#NOT the same thing as csa or ANYTHING like that and simply an experienced attraction

[craycraybluejay]

You know how a pretty obvious majority of kinksters are submissives? You want to know a big part of the reason why it's hard to find a dom that's into the same hard kink you are?

Ask a hardcore masochist what they think of being whipped.

Then ask a hard sadist what they think of whipping someone.

Do you notice that the sadist/dom will often either dance around an answer or try to use soothing language/euphemism not unlike the way how in many places people are still expected to discuss sex if at all. Gentle, calculated language.

The issue is, especially with a new surge of purity culture overtaking so-called "leftist" online circles, is that fantasy becomes a moral judgement.

Sub with a noncon kink: "I want to be raped" (cnc but like. People can talk ab it how they want don't cancel me fr.)

Response from Normies: "well that's weird and kinda dark but ok"

Dom with a noncon kink: "I want to rape"

Response from Normies: "I'm calling the police and you should kys and you're also a sexual abuser and even though you haven't said anything about kids you're also also a pedophile :)"

Not only does the attitude of murderous hatred against doms/tops with hard kinks/fetishes/paraphilias make it difficult for them to practice those kinks (safely and ethically) out of fear of social backlash if it's ever found out even if both they and their partner[s] had a great time and are fine-- but, it actively puts innocent people in danger by equating thoughts and attractions of ANY KIND to the act of hurting others against their will. It equates fantasy, which can oftentimes be played out safely if in a modified way with real harmful actions.

Also, kink is still illegal in many places, so don't "its illegal" me about harder kinks. Law is not morality, none of us are free until all of us are free, etc. You get the gist.

You want to see more doms? Meet someone who can indulge your "scary badwrong" sexy feelings? Then maybe don't actively promote a culture where you put ANY kind of attraction or kink under fire. It doesn't matter if it'd be unethical to act out in real life. Some of the most common kinks worldwide are unethical as fuck to act out irl, including rape. That's why we have cnc, come on, guys.

You know what? In fact, you SHOULD actively shun people who shame others for their sexual feelings. EVEN if you think it's gross. EVEN if it wouldn't be ethical to act on irl. Let these types know that their puritan ideals are NOT accepted here. Let them know that if they want to go to church they can do that but not in your space, not forcing other (non consenting!) people to listen to their hateful and repressive ideology.

Like, hey, I'm not into ABDL, for example. But I will defend to the death other people's right to be into that. To think and feel whatever they think and feel. You think diapers are sexy? Great! I don't personally see the appeal, but you do you boo. There is no Correct Way to be sex/kink negative. Either you believe in thought crime or you don't.

And yes, this post includes "harmful" paraphilias (I put it in quotes because they're only harmful if acted on), sadomasochism, mutilation fetishism, etc etc. Every "gross" or "evil" kink, fetish, para you can possibly imagine. The stuff that makes you horny is just stuff that makes you horny, and being horny is normal. Being "weird horny" is also normal. No one deserves to experience shame, let alone public harassment or hate over feelings they most of the time don't Choose to have. Be mindful of puritan rhetoric and strike it down when you see it.

#important #psa #hard kink #nsft topic #pro para #pro kink #the 'dom shortage' #obv there are other factors but this is just a connection I'm pointing out #purity culture #purity wank #puritans #sex and sexuality #tw r@pe mention #p3d0 panic/the trend of calling everyone you don't like a p43d0phi13 despite that that's as i said before #NOT the same thing as csa or ANYTHING like that and simply an experienced attraction #attraction is not r@pe; foot fetishists r not going to randomly hump ur foot and same w ever other kink #thought crime #puritanism #the purity culture wave #discourse #except if you disagree pls block me this is a pro kink blog forever and ever #thoughts are thoughts #anti para people scare me bc if u think someone cant help but have sex with someone/something theyre attracted to... #what EXACTLY are you going to do if someone romantically rejects you???????????? #turning the argument around here. if this is your belief then i do not trust you around me and my loved ones #because if attraction is action then i am scared for the people you are attracted to #because it isn't. and the fact that you think it is says more about you than anyone you hate for their attractions

[transillusionisms]

Then let’s go ahead and have a conversation, being attracted to a child as an adult is morally wrong, and there are reasons for that, children are not even remotely close to the maturity level or mental capacity that adults are and to be attracted to somebody so young and emotionally different then you- especially when it puts you in a position of power over them- is wrong. It’s exactly why teacher/student relationships are frowned upon, because the teacher has a huge position of power of the student and therefore the relationship can never realistically be consensual or healthy. Being attracted to children is a taboo for a reason, and it’s not just because people want to “put others down” it’s because there are serious moral implications that comes with it. I don’t understand why anybody would want to be in that kind of situation, why anybody would ever want to be in such a position of power that the relationship could never be healthy- could never do anything but leave long lasting trauma.

