Prinzessin
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Prinzessin |
| Author(s): | edwardandbella4evah, also known as DxC4ev3r, waitingforaflame, and youngjusticeslut |
| Date(s): | 21 December 2009 - 23 December 2010 (with an alternate ending written on 24 Dec 2013) |
| Length: | 97,572 words (including Monstrum, an alternate ending written by strayphoenix) |
| Genre: | Het Explicit Romance/Tragedy; Darkfic |
| Fandom: | Total Drama |
| External Links: | Prinzessin on FFN, Archived version Prinzessin on DA, Archived version |
 Prinzessin fanwork and story cover art on FanFiction.Net by Giusy96. The full quote from Prinzessin referenced is, "You haven't suffered any yet. Get back to your mama, you'll need sleep for tomorrow." | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Prinzessin by edwardandbella4evah is an English Courtney/Duncan World War II-era Historical AU fic for Total Drama. The fanfiction is infamous on all platforms where Total Drama fandom lives, though may not be mentioned by name. When referenced, Prinzessin may be called something to the tune of, "that Duncney Holocaust fic[1][2]."
Although Prinzessin was once loved by the larger Courtney/Duncan community, as it's one of the most favorited works for the pairing on FanFiction.Net and inspired a notable amount of recursive fanwork, its premise and contents are polarizing. As of 2014, most discussion surrounding the story is negative, including from its author herself.
In Prinzessin, Courtney is a Polish Jew interned at Auschwitz during the Holocaust while Duncan is a German officer of the SS stationed at Auschwitz. Duncan is a bigot whose attraction to Courtney causes him great anguish, while Courtney is a romantic whose someone victim of circumstance, though she does chose to be with Duncan out of what little leverage she does have.
Near Prinzessin's end, Courtney is promised by Duncan that he would help her escape, him having a change in heart, though this was only after he had raped her earlier in the story. In the final chapter, Courtney dies in Auschwitz shortly after childbirth. In the story's two endings, one implies Duncan rejoins with Courtney and their daughter in Heaven after proving himself worthy, even though he himself does not believe that should be the case, while Monstrum has him kill himself four years after World War II ended out of untreated PTSD, blaming himself for the death of Courtney and their daughter.
Prinzessin's premise alone is what causes most of its infamy, though its contents are also often referenced in discussion. Readers who enjoyed Prinzessin may claim the story taught them more about the horrors of the Holocaust than they otherwise would have known through an engaging love story which humanized both sides of the conflict without promoting any pro-Nazi sentiment. Critics of the work may claim Prinzessin bit off more than it could chew, and lacks the research and nuance required for a plot of this scope. Although this work does not encourage pro-Nazi sentiment, it calls upon Nazisploitation, seen especially in fanart for the story, to humanize Duncan.
Regarding the story's contents, edwardandbella4evah, a Jewish[3] fanwriter, has this as a foreword.
Author's note from March 2019: When I first wrote this work in 2009, I had no idea how popular it would grow within the fandom. I was fourteen, admittedly naive, with a desire to educate people about the Holocaust through the eyes of my (then) favorite couple.I'm twenty three now, and I will be the first to admit that I did not do it perfectly. Not even close. There are many content points that I wish I could change in this story. Warning: there are instances of rape, abuse, and death all throughout the story. I do not agree with how I wrote certain aspects of it back then. That being said, I am not ashamed, nor will I ever be ashamed for writing and educating people about the Holocaust. It is an important matter that still needs to be discussed. It was (and still is) never my intention to romanticize anything involving Jewish people or the atrocities they suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
This subject matter is supposed to make you, the reader, feel sad and uncomfortable. These things really did happen. By feeling these terrifying emotions, we ensure that this never happens again. To anyone.
When reading this story, please take it with a grain of salt and realize this was written ten years ago, from the eyes of a fourteen year old. Currently, I'm working on the novel version of Prinzessin. Many aspects will be changed to better reflect my views today. I promise that I've heard and listened to every bit of feedback received and have made distinct efforts to correct problematic scenes.
If you're an old fan rereading this, thank you for the continued support. If you're a new fan, I hope you're able to look at this with a critical eye and enjoy it for the fanfiction that it is.[4]
And has the following on her FanFiction.Net profile.
About Me: Since I don't really want to be associated with Prinzessin (the fanfiction) in its current state, I'm more of a legend on this account than an active poster....[5]
Regarding the contents of a potential novelization of the story:
Is the story the exact same?
