybug on several occasions. The big one is the end of Strike Back, which is where she starts to fall for Chat Noir in a direct parallel to the original Umbrella scene:

[Image description: screen shots from Origins and Strike Back that show the similarities between the original umbrella scene and the ending of Strike Back]

Same expression, same clap of thunder, same rain, the only thing that's missing is the umbrella. This is very clearly meant to be a rehash of the first time she fell for him. It might take her a while to realize that her feelings have changed, but this is where the change is supposed to happen and it's a scene where she's very much feeling the burden of being Ladybug.

Kuro Neko has similar issues. I have no idea what the writers were doing there, but Ladybug was clearly unable to focus because she found her current partner too attractive even though this was the middle of an akuma fight so she should be in prime Ladybug mode:

[Image description: Ladybug looking happy and being distracted from the fight because she gets to hold onto Catwalker]

Then there's Desperada which was all about Ladybug picking the wrong guy to be the snake because her crush on Adrien was distracting her from the day's akuma. Volpina sees Ladybug almost give up her earrings because she thinks Adrien is in danger. The season four final sees Ladybug let Felix keep the dog miraculous and stick around after his job is done because she thinks he's Adrien, he asks to stick around, and she wants to make him happy. Those are just a few examples. There are other episodes that see Marinette fall out of "Ladybug mode" due to a boy.

There's also the issue that Marinette's crush on Chat Noir is painted as something of a rebound or her avoiding her true feelings (aka her love for Adrien) because she's scared after the events of the season four final. That's why she falls for Chat Noir and gets over him pretty quickly. Passion, the episode that first sees her talk about the crush with Alya, has this rather damning dialogue:

Marinette: Because of my feelings for [Adrien], Shadow Moth stole fifteen Miraculous from me. (points at drawings of Cat Noir in different poses, surrounded by roses and sparkles) That's why loving Cat Noir is a good idea. Cat Noir is cute, very handsome, super confident, doesn't even put pressure on me anymore, and, turns out, he's really cool. And on top of that, he's in love with me, so it's perfect! Alya: Uh, he's in love with Ladybug. Marinette: And we both know that means the same thing. Alya: But he doesn't. And you can't tell him. Marinette, you find yourself a new, unavailable crush just when Adrien seems really interested in you. Don't tell me that's a coincidence. Aren't you running away from your real feelings? Just a little?

Miraculous is big on show don't tell and Alya is one of their favorite mouthpieces for telling. While I don't think the message is clear on a first watch, once you know how it all plays out and which side gets together, you realize that this was the writers telling us what's going on. That's why they repeat this message in Elation in case you missed it in Passion:

Alya: You mean, you as Ladybug? You said it yourself a hundred times: Cat Noir and Ladybug just can’t work. You’d end up blabbing your secret identities to each other, Monarch would find out and your Miraculous would go “bye-bye”. Marinette: Just because you couldn’t keep your secret from Nino when you’re both superheroes doesn’t mean I can’t do it with Cat Noir! Alya: Hey! Who gave us both a Miraculous at the same time? And if you love a superhero, you’re gonna want to know who's behind the mask. How else are you supposed to live a legit love story? Marinette: Well, right now, I would take the mask, and I wouldn’t care what’s underneath! Alya: You're lying to yourself anyway, you’re in love with Adrien. Marinette: I'm not lying to myself and I know exactly how I feel. Alya: Right, which explains the pics of Adrien plastered all over your wall.

And the end of this episode is Marinette giving up on Chat Noir while Plagg assures Adrien that Marinette will love him again:

Plagg: What you loved once, you’re gonna love again! Look, for centuries, I neglected the baked cheeses I used to love, and now... Adrien: You love them again! That means Marinette could fall for me again someday! Thank you, Plagg! You’re the best!

And the episode after that is Kwami's Choice where Marinette finally accepts her "true" feelings for Adrien.

I'm other words, the message of the Chat Noir crush arc was that Marinette was trying to avoid her crush on Adrien now that he was finally paying attention to her. The arc was about her reaching a point where she could be with him. It was not her actually falling for Chat Noir even though - story wise - her feelings switching makes infinitely more sense than Adrien's feelings switching, but when has Miraculous ever gone the logical route?