Welcome back to another edition of Marshmallow Monday. This time around, Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles is our guest of honor.

Marshmallow Monday is a day to honor all of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man’s millions of children, who must soldier on as orphans in s’mores and cereal aisles alike, with only charred memories of their long exploded and molten father.

Never thought you’d shed a single tear for a bag of marshmallows, would you?

But back to these Fruity Pebbles with marshmallows. They’re exactly what they sound like, which means Post went down the sugar family tree, skipped past sprinkles and nonpareils, and found the other two sugariest cereal ingredients they could afford: technicolor crisped rice and marbits.

It’s a recipe for disaster that sounds straight out of a cheap Sci-Fi Syfy Channel disaster movie. And speaking of over-the-top disaster movie concepts: this cereal has Sharkasaurus marshmallows!

As soon as I peeked into the clear bag, it became clear that the charmingly shaped marshmallows would be the best part of Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles. Of course, the idea of mixing Fruity Pebbles with marshmallows isn’t new. Marshmallow Mania Pebbles, Dino S’Mores Pebbles, and Marshmallow Pebbles all predate this one.

But those cereals didn’t have blue tie-dye hybrid shark-dinosaur marshmallows that make me instinctively type in italics.

Here we have a handy field guide to the ‘mallows. I’m thankful for it, because without this legend I would have called them camouflage clownfish, naked Patrick Star, Pebbles’ cartoon head, hallucinogenic sunflower, and half-melted gob of Rocky Road ice cream. Oh, and motherfruitin’ Sharkasaurus, of course.

Can’t misidentify that bad boy: 1 out of 6 ain’t bad.

So the marshmallow shapes already elevate this cereal over Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows. That cereal had boring white orb marbits, which, as one reader pointed out, could be mistaken for pills by inquisitive children. At least no one will mistake Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles for pills.

Well, maybe for Flintstones Vitamins.

As for the taste, I’m surprised to say that this is the first “with marshmallows” spin-off I enjoyed more than the original. I’ve confessed before to torches and pitchforks that I’m not much of a Pebbles fan—I don’t like foods that make me more hungry after I eat them—but these were pleasantly ice cream-esque, even when dry.

Let me explain: the marshmallows in Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles have the most realistic texture on the market. They’re not too chalky and they’re not too gummy. They’re just perfectly squishy with a light chew and a resounding granulated vanilla. Mixed with the crispy sweetened rice itself, you get the sensation of Fruity Pebbles Ice Cream, an already popular dessert.

Adding milk makes them so creamy I want to scream “eee!” mostly because Fruity Pebbles are notorious for their Instantaneous Soggification Factor™. Damp and mushy, they’re sinfully sweet with that indescribable fake fruit flavor characteristic of the cereal. It’s not fake blueberry like Froot Loops or candied cherry like Crunchberries. Nope: it just tastes like rainbows.

And with the milk-absorbing marshmallow involved, those rainbow start tasting like a half-liquefied bag of Skittles that got dropped in a half-melted vanilla milkshake. Be sure to pop your Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles and milk in the fridge or freezer for the chillest summer snack since WWF Ice Cream Bars.

So while Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles is tasty enough, it has a tendency to produce a vicious cycle. Instead of trying to explain it, I’ll let this hastily constructed flowchart walk you through my journey.

Congratulations, Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles: your shark-tacular shapes and youthful flavor got me over my Pebbles cynicism, but you’ve also got me doubled over like a stock photo stomach virus victim.

Oh, and this totally happened, because where else would a Fruity Crisp Oreo sleep at night?

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The Bowl: Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles

The Breakdown: With authentic marshmallows and authentically fake fruit flavor, this cereal tastes enough like childhood to make your adult stomach question its life choices a little.

The Bottom Line: 7 “Sharkasaurus vs. Hammerhead Rex” sequels out of 10

(Quick Nutrition Facts: 110 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein per 3/4 cup serving)

***Head over to Junk Banter and The Impulsive Buy to read two more Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles reviews from snack food loving friends of ours.***