The Anglerfish & The Gothic Longing For Light Amidst Darkness

Some creatures, like us, were born to dwell in the dark.

The anglerfish is one of them. With needle-sharp teeth, ink-black skin, and a luminescent lure, she is a creature of shadows and secrets.

And yet, in a rare and haunting moment, one of those deep-sea phantoms swam upwards from her home in the unknown ocean to meet the surface above.

Despite her appearance, the internet responded not with disgust, but with poetry.

People saw a quiet tragedy, a hauntingly beautiful moment as she ascended from depths of which we've never known.

"She finally saw a light she didn’t have to create herself," one person wrote. "She was so small, yet so seen," said another.

Others found a different meaning: If we can come together to understand this strange fish, why can't we extend the same respect to the strange humans among us?

There’s one thing I haven’t seen people talk about.

The Gothic.

When they speak about her with reverence, it’s as though she's a gothic heroine in a novel, a creature of darkness yearning for light, for love.

The anglerfish, in her brief and tragic emergence, allowed herself to be seen. She is an outsider, yet reveals herself to a world that wasn’t made for her anyways.

This is the heart of gothic storytelling. It's the interplay between darkness and light, the allure of the unknown, the tension between horror and beauty.

Gothic narratives have long explored creatures who live on the outskirts of society, whether they're specters in crumbling castles, lonely vampires stalking their prey from the shadows, or humans who refuse to fit neatly into the boxes constructed for them.

The alternative, the eerie, the unconventional - these dark aesthetics captivate us because they tell stories that mainstream culture often ignores.

Just as this tiny anglerfish mesmerized the world, dark and gothic aesthetics and stories create their own form of enchantment.

They invite people to embrace the strange, to find beauty in what others dismiss as monstrous, and to celebrate the eerie and the ethereal.

They give people a place to feel seen, offering a way to step into the light without losing the magic of their shadows.

The anglerfish’s story may have begun shrouded in blinding darkness and mystery, but her ending was documented in a moment of light so brilliant that she, even with an appearance that most would describe as grotesque and nightmare-inducing, became one of the most beautiful, enrapturing creatures we have ever seen.

Perhaps we see a reflection of ourselves in her journey, as it is with the Misfit Wound that every single one of us carries within our souls. We too are creatures navigating the abyss, creating our own light, waiting to truly be seen.

But the greatest lesson to take from the anglerfish?

Be yourself. There is poetry in your darkness, and others are aching to hear it fall from your lips. Tragic. Beautiful. Haunting. Ugly. Ethereal. Give it all to us.

The Gothic is so back. In the mainstream, at least.

For you and I, and the anglerfish it seems, it never left.

Love, Lune Caselle

Just like my Instagram bio says, I bring your darkness to light. If you're ready for a brand that leaves people in awe just like the anglerfish - work with me! I'm currently booking.

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