#them carefully dissecting the thrilling ups and downs of their relationship in front of the world

[oacest]

I never got why at some points they'd say they Never Really got along nor did stuff with each other, when there are also multiple stories abt them hanging out and having fun together like the anecdotes with the Maroon 5 and Depeche Mode dudes, hell I remember an old Morrissey documentary where there's a clip of them backstage after a Moz concert, they obviously used to see each other for more than just business and tour purposes up 'til like 2007 so the constant retconning abt it is so ??? to me

yeah, this is an incredibly eyeroll-worthy tendency of theirs, and I think there are a myriad of reasons for it, even if you set aside the They Are Compulsive Liars With Deep-Fried Brains aspect of it all

for one, they are sensitive and easily wounded creatures that have always cemented the Bad times into their long-term memories and disregarded the good times like they never happened. think about how, for example, one negative comment holds the power of a hundred positive ones — it’s like that. for them, it would’ve taken an insane amount of good times to negate the damage done by one nasty fight

on top of that, they have this batshit way of committing to particular narratives including both how things “are” and how they think things should be. their various ~traumas gave them a misguided idea of what a happy and functional family dynamic should be and so, besieged by typical sibling rivalry, they baked “we don’t get along” into the core of the way they define their relationship whether it’s true or not. it meant that the good times were never enough and didn’t Count, and the bad times added up to a mountain of proof that they don’t get along and never have

finally, they are allergic to and terrified of vulnerability which means they can neither admit when they like each others’ company (too exposing! too revealing! too much opportunity for disappointment!) nor admit that the bad times result in painful longstanding wounds (they’re not hurt, you see, because that’s just How They Are and they both know that! all good nothing to see here!)

throw in liam being a bottomless well for love and validation and noel being the most stubborn man who has ever lived, and that’s a recipe for two people who are going to insist they don’t get along for the rest of their days

anyway hope they have fun on tour! lmao