The Real Nosferatu Polycule: The Hutters & Hardings
Listen to me I could not give a flying fuck less about Count Spooky. Yes he’s cool yes the movie is about him HOWEVER I fear we are overlooking the real polycule: the Hutters and Hardings!
I am OBSESSED. I will go into more detail of this chart below :)
Obviously the married couples are very much in love and have created beautiful lives for themselves, but based solely on the familiarity between Ellen and Anna & Thomas and Friedrich I feel like each set were friends prior to the marriages.
My head cannon is that Thomas and Friedrich had been friends since their school days and attended the same university despite being in different social classes. Ellen and Anna were raised in the same social circles and it’s possible that their families were close friends. The fact that 1) Thomas and Friedrich were close enough for Thomas to borrow money from Friedrich, who even told Thomas not to worry about getting it back 2) Anna and Ellen were close enough that Ellen felt comfortable to ask Anna to sleep in her bed 3) both couples throw around pet names and the word “love” to describe their feelings for each other really cemented this for me. Especially because Ellen and Thomas are newlyweds, I highly doubt that if one or the other recently married into the friendship that they would be that close.
This leaves me with my beautiful (fannon) original couples: Anna and Ellen & Thomas and Friedrich. Completely ignoring all religious and societal objections (aside from the fact that they would have to hide their relationships) I absolutely love these original couples. Ellen deserves Anna’s sweet and steadfast comfort and I like to think that their relationship (post Ellen’s deal with Count Or-lacks-morals) gave her enough of a reprieve from her melancholy to reenter society, if even for only short bouts at a time. Anna loves how intuitive and romantic Ellen is and I imagine if their families were close would be the most supportive person for Ellen when things get bad. I think in their dynamic it would make the most sense if Ellen initiated their romance, especially in a moment of weakness so that she could feel close to someone, and despite being devoutly religious in the movie I feel like Anna could somehow rationalize away any thoughts of their relationship going against her faith.
Friedrich and Thomas feel like a very tropey dynamic: Friedrich is outspoken, confident, and daring while Thomas is more meek, studious, and awkward. Friedrich is the one to bring Thomas out of his shell and push him out of his comfort zone. They would be extremely trusting of and loyal to each other due to their shared history. I think their romantic relationship started in school, probably after a night of drinking, and it was Friedrich who initiated it. I think that Thomas immediately freaked out and ran off, but later when Friedrich apologized to him (which he absolutely would do if he thought he could lose Thomas) Thomas reinitiated and then a weird romantic friends with benefits situation started.
This brings me to my absolute favorite part: how the couples got together & the following relationship dynamics!!!!!
Obviously Anna and Friedrich got together first. I’m sure it was typical and they met at a social event, probably even love at first sight because they do seem like they would be the most magnetic people in a room. They had a quick engagement, a huge wedding, and started having kids right afterwards. I feel like Anna met Thomas prior to the wedding and instantly liked him, however I think that Friedrich only met Ellen at the wedding. For Anna, meeting Thomas was a happy event where she got to know Friedrich’s sweetest and oldest friend, but for Friedrich meeting Ellen was somewhere along the lines of “so THIS is my new wife’s hysterical friend.” I’m sure Ellen was on her best behavior, but I can’t imagine her lover getting married was easy on her and at the very least she had to of shed a few tears. Many people cry at weddings, but I think Friedrich sensed the vibes were off. Shortly after the honeymoon when Ellen began visiting with them more often and Anna opened up to him about Ellen’s struggles, his mild distain for his wife’s crazy best friend began. He would never mention his feelings to Anna because he loved her so much and knew the relationship was important to her. Plus when Ellen spent a few nights at their place it left plenty of time for Friedrich to go see Thomas. I think Ellen is too much of a sweetheart to harbor any true ill will towards Friedrich, but like every girl in a homoerotic relationship with their best friend she will never truly like Friedrich or think he is good enough for Anna.
I think that Thomas and Ellen met for the first time after the first Harding daughter was born, but at the time only had eyes for their lovers who were now first time parents and the baby. It was only after a few more meetings that they really began to notice each other, and as soon as Thomas caught feelings he became exponentially more awkward. Friedrich was not thrilled about the development, being slightly jealous but mostly disgruntled by the idea of another person he loved possibly being impacted by Ellen’s episodes. Anna, however, was ecstatic at the idea of her and her husband’s lovers getting together. After the second daughter was born Anna really began encouraging the relationship, organizing more meetings for the pair, and even working on warming Ellen’s father up to the idea of her getting married. Friedrich eventually came around to the idea when he saw how happy the relationship would make his wife and lover.
I am obsessed with the found family dynamics they have, how well the couples complement each other, and the potential of their shared history. I am also ridiculously charmed by the mutual distain between Friedrich and Ellen and how oblivious to it the angels Anna and Thomas are. It is perfect and I cannot get enough.
