Rosebird

RoseBird is the femslash ship between Summer Rose and Raven Branwen from the RWBY fandom

Canon
Summer and Raven were once part of Team STRQ (pronounced Stark) along with Taiyang and Qrow. In Volume 5 it was explained Raven and her younger twin Qrow once trained to kill huntsmen, once they enrolled for Beacon's Entrance Exams Raven stated that it was child's play for her and Qrow, not only that but their skill grabbed the attention of Beacon's Headmaster himself, Ozpin. This was presumably one of the factors as to how Team STRQ was formed, and Raven claims that even then she was aware that Ozpin was keeping an eye out for them. She states that Ozpin gave them things he would give no one else that indicated such, like constant attention, additional training, and would even let them off the hook if they were to ever break a rule or two. Summer's death was most likely what led to the departure of Team STRQ and devastated everyone.

In episode: "The More the Merrier", Raven deems Ruby's speech about working together as something Summer would have said with a notable tone of spiteful hostility, further hinting that Raven doesn't have the same have good view or relationship with her former teammate and now holds her in contempt.

However, it is revealed that Raven did indeed look up to Summer in "Of Solitude and Self" a flashback of Summer and Raven, the latter states that she views her as a true mother. Stating that Summer was better at that way of life, better than her at that at least. She was also surprised upon finding out that Summer lied to everyone and downplayed the danger of her mission and states that she has never done before but wasn't upset about that part, she was more conflicted about the fact that Summer could be making the same mistake she did which would be leaving, but Summer simply scowls and says that Raven is one to talk, the two, Summer asks Raven to trust her as before they starts to mission and Raven simply responds by saying "Let's get it over with I guess." Raven opened a kindred link portal using her semblance and they both walked inside, where they went is unknown. However, giving the fact Raven can use a kindred link portal for Summer that indicates that she did have a good bond and this also reveals that despite the two having a complex relationship that Summer does trust Raven, trusts her enough to allow her to accompany her on her final mission, without informing Qrow or Taiyang. This also reveals that of the three, Raven is the most likely to know what happened to Summer after after her last mission.

Quotes
"You sound just like your mother."

- Raven comparing Ruby to Summer after hearing her speech

Fanon
Because of the little information about Summer herself, and the even littler information about her relationship with Raven. initially wasn't very recognized within the fandom but the ship became more popular after Volume 5, when Raven's character became better known. Due to their relationship being rather anonymous for a large period many people simply theorized they had a close friendship back when they were teammates. Fans also liked the fact that they were both former spouses of Taiyang and therefore formed some sort of love triangle. can be occasionally shipped alongside TaiQrow as they both serve as the same-gender pairings for Team STRQ. However, other fans came with the idea of shipping Yellow Rose, Phoenix and simultaneously, by forming a poly between the Tai, Summer and Raven. This way fans of each respective ship would not have to choose between them. This variant is also fairly supported due to the fact it wouldn't affect canonical events if the ship became canon itself, such as Summer and Raven having children as they will still be with Taiyang. Bisexual headcanons are not uncommon for both characters sometimes even pansexual for Summer. Due to RWBY also being known to have LGBT+ representation, fans likely became more comfortable with shipping Raven and Summer as a result. Regardless, became an increasingly popular ship on both Raven and Summer's side as the show progressed.

While not as popular as other Femslash pairings in RWBY it is fairly popular in general, rivaling other STRQ related ships such as Yellow Rose and Hummingbird, is also a close second to Phoenix the ship between Taiyang and Raven. is the second most written ship for Raven and the most written ship for Summer. It currently has over 300 works on AO3 and a decent fanbase on Tumblr.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Their ship name comes from Summer's last or surname which is Rose, and the fact that Raven is named after a type of bird and also has the ability to turn into a Corvid as well.

Variations

 * STR Crossed Lovers refers to the ship between the two and Taiyang Xiao Long
 * Poly STRQ refers to the ship between the two, Taiyang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen