Red Velvet (band)

RPF Fandom
Name(s):	Red Velvet
Scope/Focus:	K-Pop, Girlband
Date(s):	2014
See also:
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Red Velvet / First Time by TsukinoFleur (2017), fan made album cover using the group's offfical color, pastel coral

Red Velvet is a K-Pop group, famous for songs such as "Russian Roulette" and "Psycho". Red Velvet is well known for their large amount of female fans in comparison to male fans.

Red Velvet fans are called Reveluv (a combination of Red and Velvet, which also means dream in French). The name was revealed on their 1000 day anniversary. The groups official color is pastel coral. Each member has an official color, and after the release of Red Flavor, each member gained a representative fruit.

Members

Irene

• Born Bae Joohyun (배주현) on March 29, 1991 in Daegu, South Korea.
• Official color is purple, representative fruit and emoji are watermelon and a bunny

Seulgi

• Born Kang Seulgi (강슬기) on February 10, 1994 in Ansan, South Korea.
• Official color is yellow, representative fruit and emoji are pineapple and a bear.

Wendy

• Born Shon Seungwan ( 손승완) on February 21, 1994 in Seoul, South Korea. She moved to Canada as a child and later the United States of America.
• Official color is blue, representative fruit and emoji are orange and a squirrel.

Joy

• Born Park Sooyoung (박수영) on September 3, 1996 in Jeju Island, South Korea.
• Official color is green, representative fruit and emoji are kiwi and a chick.

Yeri

• Born Kim Yerim (김예림) on March 5, 1999 in Seoul, South Korea.
• Official color is purple, representative fruit and emoji are grape and a turtle.
• She joined Red Velvet on March 11, 2015.

Fandom

Lore

Red Velvets lore is interpreted differently by every fan. But a general storyline can be made, each music video is a different world, and once the music video ends so does the world. Theories explaining this include the little pink bear blob in their debut music video, Happiness, evidence also includes the official comic made that states the bear made the Red Velvet members to be his friends, however when he plays with them they die so he makes them again. Other theories state Irene is a cult leader and all the members are lesbians who follow her, and that specific music videos such as Peek A Boo or Rookie show their cultish activities.

Controversies

Wendy - weight & racism allegations

Wendy has also been under a lot of scrutiny from "fans" over her weight, which fluctuated drastically between 2010 and 2018 - after backlash from the public for growing "chubby" and "fat", she dramatically lost weight - and then gained hateful comments for being overly thin. For her weight, she was sometimes called Red Velvet's "black hole". Defenders of Wendy often point out that her weight gain is not "letting herself go" but just part of growing up, and that her later dieting and troubles with food were caused by the hate from the public and the later adulation when she lost some weight. Many fans would post encouraging messages hoping that she would be healthier, particularly in 2018, perhaps due to collective regret for the bullying in the years since just after debut.

However, as public opinion from Korean fans generally turned positive and supportive, opinion from Western fans turned on her. In 2014, shortly after debut, Wendy mimicked stereotypical behaviour of black women, black men and white women on a radio show, which was perceived by some as racist mockery but quickly forgotten as Red Velvet was still small. In 2018 she again performed this imitation (when asked to imitate popular girls in her class) people took notice, and a storm of Westerners accused her of racism . Beyond criticism of the joke though, many comments turned into criticizing her appearance, weight, and plastic surgery. Red Velvet - Wendy Weight Loss 2018 Pt. 2 (Full) (by AMFG Videos, a youtube channel which primarily makes videos focusing on k-idol weight loss) summarises the full chronicle.

All of these people bringing up "This is what happens when you don't apologize", you do know that a lot of entertainment companies don't allow there idols to apologize? Unless it's a controversy effecting their stockmarket or something massive. This kind of topic isn't as big in Korea as it is in the rest of the world. That is the truth. And she was ignorant, but in no way racist. A lot of idols before her have gotten into controversies for following directions. Tzuyu from twice for example, she got a lot of backlash from waving the taiwanese flag at a talk show. Someone in the satff gave her the flag and told her to use it. But this brought in the government in both China and Taiwan and all the disputes regarding Taiwans independence and so on. But Tzuyu got the blame.

Wendy was asked to do stereotypes. She did. Many idols have talked about stuff they felt forced to do or just had to do in general in their more active years. They don't have much freedom. Every picture they post will go through someone (probably) and they can get into trouble for swearing in a live recording. If she had refused to do the stereotype, she would get backlash from her company, and from the program. Maybe even from the general public in Korea for being a difficult coworker for other people in the business. She might have wanted to apologize, but she wasn't allowed to, was what I was getting at. Taeyeon from SNSD apologized to fans directly at an airport after one of her controversies. They live such restrictive lives, and they have their faults. A lot of what they do is documented and I'm sure we all have done some questionable stuff that no one will know of because of the simple reason that no one have heard of it.

@hilmaandmyweirdsoul8539 on Red Velvet - Wendy Weight Loss 2018 Pt. 2 (Full)

In 2019, Wendy suffered a bad fall and had to have facial reconstruction surgery. Even in 2024, fans are still scrutinizing her appearance, this time for looking different compared to her past self - but also praise for her 6-pack abs, which have been lovingly nicknamed "wabs" .

Feminism

In 2018 member Irene shared that she had read a Korean feminist novel "Kim Jiyoung born 1982", after sharing this many male Korean fans began to burn, rip or cut her albums, photocards and other merchandise. This led to a rise in female fans for Red Velvet.

Unrealistic Idol Standards

July 13, 2024, Seulgi issued an apology, shocking many fans as they didn't know what she was apologizing for, until they figured out that the previous day whilst at an airport she had swapped he high heeled shoes for sandals that were worn by her manager. Some fans called her behavior abusive, and others said she had no reason to apologize and the people getting mad were akgaes.

Pairings

• Irene/Seulgi
• Irene/Wendy
• Seulgi/Wendy
• Joy/Wendy
• Seulgi/Joy
• Yeri/Joy

Fanworks

Fanart

• follow my heartbeat ♡, ^{Archived version} by avizou, art of Irene
• in my dreams ✿, ^{Archived version} by mimimar
• feel the vibe and sway <3, ^{Archived version} by good-yvesning
• Untitled Group Illustration, ^{Archived version} by lowiy
• aaand the full illustration of our girls, ^{Archived version} by aliciaphen

Graphics and Gif Sets

• HAPPY YERI DAY!, ^{Archived version} gif set by mostlyfate
• red velvet comic poster, ^{Archived version} graphics by velvetedit-s

Inside Jokes

• Joy's legendary fanboy or "PARK SOOYOUNG!! WHEN YOU SMILE!! I’M!! ALSO!! HAPPY!!!!"
• Yeri saying "I like girls... generation" in an interview

Archives and Links

• Red Velvet (K-pop Band) tag at Archive of Our Own
• Red Velvet tag at AsianFanfics
• Tumblr tag: red velvet

Resources

• Wikipedia
• Red Velvet at Kpop Wiki