#i still need to figure out a heavier game that i could test to juice the hardware more just in case...

[yoiku]

I am becoming hopeful about the pc now. I spent the day with my stream on and used as many other appliances in the apartment at the same time, set my fridge and portable ac unit on max blast for a good while since those are the likely the biggest power whores in here, and had no random boots occur. obs borked once but the stream was on for about 16hrs total. I will give it a week until I report back to the store of the results, but so far it's promising!!

[animedaddymilkers]

Kinkmas 2020: Day 11

Prompt: Overstimulation w/ Tsunade

Genre: Smut/18+ || Tags: Overstim, Oral, Fingering, Strap-on, Soft Dom || Characters: Tsunade Senju, Female Reader || read it on ao3 here

"Lady Hokage- Oh, where is Shizune?" You burst into the office with important papers, only questioning how easy it was to enter after you were in the room.

You were met with an indifferent voice, replying to you behind stacks of papers, "I sent her home. She was overtired. I promised I'd stay here but that doesn't mean I have to do anything."

The blonde snickered deviously at the loophole she apparently found and the papers in your hands became heavier, "Well… Maybe you should do something while you're here… with all due respect, m'lady."

"Perhaps you're right, I should do something. Come here, (Y/N). What do you have there?"

You swallowed hard and walked around to the side of her desk so she could see you, "It's unfortunately a few more reports, m'lady."

The disappointment on her face was obvious as she sighed heavily. She took the papers from you, looking over them briefly, "That's all this stupid job is- just paperwork and more paperwork."

"Have you tried making it into a game of sorts? To make it more interesting!"

"A game. Hmm, I haven't thought about it before," she rubbed her chin, mulling over the new idea before grinning, "How about we make it a game right now? Say, every time I make you cum, I'll completely finish one whole report."

As far as you could tell, she wasn't intoxicated, which was surprising and made her words even that more shocking. The proposition seemed to come from out of the blue, but the more you thought about it the more you realized Tsunade may have just been planning this for a while. From time to time you could swear you saw her gaze lingering on you, but brushed it off as you overreacting. It's not like you weren't also interested, hell Tsunade was easily the most attractive woman in the entire village. If someone said otherwise, they were probably lying. You looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to break out laughing and say it was just a joke. But that never came, instead her expression changed slightly to show she was waiting for an answer. You cleared your throat and took in a deep breath before speaking.

"That sounds like a fun game. What do you get out of it though?"

"Hmm, good point. How about-- If you tap out before 15 then I get to take you on a date... and don’t finish any reports?"

True to her reputation, Tsunade was terrible at gambling. Did she really think her taking you out on a date was a loss for you? Still, you were determined to make it to that mark, if not only for Shizune's sake.

"Deal." The single word from you has Tsunade standing up, walking past you and over to the plush couch decorating the side of her office. She sat down, fixing her outfit before looking at you and patting her thick thighs. Not about to back out now, you obeyed and approached her, swinging a leg around hers to sit yourself on her lap. Her hands slid up your hips to your waist, feeling your sides before slipping down to grip your ass. You let out a content sigh and leaned in to kiss her, her soft lips welcoming yours. She was quick to discard your shirt, tossing it onto the floor before also removing your pants. Patience wasn't exactly one of Tsunade's attributes, but you weren't about to complain. Within no time you were stripped completely bare for her, your body being laid down on the couch.

She leaned back for a moment to truly take in the sight of you, fingertips just ghosting over your skin. You shivered slightly when she brushed over your nipples and she tugged on them to further tease you. But she didn’t linger there for long, as her real mission laid lower, her hands feeling down your pelvis to spread your legs apart. The blonde laughed quietly as she saw how wet you were already, but she didn’t say anything because she knew if her pants were off as well then she’d be equally if not more wet. The first orgasm always took the longest to get to so Tsunade was eager to start your little game, two slender fingers slipping inside of you. Your content sigh was all she needed to start slowly pumping them in and out of you, coaxing more juices from your pussy.

The dull stretch in your core felt good and you began to press your hips down to meet her fingers as they pushed back in. Her pace was leisurely and calculated, pressing into you deeply, trying to find your sweet spot. After you nearly begged her, she slid in a third finger, stretching your walls more. The hand that wasn’t thrusting in and out of you slid up from your thigh to lazily rub at your clit, reveling in the soft gasp you let out. Tsunade kissed along your hip bones, leaving sweet love bruises as she went. You played with your nipples, pulling on them to heighten the pleasure that was building. It was pointless to deny yourself the inevitable and when you felt your first orgasm creep up on you, you embraced it wholly, gripping the sides of the couch as you drenched Tsunade’s face in your juices.

“One down, fourteen more to go, think you can make it?”

“Definitely.” Your optimism might have been a bit premature and maybe you would regret those words after a few more orgasms, but you had sheer willpower and determination on your side.

After briefly checking in with you, Tsunade continued her actions, fingers resuming fucking you and not giving you much time to recover. This was most likely going to take all night as it was, so why drag it out? This time though she decided to up the ante and leaned down, allowing her tongue to kitten lick teasingly at your clit. You were already sensitive from the first orgasm and now with her added tongue, your legs shook slightly. Her fingers curled inside of you, drawing a gasp from your lips that made her smirk. In a moment of boldness, you reached down and tangled your fingers into the Hokage's hair, tugging gently. Tsunade would have laughed and teased you if her mouth wasn't full of your pussy at the moment. She flattened her tongue against your clit before sucking on it as her fingers continued to pump in and out of you.

It didn't take long for Tsunade to find your g-spot and once she did you were at her beck and whim. Your second orgasm crashed on you hard and because Tsunade didn't let up it sent you straight into a third orgasm. Sure, the older blonde did want to take you on a date, but she also wanted to see just how far she could push you. That, and she was convinced there was no way you could possibly last to the fifteenth orgasm. She removed her fingers from you and cleaned her hand off, moaning quietly as she licked your juices up. Then she ducked her head back down, tongue sliding in to replace her fingers. It slowly pushed in and out of you as one of her soft fingers rubbed at your sensitive clit. You spasmed at the touch and winced to yourself, really wondering if you could last. Your body was in a constant tight knot now and thanks to Tsunade's relentless tongue. A whine left your lips as you felt yet another orgasm coming on and your legs once again shook around Tsunade's head.