And quite honestly if you haven’t experienced the kind of trauma that comes with that, the kind of hurt that you receive from somebody who knew better, from somebody who had that position of power over you and then abusing it then I’m not sure why you would want to speak on the issue so in depth. Because the only people who can truly understand that kind of pain are the people who go through it and *maybe* people who have professional training and experience in the mental health field.

Nobody is telling you that you’re wrong for having a “different opinion”, you’re being told you’re wrong because while you’re saying that CSA and rape and assault and abuse is bad you’re still trying to justify morally wrong behavior. That is the issue, you’re using a platform to blast the idea that age doesn’t matter and that it has no actual purpose other then to keep time when that’s wrong. Because it does matter, experience and age matter, even if people don’t want to believe that.

i think you're unnecessarily combining attraction with abuse, here. because every kind of romantic or sexual interaction between an adult and a kid is bad, and we can both agree on that. age very much does matter in relationships, you're right; a 16 and an 18 year old are fine, but a 14 year old and an 18 year old aren't. we agree on all that. other power imbalances are generally bad too; even if you're in college and you and your professor are the same age, that's not the kinda dynamic that'd lead to a healthy relationship.

the only thing i don't agree with that you're saying here is that the attraction itself is morally wrong, too. for one, it's something that people literally cannot help. it's why stuff like homohobes saying "just choose not to be gay" makes no sense at all. (no, i'm not saying you're homophobic, i just mean that you can see the whole "i can't consciously change my attractions" in other places too.)

two, people who are attracted to others can avoid interacting with them. it happens all the time; i see a pretty guy in a coffee shop, i don't interact with him, we never see each other again. stuff like that. this doesn't change if the subject of your attraction is a kid; i would argue that you're morally obligated to not mention that to the kid, but it doesn't make you a bad person for simply being attracted to them.

fantasies are morally neutral. i can fantasize about responding to queerphobia with immediate violence, even though in reality that's not really a productive way of dealing with that; that doesn't make me dangerous to be around or violent irl. sexual fantasies aren't any different. cops are horrible irl, but i'm not gonna call people doing sexual roleplay where one is a cop bootlickers for that.

attraction is morally neutral, too. a straight guy can be into a lesbian, and that doesn't mean he's a bad person for thinking she's hot or being attracted to her; it'd only be bad if he pursued her after knowing she wasn't alright with that. this applies to other things too; if you're attracted to a kid, that's morally neutral. it only becomes bad if you tell the kid about it, or try to pursue them in any way.

if this is something you can't agree on, i'm not sure more conversation will do anything :/

(also, the only reason i'm speaking on this in depth is when other people start that conversation, like the condescending emoji anon and you. i'll respond n stuff, but i'm usually not gonna start talking about it out of the blue)

#hate asks #< - broad category even though you're more chill now

[omenapologist-moved]

I believe negative social atttitudes towards different sexualities, genders, morality, paraphilias, and more are either the root cause of or contribute to some subsets of OCD.

This got longer than I expected. CW for talking about mental illness, detransitioning, and pedophilia. I don’t go into graphic detail about CSA, for what it’s worth, but I know some people will be upset regardless so I felt the need to add a disclaimer.

so, sexual orientation obsessive compulsive disorder or SO-OCD (formerly known as HOCD; homosexual obsessive compulsive disorder or just “gay ocd” but considering anyone of any sexuality can be affected by this SO-OCD makes more sense) in my opinion only exists as a product of a homophobic society. I do not think, for the most part, people would develop an obsessive fear about whether or not they are gay if it were accepted and a non-issue like how being straight is. as someone with OCD myself, it targets that which is important to us and doesn’t exist in a vacuum. 

At the start of my transition, I began developing obsessive thoughts surrounding my gender identity. What if I’m not actually trans? What if I’m wrong and I need to detransition? What if I’m just a fucked up and confused girl? and so on, even though I have always experienced acute physical dysphoria, feel a lot better about myself when I’m referred to with masculine language, and transitioning in general has made me happier and more comfortable in my body than ever before. That’s the nature of the illness. It distorts our cognition and hyperfixates on the uncertainty of things. There is no set-in-stone way to well and truly know your gender or sexuality, because these things are extremely fluid and personal and influenced by your environment, as is the case with social constructs.

