How to handle exposition about a pre-established universe

[Nitro Indigo]

Fanfiction is written with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the source material, but some authors still write exposition in their fanfics. What do you think of this?

Personally, I don't like this, but I'll tolerate it in crossovers, because the reader might not be familiar with both universes.

A BAD example of exposition was a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fanfic where most of the first chapter was a series of questions-and-responses between two characters with no action in between, creating a glorified bullet-point list of basic Pokémon mechanics.

A GOOD example of exposition is in an aggressively decent Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover where Alphonse Elric ends up hanging out with the Golden Trio during the Deathly Hallows, because it provides characterisation for Al. Highlights included him saying that wizards didn't want to take responsibility for their actions, wondering what's wrong with horcruxes, and the trio freaking out when he takes his helmet off. It was a bit stupid for Ron to reveal a bunch of stuff about the Wizarding World to some random Muggle he just met, though.

When I write Pokémon crossovers, I'll try to spread out the exposition, only describing things when they're necessary to come up, to avoid bogging down the story. I'll only describe a Pokémon species in great detail if it'll be important to the whole story and it hasn't been described before, and incidentally, I'll only compare them to animals if the perspective character has never seen a Pokémon before.

I once read a Pokémon/My Little Pony crossover where a pony mistakes a human for a dragon, and I liked that because it was funny, and something I hadn't seen before. Plus, the human in question was Miror. B.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I try to write my fic such that it's accessible to unenfranchised readers. To be fair, it starts with a prelude that's mostly exposition, but I think I did a decent job of making it interesting, and its relevant to enfranchised fans as it makes a number of distinctions from the established canon clear. Beyond that, I try to make it possible at least for readers to infer any necessary information about events and concepts as they come up. For example, I try to describe the appearance of pokémon in such a way as to make their form clear to the unenfranchised and distinct from the norm to the enfranchised. To some extent, of course, it's reasonable to expect people to google a pokémon they're unfamiliar with, but it doesn't have to cost any superfluous words to get the info in.

As for crossovers, well, I'm usually just not a fan of them under any circumstances. Something about the idea just bothers me, I guess.

 

[Glitchipedia]

A good idea might be to make the protagonist an original character who isn't as familiar with the basics as others are, necessitating them figuring things out or having things explained to them as they go. It informs the uninitiated without necessarily aggravating the rest, since it's justified in-universe.

 

[diamondpearl876]

The only time I explain exposition in Pokémon fanfics is if I have something to add to it (ie., if I'm adding fanon to canon) because just adding the fanon part usually works against the flow of the scene.

As a reader, it doesn't bug me that much unless it's excessive... I particularly don't care, though, to read descriptions about Pokémon appearances because I know them. I dislike them even more if it's a paragraph or more when descriptors could've been spread out, but that's for any appearance-related description.

 

[CrystaI]

I always try to write my fic with full exposition where non-Pokemon fans can also understand and be interested, and expected more once they read it. I want my work to receive the highest exposure and be appreciated by everyone, hence I will assume rather all readers had no knowledge of the fandom I'm working in, so I'll wrote my fic with this presupposition in mind, regardless of the authenticity of it.

That is also because I posted my fic on an open fictions community that where not only fans of Pokemon series, but fans of many other anime, games, manga, original fictions, or possibly simply normal civilians having some interests in creative fan-work, all sorts of different people may sign in and gather and upload their works. That's why I never ever aimed my work only at the Pokemon fans. Despite it is set an already-established canon fandom, I aimed my fic at everyone. Well TBH even it is within the fans of Pokemon series, the knowledge level varies between casual fans and diehard fans, also between the old and new fans. Because I will never know who knows something already and who doesn't know something yet, so the safest is to take the lowest coming denominator, write out the full exposition of background setting like how many original fantasy fiction will do,
the fic can be read like a normal original fic despite its connection to Pokemon Series.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Another thing: several times, I've seen Pokémon fanfictions call Pokémon "animals" when trying to explain what they are. The only time this hasn't made me cringe is Eon Fable, which didn't do that in an exposition-y way. I think that fanfiction should at least be written under the assumption that the reader knows at least the bare minimum about the source material.