Charlie Pierce

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Charlie @goodwillbeanie on Twitter.

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Biography

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The Short Version

Charlie comes from white trash Tennessee stock. She moved to South Park when she was eight. She's estranged from her father after an incident when she was 14, and she lives with her mother and younger siblings. Sweet, friendly, and intensely loyal to those she cares about, she's prone to verbal gaffes that sometimes constitute social faux pas, especially when trying to be funny.

She was bullied to some extent in middle school for her (honestly pretty grody) appearance, is extremely insecure, and is highly anxious around girls, especially those in her own grade.

Background

Charlie was born in smalltown Tennessee to an 18-year-old mother (Tonya). Her father (Darren) was 22 at the time, a high school dropout who worked construction. The two moved into a trailer park together to raise their daughter, but their relationship was tumultuous. Darren drank regularly and lost several jobs as a result, which only increased the tension between him and Tonya, which sometimes escalated to violence on both ends. Darren doted on his daughter though, while Tonya struggled to bond properly with her child. She really wasn’t ready to be a parent.

When Charlie was 3, Darren was arrested, charged, and ultimately convicted for armed robbery at a gas station. Charlie was told the truth about her dad’s situation, but she grew up idolizing him nonetheless and was greatly impacted by the sudden loss of her more affectionate parental figure. Fortunately, Tonya soon began dating another man, Jeremy, a shift manager at a Dunkin Donuts and aspiring musician. Jeremy was a fun albeit somewhat irresponsible guy who treated Charlie well. Tonya soon became pregnant again and she and Jeremy got married. When Charlie was 4, her half-sister Becca was born.

As Tonya began to abuse alcohol and over-the-counter drugs, Jeremy became the primary caregiver when he was home from work. He and Charlie developed a very strong bond, and he largely sparked her interest in music. He took a lot of pride in teaching her about his personal musical heroes, his favorite artist being Johnny Cash. When she was 7, he bought her a ukulele and taught her the rudimentary basics of how to play (although she lacked the finger strength and coordination to actually play anything remotely resembling real chords for a solid year). At around this time, Tonya became pregnant again, this time with a son, Davy, who was born when Charlie was 8.

As a kid in K-2nd grade, Charlie tended to play by herself. Her mother kept her hair cropped short and dressed her in hand-me-downs from Jeremy’s nephew; between her appearance and name, other kids in this highly gender-segregated stage of life weren’t exactly sure how to react to her. She wasn’t allowed out to play often either, as Tonya kept the kids indoors and when Jeremy was around, he tended to treat her like his little apprentice, so she had little experience socializing with other kids outside of school. She was called “funny-looking” or “ugly” by her peers fairly regularly and developed a very low opinion of herself, especially concerning her appearance. More often though, she wasn’t bullied so much as ignored.

Over the years, the relationship between Tonya and Jeremy had grown increasingly strained, largely due to Tonya’s growing substance abuse issues and tendency to belittle and berate her husband. Davy’s birth was the last straw; though his sisters weren’t aware of it until they were older, he was clearly not Jeremy’s biological son (he is likely a mixed race child, although Charlie never learns anything about his father). They divorce, and Charlie never sees Jeremy again.

Around the time Tonya’s divorce from Jeremy is finalized, she gets word that Darren is getting paroled. Between the stress of the divorce and this news, she has a breakdown before packing up the family and driving out of state. The family lives in a minivan for about a month before arriving in South Park and putting a down payment on a small one-story house in Kenny’s neighborhood.

Charlie was 8 and in 3rd grade when she started attending SPES. She was fairly reserved her first year and often very tired due to certain circumstances at home (elaborated in the next paragraph). She was more nervous around girls than boys, a trend that would continue through her adolescence. The intricacies and rules of girl social interaction were often lost on her and she always felt out of place around them.

At around this time, Tonya began using her daughter as a way to get access to additional prescription drugs, taking Charlie to various psychiatrists and manipulating diagnoses of ADHD and/or an anxiety disorder by inducing symptoms of each with low doses of drugs and sleep deprivation. This occurred around once a month, and she would go to anywhere from one to four doctors. The medical abuse gradually slowed down as Charlie grew older and became more aware of what her mom was doing, stopping altogether by the time she was 12 or 13. At this time, Tonya transitioned from abusing prescription drugs to alcohol (as a general trend).

