My only friend, the end.

SPOILER: The following backgrounds contain promotional photos from tonight's finale. While they are mild in nature, you have been warned.

(click on pics for HQ)

These are non-tiling Twitter backgrounds; set your background color to black. (To see this background live, visit @SideStepsTEST. Note that the background of that account usually changes everyday without notice.)

I do have one more Twitter background coming down the pike in a little bit, and yes, it will be the last one. In the meantime, we've got these backgrounds, which are so very simple yet cinematic, all I did was up the saturation and contrast. I do think these work quite well, as I didn't want to detract from the scenes by adding fluff. LOST can speak for itself, and these final promo pics prove that.

Fate

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This is a non-tiling Twitter background; set your background color to black.(To see this background live, visit @SideStepsTEST. Note that the background of that account usually changes everyday without notice.)

This is the first time I've actually wished we had more time between episodes. Because as much as I would like to see how this story ends, I'm not itching for this experience to be over. But of course, with our integrity intact, we LOSTies must march boldly forward to the future; to a life without LOST...right? Right?!? *cries forever*

Heir to the Throne

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This is a non-tiling Twitter background; set your background color todcdcdc. (To see this background live, visit@SideStepsTEST. Note that the background of that account usually changes everyday without notice.)

Yesterday marked the last episode before Sunday's series finale. You guys ready? Yeah, me neither. Have a good one.

Even land-locked lovers yearn for the sea

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This is a non-tiling Twitter background; set your background color to white. (To see this background live, visit @SideStepsTEST. Note that the background of that account usually changes everyday without notice.)

I love this picture from the current issue of Vanity Fair. I would love some outtakes; I'm sure I'm not the only one. Get on it, Vanity Fair!

This background is sort of unique in that it features the actors, and not the characters. So light, relaxed, and sedate. No tension, no volatility...no blood, tears, and bug spray. More importantly, it's a peak into the off-screen ease these friends have earned over six years of getting 'LOST' together.

And with that, here's to all the most important relationships in your life, friends! And a Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and the kids that love them! (Well that was an awkward segue) Namaste :)

Two players

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This is a non-tiling Twitter background; set your background color to black. (To see this background live, visit @SideStepsTEST. Note that the background of that account usually changes everyday without notice.)

Ah, Jack and Locke. Cosmic soul-mates to this day, even when one has been taken over by death. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the real relationship on this show. Not the quadrangle, not the countless other pairings. It's a relationship that has always been wrought with intensity and strife. This is where LOST's soul has always lived, and by the looks of it, that's where it will stay.

Huge shout-out to @samprietti for the concept of this background! I like this because in the actual scene, both characters are bathed in darkness, which blurs edges and translates really well in a Twitter background. You get that really nice fade on Locke's face that, when paired with a black background, blends perfectly. 'Twas not without a little tweaking, though, since crisp screencaps are hard to find, especially in night scenes.

Now there's no new episode next week, which may or may not be a good thing. Gives us all time to get back to our real lives, I suppose. :) Personally, I feel the longer we can put off the finale (within reason), the better. 'Ab Aeterno' will be re-running next Tuesday, so we won't go completely without. Namaste, peeps!

Numbers Twitter/desktop background Mega-post

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So last week, after five+ seasons, we finally found out what the numbers mean. To celebrate, I made the "Numbers" series: six sets of non-tiling Twitter and desktop backgrounds. This is a compilation of all those sets. The first pic of each set below is for Twitter, the second for your desktop (1280x800). All Twitter backgrounds here are non-tiling, set your background to white (ffffff).

If you'll notice, each character's background includes an identifying symbol. Locke's is the smoke monster, Hurley's is his winning lottery ticket, Sawyer's is his letter to "Mr. Sawyer", Sayid's is a picture of Nadia (along with an inscription), Jack's is an x-ray, and finally, the Kwon's is the flower that Jin gives to Sun in Sydney.

4 - Locke

8 - Reyes

15 - Ford

16 - Jarrah

23 - Shephard

42 - Kwon

Candidate No. 23 (5th of 6)

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The first pic in this post is another non-tiling Twitter background; set you background color to white. The second is a desktop background.

