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| “ | A medical procedure to get rid of my mold costs $200,000. [...] I told myself and my friends I can pay for the whole thing myself, but they didn't listen, and decided to pity me instead, and gave me money to try and prove that I can't do it myself. I've got a good job, and lots of money saved up, but they just decided to humiliate me instead, being so generous helping out those who don't need help. I can pay for the procedure myself. After I win this excuse of a competition, I'm taking my money that I earned myself to fix this stupid hunk of mold. I don't need anyone else's help doing so.
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| ― Charlotte to the rest of Team C, "Rhetorical Molds" |
Charlotte Stern[1], named Moldy by Airy, is a female contestant in ONE and was one of the original 6 competitors from Airy's season 2 of ONE be teleported to The Plane in Freefall. She is also currently one of the contestants to have reached the final 7 in Bottle Episode, though due to Airy's death and subsequent cancellation of ONE in Self-Titled, still remains technically "competing" on the show.
She is voiced by Ame.
Appearance
Charlotte is a slice of white bread with teal mold spots on the right side of her body due to a spelunking mishap when she was nicked by fungi in a cave. Her right eye is shut the majority of the time and there's a large chunk torn from her head from when she decided against wearing a helmet, once again due to a spelunking accident. In "The Plug Dream, the mold has spread and fungi has begun to grow on top of her. However, in "Bottle Episode”, after being recovered her appearance was sent back to the way it was prior to "The Plug Dream".
Personality
Charlotte typically comes off as grouchy, and as Abstracty put it in "Screwball", violent when pushed. She's also quite competitive, going out of her way to win each challenge. This is explained in "Rhetorical Molds", where Charlotte tells her team why she was so keen on winning the competition, that being because she needs the money to remove the mold growing over her body.
She fiercely believes in her own independence and self-sustainability, to the point where it becomes problematic. This is likely the cause of her rashness and cynicism, examples being disregarding safety hazards even if they could end with her getting injured, and accusing her friends of only giving her cash to raise themselves up as heroes, even spending the money they gave her on expensive electronics just to prove her point, and also because she couldn’t control her spending impulses. This is also more subtly shown in the fact that she single-handedly does most of the challenges for her team in The Plane.
She also tends to manipulate those around her, Abstracty mentioning it in their taunting of Moldy, and when explaining her past to her team painting the Silo Cavern incident to make it look as if she was the victim. She may not be intentionally manipulating people, but her violent reaction to Abstracty’s taunt suggests otherwise. As also stated by Abstracty, Charlotte is compulsively violent, this is shown by her punch towards Abstracty’s face in the form of her.
During the seven month period when Airy was absent and presumably after Backpack’s elimination, she sits in one particular spot beside the pool and does not interact with anyone, only replying with the bare minimum of an answer if she is prompted with a question. Her sedative state is likely due to the worsening condition of her mold.
After her death in “Bottle Episode”, she suddenly becomes much more tame and uneasy. What she sees in The Waiting Room seems to have opened her eyes to the abnormality of the show, whereas before she was mostly concerned with winning and receiving enough money to pay for her mold treatment, along with completely turning her values around and letting her become more self-aware. She doubts if there really is a prize and questions the remaining contestants about various things. She notices Scenty’s fading interest in returning home and reminds her of her house, her friends, her family, speaking as if she too now longs for these things.
Appearances in ONE
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONE: Part 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| ONE: Part 2 | ✓ | ✓ |
Prior to ONE
In "Rhetorical Molds", we learn more about Charlotte's past. She used to go spelunking with her friends, though she has had a couple of accidents. In the first accident, she decided to not wear a helmet and ended up with a chunk of her head missing. In another, she wasn't warned about fungi growing in a cave when she encountered some and started developing mold. Though, that was only a claim, as Parker had said there were warnings saying there was fungi.
In the stinger of said episode, she ends up getting into an argument with Parker about the money he gave her when she was teleported into The Plane, causing her role in "Freefall".
In "Batch Two", as seen on her page in the Plane Database, Charlotte once served 3 months jail time for petty theft and worked as a freight handler.
"Freefall"
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"I hope you rot in a dumpster you filthy piece of.."
In her first appearance, Charlotte was in a heated argument with Parker off-screen prior to being teleported into the Plane by Airy. She begins to question what had happened, but she's cut off as Backpack is also teleported and flies past her.
She later comments on her new nickname, being "Moldy", sarcastically calling it "creative". Later, while on the poles, Charlotte tells Magazine to stop talking when she complains about Backpack falling off his own pole. She then tries to kick Scenty off, though stops as the latter takes notice. Later on, as Scenty and Soda Bottle are talking, she can be seen scolding Magazine once again in the background. At the end of the episode, she slides to the bottom of her pole.
"Just Tripped"
At the beginning of "Just Tripped", Charlotte asks what sort of cast Airy is making. She then cuts into Backpack and Soda Bottle's conversation, jokingly telling them to ask Tomato, as he had died numerous times in the episode prior. This prompts the question of where Tomato is.
