Welcome to the cast page! There will be a longer author's note at the end, but for now, thank you to everyone who applied. I really appreciate all your support. Bonus shout out to marshmellow_arson and ceaseless-watchr for making characters for all time periods. Not because it was required or anything, but because I'd probably have done the same, lmao.

Cast

E.N.K ⸻ Death

"I don't even know why I came back here at this point."

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Eleanor (Nellie) Nan Kerek 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 16/36 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Nellie

E.A.K ⸻ The Hierophant

"Sometimes I think I should just run away and live in the woods. Who knows, maybe they'll make a legend about me. You think I'd make a good witch? You know, kidnapping little kids and shit."

2003

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Ellen Ada Kerek 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 16/36 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 Bisexual/romantic & Polyamorous 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Ellen

T.H.K ⸻ The Wheel of Fortune

"No, I'm moving on. This is what moving on looks like."

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Thomas (Tam) Henry Kerek 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 18/38 years old 𖡼 Cis Male (He/Him) 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Tam

E.S.Č.P ⸻ The Hanged Man

"There's blood on these hills, there's blood in these woods and in these here walls. My advice? Get a torch and set it all alight."

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Edward Solomon (Edward Grace) Čestimir Poláček 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 17/38 years old 𖡼 Cis Male (He/Him) 𖡼 Omnisexual 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Edward

C.C.C/C.C.N ⸻ The Empress

"Hate me all you want, but I was the one who got out of this shithole and did something worthwhile with my life. What have you cunts accomplished?"

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Chrysanthemum (Chrissy/Chris) Castillo/Novak 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 16/36 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 (Closeted) Lesbian 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Chris

S.J ⸻ The High Priestess

"I deserved a better goodbye."

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Selina Jørgen 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 18/38 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 Straight 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Selina

A.J.V ⸻ The Chariot

"Let's play hide and seek. You hide, and I'll count to... hm... three years?"

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Artemis Jane VanDyne 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 17/37 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 Straight 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Artemis

I.H ⸻ The Moon

"That's fishy."

2003 & 2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Ivy Hyun 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 15/35 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 Straight 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Ivy

S.N.B ⸻ The Lovers

"Hey guys, I'm holding a memorial service for Ellen. I'd love to see you there."

2003

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Sherry (Nikki) Nicole Borwan 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 17 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 (Closeted) Lesbian 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Nikki

L.H.R ⸻ The World

"Of course I care! Who do you think I am?"

2003

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Lisa Hadley Reil 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 17 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/Her) 𖡼 (Closeted) Lesbian 𖡼

F.A.D ⸻ The Fool

"Please don't bring food into the library..."

2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Farid Azhar Dewan 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 28 years old 𖡼 Cis Male (He/Him) 𖡼 Aroace 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Farid

M.F.A ⸻ Justice

"Hey, you know what? You really think just because you know you're a bad person that you're better than us. But you're really not. No. You're pathetic."

2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Mariama Fatima Abdallah 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 40 years old 𖡼 Cis Female (She/They) 𖡼 Lesbian 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Mariama

D.C ⸻ The Magician

"It's Danny Cho, getting you in the know! This week on Tonight She Dies, I'm coming to you from a tiny town in Ohio: Carmunnock. That's right, for the first time in Tonight She Dies history, I am actively solving the case of the missing twins."

2023

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Daniel (Danny) Cho 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 37 years old 𖡼 Cis Male (He/Him) 𖡼 Gay 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Danny

R.M.D ⸻ The Tower

"Where the hell do you think you're going? Oh, no, no, no bitch! I go down, I'm dragging all your asses down with me."