Happy LOST Tuesday everybody! This is the fifth of six character-themed sets related to the numbers. As you know, Jack is number 23 on Jacob's list. Tonight's episode, entitled "Lighthouse", is Jack-centric, and it just so happens to also be the 23rd of the month. Do not mistake coincidence for fate. Enjoy the show.

Twitter backgrounds: Kate, Hurley, Jack

As always, these are non-tiling, change your background to white.

Just realized that I skipped a day in updating this blog. Anyway, Happy LOST Tuesday, folks! Tonight's episode is entitled "The Substitute". Enjoy the show.

We've got a groovy kind of love...(Even more Twitter backgrounds!)

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Not everyone is over the "ships", and you know we all have our favorites :) It is getting close to Valentine's Day after all.

Non-tiling on a white background. Namaste.

LOST character-themed Twitter backgrounds

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And now some stuff you can actually use! That's not to say my other stuff is useless. Most of my other work here is slightly bigger than 1280x800 pixels, which means they're a good size for most laptop desktop wallpapers. If you've been on this blog before, you'll notice the themes above are actually recycled from older posts.

These backgrounds are specifically for Twitter. They are non-tiling and are a decent enough file size (highest is 416 KB, which is about half maximum size Twitter allows). Click on the pics above to get a full resolution copy, then right click and save. In Twitter's design settings, set your background color to white, and uncheck the 'tile background' button (for best results!). Then, make any necessary color scheme changes to your text and sidebar as you wish, and you're good to go. If you have at least a 13" screen (e.g. Macbook size), you'll see that they fit very nicely into that little space to the left of all your content.

Just these five today. More to come tomorrow. Cheers!

Neither here nor there

If this flash-sideways stuff has you confused, you're not alone. I for one am excited that they are finally using this method of story-telling. There are two things that have come from this alternate timeline that are very intriguing.

The first is that Jack seems to be at least a little cognizant of the parallel worlds to which he now belongs. In the airplane lavatory, he sees a bloody cut on his neck as he looks at himself in the mirror. He and you could assume that he just nicked himself shaving, except this this was bleeding pretty profusely for something so small. That and Jack doesn't seem to remember ever cutting himself. After he goes back to his seat, he meets Desmond, and he swears he's met this guy before. Later as he saves a choking Charlie, he looks for the pen in his pocket, but it is mysteriously gone, and for a moment our minds run back to that first day on the beach in 2004, with Boone handing Jack a handful of pens. Do not mistake coincidence for fate. It's like pieces of other timelines have somehow made it into this one.

The second intriguing thing, one we have no explanation for as of yet, is that in this timeline, the entire island, four-toed foot, DHARMA barracks and all, has been sunk to the bottom of the Pacific. How the hell did that happen? Let's not forget that infamous shark, marked with a DHARMA logo, yet another shout-out to the early days of LOST (first appearance: "Adrift", Season 2 ep. 2). It's all so eerie.

Just a few musings on what I can now say is my favorite season premiere (save for the Pilot, of course). Have a great Friday, peeps! Five days to the next episode, and as always, click for a bigger pic.

Just count to five

Jack, Jack, Jack. When this series started, it was so clear who the hero of the story was supposed to be. He had all the conventional signs of heroism. He was a doctor, handsome but not off-putting, charming, dependable and true.

But of course, LOST is not a conventional show. In five seasons we've watched Jack fall into depression and alcoholism. We saw him obsess over things he so desperately wanted to change, faced with the very real possibility that these things were not meant to be fixed. It consumed him, drove him to self-loathing lows to be controlled at every step by his destiny, especially because he denied its existence so vocally. This is not a portrait of a hero, but the portrait of a human being. I don't always love the guy (I'm partial to Sawyer), but you can't hate him for trying.

And now we enter the sixth season, with the good doctor planted firmly at our side, likely ending this journey with us, as sure-footed as he was when it began.

I hope you find what you're looking for. Eight days to destiny. Click pic for bigger version.