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przedI've been accumulating pics for yet another Take That pic spam, and I thought the occasion of the release of their latest video wouldn't be a bad time to finally do it. Especially since the video contains scruffy!Mark, and the pic spam is all about Mark and his occasional scruffiness.
First, have the video, for When We Were Young:
And in case the embed doesn't work, here's the direct link: http://youtu.be/MlVw6eGpY5g
This video is just gorgeous. It was shot in black and white in Wembley stadium after their concert dates last week, and has the five of them spread out through the debris-strewn stadium until they finally, gloriously, come together at the end. There is hugging, there is hand-holding, and since the song is pretty much about what they went through in their youth as part of the band, it's all very poignant.
Here's a shot of Mark, behind the scenes at the video shoot:
I adore this pic. He's got a bit of scruff happening, which I find lovely, but I also like how he looks a bit harder than he usually does here. It's an interesting change from his usual public persona, which is much sunnier.
This is a more usual look for Mark, taken at one of the dates on the current concert tour:
Not only is he not generally scruffy, but he's usually the smiling, cheerful one. In public, at least. And I do love him when he's all freshly scrubbed.
But I also have to admit that I like him scruffy. (I do like the scruffy ones, from Sean Bean and Boromir to Howard and Jason in TT. Also, there's the Sweetie to consider. *g*) So what follows is an appreciation of scruffy!Mark, roughly in order of increasing scruffiness.
First up are a couple of slightly scruffy pics. Even in his thirties, Mark seems to be the sort of bloke who has to really work at growing any sort of beard whatsoever, so quite often his scruffiness is of the rather wispy sort. Which makes him more adorable, in my books. Slightly scruffy Mark, exhibit one:
And exhibit two:
There's a slight bit more scruffiness in this next one, and also some indication of Mark's clothes horse tendencies. He's the member of the band most concerned with fashion, and occasionally will act as the unofficial stylist for the band. (When they re-united, Mark was the one who bought Vogue and did his research and picked the suits they wore to the premiere screening of the documentary that brought them back together.)
The next two are from the video for Up All Night. In the video, the band are a sort of street urchin version of themselves, playing at a street party for the Queen's jubilee. It's a charming video, and Mark is approaching the apex of his scruffiness here:
Scruffy hair, scruffy beard, scruffy leather jacket, and half-finger gloves. ::sigh::
Here's the link to the video, because it really is charming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gzDFf0M-N4
And here he is in rehearsals for (I think) the Beautiful World tour:
Again, there's a high scruff quotient, plus it's one of those times where he clearly just throws him into the music, and I love him for that.
But this pic, this one, is the one I love best, and the reason I wanted to do this pic spam in the first place.
I don't have a date for it, but it looks like it's from the wilderness years, when he'd gone solo. There's just something about the self-satisfied scruffiness he's exhibiting here that I love. Plus there's that shirt/blouse. Mark is a small bloke and tends to the flamboyant, and has been known to wear clothes from the women's end of the shop. This is clearly one of those times, and it's another thing I love him for.
(ETA:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nevermind68 says this is from the Concert for Diana, and that TT were there.)
As I was pulling the pics together for this, I started noticing there were rather a lot of Barlowen pics that fit the brief. This was interesting, since if I had to pick a pairing for Mark, it would be Willowen, not Barlowen. And yet he and Gary are so adorable together in these shots, I decided they had to get their own section of the pic spam.
First up is one from the Stardust premiere, with Mark looking ridiculously happy and Gary looking just slightly possessive.
This is from the same premiere, and I love that here they both look ready to commit mischief.
Another mischievous!Mark pic, with the added bonus of one of the hats he's rather famous for these days:
And one final Barlowen pic. Mark's not scruffy here at all (though he does have the hat) but I had to include this because it is utterly adorable. And one of those many TT moments that it is just darn difficult to explain without the slash.
First, have the video, for When We Were Young:
And in case the embed doesn't work, here's the direct link: http://youtu.be/MlVw6eGpY5g
This video is just gorgeous. It was shot in black and white in Wembley stadium after their concert dates last week, and has the five of them spread out through the debris-strewn stadium until they finally, gloriously, come together at the end. There is hugging, there is hand-holding, and since the song is pretty much about what they went through in their youth as part of the band, it's all very poignant.
Here's a shot of Mark, behind the scenes at the video shoot:
I adore this pic. He's got a bit of scruff happening, which I find lovely, but I also like how he looks a bit harder than he usually does here. It's an interesting change from his usual public persona, which is much sunnier.
This is a more usual look for Mark, taken at one of the dates on the current concert tour:
Not only is he not generally scruffy, but he's usually the smiling, cheerful one. In public, at least. And I do love him when he's all freshly scrubbed.
But I also have to admit that I like him scruffy. (I do like the scruffy ones, from Sean Bean and Boromir to Howard and Jason in TT. Also, there's the Sweetie to consider. *g*) So what follows is an appreciation of scruffy!Mark, roughly in order of increasing scruffiness.