No, it isn't. I'd like to think that I've grown up a bit in the 10 years since writing the first fanfiction, and there are many things about the original story I'm unhappy with. The story still has similarities, but on the whole it's quite different. But I like it, and I think you will too.
What's it about?Thanks for asking! Here's a quick synopsis: The year is 1939, and Ella lies on the cusp of the Nazi invasion in Poland. Desperate to escape religious persecution, she makes the difficult decision to flee her home country for a chance at freedom. This chance is immediately cut short when a pair of arms grab her at the train station and whisk her away to Berlin where the streets are flooded with troops and the buildings branded with Nazi insignia.
Despite his uniform and allegiance to the Nazi party, her kidnapper disguises her as his wife and insists she throw away every connection to her Jewish heritage in order to survive. Without another option, Ella’s only choice lies in pretending she’s a part of a regime whose biggest goal is to eradicate her.
Is it going to be as dark as the original?
No. I knew I did not want to write about abuse or rape in this version. There is no Stockholm syndrome, and I'd like to think that the relationship the protagonist has with her 'captor' grows into a healthy, loving one. However, it will still show some of the horrors of the Holocaust and WW2. Just from a different perspective.
The novel is at least 50,000 words long as of 2018, when it was worked on for Nanowrimo[6]. A short excerpt has been posted online[7], though no other news about it is known at this time.
In 2018, the author spoke about the story.
totaldramafreak said:nothing makes me more mad than reading duncney fanfiction where it romanticizes duncan beating courtney or even rape for god sakes like how the fuck can someone even write something so disgusting and people think it’s good i’m MAD
youngjusticeslut replied:
Hi, Author of Prinzessin here. Normally I don’t respond to flames, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I welcome critiques. But when you make a post that render comments about how ‘fucked up I must be’ to have written it, I’m compelled to respond. If you ever wanted to have a serious discussion about the story, I would be more than happy to.
It’s 2018, and I’m 23 now. Do I 100% agree with how I wrote a story that I wrote when I was 14? No. I don’t think anyone would be. There’s probably a few things I would change in terms of characterization and plot development. But that’s what happens when you grow as a writer and a person. And I am currently rewriting it and changing a lot of things, but that’s for my sake and not yours.
I may get a lot of hate for this, but I don’t think I was glamorizing anything. My intent by writing this story was to show the brutal, harsh reality of the holocaust. It was to show how awful life was in these camps. The reason I wrote Prinzessin is because I saw the way other writers in the TDI fandom (at the time) were portraying it, and as a Jewish woman who is well educated about the Holocaust, I felt I could do better.
More than that, it’s not a love story. It was never truly a love story. Sure, there’s potential that it was marketed that way at the time, but again, I was 14 and trying to make a better name for myself in the fandom. People loved the coupling that the story The heroine was trying to survive under the worst conditions. She had Stockholm syndrome against her captor, that led her to believe that she loved him. I was never, ever (and would never, ever) intending to romanticize abuse and rape. And most of my readers would probably tell you the same. Maybe if you’d read the story to the end (and some reviews that critically analyzed it), you would have grasped how each of the characters were both emotionally disturbed, neither of them perfect.
I invite anyone and everyone to constructively criticize my story from 2008. But please, don’t go online and bully it and make it into an SJW thing.[8]
Reviews/Fan Opinion
Mallory4ever's Prinzessin Review, Archived version, a review on DeviantArt.
Prinzessin on itsatotaldramathing, Archived version, appreciation post on Tumblr.
imarriedapineapple chapter 20 . Jun 24, 2011'Kayso, I am a RAGING DxG fan. They are my OTP and honestly, I've never liked DxC at all.
But this is one of the BEST stories I have ever read. Everything was amazing. The flow of the story, the plot was always interesting. It was beautiful and heartwrenching and just...
perfect. I could NOT stop reading it. I finished this in like, three hours. Bravo, bravo.
Now off to the sequel! :D[9]
cion chapter 20 . May 28, 2012
...First of all, the overall description about the horrors of internment camp life is just amazing. None of it was a sugar-coated version of the realities of Nazi control and Jewish captivity. You accurately depicted all of the brutal, inhumane actions that some of the worst criminals in history have ever inflicted upon other human beings without smoothing over the nastier bits or distorting the truth in an attempt to make this story more romantic. I appreciate that. Your efforts are the very foundation for this story's success, I can tell. I don't think your fans are necessarily masochist freaks lol, but rather they, too, appreciate your masterful storytelling. You combined elements of both fiction and history, history that the world can never hope to forget. Something about that is just fantastic. It made the overall mood and sentiment of the story that much more rich.