Now, why would I be so troubled by this? If I am wrong and I decide to detransition, sure, I’ll have more body hair and a deeper voice and, come november, a flat chest, but all of these things have solutions, too. It isn’t the end of the world, or my life, if I detransition, but I most likely won’t! But the reason I was developing these obsessions is honestly pretty simple. At the time, I placed my own gender and transition at very, very high importance, someone I had previously been close to began detransitioning, and the fucking Youtube algorithm of all things began recommending me the vlogs of several detransitioned FTMTF people. But most pertinently, the pervasive attitude in most circles that detransitioning is the worst possible thing ever and is life-ending and you’re going to be ruined forever if you’re wrong about your gender. All of this created a cocktail of self-doubt in me. 

I’ve gotten a lot better, and fortunately those obsessions didn’t swing fully into a gender-focused OCD, but I know that isn’t the case for everyone, and I’m getting a little off topic here, anyway.

POCD, or pedophilia obsessive compulsive disorder, must be a living hell. POCD is the obsessive fear that you are or might become a pedophile. Here’s a pretty good source talking about POCD in better detail. I need to make it explicitly clear that people with POCD are not pedophiles.

I think in no small part those who struggle with this subset of OCD are made worse by society’s attitude towards pedophilia. That being, even if you never hurt a child ever, even if it remains only within the realm of your thoughts, a pedophile is the worst possible thing you can ever be, and if you even think about attraction to a minor you should be subject to an endless barrage of increasingly creative means of violence and execution. 

But here’s the thing. You can’t control having a paraphilia. You don’t get to just opt out of it, as convenient as that may be. I don’t believe we should condemn an entire swath of people, notably those who have done no harm, because they have a paraphilia they did not choose to have. This attitude hurts these people directly and absolutely does not help cut down on sex crimes against minors. Because rather than being able to pursue help, they hide it, and keep it to themselves, and it festers and worsens like an infected blister until eventually it pops, and the aftermath causes suffering for all.

And not only does this attitude hurt people with this paraphilia, not only does it not help in “protecting the children”, it hurts people who do not have the paraphilia; those with POCD. I’ve been in OCD forums and I have seen people struggling so fucking hard with the complete and utter self-loathing brought about by POCD, and what hurts even more is that more often than not they cannot talk about it in fear of losing their jobs, their families, their friends, and their livelihoods. Which, coincidentally is the exact same issue this attitude inflicts on those who are pedophiles. Isn’t it shocking that stigma doesn’t incentivize people to ask for help, nor does it make anything better? 

I am not saying we should ~normalize pedophilia~ or whatever, rather, we shouldn’t have this disgusting attitude towards them of “kill on sight!” and should instead try to figure out what helps these people without having minors hurt. All too often I see self-identified prison abolitionists and harm reductionists calling for the imprisonment or death of these people, and that shows me that you don’t actually want prisons to be abolished or to do the least amount of harm. You just want to be the wardens, the ones able to deal out the harm because you think yourself to be right and just. And that way of thinking simply is not in line with anarchism, and honestly, leftism in general. 

#politics tag #paraphilia #pocd #ocd #MAP discourse #basically I cannot and will not be comfortable with calling for violence against swaths of people #especially when that violence is COMPLETELY avoidable if you just take the time to care about others and see them as human

[xxx-theartofsuicide-xxx]

you know that fiction doesn't exist in a vacuum, right? how are you telling me to have empathy when i'm angry because you're getting off on the sort of trauma that has given multiple of my friends ptsd. i relate to lydia too, i've seen myself in her since i was 12! AND i'm attracted to beetlejuice! but that doesn't mean i want to picture him in a pedophilic relationship! depicting things as normal in fiction normalizes them in your mind because you become used to it. it's basic psychology.

But it hasn't normalized anything for me? And I'm the one you're talking to. I'm not responsible for the safety of my consumers, nor am I obligated to teach them right from wrong. That's what mommy and daddy are for. I experienced years of sexual abuse, too. People are different, man. Different things get different people off. Humans are multi-faceted creatures capable of complex thought. I can get off to nasty Beej/Lyds smut and simultaneously recognize that a relationship like that wouldn't be okay in real life.