"It's not as exciting as you think."
She's part of the group who protests when Airy informs them that he's bringing in new contestants. When said new contestants are teleported in, she questions if Airy brought the right things in. She later cuts Airy off as he tries to explain the game to Subway Seat, telling him that they were all being held hostage to take part in a game show. She tells Airline Food that getting a new name wasn't as exciting as it seemed, which he would later come to agree with. As the challenge begins, Charlotte is quickly the first to finish. Subway Seat congratulates her, saying she was strong for a piece of moldy bread. Charlotte frowns and looks away from him.
"Screwball"
In "Screwball", Abstracty impersonates Charlotte, calling her a "jerkwad" who "insults people to improve her own self-image". Charlotte simply rolls her eyes and glances away up until Abstracty brings up the fact that she's apparently manipulated her friends on several occasions, to which she responds by walking over and punching them. Abstracy adds that she's also "compulsively violent".
Charlotte approaches Circle, asking if he wanted to form a team with her. Circle denies, insisting that he wasn't doing this again. This confuses her, and so Circle gives a brief summary of the competition he had competed in before, Battle for Circle. Charlotte convinces him to join her team by telling him about the prize for winning. Circle is later seen rambling on about BFC to Charlotte when Subway Seat and Whippy Creamy ask to be on a team. Charlotte begins to turn down this offer, trailing off and glancing over at Abstracty. She quickly changes her mind and accepts. She, along with the rest of her team, are later seen glaring up at the sky disapprovingly as Airy struggles to come up with a challenge. Charlotte's team wins the challenge off-screen.
"Walls"
Charlotte has no dialogue this episode, though she can be seen staring down at her team's pencils when Airy drops them. When the challenge begins, Charlotte is later seen sitting with her team while Circle draws on the sticky notes.
"Rhetorical Molds"
Moldy before she was moldy, as seen in a flashback.
As the challenge begins, Charlotte starts doing pushups in order to complete the contest for her team. She stops to take a break, with Subway Seat asking how she got so strong. She responds with "spelunking", confusing him and Whippy Creamy. She describes what it means to spelunk, with Circle questioning how it would make her stronger. As they speak, a flashback initiates, showing a moldless Charlotte (presumably a younger version of her) spelunking with another object, who's later revealed to be Parker. Circle speaks up again, questioning Charlotte's use of the past tense, only earning a shrug from her in response. She dismisses the conversation after mentioning how continuing to spelunk after the competition wouldn't be a good idea, grumbling to herself about how she shouldn't have said anything. After a little more nagging from Whippy Creamy, Charlotte reveals that spelunking is the reason she has mold growing over her body in the first place. The scene fades to Charlotte doing pushups again, then getting up to take another break. Her teammates ask about her life once more, and so she gives in and tries to think of where to start. She refuses to talk about her friends and snaps at the others when they attempt to get her to discuss such. She explains her sudden hostility, telling them that she has to pay 200,000 dollars in order to remove the mold. She tells the three of how she told her friends she could pay the fee herself, though they didn't listen and provided her with the money anyway, which she takes as them taking pity on and trying to humiliate her. Through her words, it's revealed that her main motivation to win the competition is to get the money to remove the mold. None of her teammates respond, so she gets down and finishes the challenge.
"The camera's insane on this one!"
The stinger begins with Charlotte chopping up carrots and scraping them into a pot. A friend of hers, Parker, enters the house with permission to see how she's holding up. The conversation starts off friendly, though as Charlotte points out the expensive electronics she bought, Parker comments on how he's concerned with how she's spending the money he and her other friends gave her for her medical needs. After a bit of back and forth, with Charlotte insisting she didn't need the money in the first place, Parker asks if they can have the money back. She doesn't reply, making him realize that she spent all the money. From here, the conversation takes on a more hostile tone. Charlotte repeats that she didn't need his help, and Parker retorts that they wouldn't be in this situation were she to have listened to the signs telling her that there was fungus in the cavern. (The one Charlotte brought up earlier while talking with her teammates.) While he rants on, it's also revealed that a chunk was taken out of Charlotte's head through yet another reckless course of action during spelunking. Charlotte argues, saying that she was told to spend the money on what will help her, even when she told them insistently that she didn't need their help. Parker's confused when Charlotte accuses him and the others of trying to humiliate her. She continues, saying that they only helped her in order to raise themselves up. Parker steps down, apologizing for giving her money and agreeing that she's capable of sustaining herself, though he also requests that she put her pride aside and pay them back. Charlotte mocks him, and before she can continue her point, the screen cuts to black, with her supposedly getting teleported over to The Plane.
"Starting Over"
Charlotte is first seen with her team. She gives no reaction when Airy adds clouds to the sky while her teammates give positive reactions to it. When Airy says what the contestants have to do for the challenge, she completes it before Airy even says go. After Airy announces that the challenge has begun, he announces that Charlotte has already won immunity for her team. Charlotte replies with, "This is getting old."
