Actually, I acquired the backstory by reading fics -- I watched the show from time to time, but I was never an avid fan.
Both of my fics have been based on the old TV cartoons, actually, trying to reframe their plots in the L&C world and letting the combination be humorous.
I came into this fandom
NOT knowing the backstory, and piecing it together by those authors kind enough not to assume everything. And by reading enough rewrites from different points in the season to piece together what originally happened.