Also, I was intrigued by Duncan and Courtney's character development. Starting off with Duncan, I think it's great that you didn't entirely demonize him from the beginning of the story. True, he did have a choice just like all other German soldiers, he could have refused to execute children and rape women and hate Jews and whatnot, but he was also a human. In the Nazi's case, hatred stemmed from ignorance and misunderstanding. Duncan didn't fall too far from that tree either. You described him as a broken man, afraid of failure and rejection, dubious about what truth really was, unsure of the thin line between morality and immorality. I often think that many normal soldiers during the wars were unfairly portrayed as evil bastards. Yet, people forget that they were brainwashed, doing their job, or were coerced into their positions. I'm sure that there were many Nazis, Japanese soldiers, etc. who would have preferred dying over doing what they were told to do. I'm glad that you acknowledged this fact and incorporated that bit of truth into Duncan.
As for Courtney, I was puzzled by her progressing love for Duncan. You captured her confusion and revulsion and sentiment so well. I think you did a great job deliberately separating her persona from that of a Stockholm Syndrome victim. Sometimes that line was a little blurred, but I can generally get the sense that you tried very hard to make it a point that she was NOT a SS victim. Her personality was very likable. Her reactions to Duncan's initial cruelty were believable. Even as she cried so many times throughout the story, I felt that each one of her tears had a reason for falling. From getting raped by two guys, seeing the love of her life get gassed, to being disowned by her own mother (I applaud you for characterizing her mother realistically by the way), she broke down, fell, but got back up again. And when she was humiliated by Duncan, embarrassed by her shunning by the other women, and jealous of Jacqueline, all of it MADE SENSE. Yes, all of those emotions were tough to juggle simultaneously, but I could see through subtle hints the progression from her feelings of hatred to love for Duncan. I myself wouldn't know how to react if I were in her situation. Could I love the man who had quite possibly ruined a good portion of my life? Hm. A hard decision, I tell you. Normally any sane woman with dignity would say "NO!" but in Courtney's case - a young woman who is bereft of love and sympathy and guidance - it is much more complex than that. All in all, you did well with describing Courtney. Awesome job....[11]
Guest chapter 1 . May 26, 2021Omg, a novel based on this! I’m so excited, please do tell when it’s released! I will be forever greatful for this story. I read it in my early tween years and it educated me about the Holocaust more than I’d care to admit. I do see how some parts could be romanticized, but I also remember that this is based off of two TV characters that we all shipped. I think it is AN AMAZING story and always will be. I still read it every now and then and I always enjoy it. Hats off to you and your mind, well done.[12]
can the whole total drama fandom agree that prinzessin was like the most fucked up thing to come from the fandom yet cuzlast time it was brought up i still saw supporters of it
supporters of romanticizing the holocaust
like what the actual fuck[13]
Example/Notable Recursive Fanac
WeLovePrinzessin, Archived version is a group on DeviantArt specifically for Prinzessin. It has over 120 members and was a gift to the fanfiction's author. It hosts much of Prinzessin's remaining fanworks online, though is practically dead as of the 2020s.
Fan Fiction
- Politzer's ghost part 1 by totaldramamoivemix, Archived version, an English abandoned future fic recursive fanfiction taking place post-Chapter 19. "Politzer" references Courtney's Fanon Personal Name from Prinzessin. Duncan's is Ehrlichmann.
Meta
- Prinzessin was mentioned in Things I remember from the total drama fandom a long time ago (2017) and Heres my total drama fandom iceberg lol (2021)
References/Further Reading
- ^ this isn't a take but please please please do not read the duncney holocaust fanfic, Archived version, posted to real-total-drama-takes on 04 Feb 2023
- ^ I know this is an odd choice, but that one holocaust fic. Sure they tried to paint him as a good guy who's trying to change, but like... he's a nazi!, Archived version posted to r/TotalDrama on 21 Jun 2022
- ^ Hi, Author of Prinzessin here(...), Archived version (05 October 2018)
- ^ Author's note from March 2019, Archived version
- ^ edwardandbella4evah's bio on FFN as of late 2023
- ^ Prinzessin: The Novel?, Archived version (04 December 2018)
- ^ Book Excerpt, Archived version (19 December 2018)
- ^ Hi, Author of Prinzessin here(...), Archived version (05 October 2018)
- ^ Review on FFN by imarriedapineapple
- ^ Review on FFN by s class wizard
- ^ Review on FFN by cion
- ^ Review on FFN by a Guest
- ^ can the whole total drama fandom agree that prinzessin was(...), Archived version (03 Jun 2014)