Guys, look at what I found browsing Medium!🥺 Another article written by Damirae❤️. Our love birds are still gaining momentum☺️😍. You can read the full article by clicking the link below:
What makes Damirae truly special and beautiful is the mature and subtle way they expressed their love. Their affection was conveyed through gentle touches, warm smiles, meaningful gazes, and thoughtful gestures rather than grand declarations. The rare but impactful "I love you" from Raven to Damian only added to the depth of their bond
I just had the cutest thought that turned into a bit of ooc funny. So Damian and Raven obviously start out as friends but I just feel like Damian would be so euphoric the first time he makes Raven blush that it becomes one of his newest obsessions. To the point he turns into a little mini Casanova, but only for her. I could never see him being Bruce 2.0 and tolerating that as well even as pretend.
I wish that ao3 had an option to filter warnings (and tbh certain authors) out like I will never ever want to read it and just seeing it puts me off so much that often I end up closing my browser because that content upsets me so much lmao
There is a way to do this but I can’t recall how to do it. it’s something you type into the box for “other filters” or something, I don’t remember. who knows??
It’s not a great option, and I don’t know if you can sort out authors that way, but it’s better than nothing if someone can reblog this with how to do it!
Alrighty friends! It takes some specificity, but you can do this. Let me show you how!
So I started with going to the Sherlock (TV) section of Ao3. On the right we find this lovely section! ((I know I’m going over things you already probably know, but I figure this post may go to new Ao3 users, so bear with me.))
Underneath this, I chose sort by Kudos, because that’s a quick way to find most popular fics, for the sake of this demonstration.
With those filters on, we end up with this being our first two results:
As you can see, we have Nature and Nurture by earlgreytea68, and The Internet Is Not Just For Porn by cyerus. So what if I am utterly sick of seeing earlgreytea68 on my list? Let’s pretend I’ve read all their fics, or that I just don’t like her, or whatever. I want this author out. I go to this section on the right:
In “Search within results” I type earlgreytea68 into the bar, with a minus sign in front. This gives me the following page, upon hitting the sort and filter button:
There goes earlgreytea68! But now I’ve decided that Crack is just not my thing, I’m sick of that, too, for heaven’s sake, I want something reasonable in my gay slash fanfiction about detectives that solve crimes about glowing dogs and irish megalomaniacs. Heaven forbid this get ridiculous.
Well, then I add this to my search:
Which gets rid of everything with that tag. My results are now:
Performance in a Leading Role is now my first result!
You can do this as many times as you want; the biggest problem I have is trying to filter out multi-worded tags. For example, “Secret Relationship” is hard to filter. Better to go with authors you dislike or with words like “DubCon”.
I hope this helps! Also remember that googling site:archiveofourown.org and then adding search terms will mean google searches Ao3 for you, and sometimes that works far better.
Say, you’re in your random fandom- I went with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since I’ve been reading Iron Man stuff recently. Tony Stark is awesome.
But anyway, you’re on the page, and you see that there are 174,774 works! That is way too many for a casual afternoon’s browsing.
And you see that the first one is Peter Parker/Tony Stark and that is not your jam. It doesn’t work for you, or it squicks you, whatever. Wouldn’t life be easier if you could browse without seeing that pairing (or whatever pairing you don’t like)? You can!
First, click on that pairing tag(You may want to open this in another tab, actually.):
and it’ll take you to the page for that pairing tag. Click this button:
and then look at the address bar! The actual page is unimportant. Copy the numbers located here:
and go back to the original search page! Down on the side, in the same place you can get rid of other tags, type -relationship_ids:”the number you just copied”
Then hit ‘sort and filter’ annnd… magic!
The fics with that pairing are gone! You can also do multiple pairings, get rid of any tags you don’t like, and sort it by date or length or kudos, or whatever.
Just a quick reminder that AO3 uses Lucene as a search and index engine.
That means you can pretty much use all the Lucene Query Syntax in the “Seach within result” field.
I don’t think AO3 indexes the whole fic for searching but definitely it’s meta data. Combined with Lucenes awesome query syntax you can do pretty much every search you heart desires.
Addtional Lucene Query Syntax that has not been mentioned yet and you might find useful:
Wildcard Searches
You can use wildcard searches within single terms. For a single character wildcard search use the “?” symbol. For a multiple character wildcard search use the “*” symbol.
AND/OR
Lucene allows you to combin terms through logic operators. You’re looking for fics that are either “reunion” or “enemies to lovers”?
Just put in >“reunion” OR “enemies to lovers”< into the field
and you end up with all the stories that are either or but not both.
But wait, now you’re looking for fics that are both “reunion” and “enemies to lovers” at the same time? Now worries Lucene got you covered.
Just change it into >“"reunion” AND “enemies to lovers”“<
and you’ll get all the fics that mention both “reunion” and “enemies to lovers” somewhere in their meta data (note: it’s not just tags. It’s also title, summary …)
Boosting
You can also boost specific terms when doing a multi term search.
You can use the “^” Operator followed by a number to boost a specific term.