2003

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Ravi Monojit Dwivedi 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

𖡼 29 years old 𖡼 Cis Male (He/Him) 𖡼 Straight 𖡼

⸻ Opinions on Ravi

Side Cast

Marsha Kerek (Both) and Thomas Lowry ⸻ Nellie, Ellen, and Tam's parents; divorced, with Thomas living on the other side of the country by 2003

Glen Breckinridge (2023) ⸻ Former sheriff of Carmunnock; currently in Canada

Carlene Woods (2003) ⸻ An elderly woman who lived near the place Ellen disappeared/Nellie was found; believed there's something in the woods

Craig Yoxall (2003) ⸻ The state investigator in charge of looking into Ellen's disappearance

Jair, Mela, Sahil, and Nalin Arya (2003) ⸻ A rich family with a summer home in Carmunnock and a pair of twins (Sahil and Nalin)

Katherine "Kit" Siddall (2023) ⸻ A young girl who claims she has a "friend" in her bushes, which tells her to do (usually mischievous) things

Mamadou Nyassi (2023) ⸻ A private investigator hired by Eric Johnson to investigate the death of his daughter, Harmony, and another girl, Aneesa Afzal, both of which have been (supposedly) connected to Edward

Krishna Gupta, Ryan Carver, and Jax Laine ⸻ Students at Carmunnock's high school in 2003; Krishna and Jax are still in town in 2023 while Ryan moved to New York and became an English teacher

Jineane "Jini" Kelley (2023) ⸻ Farid's co-worker and the local gossip

Hailey and Gabriel Young (2003) ⸻ Chris's mother and stepfather; deceased by 2023

Octavius "Otto" Young (Both) ⸻ Chris's younger half-brother 

Lucas, Avery, and Noah Novak (2003) ⸻ Chris's husband and twin children

Martyáš and Grace Poláček ⸻ Edward's father and mother; neither around by 2003, with Martyáš dead and Grace in the mental hospital 

Darren and Aabria Borwan (2003) ⸻ Nikki's parents

Calvin (Both) ⸻ Nikki's boyfriend in 2003; currently working at the local gas station

Lucian (Both) and Louisa Jørgen ⸻ Selina's parents; Louisa died before 2003

Dema and Hasan Zaman ⸻ Farid's mother and step-father

Jonathan, Amber, Bane, Daphne, and Bellamy Hyun (Both) ⸻ Ivy's family (father, mother, and siblings); Bane went missing soon after Ellen 

Winnie, Luke, and Apollo VanDyne (2003) ⸻ Artemis's family (her parents and twin); Winnie and Luke died between 2003 and 2023, and Apollo at birth

Leslie Abdallah (2023) ⸻ Mariama's wife

Ali, Inayah, Imran, Aisha Abdallah ⸻ Mariama's parents and younger siblings

Sueng, Myung, and Richard Cho ⸻ Danny's parents and younger brother

Martha, George, and Constance Reil ⸻Lisa's parents and twin sister

Kalyani, Monojit, and Amrit Dwivedi ⸻ Ravi's parents and older brother

Character Credits

(Note: I'm listing the characters they applied with. Side characters for each character were obviously made by the same people who made the main one.)

Edward Grace and Mamadou Nyassi ⸻ DURMSRANGG

Chris Novak ⸻ DEST1HOTTI3

Nikki Borwan, Krishna Gupta, Danny Cho, and Mariama and Leslie Abdallah ⸻ marshmellow_arson

Selina Jørgen ⸻ golden-rebel

Jini Kelley ⸻ SammiPheonix

Ryan Carver, Jax Laine, and Farid Dewan ⸻ ceaseless-watchr

Ivy Hyun ⸻ -secarhallow

Artemis VanDyne ⸻ blythering

Sahil Arya ⸻ XxFaylinexX

Lisa Reil ⸻ thnkspwte 

Ravi Dwivedi ⸻ hobgoblinne 

Author's Notes

The official author's note! Like I said, thank you to everyone who applied. Opinions are not required, I know the cast is large. But the sections are there because I, personally, love doing opinions and want to make space for other people. Just keep that in mind. Don't feel obliged to do any more opinions than you want to, especially if you're one of the people only in one time period and they won't even meet the entire cast.

I tried to fit in everyone from Don't Play with Dead Things. The only one I wasn't able to manage entirely was Sahil. To be honest I feel like his story just needs its own book, because I struggle to mess it with like...anything else. The Arya's are still here, though, because they are immensely funny and I could not just leave them out.