The Fifth Hokage didn't give you a break until after your eighth orgasm and you couldn't thank her enough. Your legs were in a constant state of shaking and your pussy was so sensitive it was just constantly dripping juices. Now, she was sucking and playing with your tits, mildly curious to see if she could coax an orgasm from you with just your tits. Personally, you didn't think it was possible, you always had needed other stimulation in order to fully go over the edge. But, tonight wasn't exactly an ordinary 'cum and we're finished' type of night. No, Tsunade was purposely testing your limits and just what your body could do. Her mouth sucks on your left nipple while her fingers toy with your right, occasionally leaving to massage your entire boob. Your mounds of fat felt heavenly being massaged, to the point you were almost disappointed when her nimble fingers went back to your nipple. She switched sides, the cool air hitting your saliva covered tit and making you shiver. You laid your head back again, closing your eyes as the waves of pleasure kept shocking through you. With every suck you felt it in your core and much to your surprise, after Tsunade sucked particularly hard and twisted the other nipple, you found your toes curling and gasping as you climaxed.

Her mouth parted from your chest and she wiped her mouth with a smirk before leaving the couch. You lifted your head as much as you could to watch her figure saunter over to her desk. Curious as to what she was doing you lifted yourself up before blushing at the sight of the hot pink glitter strap on. In her hand she twirled a bottle of lube around as she came back to the couch. A cocky look on her face, she secured the fake cock around her waist and lubed it up.

"Ready to go for six more, princess?"

You licked your lips out of instinct and nodded before quickly adding a verbal, "Yes please, m'lady."

Tsunade laughed at your response, you looked so fucked out already yet were so desperate for more. Just her touching the insides of your thighs had them shaking again. In all honesty, she probably could have gone in without lube considering how soaking wet you were. Still, she lubed up her fake cock and slowly slid it inside of you. The pressure of being spread apart nearly had you cumming again but you somehow held on. Well, you held on for two more thrusts at least and then you were babbling incoherent pleas and cuss words. Five more. Kami, you only had five more orgasms to go before you could say you won. Granted, you could potentially go past fifteen if you really wanted to drown Tsunade in reports, but at this point that wasn't looking like a feasible prospect.

Tears were running down your face and your chest was heaving, the wet squelch of your abused pussy filling the Hokage's office. Thankfully most of the workers went home, but part of you knew that some poor ANBU member was being forced to watch you get rawed by the Hokage. Maybe that idea just made it all the more fun, after all it sure wasn't bothering Tsunade. Her hips fucked into you at a teasing pace, enough to keep you on the brink of pleasure but not enough to send you over. She kept it up for far too long before she quickened her pace and snapped her hips, reveling in the scream you gave her as you came yet again. Her fake cock didn't stop, quickly hitting your g-spot over and over and immediately sent you into another orgasm. Your pathetic legs couldn't even keep themselves upright, having to be slung over the blonde's shoulders as she fucked you.

Her nimble fingers came down to flick your tortured clit, laughing as it sent your hips spasming. She rubbed it skillfully, content on staring at the absolute fucked out expression on your face.

"Come on, princess, just three more and you win, you can give me three more can't you? Or are you going to tap out on me?"

Tsunade truly was terrible with gambles, if she had been questioning your will instead of praising you and coaxing more orgasm from you, you probably would have tapped out. But instead, she used that ridiculous pet name in that stupidly hypnotic voice of hers. Your mind was blank and your mouth kept making noises but you're not exactly what noises they were. Your mind and body were so far apart from each other at the moment, but you weren't about to complain. Her cock was still fucking in and amount of you, rubbing against your g-spot roughly as her fingers still played with your clit. Tsunade grinned as you shook harder and came on her cock, pressing her fingers into your clit harder. Her pace didn't let up and even though you clawed at the cover on the couch she kept going. She kept going and fucked you right into another orgasm and wasn't about to stop there.

Your whole body was shaking and tensing up as you gasped and whined loudly. The pleasure didn't die down and you let out a wail as you came for the fifthteenth time, your juices squirting out and covering Tsunade's lower stomach and dripping down her thighs. Your vision was blurry and you vaguely remember Tsunade finally pulling out and cleaning you up. Still you whined and wriggled around, body so used to getting fucked that the absence of it was almost painful. Seeing as now you were just left with a throbbing abused body and no pleasure coming with it. For a moment, you thought Tsunade was going to continue and you were going to have to force yourself to form the words to tap out, but she knew you were done in. Instead, she was pressing soft kisses along your still shaking thighs, trailing them up until she met your mouth.

"Look at you, you did so well, princess. You take a nap and I'll get started on my reports. Okay? And when you wake up I'll get us some food." Although she technically lost, Tsunade could barely count this as a loss. And even though this now meant she had reports to finish, she was content in hoping that this wouldn't be just a one time thing. Perhaps she should turn her work into a game more often.

hope you enjoyed! remember likes & reblogs help me reach more people! :D

[harrywritingsbyme]

Not so Innocent

A/N: Sorry for the sucky ending :/ This ones a long one

You saw Harry almost every morning. He would always come in, order his usual, and sit to have a chat with you. You’d make his coffee exactly how he liked it and you’d take your break a bit early to sit with him and talk. Over the course of a few weeks, you’d gotten to know each other and you both started to have a bit more romantic feelings towards Harry and the same could be said of Harry. You could almost say that Harry was falling head over heels in love with you. You both knew that the feelings you had were not going to go away. You both were right, instead of going away, they intensified.

Today, it was the same routine. You made his coffee, and made your way over to your usual booth. But today,the conversation was a bit different than usual.“So, I know we’ve been chatting for a couple of weeks now, and I was wondering if you’d want to go on an actual date with me?.” He asks, not looking up at you, because he feared that if he did, your response would shoot his high hopes of you saying yes out of the sky. You didn’t respond right away, so he peers up at you to see a wide smile across your face.

“I would love to go out with you” you whisper and put your hand on top of his trembling one.

The two of you finally exchanged numbers and continued to chat for the rest of the morning. Before he left, he gave you a tight hug, and placed a warm kiss against your cheek. At that point, you felt like you could burst. For the rest of the day you were texting back and forth with each other whenever you had a chance. You were so happy that you couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.