You lack empathy because you felt the need to come and attack my ship at all. You can't just leave well enough alone and let me like what I like. Fuck, I think beetlelands is gross, promotes infidelity, fetishizes gay men, etc etc. But, I don't go and shit on people who are just minding their own business having fun creating fics/art. Why can't you extend the same courtesy?

This is why you don't have any empathy. You think your discomfort entitles you to forcing your opinion down other people's throats. Fanfiction is niche and simply doesn't have the same reach as a book, movie, or television show. If you care so much about the safety of minors and survivors of CSA, go after Toddlers & Tiaras. As of right now, all you're doing is bothering a CSA survivor and attempting to make them feel shame over a perfectly harmless hobby that gives them joy. That's evil.

#ask

[autismserenity]

trans ppl iding more as ace than their cis counterparts really doesnt concern you? you really think it's just trans people being more asexual than cis people and not, you know, trans people being so violently repulsed by their own bodies they simply erase every single possible feeling of sexual attraction. like. asexuality is not a mental illness by any means! but you CANNOT be so dense that you simply write off the huge gap number between cis & trans ppl iding as ace w/o thinkin about dysphoria

The thing is, there are two major problems with the “what if these people are ace because of ________.” (Maybe more than two. But two off the top of my head.) 

First: WAY more trans people id as m-spec than cis people. Way way way way more, like roughly 50% of trans people according to the same study. As opposed to 4% of trans people identifying as ace, versus 1-2% of the general population. (It’s possible or even likely that 50% of everybody is m-spec, I suppose. But if they are, they certainly don’t know it -- or they’re not comfortable enough with it to say so in surveys.) 

In my experience, that can be partly because of gender stuff, sure. 

But a lot of it is because once you’ve taken the risk of facing one part of your identity, and finding out it’s not “normal,” you’re much more willing and able to do that again. Which is also true for trans aces, whether they start out as trans or as ace.

And a lot of it is because, once you identify as one of those things, you are WAY more likely to learn about the other(s), which makes you WAY more likely to realize that these other labels apply to you too. Whether you start out as a-spec/m-spec or as trans. You start being exposed to ideas and experiences that you might never have heard of otherwise, and that starts you on the road to figuring a lot of stuff out. 

So, no, I don’t think we can just assume that it’s because of dysphoria. 

Also, when I do hear trans people talk about being so violently repulsed by their own bodies that they’re repulsed by sex, I don’t generally hear them saying “and therefore I’m ace.”

 I’ve heard a fair number of people talk about that, and all of the ones I’ve heard have been like, “and I’m gay/bi/straight/pan and I really look forward to getting surgery and being comfortable enough in my body to explore sex again.” 

And second: this is what straight people have thrown at the rest of us for decades. Trans people STILL get “but what if you just feel repelled by your body ________ because of your sexual abuse?” 

And the new TERF push has been, “but autistic [boys these ass-hats think are girls] can’t/shouldn’t identify as trans, because it’s just that they don’t understand gender!” 

(That one is especially weird, BTW, because they’re specifically targeting AFAB people with it, which... doesn’t make sense to only do to AFAB people, and also, is the less-frequently-diagnosed assigned gender by a long shot? Although to be fair, TERFs don’t make sense, they just say shit that plays on people’s fears.) 

And lesbians have always gotten, “but what if you just feel repelled by men because of your sexual abuse?”

I have even heard the people on Loveline immediately, when someone calls in questioning whether they’re a lesbian or a bi woman, go, “When were you sexually abused?” And of course the person always has an answer, because sexual abuse (of both children and adults) is WAY too common. And then they are like “well, see, I knew you had been sexually abused because you think you’re a lesbian.” Or however they put that. 

(I don’t know if they still do that or if someone has managed to educate them, but it used to be their go-to Thing whenever the topic came up, ten years ago or so.) 

Honestly, one of the biggest gifts I’ve seen people get from the ace community on Tumblr is the message that it does not matter if what you are is tied in to your trauma or mental illness or neurodiversity. And that it does not matter if what you are changes. And that it does not matter if what you are doesn’t change, but your understanding of it and/or your language for it does. You are still valid; your identity is still valid. 

As a CSA survivor, I totally understand the concern of “but what IF it’s because of trauma? then doesn’t that mean it’s actually a problem, and don’t you want to fix it?” 

But also as someone who has been in recovery from CSA for 14 years, I know that not all effects of CSA are bad (which does! not! make! abuse!!!! okay!!!!!!!), and whether good or bad, not all effects are reversible. 

