On September 18th, a video titled "Room 366" was discovered by the Internet at large.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJU0q9p4Aew" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/KJU0q9p4Aew</a>]]>The comments began to pour in: Many (Read also; "most") people were disgusted by what they were saw. Furries attempted to justify the video by either saying parties like this were "rare" and didn't represent the furry fandom as a whole. Other furries contradicted this defense by admitting that
parties like this were "common," but the fact that "mundanes" participate in the same sort of parties (Minus fursuits) made their parties justifiable.
Naturally, neither defense seemed to change the public opinion; that furries are fucking creepy, and that their orgies are fucking creepy as well. As the tension between normal people and furries rose, so too did the tension between other furries, who could not come to a consensus on what their stance on the video should be.
2 days and thousands of views / comments later, the producer of the original video finally came forward.
Hello everybody,
For those who have been linked to this journal and don't know who I am: I am EZwolf and shooting films is both my passion and my profession. Amongst many other productions, I'm also the one responsible for the famed "Room 366" music video that has been going around on twitter lately.
48 hours after my music video leaked into public I think it's time to speak out about it. I can honestly say that at first I panicked a little when I heard the video went viral. It was originally only supposed to be shared among those who took part in it, after all. That panic however quickly changed into utter amazement: Amazement about how quick it spread, the amount of re-posts, and the number of views but sadly also about the rather hostile comments it got.
Some of the assumptions that were made about what this video really is about and why it was made, are quite telling about what is going on in some of the viewer's heads. People jumped to the most outrageous conclusions but I didn't see many who actually got it right.
So let me tell you what it is really all about!
"Room 366" is a spin-off project from a series of very appreciated and fun room parties held at different cons in Europe. The kind of room parties we all enjoy every now and then: A meeting with friends - nothing particularly raunchy. On a whim we decided to do a music video during this year's EF and share it amongst those that participated as a private video on YouTube.
It was supposed to be a parody of your typical run-off-the-mill pop music video, and we did not think much of it. Pick any random R'n'B song and you'll see considerably more booty being shaken than in Room 366. I consider it to fit perfectly within the limits of community and society standards - if you don't mind the costumes. This video shows nothing new. After all; It’s just fursuiters dancing, posing and cuddling. Attend any furcon and you see just this. Attend any regular dance party and you see people doing just this, only more poorly dressed. Youtube is already full of that, and unless you're new to the internet, you will know where to find much more offensive stuff. Seriously, if you really thought this video is a documentary about furry sex, take your mind out of the gutter and stop fantasizing!
The shit hit the fan however, when one of the participants posted the link here on FA. He took it down after about a minute when he realized he had accidentally published a private video. Unfortunately however that was enough to let the genie out of the bottle….
So, amongst the millions of hard core porn images on FA, suddenly a slightly suggestive dance video appeared in which actually NOTHING happens besides some fursuiters having fun together … and OMG, suddenly it was all over Twitter, Youtube and many more obscure communities not worth mentioning.
So, did it cause a lot of drama? It depends on your point of view…. Of course, the R366 video is an easy target for lonely trolls desperately seeking attention. Well, let the poor bastards have their fun. But it was also encouraging to see how many people actually enjoyed our video - far more than we would have expected.
And how did things turn out for me? Well, I got over 650 messages during the last 48 hours, and in some of them I'm being accused of deliberately having leaked this video for self promotion purposes. Believe me; promotion is fine, but if your main business is corporate video and your hobby is coming up with furry features, being "promoted" through 4chan is the last thing you want, thank you very much!
I'm absolutely not happy with the way this went public and I never intended to create such a fuss about it… but now it's out and I have to deal with it. I have no problem saying: I'm proud of this video, the work of everybody involved in the production, and especially the fursuiters who took part in it. You guys ROCK, no matter what!!
At this point, I want to stress that everyone involved unanimously agreed that we would share this video only amongst ourselves through an unlisted youtube upload. Looking back at what happened, it may be arguable if that was the best decision, but absolutely nothing during this production happened without the consent of the participants.
To all the people that keep re-uploading it: I probably don't have to tell you that you have no legal right to do so! But seeing the video gets hundreds of positive comments, and knowing that it's pointless to even try getting a video off the net once it went viral, let's just leave it like it is. Enjoy your increasing views.
To the thousands of furs who responded positive on this video trough FA, Twitter, YouTube and DM's I'd like to say: Thank you! You keep me and my friends motivated to make art the way we like it. I salute you!
Yours sincerely,
EZwolf
Even now, furries are still infighting with one another in their attempt to decide how to respond to detractors. As they continue to do so, the detractors continue to mock them and the video, and pointing those previously ignorant of the furry fandom towards the video.
One thing is for sure:
Furries can't wish this video back into hiding. With around a dozen re-uploads (By both trolls
and furries) each with thousands of views, there's no taking the video back. The video has done irreparable damage to the fandom's integrity; not only due to it's content, but also due to furries themselves being unable to come together and come up with a universal statement as to how common furry orgies really are.