The same could be said for harry. He was smiling the entire day, and it was all because of you. Your smile was embedded in his mind. He thought about the shy smile that played on your face when he would compliment you, or the smile you had when you were talking about something you were passionate about. He loved your smile and he wanted to be the one to keep that smile on your face.

A few days after he asked you out on an official date,you both still had your mini coffee dates, but now, you were finally able to go out on a proper date. You’d spent pretty much the entire day getting ready for your date with Harry.

From the time he picked you up, the night was amazing. Throughout dinner, you both talked and just had a great time with each other. He was an absolute gentleman the entire night and that was making you fall for him even more. When your night was unfortunately coming to an end, he walked you to the front door of your building and you both just studied each other in the doorway to your building. “I had a really great time tonight” he whispers picking up your hand and lacing his fingers with yours. “Me too, officially one of the best dates I’ve ever been on” you say shooting him a soft smile. You push off of the door and you wrap your arms around his neck. His hands naturally go to your waist and you look into his eyes before you pull him closer and you attach your lips to his. He pulls you closer to him as the kiss continues. He goes to deepen the kiss, but before he can, you pull away from his lips. “Ill see you later.” you whisper against his lips before kissing his cheek and going into your building. When you get to your apartment, all you can do is lean against your door, and bask in the daze that is Harry. You were so happy about how the night went, and you couldn’t wait to see him again.

The next few weeks of getting to know each other even more were amazing . Harry still came to the coffee shop and you had coffee together in the mornings. Harry had even asked you to be his girlfriend, which you of course said yes to. You both were getting closer and both of you were enjoying your time together. He had invited you over to his house for dinner because he’d been talking up his cooking skills for quite some time now and he wanted to show you that his cooking skills were as good as he claimed they were. When you got to his home, you were wrapped up in a big hug and the warm aroma of his cooking. He placed a kiss on your forehead before guiding you in. While the food was finishing off in the oven, he gave you a glass of wine and took you on a tour of his home.

“And the final stop on the tour is my bedroom” he says and stops outside the door. You take it upon yourself to push the door open to take peak inside. You see the large bed in the center of the room and you step inside, abandoning your wine glass on the small table by the door. You’re standing in front of the bed and your thoughts about all the things you wanted him to do to you on the bed we’re flooding into your mind. You’re broken out of your trance when you feel his arms wrap around your waist, pulling you into him. “Watch’a thinkin’ about?” he questions into your ear before kissing the area below it. “Nothing much” you whisper back before turning around in his arms. You wrap your arms around his neck and you pull him into a kiss.

You feel the backs of your legs hit the edge of the bed and you pull harry on top of you as you fall back on the bed. He deepens the kiss when you hook your leg around his waist pulling him closer. “You know we still have to eat right.” He pants as he pull away and looks to you for a response. “I guess you’re right, need to get our energy up for later” you whisper to him. You kiss his lips before lightly pushing against his chest. He falls back on the bed you quickly get up. You grab your abandoned wine glasses before exiting the room, not bothering to pull down your dress, which has obviously risen past its intended length. “Fuckin’ minx” he mutters, seeing as you left him hard and flustered on the bed. He manages to pull himself together, and he makes his way down to the kitchen where he sees you searching for dishes. “Third cabinet on the left” he says, causing you to jump as he walks in to take the food out of the oven. You set the table together and you put the finishing touches on everything.

Once the both of you were settled into dinner, the games began.

You realized early on that it was the subtle things that drove Harry crazy. Whenever either of you were talking, you’d lean over slightly, allowing him to get a better look at you ample cleavage. But you didn’t stop there, you decided to test the waters and rile him up even more. He was telling you about some of his upcoming projects when you slipped your shoes off. You began to slide your foot up his leg. As your foot went higher, you heard his voice begin to waver and his breaths became heavier. He stops mid-sentence when your foot makes it to his crotch. You feel his hardened cock m straining through the fabric of his pants. He lets out a low groan from the pleasure before dropping his fork onto his plate. You move against him once more before moving back to your side of the table. Like nothing happened, you go back to asking about his upcoming album. Without response he hastily gets up and rounds the table and pulls you up from your seat. You’re immediately trapped between Harry’s body and the table. Without your heels, there was a significant height difference between you which turned both of you on in ways you couldn’t even explain. Harry wraps a hand around your neck, softly gripping you and pushing your mouth towards his before slamming his lips onto yours. You moan into his mouth and your lips instantly part, allowing his tongue to glide against yours. This lust fueled kiss continues as he lifts you up pulling you against him. You wrap your legs around his waist and his lips immediately go to your neck as he carries you to the bedroom.

The two of you make it to the bedroom and onto the bed with Harrys body hovering over yours. “Are yeh’sure, if yeh’ don’t want to, I completely understand.” He whispers moving his hand from your waist to cup your cheek. “I really want you right now” you respond lifting your head slightly to reconnect your lips to his. Your already heated kiss gets even hotter when his warm hands are placed onto your thighs and push up the bottom of your dress. He pulls away from your lips to get a better look at your clothed cunt. He immediately presses his thumb into the damp spot in your panties. A moan left your mouth that left your lips was a moan that Harry had only dreamt of hearing. I was the moan that almost had Harry immediately cumming in his pants. That moan sent him into overdrive and it made his need for you ten times stronger. He abruptly rips your pants clean off you you and his mouth is promptly on your glistening mound. As soon as his tongue made contact with your juices, his eyes rolled back in ecstasy. Not only did you smell like heaven, but you tasted like it too, and the sounds that we’re leaving your mouth were just adding fuel to his fire. The way you moaned his name and begged him not to stop caused him to push your thighs apart to press his tongue deeper inside of you. You felt his tongue pushing in and out of your slick hole, making sure to cover every inch of you. Your hands grip onto his hair pulling him into you even more than he already was. The pleasure you were receiving just from his tongue was stronger than anything you’d ever felt. He began to add pressure to your already throbbing clit which sent you into your first climax of the night. Coupled with his moans that were sending vibrations through your body, you came right on his tongue.

