keep it simple
the first rule of mismatch is don't overthink mismatch. there have been hundreds of multi(pan)fandom communities on ij over the years and we are here to do a very simple version of it. the community is set in new york city and it is modern day. if your claim is not from modern day earth (example: jon snow) you must adapt their background the best you can. this currently does not apply to aliens - if you wish to play superman, for example, you can say he's from krypton. as long as it doesn't interfere with earth's geography you can keep or change as you wish.

here is what you need to know:
any character goes: characters from any piece of media is welcome. this includes but is not limited to: movies, tv shows, cartoons, comics, video games & literature. you can bring humans without abilities, witches & wizards, supernatural creatures, superheroes, etc. if you bring a non-human character or a human with abilities please know that those are limited to what your character canonically has.

your characters are faux-characters this means you are playing your character.. but you're also not. you have the freedom to pick and choose what aspects of your character you'd like to include in your rendition of them. keep the background but give them a new personality? sure! ditch the background but give them some different personality traits? absolutely. you can play them at any age over 18. we recommend changing their names (at least the first should be different) though you can be cute with it if you'd like.

your character's relationships are a clean slate! when holding a character please remember that no one owes you anything in terms of storylines. in fact, we prefer and nearly require you to form storylines with characters outside of your character's fandom. willow rosenberg doesn't have to be buffy summers best friend. ron weasley doesn't have to be charlie weasley's brother. we do encourage family lines, but other than that don't go into pbads and pimp only for your character's fandom. more importantly do not feel entitled to romantic lines with your claim's usual love interest. this is not how we work.

whitewashing 🚫 whitewashing is a 500% no. just don't do it. this includes swapping ethnicities! some feel that their races are treated as interchangable with others and they are not. if you're unsure about a character's race or ethnicity in general please do some research. please notify us if you see anyone whitewashing. we don't know everything about every character out there and to make sure something doesn't slip by us we need your help. please don't assume we're allowing it without giving us a chance to change it. with that in mind, if you'd like to take a traditionally white character and make them a poc you're more than welcome.

sexualities need to stay canon when it comes to lgbtq characters. you can make any canonically character straight bi or gay - but not the other way around as this demographic is vastly under-represented in media.

gender bending is a no with one exception - if you'd like to write a traditionally male or female characters as being gender fluid or non-binary you may. but you cannot write a female character as a male one or vice versa. there are plenty of characters out there to choose from and we do not see a need unless it is a gender that is tragically under-represented in media.

pb appearances we strongly encourage you to think outside of the box and bring something different to your characters. for example, it'd be fun to see a character like cinderella have a pb/look that isn't your typical blonde woman. using pbs that have portrayed your character in any media is banned.