First up are a couple of slightly scruffy pics. Even in his thirties, Mark seems to be the sort of bloke who has to really work at growing any sort of beard whatsoever, so quite often his scruffiness is of the rather wispy sort. Which makes him more adorable, in my books. Slightly scruffy Mark, exhibit one:
And exhibit two:
There's a slight bit more scruffiness in this next one, and also some indication of Mark's clothes horse tendencies. He's the member of the band most concerned with fashion, and occasionally will act as the unofficial stylist for the band. (When they re-united, Mark was the one who bought Vogue and did his research and picked the suits they wore to the premiere screening of the documentary that brought them back together.)
The next two are from the video for Up All Night. In the video, the band are a sort of street urchin version of themselves, playing at a street party for the Queen's jubilee. It's a charming video, and Mark is approaching the apex of his scruffiness here:
Scruffy hair, scruffy beard, scruffy leather jacket, and half-finger gloves. ::sigh::
Here's the link to the video, because it really is charming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gzDFf0M-N4
And here he is in rehearsals for (I think) the Beautiful World tour:
Again, there's a high scruff quotient, plus it's one of those times where he clearly just throws him into the music, and I love him for that.
But this pic, this one, is the one I love best, and the reason I wanted to do this pic spam in the first place.
I don't have a date for it, but it looks like it's from the wilderness years, when he'd gone solo. There's just something about the self-satisfied scruffiness he's exhibiting here that I love. Plus there's that shirt/blouse. Mark is a small bloke and tends to the flamboyant, and has been known to wear clothes from the women's end of the shop. This is clearly one of those times, and it's another thing I love him for.
(ETA:
nevermind68 says this is from the Concert for Diana, and that TT were there.)As I was pulling the pics together for this, I started noticing there were rather a lot of Barlowen pics that fit the brief. This was interesting, since if I had to pick a pairing for Mark, it would be Willowen, not Barlowen. And yet he and Gary are so adorable together in these shots, I decided they had to get their own section of the pic spam.
First up is one from the Stardust premiere, with Mark looking ridiculously happy and Gary looking just slightly possessive.
This is from the same premiere, and I love that here they both look ready to commit mischief.
Another mischievous!Mark pic, with the added bonus of one of the hats he's rather famous for these days:
And one final Barlowen pic. Mark's not scruffy here at all (though he does have the hat) but I had to include this because it is utterly adorable. And one of those many TT moments that it is just darn difficult to explain without the slash.
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no subject
Date: 2013-09-17 08:33 am (UTC)This very late comment of mine might seem a bit stalkerish, but I just felt the need to express how adorable Mark looks in that feminine blouse. He truly is the one for the flashy, colourful, eye-catching outfits and that's definitely something to adore and appreciate in him.
A friend of mine (the one who's been a TT-fan for more than 15 years) thinks that ageing doesn't do Mark any good, a point I had to firmly disagree with her. Especially when you consider that he's a former alcohol addict.
Oh, and the last one with Gary is adorable as well. Mark looks like Oliver Twist in it. (So does Jason in the Up All Night-video. Yay for baker boy caps.)
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 12:03 am (UTC)I pretty much adore Mark's clothes sense, not least because it's frighteningly similar to mine. I always go for the bold and unusual whenever possible.
I'm with you on thinking Mark is aging just fine. I especially like when he goes all serious, like in this icon. Though it's a darn good thing he's now a recovering alcoholic, because I do think it was beginning to affect his looks. There are some pics from when he was still drinking where he's frighteningly sunken-eyed, but he's much healthier looking now.
An Oliver Twist AU would be rather fun, no? *g*
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 10:54 am (UTC)People with flamboyant clothing styles who don't go with the flow fashion dictates are always a good thing. I sometimes wished people were more daring like that.
It's such a relief Mark managed to pull himself together in time. I only hope he can keep the teetotalism up. His stricken look on one of the DVDs where there's talk about booze and he insists, vehemently, that he can't drink alcolhol anymore, not ever, ouched me to the core.
That really sounds like fun. So would a The Secret History or Love in Thoughts AU. Hmmmm...
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 12:25 pm (UTC)Me too! More than once I've had people compliment me on something I'm wearing, but then say "but I could never wear something like that." Why not, is what I want to know.
I have hopes that Mark will be able to keep up the teetoalism. He seems devoted to his family, and I like to think he'd never risk losing them through drink. And I know what you mean about that moment in LBDS. The look on his face...
Oh, I wasn't familiar with either The Secret History of Love or Love in Thoughts, but both look fascinating!
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 12:52 pm (UTC)That look on his face has been haunting me since I've first seen it. Poor shellshocked Markie. And yes, I also like to believe that he'd do whatever it takes to make his family happy.
Oh, and I didn't mean "The Secret History of Love" (which does indeed look fascinating as well, though) but "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-19 01:37 am (UTC)It is a look that haunts one. And then there's that shot of him after he's sung What Do You Want from Me, and he's got his head in his hands and he's practically shaking. That one really gets to me.
Hmmm, The Secret History also looks fascinating...
no subject
Date: 2013-09-19 05:48 am (UTC)That's a very touching moment as well, right. Mark in such a desperate state is truly a sad sight to behold.
It's fascinating indeed. And devastating. And still so incredibly beautiful. I had such a huge crush on Henry Winter, one of the main characters.