He pulls away from your center and places a kiss to the corner of your mouth. He begins to take his clothes off, staring at your already spent figure beneath him. He pulls his shirt off and he goes to undo his pants,but you stop him. You sit up from your previous position and you move the two of you around so that Harry is laying on the bed and you’re between his legs. You pull your dress the rest of the way off and you kneel between is spread legs before going to undo his pants. “Let me take care of you daddy” you you say with a mischievous smirk on your face as you pull them down his legs. You hook your fingers around the waist of his pants and boxers, and you slowly peel them off of Harry’s body. “Daddy huh? Want daddy to fuck you baby?” he groans, with his head falling back into the pillows. He wraps a hand in your hair, nudging your head towards his his cock. You toss his boxers away somewhere in the room and you wrap your warm hand around his engorged cock. You had an idea that Harry was big, but your estimate was a complete underestimate. Your hand couldn’t fully wrap around his girth. You grip as much of him as possible and your push his throbbing head past your lips. You suckle on the head of his cock, making sure to continuously run the tip of your tongue over his ultra sensitive slit. You feel the hand Harry had wrapped in your hair tighten from the immense pleasure. You push more of him into your warm and wet mouth until you feel the tip of his cock hit the back of your throat. Your eyes water at the intrusion, and you slightly Gaga at the amount of his cock you had in your mouth. You move your hands further down between his thighs and you lightly squeeze his full and heavy balls. You feel him jolt at the pleasure. You go to come up for air but he pushes your head back onto him, letting out a guttural which went straight to your tingling core. You immediately become wetter at the deep sound that left his lips and you pull your mouth off of him, with strings of your saliva still connected to his cock. “I can’t wait for you be inside me daddy. Can’t wait for your big cock to stretch me out.” You mumble licking from his balls and up the prominent vein on the underside of his cock. He pulls your head away from his cock and he pulls you up to him.

He maneuvers your body so that you’re straddling his hips. Your core directly on his hardened cock. “Y’want me to fuck you baby” he asks smoothing his hands across your body. “Mhm” you whimper as you feel him softly fondle your rounded breasts. You begin to rock back and forth against him, until he places a firm grip on your hips stopping your movements. “Use y’words baby” he says firmly as he starts to rub your swollen clit. “Fuck, I want you inside of me daddy” you moan in response, not just to him, but to the pressure he was applying to your clit. He wraps his ringed hand around your throat and he pulls you down to him. His lips immediately engulf yours in an utterly sensual and filthy kiss. You feel his grip on your throat tighten, and his rings dig deeper into your soft skin. You moan at the feeling and you lean into his hand. His other hand smooths down the dip in your back and down to your ass in which he gives a nice firm slap. You gasp in his mouth and he takes the opportunity to plunge his tongue deeper into his mouth, something that you very much enjoyed.

He grasps his cock and he starts to paint his cock up and down your tight and inviting opening. He nudges his engorged cockhead into your hole and his anticipation about being inside of you only grows. Deciding to tease you, he pulls out of you and chuckles when you let out a needy whimper. He releases your throat and flips you both over so that he’s on top of you. “Y’look so pretty with daddy’s marks on yeh” he whispers to himself, but loud enough for it to hear. You smile in response, causing him to smile back at you and smoothing his thumb across the indentations he left on your neck which will definitely turn into bruises the next morning. He reaches over to the bedside table to grab a condom but you quickly stop him. “I’m on the pill” you respond to his actions. As you look up at him, you notice from the corner of your eye that his cock twitched at your response, which only Made you even more desperate to have him deep inside of you. You bite your lip and you lean up to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. You fall back onto the bed and you lay under Harry’s intense gaze.

He jerks his cock a few times and aligns his cock up with your center. He nudges his cock between your folds and he slowly pushes into you. Both of your heads fall back into the pillows and your hands immediately grip onto the crisp sheets on the bed. “Doin’ go good f’me baby.” He moans at the feeling of your warm walls engulfing his cock. Just him pushing into you could make you cum. The way his cock deliciously stretched you. Sure it stung, but it felt so good. Stilled inside of you, allowing you to adjust to his size. “Y’ready darling” he asks shakily, massaging the flesh on your hips. You keep your eyes shut and you nod your head in response. He pulls out of you slightly and slams back into you. You let out a string of moans at the feeling of his cock moving in and out of you over and over again. “Fuck me daddy” you whimper digging your nails into his bicep. “Y’feel me in y’tummy baby? Y’feel me in here” he pants pressing his palm into your lower stomach. Not only go in him leverage to fuck into you deeper but it allowed him to see the outline of his cock deep inside of you, which made him want to cum on the spot. “Harder” you moan, pleading for him to let go and pound into you the way you knew he wanted to. “Y’want me t’go harder?” He asks, still thrusting into you. You nod, with an incoherent yes. That’s all the response he needed. He pulls out of you and he flips you over onto your stomach. He snatches one of the pillows from the head of the bed and places it under your hips. He gives a few slaps to your ass and he aligns his cock back up to your entrance. Without warning, he pounds his cock into you. He presses down onto your back, pushing your hips up and your upper body down to get deeper inside of you. You couldn’t mutter anything that wasn’t a moan or a whimper. The pleasure he was giving you was beyond compare. He then wraps his hands around your hips and pistons his hips into yours. “Fuck, I’m about t’cum” you whine pushing back into Harry’s thrusts. He maneuvers his hand to your front, immediately finding your sensitive clit. He quickly rubs your clit, pushing you completely over the edge. You release around his cock, your juices gushing out of you. His thrusts become sloppier as he nears his release. He spreads your ass apart and watches his cock disappear into your delectable cunt. He feels his orgasm wash over him and he pushes his cock into you one final time before he sprays your walls with his cum. He pushes his load deeper into you before pulling out of you and turning you back over to face him.

“Y’did so good f’me baby” he whispers and places a sweet kiss to your lips. A dopey smile spreads across your face in response. He pulls back and looks down at your spent figure and he watches as his cum spills out of you. He scoops some onto his fingers and before he even asked, you part your lips for him to push in his fingers. He pushes them past your lips and you moan at the taste of his cum. “I’ll cum in your mouth the next time” he says and pulls his fingers from your mouth. You nod your head yes, but Harry wasn’t having it. “Use your words baby.” he replies patting your cheek “I want you to cum in my mouth” you say again and he leans down and kisses your lips tasting himself against your lips. He then gets up and cleans the two of you up. He slips one of his shirts over your head you decide to opt out of his offer for underwear and he tucks you under the duvet. You instantly melt into the soft pillows and he goes back into the bathroom to flick off the light. He comes back out and gets in the bed behind you, and pulls you into him. You turn to face him and his hand goes straight to your waist pulling you closer “I love you” you whisper and you looking at him, pushing back some of his curls. He cups your face and whispers “I love you too” before kissing your lips.

This kiss felt different, the kiss the two of you shared was a kiss that made your head spin. It made the both of you feel complete with each other. He pulls away from you and pulls you into his chest and kisses your head. “Didn’t know you were into daddy” he says against your shoulder “theres a lot more where that came from” you whisper and lay against him. Right when he was about to fall asleep you had one last thing to say. “You owe me another pair of panties by the way” you whisper. “I’ll buy you as many pairs as you want, but for now get some sleep” he chuckles, his voice laced with sleep. “Goodnight” you say in a low tone before falling asleep. “I love you baby” he whispers before dozing off behind you.

Masterlist

[your-dietician]

Sticky substances have more 'direct effect' than steroids

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/sticky-substances-have-more-direct-effect-than-steroids/

Sticky substances have more 'direct effect' than steroids

SAN DIEGO — Former slugger David Segui can’t help but laugh at the irony.

He remembers the public’s outrage learning about the rampant use of steroids in baseball during his career, but now that Major League Baseball is cracking down on pitchers for using illegal foreign substances, the league is being chastised.

“I think pitches using the illegal substances have more of a direct effect on our performance than the steroids,’’ Segui told USA TODAY Sports. “Everybody and their brother were using steroids, but not everyone was breaking the home-run record.’’

There may have been only one Barry Bonds, but with the way pitchers have been dominating and obliterating strikeout records, everyone suddenly had become Nolan Ryan.

“It was a joke the way the pitchers were cheating,’’ San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham says. “Guys were coming back to the dugout all of the time saying, ‘That’s the best slider I’ve ever seen.’ I mean, before the crowds came back, you could actually hear the Spider Tack [traction] off guys’ fingers. I could tell you who was cheating on every team I faced.

“I don’t think people really understand the benefits of it, but we as baseball players do. If your ball is moving more and it’s sharper, that makes it harder to square up. We were playing whiffle ball out there.’’

David Segui with the Expos in 1997.

USA TODAY Sports

Indeed, look at how pitchers’ spin rate has dramatically decreased since June 3, when MLB informed the owners that they were going to begin the crackdown. Spin rates, when controlled for velocity, are at their lowest levels since 2015, according to Statcast.

“We’re already seeing certain guys’ spin rates down by 500 rpm,’’ Pham said. “Their horizontal and vertical movement are less by inches. It’s so [messed up]. Guys made careers out of it.

“These front offices should be mad signing guys to that kind of money, expect a certain thing, and now find out it wasn’t real.’’

Indeed, just like the steroid era. GMs would be furious signing or trading for a player who was using performance-enhancing drugs, only for the players to suddenly play the game clean, either because they were forced to stop with the drug testing or suddenly found morals.

Look at the difference now since June 3. You think it’s a coincidence teams are now averaging 4.59 runs a game, up from 4.36, or that batting averages are up (.244 from .236), OPS is rising .730 from .707) and strikeouts are down (23.3% from 24.2%).

And how about that silly argument by pitchers saying they need substances besides rosin to control their fastballs so they don’t hit batters?

Well, guess what?

Hitters are being hit fewer times now with pitchers being clean, with the percentage of hit batsmen dropping from 1.16 to 1.13 per game.

“That was such a cop-out,’’ said Chicago Cubs All-Star Kris Bryant. “I love that things are kind of going the other way.’’

Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer is checked for foreign substances on June 23.

Orlando Ramirez, USA TODAY Sports

Really, the cheating should have been cleaned up years ago, but everyone refused to enforce it. MLB warned pitchers two years ago to stop using illegal substances. The pitchers were told this spring that baseballs would be routinely confiscated and spin rates closely monitored.

It made no difference, and the cheating only magnified, with one starter telling USA TODAY Sports that his own agent was lobbying his clients to use illegal foreign substances.

“Unfortunately, the enhanced monitoring we implemented at the start of the season has had no impact on the behavior of many pitchers,’’ MLB said in a memo sent to every club. “The information we collected over the first two months of the season shows that the use of foreign substances by pitchers is more prevalent than we anticipated.’’

Simply, it was so out of control, MLB had no choice but to stop it now. If MLB waited until the offseason, it would have been too late.

“From a competitive standpoint, man, it was frustrating,’’ Pham said. “I play the game clean, I’ve never taken anything. I never tried to cheat the game. But most of the pitchers I was facing were cheating. We needed the commissioner to step up. I’ll be curious to see how many guys get busted. They’re going to get embarrassed. I wish MLB hardened it and took away their pay too.

“I know the pitchers aren’t happy about it, but if every batter had a corked bat, these pitchers would be outraged as well.’’

It was like back in the heart of the steroid era when MLB told its players to stop using, and came to an agreement that if at least 5% of the players tested positive for steroids in the spring of 2003, there would be testing the following year.

The players, after being given advance notice they would be tested that spring, and knowing they could start juicing without repercussions once they submitted their urine test, still couldn’t help themselves. They soared past the threshold, and MLB’s random performance-enhancing drug testing program began.

“Guys weren’t even hiding it back then,’’ said Segui, who acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. “Come on, nobody could figure out when we came back jacked, with 3% body fat, and 20 pounds heavier. Really, you’re telling me you couldn’t tell the difference?

“It’s the same thing with these pitchers, they weren’t hiding what they were doing, either. The spin rates were out of control, and no one cared until it started to affect the game.’’

There’s no reason to blame your star pitchers who no longer are striking out 12 batters a game with a sub 2.00 ERA. Not everyone can be Jacob deGrom. But you can’t blame them for trying, right?

“Why wouldn’t you?’’ Segui says. “That’s an athlete’s mindset. If the speed limit is 40, and they’re not enforcing it, you think people are still going to drive 40?

“I’m not trying to justify it. We knew we were breaking the rules [using steroids]. But if I’m losing every race because I’m not breaking the speed limit, and the guy breaking the rules gets the trophy every time, either you start breaking the speed limit to win the race or get out of racing.’’

If you’re watching Gerrit Cole get $340 million in free agency, and Trevor Bauer getting more than $30 million a year, after their spin rates soared dramatically, what are you going to do?

“People forget that becomes the measuring stick in which you’re measured,’’ Segui said. “If you’re failing miserably in the eyes of analytics, you’re not going to be around very long.

“So, then you have a choice to make. Nobody forces you to make the decision to use Spider Tack or whatever they were using. But if you don’t, you’re going to get left behind.

“People say, ‘How about morality?’

“Come on, when has morality ever been part of professional sports?’’

Ugly in the desert

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports

The most frequently asked question among baseball executives these days is, “Why hasn’t [Arizona Diamondbacks manager] Torey Lovullo been fired?’’

The team is pitiful. They entered Sunday having lost 43 of their last 50 games, including a Major League record 24-game road losing streak. They are on pace to become only the third team in history to lose at least 117 games.

They already are the first team to have a 13-game losing streak and a 17-game losing streak that began this close together since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, according to Jayson Stark of the Athletic.

The D-backs, embarrassed by their play and on the verge of dumping players beginning with infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Chicago White Sox, privately provide three reasons for Lovullo staying on the job.

It’s not his fault the team stinks, already losing eight games this month when they’ve scored five or more runs

He’s on the final year of his contract, anyways, with no talks of an extension.

Why pay two managers at the same time when there’s no human alive who’s capable of stepping in and turning things around?

Around the basepaths

– Please, enough with the silly narrative that St. Louis Cardinals All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado may opt out of his contract. He loves St. Louis and is staying put. He told friends he wasn’t even going to opt out of his contract if he stayed with the Colorado Rockies, and it certainly isn’t an option now.

Arenado still is owed $179 million by the Cardinals through 2027, with deferred payments that will pay him $3 million a year until he’s the age of 50.

You really think anyone in their right mind would leave that and test free agency?

Not happening.

– There have been nearly 400 different pitchers who checked by Major League Baseball since the enhanced enforcement began. Only two, notably Nationals ace Max Scherzer, complained.

“Honestly, I didn’t mind it,’’ Mets Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom said. “It was quick and it went pretty easy.’’

Said Red Sox manager Alex Cora: “The way deGrom did it, he’s the best pitcher on the planet, and he took no exception. So everybody should follow suit.’’

– It can be a bit confusing in the household of Tampa Bay rookie Wander Franco, who arrived for his major-league debut this week in style, behind the wheel of a $330,000 Rolls Royce.

You see, his dad’s name is also Wander Franco. His oldest brother’s name, the one who once played with the Kansas City Royals, is Wander Javier Franco. And his other brother, who played with the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants, is Wander Alexander Franco.

Oh, and Franco’s 2-year-old son’s name? Yep, Wander Samuel Franco, Jr.

– The playoff races, as it turns out, promise to be much more intriguing this year without the expanded postseason. If the same postseason rules applied like a year ago, the Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, Brewers, Mets and perhaps a sub-.500 team would make the National League field. In the American League, the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, Cleveland, Astros, Athletics and the Blue Jays or Mariners would be in.

Now, we’ve got the runner-up in the NL Central fighting with the No. 3 team in the NL West for the final wild-card spot. And in the AL, you’re going to have at least seven powerful teams vying for only five spots: the Astros, Athletics, White Sox, Cleveland, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees.

It could make the July 30 trade deadline a doozy.

– Two of the greatest moves in baseball last year were by the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants for simply tendering $18.9 million qualifying offers to starters Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman.

And perhaps they were the luckiest, too, with Stroman and Gausman being the only two players who accepted the offers.

Gausman has been the best pitcher in the National League not named deGrom with his 8-1 record and 1.49 ERA. And Stroman has been a godsend for the Mets’ rotation with his 6-5 record and 2.35 ERA.

– Padres manager Jace Tingler on third baseman Manny Machado’s defensive brilliance: “That’s a bad man. I mean, just an absolute bad man. What he’s able to do defensively, and on the bases, and his baseball IQ. These plays he’s making … it’s unbelievable.”

– The pitching crackdown certainly has had a major impact on the Yankees’ offense. They ranked 13th in the American League, averaged 3.77 runs a game before June 3.

They rank eighth in the league in runs per game, 4.69, since June 3, with 29 homers in their last 15 games entering Saturday. Then again, it’s affected their pitchers, too, particularly closer Aroldis Chapman, whose spin rates have dropped dramatically.

Before June 3: Chapman was yielding a .088 batting average, .213 on-base percentage and .176 slugging percentage. After June 3: .417/.481/.750.

– While everyone else’s offense may stink, check out the Houston Astros.

They outscored the opposition 93-24 during their 11-game winning streak. Their .277 team average is 16 points higher than any team. They have struck out the fewest times. They’ve scored 35 more runs than any team. And they have have four players with an OPS above .900.

“Right now, they’re as good as it gets,’’ Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I played against the Big Red Machine. We’re not quite the Big Red Machine, but maybe we’re the Orange Wagon or something.’’

– Is there a pitcher who has been more affected by MLB’s crackdown than Red Sox starter Garrett Richards? His spin rate on his curveball has dropped 534 rpm, and his fastball and sliders have each dropped by more than 200 rpm.

The result: In his last three starts, Richards is yielding a 9.82 ERA, lasting just 11 innings.

“It’s changed pretty much everything for me,’’ he said. “This just got brought on us real quick so I’ve only had about a week to work on it. So some guys are figuring it out sooner than others but for me, it’s taken a little bit more time so I’m just trying to figure it out.”

– The craziest part of the Cubs’ combined no-hitter this week against the Dodgers?

The only three people in the stadium who didn’t know the Cubs had a no-hitter working, as it turns out, were the Cubs’ three relievers who came into the game after Zach Davies.

“The whole bullpen had no idea, like completely oblivious,” said Cubs reliever Andrew Chafin, who pitched the eighth inning. “We couldn’t see the scoreboard with the line or whatever at the bottom.”

– Former Boston Red Sox great Dustin Pedroia, after the Red Sox ceremony honoring him Friday night and electing him into their Hall of Fame: “I’m now at peace.’’

– Los Angeles Dodgers esteemed broadcaster Charley Steiner on the haves and have-nots in baseball: “It’s the ghost of Red Klotz,’’ Steiner said, “with the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals.’’

There already are four teams that are at least 18 ½ games out of first place without even being at the halfway mark of the season: Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies.

CC Sabathia weighs in on MLB’s “sticky” situation

CC Sabathia on how Major League Baseball needs to change

SportsPulse, USA TODAY

– Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is one of the most talented players in baseball, but that talent has been wasted with his array of injuries, costing him 279 games since 2017.

