#cannot believe I wrote this whole ramble about VEGAN ICE CREAM

[cha1cedony]

I should be sleeping but I’m thinking about Rebecca again…. blinks innocently 😇 So many old headcanons resurfacing today!

(This turned into a longer ramble than I anticipated so um. Tee hee)

Anyway I always wonder how big Swallows Ice Cream really was. I know they had a storefront, but I’ve always imagined it to have started as a mom-n-pop place and maybe expanded into a local chain that sells in stores, too. She DOES call it an “ice cream empire,” after all. I wonder how recently it became so successful o_o How old were Normal and Hero? Did they see their parents (+ Lark) struggle as kids, and did they see the business take off (maybe post-Vinny fiasco, when Normal’s parents were actually working in the shop, and which definitely convinced Normal that his mascoting was the reason for the business’ success lol)? They’re not ever mentioned to be rich like Taylor, so maybe not that successful…? Idk. Food for Normal childhood thoughts ANYWAY ANYWAY

Anyway. Back to the reason I made this post lmao. I wonder if Rebecca was the one to make the ice cream first. She probably was, since she FOUNDED the aforementioned ice cream empire. Maybe when Normal and Hero were growing up, Rebecca would spend all day making new flavors: weird stuff, like lavender and basil and thyme and Grape-Nut (at Henry’s request). I was Googling Ecuadorian desserts once for an (unfinished) fic and discovered espumillas—fruit merengue in an ice cream cone—and imagined her making that for the kids :) !!!!

And maybe, when they expanded to a small handful of storefronts in LA and selling in a couple of local grocery stores, the family made a routine of going around town to try the new ones. Rebecca and Sparrow had already tried and approved everything for quality control, of course, but Normal and Hero grew up on this stuff! And when their mom isn’t the one making it, it’s just not as good! >:( That’s not the REAL Swallows Vegan Ice Cream, yk? Even when they had enough money to hire new employees, Normal BEGGED his mom to keep making the ice cream at the original San Dimas shop herself.

…And now he’ll never eat her ice cream again :( She’ll never let him experiment with mixing his essential oils in the soft serve machine to make a new godawful flavor again. When Normal is missing Carlos, Rebecca will never be there to make guava espumillas and blackberry helado de paila again (and Sparrow knows the recipe, too, but it’s just not the same).

Hero has sworn off ice cream ever since she rejected her role as ‘chosen one’; it leaves a bad taste in her mouth (literally). But after Rebecca dies, Hero finally feels its cold absence. Maybe she gets her sweet tooth back :)

So! Anyway! How are we all doing tonight 😄

PS: My friend (hi if you’re reading this) and I tried vegan ice cream by accident the other day, and it was sooooo bad (to me). The coconut milk made everything taste like coconuts 😭 and it was so sweet. I hate coconuts AND sweet stuff. Bleh. But I believe Rebecca’s ice cream is better ☝️ I have to believe… lol okay byeeee