By the time they moved to South Park, Tonya also relied on Charlie to babysit. She worked several part time jobs with wide-ranging hours, so Charlie was often required to be home most of the afternoon in case she was needed to watch her siblings. She would also be left in charge at night on occasion. Charlie was pretty adept at changing diapers and making microwaveable meals before she was 9.
Then there were the cases where her mom would get very high at home. This was often at night, and she would keep Charlie awake with manic activity or even send her on late-night errands. Charlie was a frequent customer at a nearby 24-hour CVS pharmacy.

As she grew older, Charlie was cursed with an especially non-graceful puberty. She didn’t develop much, remaining skinny without much by way of curves, had severe acne from ages 12 to 15, then moderate acne for another year after, and wore braces from ages 13-16. That, combined with her boyish and generally sloppy wardrobe of Goodwill-bought hoodies and baggy jeans, all colluded to make her feel extremely unattractive (and not without reason—she looked pretty awful).

When she was 14, Charlie ran away from home. Fed up with her mom’s antics and angry over her unusually heavy load of childcare responsibilities, along with several fights with her mom about the latter’s refusal to let her see her dad, she took a series of Greyhound buses to Nashville and got in contact with her father, who was out of prison and living in the area. He picked her up and for the next two weeks she stayed at his house.

This was a pivotal experience for Charlie. Throughout her childhood, she idolized her father, mixing some of her memories of him and his genuine personality with traits extrapolated from her ex-stepfather Jeremy, picturing him as a warm, affectionate, charismatic foil to her mother. The reality was much different though. While Darren was happy to have his daughter with him again, he had become an exorbitantly heavy drinker. She learned a bit about his childhood, which he spent a good part of in detention centers for arson and petty crimes, and she also was privy to a few of his alcohol-induced temper tantrums, which scared her badly. She was also frightened by a series of threatening texts from her mother, which went unanswered, and she felt trapped between two bad situations. She made up her mind on where to go and what to do by the two week mark, though. After an incident where Darren became extremely intoxicated and groped her, Charlie quickly packed up and returned to South Park. She cut off all ties with her father at this point.

Contrary to her expectations and her mom’s livid texts, Charlie wasn’t punished upon returning home. She came back with a new view on her father and no longer resented being kept away from him for so long, now having a better understanding as to why her mom had fled the state upon Darren’s release, and although their relationship remained rocky, there was a greater level of understanding between mother and daughter.

Charlie never fully disclosed what happened to her while she stayed at her father’s house, and though she’s minimized the extremity of the violence and sexual assault in her mind-- she was never really “hit” and the latter instance only occurred once when she was fully clothed-- the incident was fairly traumatic, not just for what happened, but because it damaged her faith in other people. Traditionally an optimist inclined to give others the benefit of the doubt almost to a fault, she was now more cynical. She also became more acutely averse to violence; any suggestion of violent confrontation upsets her and causes her extreme anxiety.

Additional Information

Though she’s good at disguising them, especially when communicating through text, Charlie has fairly regular panic attacks. Like everyone in this goddamn town, she struggles with anxiety and depression, though the latter isn’t too extreme (she doesn’t self harm and has never been suicidal). She somewhat lacks a verbal filter and has an irritating tendency of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. She usually realizes this fairly quickly based on the reactions of others.

She tries really hard. She does. She’s not extremely close with many people, but she’s a very loyal friend and tries to set things right when she screws up. Charlie is a sweet and caring person who is often very hard on herself and easily cowed into apologizing and blaming herself whenever she senses she’s upset someone, whether it’s justified or not. (This isn’t to say others are intentionally pushing her around; she’s just extremely sensitive to what she perceives as negative reactions to things she says and does, and rather than having the wherewithal to change her behavior and avoid causing the same problem again, she’s more prone to having an extremely shameful reaction.)

Charlie can be very timid around girls. She doesn't like them any less than guys, but she has little to no confidence in her conversational abilities with them, and she faced some direct and a lot of subtle bullying from girls over the years for her appearance and clumsy manners. For this reason, she gravitates more towards guys for companionship.

About the Character

Gender: Female (cis, she/her)
Age: 17 (as of August, senior year)
Birthday: May 10
Face Claim: Lauren Mayberry

Family: Tonya Robles (mother, 36), Darren Pierce (father, 40, estranged), Jeremy Morrell (ex-stepfather, 41, estranged), Becca Morrell (half-sister, 14), Davy Morrell (half-brother, 10).