I am CERTAIN that there are people who would argue that I was trans because of sexual abuse. They could even be partially or completely right. How do I know why something that’s such an integral part of me is there? I don’t have a map to everything inside of me. 

But I do know that working on my abuse stuff really, really hard has not changed my gender. If anything, the more recovery I get, the more I am able to express it freely. 

And I do know that I love being trans. I love my gender, I love my community, I love the deeper insights into gender that my experiences give me, I love being able to use that knowledge to support others, I love being free of so much of the baggage around gender that I used to have and that a lot of cis people just live with permanently. 

I assume it’s the same for aces. If it were because of trauma? who cares? Work on your trauma no matter what, and accept yourself and what you are no matter what, even if it changes, and support others doing the same? 

That’s something we all have to go through, at least as a community. SO many bisexuals first thought they were gay. SO many gay people first thought they were bi. 

I mean, had to come out three times, first as lesbian, then as bi, and then as trans. And by the time I got it all figured out, I was like WHAT THE FUCK WHY DO I KEEP HAVING TO DO THIS? But it was also very positive in some ways to have experienced so many different communities and subcultures within our larger family. 

[topsolarpanels]

At Pear demo day, a who’s who of VCs, and plenty of fresh ideas

Pear, a popular seed-stage venture firm whose early bets include Guardant Health , Memebox, and Branch, hosted its fourth demo day in Woodside, Ca ., last Thursday, and though it was a scorchingly hot afternoon at a largely outdoor venue, a veritable who’s who of VCs presented up: Bryan Schreier of Sequoia Capital was there. So was Brian O’Malley of Accel Partners, another frequent guest. Others of the 120 other VCs in attendance included Shawn Carolan of Menlo Ventures, Shahin Farshchi of Lux Capital, Ann Miura-Ko of Floodgate, Maha Ibrahim of Canaan Partners, Bobby Yazdani of Cota Capital, Semil Shah of Haystack, Hunter Walk of Homebrew, James Currier of NFX Guild, and Josh Elman of Greylock Partners.

What everyone came to see was 15 teams, all of them roughly six months old or younger, and all led by current college student or recent graduates who’d been invited by Pear to build companies over ten weeks in its airy but cramped Palo Alto offices. It’s a nice deal for the founders, who receive an uncapped note of between $25,000 and $40,000, along with advice from people who know how to grow companies. Among those to speak with this summer’s crop: Dropbox cofounder and CEO Drew Houston.

These demo days are also a chance for Pear to showcase its ability to spot talent at the earliest stages. Satellite company Capella Space got its start in Pear’s summer program; it created a $12 million Series A round in May.

Viz, a startup that helps physicians identify anomalies in brain scans employing machine learning and which landed $7.5 million in Series A fund in May, was part of the line-up last year.( Pear asks to invest up to $250,000 when its summer teams create these first rounds .)

Because we know some of you like learning about these companies as prospective investments, to identify future tendencies, or simply to better understand the competition, we’re written up some of the nascent startups that presented. Meanwhile, here is the full line-up of companies, and a quick snapshot of what the display was like.

ImpriMed .

This startup, cofounded by a Korean founder with Ph.D. in bioengineering from Stanford, is working on an ambitious but super interesting customized narcotic exam for cancer patients. The focus is on delivering personalized medications, quickly. The whole thing is still very much in the prototype phase, but what the six-person squad has built is an inkjet printer that will be capable( it tells) of testing exponentially more narcotic combinings than is possible now — 96 drug combinations in 7 seconds, versus the average 16 combinings that they are able currently be tested in 30 minutes hour. Further, the printers are small enough to stored at hospitals, meaning physicians would no longer need to send patients’ cells to a lab for testing — a time-consuming endeavor.

The company said it plans to focus on blood cancers initially. It expects to expand into other cancers and infectious diseases later.

Fitbod .

Fitbod for iOS is trying to equip gym-goers with a deeply personalized workout scheme, allowing them to maximize the use of indoor gym equipment and practice effective strength-training by constructing personalized workout routines for them. It assigns different values for wearines, for example, or, if a user can’t perform a suggested exercising, that person is shown the coming four exerts. If a user misses a workout, it will accommodate how many situates of reps that person should do.

It doesn’t seem like a big idea, considering the many fitness apps already on the market. But Fitbod insisted that by using machine learning to track someone’s workout data and tailor a strength-training plan in real time for that individual’s physical capability, it can capture competitors’ users, as well as a slice of the market that isn’t using anything.