Say you’re interested in fics that are either “first kiss” or “bed sharing” but you’re much more interested in “bed sharing” fics and feel they are more relevant.
You can use the search >“first kiss” “bed sharing”^5<
to manipulate the order of your results in a matter that the score of every fic that contains beg sharing is multiplied by 5. Therefore all fics containing that term are given priority and shown at the top of the list.
You can also combine all of the above, target specifc fields (that’s what you did with the “relationsship_id:xxx”) and many more things.
For more info about the Lucene query syntax check out Apache’s Lucene Query doc.
Some of these searches can also be achieved via the “exclude” function in the search bar - this offers you for each section (ratings, category, relationships, tags, etc.) the most commonly used metadata for these fics, to check or uncheck (and thus exclude or not) as you please!
When I’m looking for inspiration for a story—or when I just need to reacquaint myself with characters—I rewatch the DCAMU. As one does.
Recently I rewatched Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and something finally clicked for me during that Damian/Raven scene. Specifically this line:
“When I asked you to join me in leading the League of Assassins. I wasn’t doing it because you were a good fighter. I… had feelings for you.”
Now, I know some of you are already like:
“Oh my god, yes, we know. Cute. Peak shipping material. What of it?”
Fair. Valid.
BUT.
Am I really supposed to ignore the fact that Damian phrasing it as “join me in leading” is not, like… a low-key marriage proposal???
And I’m only being half cheeky here.
So. Let’s break this shit down—because it’s fun 🫶
Read my arguments blow👇
What is explicitly canonical in the dialogue
From this scene, we have some very clear, unambiguous canon facts:
Damian asked Raven to join him in leading the League of Assassins
He explicitly states it was not because she’s a good fighter
He confesses romantic feelings
He frames the request as emotionally vulnerable and deeply personal
Raven understands it as such (her response confirms she clocked the weight of it)
That much is hard canon. No debate there.
Is “join me in leading” literally a marriage proposal in-text?
Strictly speaking?
No.
The film never uses the words marriage, wife, queen, or bride.
So if someone asks:
“Is this explicitly stated as a marriage proposal in canon?”
The honest answer is:
No, not textually explicit.
But that is not where the conversation ends—and this is where I think my argument actually has teeth.
The cultural context matters (and canon allows for it)
Within League of Assassins canon across DC media, leadership is:
Dynastic
Familial
Intimately tied to bloodline and legacy
Almost always ruled by a pair or family unit, not some casual co-lead situation
(Which I think most of us are aware of.)
So when Damian says:
“When I asked you to join me in leading the League of Assassins…”
He is not saying:
“Hey, wanna be my coworker?”
Nah.
He is saying:
“Stand beside me at the highest level of power in my world.”
That is functionally spousal, even if it’s not linguistically labeled as such.
Like, homeboy is basically saying:
“Come be my Demon Queen.”
Ballsy.
And we dig it.
Damian’s character specifically strengthens this reading
This part is key.
Damian Wayne:
Does not emote casually
Does not offer vulnerability lightly
Does not share power unless it is earned or bonded
Was raised in a culture where commitment precedes romance, not the other way around
For this character, with this upbringing, that phrasing carries way more weight than it would coming from literally anyone else.
And the fact that he only clarifies his feelings after Raven declines suggests:
He understood the request as profound
He believed the meaning was self-evident
He only spells it out because she didn’t fully understand what he was asking—and in the throes of the final hour, he needed her to know what he meant.
Which is.
So.
Fucking.
Cute.
Honestly, I feel like this actually reinforces the interpretation.
If you disagree? That’s fine. We’re just not friends 😜
So what is my argument, canonically speaking?
My argument is not:
“Damian canonically proposed marriage.”
But it can be accurately stated as:
“Within the cultural and narrative framework of the League of Assassins and Damian’s upbringing, asking Raven to ‘join him in leading’ functions as the emotional and symbolic equivalent of a marriage proposal, even if not textually labeled as such.”
Which is:
Canon-supported
Textually defensible
Character-consistent
Not contradicted anywhere in the DCAMU
In fandom terms:
This is strong implicit canon, not just shipping headcanon.
In conclusion (aka thanks for coming to my TED Talk)
I’m not claiming Damian said the word marry.
I’m saying that in the League of Assassins, shared leadership is an intimate, lifelong bond tied to legacy. And given Damian’s upbringing, values, and emotional restraint, asking Raven to rule beside him is functionally equivalent to proposing a shared life together.
Anyway. That’s my rant.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk—
feel free to scream in the comment section 🫶
Oh my babies, they just look so good together in these movies. My all time favorite ship now, I just love them together so much in the DCAMU and I'll always be so thankful that DC made them canon AND end game in the movies!
#Damirae fandom we need to show DC how much we love Raven and miss her with Damian!!
DC has dropped snippets of the DCAMU on YouTube, and this time, it's Raven's turn. Guys, we Need to show our support for our couple. Click the link to head over to YouTube or just go directly to DC's channel on YouTube.
Leave a comment about how much we miss our demon birds and would love to have them together again. Let DC Know Damirae is alive and burning.
