but nevertheless i feel like that specific question is so beside the point as to be irrelevant when considering the nature of liam and noel's relationship. an active sexual relationship is not the only indicator of an incestuous relationship, nor is it always a result of one. liam and noel have shown long-term, well-documented patterns of behavior that are unequivocally incestuous, regardless of whether sex was involved or not. any of the following acts would likely lead a professional to assess a relationship as incestuous, including: sexualization of your sibling/speaking about your sibling with sexual language, which they have both done in spades; groping your sibling's breasts and genitals (regardless of whether your intent was to mime sexual acts or honestly engage in them), and tongue kissing them; regarding your sibling relationship as a surrogate marriage (despite both siblings being married with children, i.e. not a case of homemaking and sharing resources, not done out of a financial/logistical imperative); obsessive behavior, sabotaging your sibling's romantic relationships out of jealousy and possessiveness, and associated feelings of entitlement to your sibling's time and attention that places you above any of your sibling's other relationships; having an enmeshed sense of identity with your sibling that has tangible impacts in regards to how you live your lives, how you engage in external sexual and romantic relationships, your notion of independence, your inability to healthily cope with the absence of, or rejection from, the sibling, etc. these are all behaviors that have been documented heavily in words, photos, videos, lyrics, social media posts, etc., over multiple decades.

and this isn't even considering the presence of early life determinants in liam and noel's case that are known to coincide with incestuous relationships in later life: growing up seeing marital dysfunction and spousal abuse, physical and emotional violence from a parent, absent parents (one abandoning the family, the other constantly working to support a family of 4) and neglect, siblings taking on critical roles such as parenting, and potentially (vaguely hinted at) child sexual abuse at the hands of an adult.