Height: 5'2" (157 cm)
Weight: 114 lb (51.7 kg)
Race: Caucasian (1/4 Latinx)
Hair: Short, brown
Eyes: Brown
Sexual orientation: Pansexual
Piercings/Tattoos: None

Appearance: Charlie is short, skinny, and flat-chested with a round face and large brown eyes. She keeps her hair short and typically wears a blue or teal beanie. She has some minor acne scars on her cheeks, but she almost never wears makeup. She's reasonably "cute", but not exactly beautiful. Her clothes are typically baggy and boyish, often bought from Goodwill or big box stores. She has no fashion sense and dresses for comfort.

The lack of makeup and stylish clothes isn't an attempt to be natural or "different;" instead it stems from a serious insecurity in her own femininity. She's come to identify as a "boyish girl" so much that she's afraid changing things up would draw attention (and mockery) to herself.

I should also note that Charlie's faceclaim, Lauren Mayberry, is more attractive than I imagine Charlie actually being and has longer and darker hair than her. I chose her for a FC because of her face itself; her expressions and facial structure match well with how I imagine Charlie being.

Alcohol/Drug Use: While she only occasionally uses marijuana recreationally, she is a heavier drinker than she would like to admit. She’s aware of the risks of drinking, and alcoholism runs on both sides of her family, but she likes to think she has it under control. She rarely drinks to get drunk.

Relationships

Bebe Stevens - bully - Charlie has always been wary of Bebe, who is usually dismissive of and annoyed by her presence. The eyerolling and sighs are usually enough to shut Charlie up.

Clancy Moore - unfriendly acquaintance - Though they haven't spent much time together, their relationship is anything but amicable. Ever since Clancy broke into her home to make spaghetti sauce one night, Charlie has been both afraid of him and frustrated by his skill at using calmness and manipulation to make others look foolish. Similarly, Clancy finds Charlie irritating, unable to understand why she dislikes him so much.

Clyde Donovan - friend - They've had drinks together a few times, both in South Park and during their trip to Peru. Charlie recognizes Clyde as someone who really seems to need a friend, but despite her efforts, she's had trouble getting at all close to him.

David Rodriguez - friend - David is a rare example of someone whose friendly demeanor is so genuine that it puts Charlie at ease in spite of the fact that they aren't particularly close. She values his friendship highly and is touched by his caring attitude towards her.

Heidi Turner - friend - Charlie is highly intimidated by Heidi, who she considers "popular" due to her close friendship with other social elites at the school. She also had a crush on her throughout middle school, though this is a secret she never shared with anyone. Lately, Heidi has been friendly and open towards Charlie, and they've interacted more freely.

Henrietta Biggle - friend - They've had drinks and gotten high together; additionally, Henri's "maternal" tendencies are more than welcome.

Katie "Bloodrayne" - crush/acquaintance - Charlie rarely gets up the courage to interact with Katie. She's a little uncertain about "vamp" culture, for one, but she also considers her extremely attractive, a fact that makes her even more nervous around Katie than she is with most girls.

Kenny McCormick - friend - Kenny has vented to Charlie about his relationship woes in the past, and once she took him to the hospital to meet Stan when Kenny was too drunk to get there himself. She considers him a good person and she relishes her role as a confidant; it's good to feel useful.

Milly Larsen - friend - Milly's glowing positivity and genuine kindness towards everyone has a similar effect on her as David's attitude, making her comfortable around her despite the fact that they aren't super close.

Romper Stomper - friend - Charlie admires Romp as an older, "cooler" friend, and she appreciates the fact that he's willing to spend time with her. They've also bonded over their discovery of Ralph, a haunted skull, in Stark's Pond.

Stan Marsh - friend - Stan has gone out of his way to be friendly and welcoming to Charlie this year, despite not recognizing her as a girl who has been at their school since 3rd grade, and Charlie appreciates it. She carries a hint of a flame for him, but nothing serious. It's possibly just another case of loving positive attention.

Trent Boyett - friend - Though they're only casual friends, Charlie quite likes him. She finds his naivete endearing (in an entirely platonic way) and she genuinely likes talking to him.

The Writer

Hi! You can call me Mac. I’m 25, I use she/her or they/them pronouns, and I live in the Chicago area.

My other Park High accounts are @NotHellSpawn (Damien Thorn), @mintberrybiggle (Bradley Biggle), and @florafied (Flora Larsen).

Find me on Twitter! I'm @universalworst.