. The full pilot premiered on YouTube on April 6, 2024. A webcomic is also available on Webtoon.The short follows a trio of orphans - Skipp, Vinnie, and Stone - as they struggle for survival on the streets of Ramshackle, a town of the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. When the trio find a baby in the trash, they resolve to raise him, not knowing their companion has a few secrets…
Ramshackle contains examples of the following:
- Abusive Parents: The well-to-do parents force their children to put heavy stock in how they are perceived and the parents of the beauty contest contestants even threaten to disown their INFANT children if they lose.
- Angelic Abomination: Maggot’s true angelic form resembles a typical Biblically Accurate Angel.
- Art Evolution: There is a noticeable refinement of the artwork in the pilot compared to the thesis film four years earlier.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: After Maggot reveals himself to be an angel, he returns to Heaven.
- Badass Adorable: Vinnie, Skipp, and Stone are a trio of cute little rascals who are actually quite capable in a fight. Vinnie especially gets a chance to show off her fighting skills with a toy sword that turns out to be a knife in disguise.
- Beauty Contest: The trio attempt to earn some coin by entering Maggot into a child’s beauty contest against the children of the town’s elite.
- Blank White Eyes: The rich get them when they become zombie-like and attack the trio.
- Crapsack World: Ramshackle is depicted as such, where those who aren't wealthy are forced to live in squalor and are persecuted for being "scraps".
- Doorstop Baby: The plot of the pilot centers around a trio of orphan children raising the baby they found in the trash.
- Divine Punishment: Maggot yells "DIVINE JUDGEMENT!" as he eradicates everyone at the pageant for failing his test.
- Eat the Rich: When sending Skipp and Maggot out to distract their marks, Vinnie encourages them to "eat the rich!" Maggot literally eating one of them is the first indication that he's not just a mere baby.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Parodied in the thesis short. The trio are being chased by two thugs in a car. Stone throws a Molotov cocktail at them and misses. The car explodes anyway, lampshaded by a Written Sound Effect that reads "BOOM! (for no reason.)"
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: The three Scraps, and their new recruit Maggot, can be sorted among the temperaments:
- Skipp is Sanguine, the most outwardly cheerful, friendly and optimistic member.
- Vinnie is Choleric, the hot tempered defacto leader.
- Stone is Melancholic, the quite, moody and cynical member of the Scraps.
- Maggot is Phlegmatic, silent but willing to go along with the Scraps' antics, and a kindhearted angel who rewards the Scraps for their kindness to him.
- Freudian Trio: The main Scraps make up such a trio.
- The scrappy and fun-loving Vinnie is Id.
- The sweet-natured Skipp is Ego.
- The aloof and snarky Stone is Superego.
- Honor Among Thieves: The Scraps are a trio of True Companions who show a lot more human decency than the upper elite. When they find Maggot in the trash, they decide to take him in despite their circumstances instead of handing him over to the orphanage.
- Karmic Jackpot: For passing Maggot's Secret Test of Character, Skipp, Vinnie and Stone are awarded with three cents and a can of beans. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough for the trio.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: The Scraps attend the pagent in nice outfits, which means when everything inevitably goes wrong, they wind up doing a lot of fighting in those nice clothes.
- Molotov Cocktail: Stone's weapon of choice.
- Medium Blending: Maggot's angel form is in CGI unlike the rest of the pilot being in 2D.
- Odd Name Out: Skipp and Stone have names that go together, and Vinnie sticks out between them.
- Orphanage of Fear: They never actually show the orphanage in the pilot, but based off Vinnie’s comment that “the orphanage is no place for children”, it isn’t good.
- Our Angels Are Different: Maggot's true form resembles an CGI Ophanim with Maggot's head, mouth stretched out massively, within it, covered in eyes, including a main eye in the mouth, also possessing six wings like a Seraphim.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Maggot gives one to the upper class citizens of Ramshackle after revealing his true nature.Maggot: My eyes opened to Ramshackle's true nature, that which I deem unworthy. You are a town sunken to the depths of depravity, lavishing in its gluttony and wearing its greed with pride.
- Secret Test of Character: Maggot’s true identity is that of an angel who disguised himself as a baby to test the moral character of Ramshackle. While flawed, the trio passed his test due to their kindness, while the classist wealthy do not and are vaporized.
- Shout-Out:
- In the thesis short, while running through the town, the kids compare their situation to the “One Jump” number of Aladdin.
- As Maggot returns to the heavens, he tells his friends to “live long and prosper.”
- Stage Mom: Baylee's mom expects her clearly miserable daughter to win the contest and takes measures like replacing her playtime with extra pageant rehearsals.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Stone is the tallest of the kids with dark hair, mostly pale skin, and a snarky attitude.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Vinnie is the only girl in the trio.
- True Companions: The trio may snark and bicker amongst each other but at the end of the day, they stick together through thick and thin.Vinnie: Losers like us, we're all we've got on this bitch of an earth, so we gotta stick together.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The scraps don't really question the sight of Maggot devouring a woman alive in front of them.
- Wretched Hive: The titular town is inhabited by homeless people who are mocked by the rich and wealthy for being poor and have to live on the streets to survive.