He has now missed games because of a groin strain, migraines, fractured toe, strained wrist, wrist contusion, concussion, dislocated shoulder, labrum surgery, sprained foot, hip strain and now a fractured hand that will sideline him at least a month.

“This isn’t fair,’’ Twins manager Rocco Baldelli says. “That’s how I feel about the whole thing.”

– Orioles slugger Trey Mancini will participate in the home-run derby, 15 months after having Stage 3 cancerous tumor removed from his colon.

– Keep an eye on Padres starter Blake Snell, who is starting to feel comfortable in San Diego, and vows to have a monster second half.

– There still is not a single TV broadcasting team traveling this year, and several broadcasters predict that they’ll never be on the road again. They’re not sure they are even welcome any longer on team planes, with their seats now being occupied by extra coaches and team’s analytic departments, and no one wants to pick up the extra expense.

– Shohei Ohtani, who has 24 homers this year, has hit only one of his homers while pitching in the same game, but he could still catch Babe Ruth. Ruth had four homers as a pitcher in 1915.

In Ruth’s last appearance as a pitcher on Oct. 1, 1933, he pitched a complete game and homers in the Yankees’ 6-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

The record for homers by a pitcher is Wes Ferrell, who had nine homers in 1931 for Cleveland.

– Nationals slugger Kyle Schwarber, who was non-tendered by the Cubs last winter, is playing with a chip on his shoulder to prove them wrong, and everyone else for not showing more interest.

He just hit 13 home runs in the past 14 games for the Nationals, giving him 22 for the season, after hitting only 11 homers in 59 games last season with the Cubs.

The only hitter with a greater two-week streak was Barry Bonds in 2001 when he hit 14 homers in 14 games, to go along with his insane 1.926 OPS.

– The Dodgers have played only 11 games all season with Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy in the same lineup.

– Kudos to Atlanta starter Ian Anderson, who became the first native New Yorker to defeat the Mets and Yankees in New York during the same season. Anderson is from Clifton Park, N.Y., about 25 minutes north of Albany.

“Pretty cool,’’ he said.

– Congratulations to Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson, who reached his 10 years of major-league service this past week. Not bad for a 50th-round draft pick in 2006, the 1,475th player chosen in the draft.

“I’m definitely going to enjoy the milestone for me, getting 10 years,” Dyson said. “Not many big leaguers get 10 years in this game. For me being a 50th-round draft pick, and to get 10 years, is a blessing.”

– The Yankees are the first team to have a no-hitter and turn three triple plays in the same season since 1886 Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.

– It was strange and uncomfortable for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to listen to Tigers’ fans booing and taunting Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa this weekend for his role in the infamous cheating scandal. Hinch, of course, was the manager of that Astros team who was caught cheating in 2017 when they won the World Series.

“I understand the league in general, not just Tigers fans, has an opinion,’’ Hinch says. “But I also was in the same dugout with those guys not too long ago. So yeah, it’s uncomfortable.’’

– The Dodgers are expected to finalize plans to visit the White House on their upcoming trip to Washington D.C.

“I’m personally excited if the opportunity presents itself,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says. “I think our coaches and players are as well. I hope the Vice President, Kamala (Harris), is there. I’d love to meet her as well as the president. It’s an honor.

“Most champions get that opportunity, so it’s something I’ve always dreamed about.”

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[tech-battery]

Galaxy Book Flex review: A pretty QLED laptop with a useful S Pen Samsung’s laptops are coming into their own.

Samsung has had a troubled past as a laptop maker. Its ATIV, Notebook and Odyssey machines were underwhelming, and in the late 2010s the company consolidated its efforts into the Galaxy Book line. Instead of competing against the usual PC makers like Dell, HP, Lenovo and ASUS, Samsung focused on making more mobile-friendly machines. It prioritized thin-and-light designs and great displays, and it added an onboard stylus, borrowing the features that made its smartphones the industry favorites they are today.

With the Galaxy Book Flex, Samsung continues to show improved self-awareness by showcasing its superior display tech. The Flex is the first laptop with a QLED panel, which promises more colors, deeper blacks and greater brightness. It also comes standard with an S Pen and a wireless-charging pad built into the trackpad. Two models -- 13 inch and 15 inch -- are available, and we received the smaller version, which costs $1,349. The larger is just $50 more, and both are available today.

Engadget Score

Pros

Beautiful build

Useful onboard S Pen

Trackpad can wirelessly charge other devices

Comfortable keyboard

Cons

Limited configurations

Middling battery life

Summary

The Galaxy Book Flex is a gorgeous, powerful laptop with a vibrant QLED display. Though its battery life isn’t as long as some of the competition, the Flex is still a capable machine with a helpful S Pen onboard.

Design

I gotta give Samsung props. The company has seriously stepped up the design of its laptops over the past few years. The Galaxy Book S and Galaxy Chromebook both had super sleek builds, and the Flex is no different. This thing is all clean lines and sharp corners, with gleaming edges that give it a polished look. The deep royal blue of my review unit is refreshing: I’m used to boring silver, black or gray laptops, so my eyes welcome this change.

Though it’s impressively thin, the Flex feels solid and dense. It’s still pretty light though at just 1.15kg (2.53 pounds). In comparison, the new MacBook Air and the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 are both heavier at 2.8 and 2.9 pounds, respectively.

The Flex’s 13.3-inch screen is surrounded by minimal bezels on the top, left and right sides, with a fatter chin at the bottom. That thicker bottom bezel is still common in laptops, though Dell managed to do away with it in this year’s XPS 13 -- maybe the rest of the industry will catch up soon. Samsung still managed to squeeze a webcam above the Flex’s screen, although it sadly doesn’t support Windows Hello logins.

Along the edges, you’ll find a headphone jack, a microSD card reader, a push-to-release S Pen slot and three USB-C ports (two of which are Thunderbolt 3 compatible). That’s one more USB-C socket than the XPS and MacBook have, with the Apple laptop lacking the card slot the other two offer. As a consequence of offering more connectivity options, the Flex is also slightly thicker than both of those laptops. Still, it’s compact enough to fit in most of my work bags.