For some perspective on that market, there are 57 million people in the U.S. who work out at gyms and the other 25 million who buy equipment at home. The founders, who include one former high frequency merchant and an experienced product experience decorator, say they’re starting with the 30 million people who work out in weight rooms.

TeachFX

This company is trying to supercharge teachers’ work by providing them with automated feedback on such discussions that are happening in their classrooms. The idea here is that there isn’t a lot of active learn pas, in elementary schools, in high schools, and especially at colleges, yet a lot can be learned by tracking the frequency of questions an teacher asks, or how long he or she pauses, or who in the class is volunteering to speak and who isn’t.

TeachFx, started by one former high school English educator( with a Stanford MBA ), hope to address all of these issues via its its app, which utilizes machine learning and open source technologies to investigate a teacher’s class, then deliver metrics on aspects of their pedagogy. It looks for how much of their class was lecture versus debate, for example, and how much each student is participating. TeachFX is even trying to identify unconscious biases, something the technology should get better at doing as it builds up a database of classroom-related inputs.

FGspire

This company is building an AI-driven medical record platform that takes notes about patient encounters with doctors as might an observing nurse. The notion, as you might imagine, is to save physicians day so they can meet with more patients, shaving off the two hours spent documenting their visit with each patient( who they expend comparatively little time with right now ).

The team, which includes one AI researcher at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and another AI researcher at the Stanford Natural Language Processing Group, says it’s targeting veterinarians first, as they’re unfettered by the same regulations as apply to doctors who treat people. They also say that after running tests for the last six months, their first medical records platform is rolling out in Bay Area clinics this fall.

Via

Via is a global marketplace for short-term work experiences that last anywhere from four weeks to six months. The problem, as put forward by its founders( who happen to be sisters) are that young professionals aren’t fulfilled by their jobs. According to a 2016 Deloitte analyze, 25 percent of millennials would leave their task this year merely to do something different, and 66 percent would leave within the next three years. The reason, ostensibly: millennials crave experiences above all else.

Via’s solution? Short-term work experiences, often in far-flung cities, that complement millennials’ careers. Toward that end, the two-month-old company is already partnering with grad schools and U.S. companies to find a chance for the talented people who might otherwise be at risk of leaving for good. Current alternatives range from research projects for a fintech unicorn in Brazil to work at the largest solar energy company in Uganda.

Ozzy

The team is building what it’s calling a targeted outdoor ad platform — an “AdWords for the offline world.” How? By slapping internet connected screens atop ride-share vehicles. HotelTonight, for example, has been testing out a campaign that it runs between 8 pm and 2 a.m. on streets dotted with bars and restaurants. DoorDash and Instacart have also launched campaigns. In the future, tell Ozzy’s founders, you can see a wealth of scenarios, including a brand that’s opening its first retail store in township and wants to raise awareness that it’s coming, so advertises in the surrounding region of its new storefront.

Whether the service will take off is a question mark. Advertisers have become more metrics driven than ever before and it’s hard to imagine how Ozzy can prove that it’s converting passersby into clients. Still, outdoor ad expend is currently a $10 billion marketplace, and with smart execution, Ozzy can probably scale rapidly. After all, there are one million freelance drivers in the U.S. alone. A healthy percentage of them would undoubtedly be willing to throw some hardware atop their vehicles if doing so produces meaningful extra income for them.

Siren

Siren is a new food brand, one that’s trying to make room for itself in the crowded candy and snack bar industry. Its catch? Its products are induced use naturally occurring, gluten-free, grain-free, and non-GMO ingredients. It’s packaging is attractive, too, unsurprisingly.

For its inaugural line of products, Siren has developed a line of bite-sized snacks employing a blend of protein derived from peas.( We sampled three flavors — lemon poppyseed, cookie dough, and snickerdoodle, and we loved them, though our kids were slightly less keen on them .) The company said it sold out of its first production run of 10, 000 snack purses within a matter of weeks; now it’s offering its “bites” online through SirenSnacks.com.

Interestingly, Siren, like, Via, was founded by sisters. In this case, one sister, a graduate of both Brown and Stanford, formerly worked at Sonoma Brands, a food incubator and investor. The other has a degree in product engineering from Stanford and formerly worked for Google; Farmigo, a maker of software for CSAs; and Immaculate Baking, a “natural” brand known for its cookie dough. Immaculate was acquired by General Mills from several private equity investors in 2012.

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