I like to imagine, in 2023, Sahil is off doing his little scheme, and he ends up with the ending I had planned for him in DPwDT. That is that he succeeded, but through a deal with the Maywood. Which, as anyone who knows about the Maywood can guess, is not exactly the win he thinks is it. Because what Sahil wants is this very vague "save the world" plot that, even if he has a plan, doesn't have a realistic tangible end. And the way the Maywood works is they give you everything you want, but keep pushing you to do more and more because they're feeding off all the dedication and feeling you put into it. So Sahil's probably going to end up in a non-stop cycle where he has to keep working, but also can never succeed because the Maywood's going to need someone unhappy enough to replace him with, and I doubt he'd even notice because he'd do that anyway.

And yes! This is my confirmation that this does take place in the same universe as Runs in the Family. I keep it vague if the Maywood is involved here, too (though people who know the lore will realize once the plot twist is revealed that it probably isn't. With all that that implies for this world included.)

But that's beside the point, I'm sorry for the rambling. With in the plot they're just really annoying rich people, and also my problematic favs. 

As for the other characters, here's some things to keep in mind:

⸻To be honest, at this point, the main vs side cast difference is very foggy and mostly vibe driven. I tried to divide them based on the amount of development/exploration they would get, but by that measure Edward probably should have been in the side cast. He has a massive role, but "being mysterious" is sort of his thing. Either way, I kept him there because I wanted to encourage opinions on him and people tend not to write opinions on the side cast (I mean you can. Anyone can do whatever opinions they want. I'm just speaking generally.) Plus I just really liked the aesthetic I made for him and felt clever for the tarot card I chose for him.

Speaking of which, the tarot cards are rather important. I spent quite a bit of time looking at both upright and inverse meanings to find ones that fit each character. Because I'm extra. Just be thankful I didn't continue my animal plan, lmao.

For both time periods, the characters will be split into a couple groups. I'm thinking two in 2003 and three in 2023? It's not set in stone, though. I'm leaving myself open to the possibility the opinions inspire something I haven't thought of. 

⸻ I will make it clear, I change a couple things in order to make characters mesh a little better plot wise. Most are very minor. The biggest one is I changed Krishna from coming out in 2007 to starting a social transition with trusted friends by 2003, and then officially beginning his transition in 2007 once he was on his own and not under his parent's control. I did this because he's mostly in 2003, and I didn't want 99% of his scenes to be being dead named and misgender.

⸻ Most of the relationships can be changed by opinions, but there's a couple things I set before hand. 

Obviously there's all of the relationships mentioned in the forms. Then there's the "main" friend group in 2003 of Ellen, Nikki, Chris, and Calvin (Calvin really only being there because he's Nikki's boyfriend, admittedly.) Nellie and Ryan are sort of adjacent to this group because they're Ellen's friends, but their introvertedness and lack of popularity keeps them from really befriending the others. 

Tam, Lisa, and Selina are all in the same grade and sort of academic rivals (Tam and Selina in a playful sense, and Lisa actually trying to compete because she thinks she's better to them – like with everyone, tbh.) They're one of the groups in 2003, if you can't guess, and I love them so much. 

2023 is a little less detailed because most of the characters have been apart for a long time. The main ones for that are the fact Farid and Jini are co-workers, and Danny and Ravi's dynamic. Basically Ravi got inspired by Danny's podcast and eventually made his own. You would think this would flatter Danny, and it sort of did....until Ravi actually started getting successful and he felt like his toes were getting stepped on. When it came to the Carmunnock case he attempted to scare Ravi off, which ended up inspiring him to come out of spite. 

⸻ I will comment some information needed for certain opinions, like, in the section themself (specifically Tam, Ellen, and Nellie, and then the investigations.) That just keeps me from making their author's note insanely long. So check there to help you answer those questions. Other characters' information can be found in their forms. 

⸻ Headcanon and Scene Ideas

(Any new ones now that you know other characters,
or that you just happened to think of)

⸻ Opinion on the Investigations

(This is about the investigations as a whole,

not just Ellen's disappearance. Keep that in mind.)