ILYD '26: The costumes are gone, but the masquerade continues

I watched the I Love You Day content this year so you wouldn't, if you didn't want to. From the two videos out there, the Bates house of cards seems to be slowly but surely falling down with the Katie-Travis cheating scandal being the next hit. Possible hidden in-fighting only adds to the cracks in their silly public masks. Makes us wonder if courting, putting a fake face forward, and their other solutions to a succesful life and a better world may NOT be proving true.

Here's what I noticed:

• 1. We won't be able to say with full confidence who was actually there or not. I doubt this was a coincidence. Notably absent from the camera roll, but may have been present - Michael, Tiffany +Teddy, Esther, and Josie. Most likely was not there - Paine Family, Webster Family, KT + kids, and Warden.
• 2. Erin & Tori's relationship is often a highlight in this family, but Tori's close bond with Trace rarely gets mentioned. These two go in for each other. It's publicly noticed.
• 3. On the contrary, Tori seems to want Lawson no where near her pregnant belly. You know the family does not seem to be vibing with him right now. It's not even clear if Tiffany is there. Trace doesn't seem to know Will's name. Kelton ignores his extraness. Alyssa never comes around him unless he comes to her. He may or may not have blocked Travis. I know he'll paint it differently from his lens, but something weird is going on there.
• 4. The Smith kids are the only ones to seem to have dressed for the ILYD tradition. Looks like it may have been DISNEY??? Did their parents... like... not get the memo? Or is the reason for no costumes that Kelly, Carlin, and Trace gave...yet another lie. Hmmnn..
• 5. As we all may know by now, Carlin received the ever cherished, year-long anticipated Kelly's Greatest Sucker prize The Biggest Heart Award. The mceremony was not shown on camera, but the Stewarts mention it at the end of their video with Carlin of course starting to cry. When she goes off screen to recover the prize, Evan lets us know that they don't have to tell us what kindness they do, because they move in stealth with their giving and Kelly seemed to notice that this year. Who cares. We want him to shut up, because we only want to see the flashy award we just know Kelly gave to match Carlin's big personality. Nope. Carlin comes back with saltless tears and a small, hardly personalized, wooden picture frame sans ...picture. Carlin hurries along to let us know eventually a picture will be put in there of her AND KELLY hahahahhaha. If that doesn't confirm what this award has always been about, then I don't know what does. It also shows just how much power these parents have over their lives... STILL... the parents give so little in return. Yet, the adult children keep fawning on! Well, what should be of concern for Kelly is if Carlin is her only ally right about now. Because if so, SHE IS COOKED! Hahahaha
• 6. None of the in-laws seem to be down with how the Bates move anymore. All of them are either faking it, checking-in checked out, missing altogether, or cheating. Maybe all of the above.
• 7. Jackson did not stay at the big house. No doubt he was convinced to come over from the Carolinas by Carlin. That is probably why she just had to brag that he stayed there instead of with Kelly (and Gil?***). I'm telling y'all, Kelly is cooked if Carlin is her hail mary! lol. Seems like Jackson (and/or Emerson) really have some serious feels against what goes down at the big house. Bet there are some major lies being told to the public. They seem to want no parts of it!

*8) Isaiah and Sarah are still going strong. She seems old-school gothardist in dress code. Such the opposite of Ellie (good for her!) who is the actual pastor's child and Sarah's church member. Further, it's a shame to see young women buy into this kind of restrictive way of living. No word on if she and Isaiah will marry. Sarah kept carrying a baby around. For a moment I thought the little sweet pumpkin may be hers, but their marriage hadn't been made public. Pretty sure it was Balka boy #2.

*9) Gil's is such a walking contridiction, but his prayer told a tale, for sure. In his words, he hoped they all came out for love (and not war????). He hoped they will have temperance and longsuffering for family (whatever could that mean, Gilly???). He hopes those who could not make it will draw closer to GODthard. Yeah, yeah. Kelly stood close by ready to pommel him if he gave even a hint of what may actually be going on within the family in his pleas. These two are a mess. Gil may be her FOREVER Valentine, making her better than her own mama and baby girl who is most likely struggling hard right now, but *** I wouldn't be surprised if Gil doesn't even stay at the big house full-time. They seem to have different ideas about everything right now and it's spreading through out their entire family. But at least she has a husband...

• 10. NO mention of Katie...or Travis. It's so strange, in the oddest way, how this family pretends things away. They are masters of disguise. They hide distress well. Janie has been really sick. I do not think that is snark worthy which is why I did not lead with it. But had they not needed to use her sickness as an excuse to explain how disjointed the family is right now, I am certain they would have never told the public and no one would have been the wiser. That's their right, but it should be a testament of the masks that they all wear so well. How can their word ever be trusted, on top of everything else we known about them?

Bonus - You know who wasn't wearing masks this year? The Stewarts. I started out watching Carlin's video because I wanted to get the public lies out of the way. As a snarker, I was pleasantly surprised to see...dare I say...some authenticity from them, before the event. Once they got to the big house, it was false narratives as usual. But before then, it was like they wanted the public to know some really bad stuff had been happening within their family. And what's wrong with that? Maybe if they showed more openness like that, instead of selling staged moments of their kids, they'd have a marginally reputable brand on their hands.

Buutttt truth is Layla wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese not American Girl. She admits as much. Evan tries to brush it off. That explains her response to the reveal. They did all that. She just wanted a simple fun day. For ILYD Carlin gets a wooden promise. For her birthday, Layla gets glossy streamers, grande presents, and a trip that Carlin always wanted. They look so different, but both are ultimately hallow gestures. That's something to chew on for awhile.