"The Plug Dream"
Charlotte is first seen sitting next to the pool of water.
She is then mentioned later when Atom asks about her when talking to Subway Seat. Subway Seat says, "She's been pretty inert lately. She hasn't talked to anyone in a while," Atom asks Subway Seat to ask Charlotte to help out the other contestants get the last stake out.
Charlotte is seen with her mold becoming even worse than it was before with even fungi starting to appear on the torn part of her head. On the left side of her face, there is now mold getting close to her left eye and her right eye is shut completely. There's even some mold spots on her mouth.
"I'm good."
Subway Seat calls out Charlotte and tells her that the other contestants need her help getting the last steak out of the ground. Charlotte replies to Subway Seat saying, "I'm good." She doesn't answer Subway Seat when he says that she would be really helpful.
"Batch Two"
Charlotte’s picture is seen as Backpack and Soda Bottle look through the Plane Database. The photo used on the website shows Charlotte before she was infected with her mold, an unnerving smile on her face and the background shrouded in darkness. Personal information about Charlotte is displayed next to her photo.
"Bottle Episode"
After the elimination, Tray asks if someone should go check on Charlotte, and they all answer with a near-unanimous chorus of "not it." Whippy Creamy, who is resting, doesn't say "not it" and implies that Tray should go, clearly not wanting to go check on Charlotte. Tray points out it would be more fair for Whippy Creamy to go since she has done it "a least a dozen more times" than he has. Whippy Creamy begrudgingly complies and takes Subway Seat with him. As Subway Seat is marking down the shifts, Whippy Creamy calls for Charlotte, referring to her as "Moldster" but stops talking as he discovers something at the spot where she should be. He timidly calls for Subway Seat and he as well is shocked at what Whippy Creamy supposedly found. In the midst of a conversation between Tray and Scenty, they both rush back and worringly tells the others that Charlotte is dead. Scenty, visibly shocked, asks the others when the last time they all saw her was, Tray saying that she had seemed fine the last time she saw her, and Subway Seat stating that though he'd only ever seen dead humans before, he assumed the same rules regarding death apply. Scenty looks at the spot where Charlotte should be and angrily asks the others if this is "some kind of joke." The others find out that Charlotte had seemingly vanished from her spot and all of them are confused as to what happened. Scenty asks Airy where she is, the latter responding that he doesn't know, and teleports Charlotte back to The Plane, who is seemingly in the process of reaching out to something or someone. Airy points out that whatever happened to her, it had sent her back to the way she appeared at the start of the competiton.
Now sitting with the others, Charlotte randomly asks the others why they are still competing. Some are confused, as she hadn't wanted to talk to ay one of them in months, Charlotte responding by saying that she was "just curious." Tray tells her that she doesn't want to compete, but understands that she realistically can't decide that. Charlotte then asks if they would stay if they could choose, then asks the others what they would wish for if they won. They all answer with their own wishes and Charlotte asks Amelia about hers. Amelia deflects the question and pushes it back onto Charlotte, where she then says that her original hope was to win at whatever cost and wish for enough money to pay for her mold treatment, but is now unsure if she would use the money responsibly, untrusting of herself to do the right thing. She later says she is doubtful about whether ONE and the associated prize would even amount to anything in the end, and is not sure if there even is a real prize to be won. She tells Scenty that "you guys" (referring to Scenty, Soda Bottle, and Backpack) had been so adamant on leaving and wonders what had happened between them. Scenty awkwardly asks what she is talking about, visibly uncomfortable. Charlotte pushes further, asking if the idea of leaving The Plane simply got less appealing to her as she stayed for longer and longer. She then tells Scenty about her house, friends, and family back home and asks if she had a name, Amelia beginning to cry. She doesn't respond and begins to walk away as Airy commences a countdown and has Bryce rejoin the game, Charlotte looking at him in disbelief.
"Self-Titled"
Charlotte is seen with the others helping to pull out the plug at the bottom of The Plane. After they forcefully remove it, Airy plugs it back in and teleports the contestants back to the top of The Plane where they all fall silent. Charlotte then continues sitting wistfully for the rest of the episode.
Trivia
Charlotte with her right eye open in Freefall.
- Moldy lives in Brunswick, Georgia.
- Charlotte was shown with her right eye open in "Freefall", though this could have been an error on the part of Cheesy Hfj forgetting to draw her with her right eye closed.
- Supporting this, she says in "Rhetorical Molds" that she is unable to open her right eye due to the mold.
- Revealed in "Batch Two," Charlotte has served 3 months jail time for petty theft.
- Her last name "Stern" is a brand of bread.
- Like Scenty, Moldy's "name" is based off of her unique kind of species. For Scenty, it's the fact that she is a scented candle. For Moldy, it's the fact she's a moldy piece of bread.