Display

I’ll be honest: I can’t tell the difference between an OLED and QLED screen of the same size and resolution. And you might not be able to either. That is to say, you won’t have any complaints about the Flex’s full HD display in terms of color reproduction and vibrance. I watched several episodes of Amazon’s new show Upload. The rich, autumnal colors in the leafy forest settings were stunning, and it was easy to make out details in even dimly lit scenes.

My apartment gets a lot of light, so it can sometimes get hard to see any laptop’s screen. The Flex’s Outdoor Mode is supposed to combat that by bumping the brightness an extra 200 nits to 600 nits. But switching it on via the keyboard shortcut only helped a little bit. However, it was much more useful on a slightly gloomy day.

I wish Samsung hadn’t made this a mode that you switch on or off and instead offered it as a few extra levels on the built-in brightness scale. Sometimes I needed a little bit more than the built-in max, but in those situations I had to use Outdoor Mode, which scorched my retinas. Still, it probably conserves battery to only bump up brightness by that much for short periods of time rather than encourage you to use it for an extended stretch.

Outdoor Mode also added a weird yellow cast to the screen, as if it turned on a blue-light filter. This wasn’t a big deal other than when I needed to edit photos for color temperatures. In those cases, you’ll have to turn off Outdoor Mode and figure out some other way to see your display without that brightness boost.

Keyboard and trackpad

Because it’s so slim, I was expecting the Book Flex to have shallow keys, but Samsung was able to offer a surprisingly deep amount of travel here. The keyboard is well laid out, with no undersized buttons save for the right-shift key, which is a little less wide to make room for the fingerprint sensor next to it.

My one gripe would be that the left-shift key seemed a little sticky, and too often I would try to uppercase the first letter of a word and end up getting the first two letters instead. I’d blame it on my lazy pinkie, but I haven’t encountered this on any other laptop.

A quick note on the fingerprint scanner: It was fast and accurate, usually unlocking the laptop without delay. Since it’s Windows Hello-compatible, I also used it for authentication on programs like Google Chrome. While the placement is uncommon -- most laptops place their fingerprint readers on the top right of the deck or embed it into the power button -- Samsung’s choice didn’t feel too odd.

Below the spacebar sits the Flex’s trackpad, which is fairly roomy given the laptop’s small footprint. Smaller notebooks often have cramped trackpads, but the surface area here is generous. It’s not as tall as the XPS 13’s or MacBook Air’s, but it offers enough vertical space. Aside from being large, the Flex’s touchpad is also responsive and smooth, and gestures like scrolling or pinch-to-zoom worked well.

S Pen

One of my favorite things about Samsung laptops is the S Pen. It’s not only fun for drawing self-portraits or scribbling down notes but also helpful for signing urgent PDFs. I just had to open the document, select “Add a Note” from the toolbar and sign on the dotted line.

The Flex offers the same onboard stylus as the Note 10 -- don’t expect the bigger, more pen-like version on the Galaxy Tab S series. Still, it’s comfortable enough to use for hours while drawing a self-portrait. Fans of Samsung’s Air Command menu on its Note phones will be pleased to know it pops up here too when you slide the S Pen out of its slot.

Performance and in use

The Flex may look like a dainty machine, but it actually packs a powerful 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor. My review unit came with 16GB of RAM, which is double the 8GB configuration you can buy in the US. (The 15-inch model has the same CPU but 12GB of RAM.) Bear in mind that this means my experience, at least when it comes to performance and speed, isn’t going to be representative of what you can expect.

With these guts, the Flex deftly dealt with my daily workflow of Slack, dozens of Chrome tabs, spreadsheets and the inescapable Zoom calls that permeate our lives now. The laptop also kept up with my new at-home needs, like executing my podcast-recording setup and uploading large files for review videos. I also played several rounds of League of Legends after rediscovering it, and the Flex never let me down.

That is, until I decided to turn on Samsung’s Silent mode. This is meant to keep the laptop’s fans quiet if you’re bothered by them. It’s pretty easy to activate: Just slide a switch in the Samsung Settings app. You don’t have to go into Boot mode to access it. I never found the Flex too loud, but I guess those trying to get work done in bed next to a light sleeper or just really hate white noise might.

I did notice a significant decrease in sound when I enabled Silent Mode, though it seemed to throttle CPU performance. When I tried to continue playing League afterward, the system lag made it nearly impossible: My character could barely make it to the first turret before I gave up and restarted (with Silent Mode off). This is somewhat understandable. You can’t expect high-speed performance when the fans are turned off without the computer running too hot. Silent Mode is more useful if you’re bothered by the noise and aren’t running anything intensive.

Battery life and wireless PowerShare

Thanks to the Flex’s QLED screen and 69.7Whr battery, Samsung promises up to 20 hours of runtime. In reality though, that number is a lot lower. Our video-looping battery test drained the Flex in about 13 and a half hours, which is better than the MacBook Air but falls short of the XPS 13 2-in-1’s 14-and-a-half hour mark. In real-world experience though, I saw power levels plunge below 20 percent after five hours of heavy use. To be fair, that involved energy-sapping processes like video playback and more-frenzied League games.

One of the new features of the Flex is its trackpad’s built-in wireless charger that can deliver power to Qi-compatible devices. It’s the same Wireless PowerShare feature that debuted on the Galaxy S10. You can’t use the trackpad while you’re charging something, which makes sense, since something is literally obstructing the usable area. I’m not sure how helpful this feature is, since wireless charging is typically too slow to be meaningful. I placed the Galaxy S20 Ultra on the trackpad (after the requisite first step of turning on the feature in Settings) and watched as its battery level climbed painfully slowly from 79 percent to 85 percent in 20 minutes.

For something smaller, like the Galaxy Buds, I could see this being useful in a pinch (say, in an airplane when you’re running low on juice). Otherwise, wireless PowerShare isn’t something I’ll use a lot.

Wrap-up

I’m enamored with the Galaxy Book Flex. It’s a pretty machine with a nice display, powerful guts and useful S Pen. But I wish there were more configurations (for each size) to make the base price lower. Sure, $1,349 for a Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM isn’t the priciest, considering the new MacBook Air tops out at $1,199 for a Core i5 and the similarly specced XPS 13 2-in-1 costs a lot more at $1,700. But with the competition offering options starting at $999, that’s tough to swallow.

Still, if you’re looking for a gorgeous, beefy laptop with a good screen and don’t need it to last forever, the Galaxy Book Flex is worth considering. More important, it proves it’s time to take Samsung’s laptops seriously again.