Sheshna's Followers

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Heya, ThatAnonymousUser8518 here. Usually, I would post articles of other people’s experiences on their behalf, in the chance that whatever mystery involved would be solved one way or the other. However, keeping what had happened to myself private would just feel wrong personally, especially since it directly connects to my video about a Boomerang hijacking that happened in Australia.
For context, on August 4th 2004, an anonymous group took over a broadcast of the “Sheep in the Big City” episode, “Home For The BAA-lidays,” with their own twist that they had made partially in real time. In short, it is just about Sheep snapping and killing Farmer John after all he has done to him, encouraged by his ‘consciousness’ displayed as text.
Before things got worse, Warner Bros. shut down the network right after and did an investigation alongside the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now known as the Australian Communications and Media Authority), with zero findings. Even after 20 years had passed, Warner Bros. did not respond to questions about the hijacking, and the ACMA removed the case from its files due to how off it was compared to usual hijackings, which at least confess their motivations for their existence. Speaking of which.
What had happened since the video came out? Surprisingly, a lot.
Remember that archivist who provided the copy of the hijacking to Musical Cauliflower? Just a few days after I uploaded that video, he actually DM’d me on Tumblr and gave some answers that he didn’t initially bring up when talking with Musical Cauliflower.
Before I get into our conversation, I want to bring up that I got his permission to share our messages under the request that he remain anonymous, just so people don’t bother him over this freaky hijacking. I don’t blame him.
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Archivist: “I know it’s rather late where I live, but are you available to talk?”
Anon-8518: “Yeah. I may not respond at first, but do know that I always read your messages.”
Archivist: “Oh good. Just to make sure, did you make that video about a hijacking that occured in 2003-2004?”
Anon-8518: “I did lol. Why do you ask?”
Archivist: “You see… You may not believe me, but I am the archivist who sent the copy to Musical Cauliflower.”
Anon-8518: “Wow. I was honestly not expecting you to respond to me, let alone DM me on Tumblr. I just want to quickly thank you for finding this rare piece of media and uploading it to the world.”
Archivist: “Yeah yeah. I saw people praise me for simply giving away a recording of a tape I had for years. No need to thank me; I’m being serious here.”
Anon-8518: “I understand. Apologies if I made you uncomfortable.”
Archivist: “You didn’t, though I would be lying if that never bothered me, especially since I was sorta responsible for that hijacking.”
Anon-8518: “What? Care to explain? /lh”
Archivist: “... Sure, just don’t call the police on me.”
Anon-8518: “Don’t worry, I won’t. Besides, I don’t think the authorities would be looking for you now or anyone else involved.”
Archivist: “They better find these bastards if they do.”
Anon-8518: “What do you mean? I’m really confused right now.”
Archivist: “Sorry. I keep forgetting that nobody else knows what I went through. Before I tell you anything, I want to make it clear that you’re allowed to share this information to the public (and this whole conversation if needed) as long as my username is censored. Are you okay with that?”
Anon-8518: “More than happy to comply.”
Archivist: “Good. Here is my story: You know how Sheep in the Big City became forgotten overtime and was beginning to form a cult following? You see, there was one case where that phrase was literal. In 2001 (with the episode about time travel), a group of weirdos began to see Sheep as a god, thinking that he’ll ‘save’ them once he would come to the real world. No, I’m not making that shit up. That actually fucking happened, and saying that I was a part of that group made things even more… Twisted.
I was a dumb 19-year-old who didn’t know any better and just stuck with any group that I found interesting, which just so happens to be that cult. Why did I join? I had no clue other than being glad that there were some fans of SITBC that I can be a part of. Do you know what the worst part was? I actually took part in their shitty behavior, which included kidnapping actual sheep in an attempt to ‘please him,’ vandalizing churches to promote their cult and, of course, that dreaded hijacking.
Seeing that we’re basically on the run from the police, I knew I couldn’t just stay there any longer. So, I quietly left and moved back into my parents’ apartment, not even daring to say a word about my actions.
Looking back, I was really fucked up in the head to see all of that as okay and just did the things I was told. Again, DO NOT reveal my username to the public; I’m done with that shit and I just want to move on with my life.”
Anon-8518: “That was some experience you had. I’m terribly sorry that you had to go through this.”
Archivist: “Don’t apologize, anon. I should be the one who’s sorry. Since you know quite a bit about the show, I thought I could tell you this so you can investigate it further and put these people to justice.”
Anon-8518: “I can’t guarantee it, but I’ll try.”
Archivist: “Before you go, I think I recall the name of that cult. I’m guessing it goes on the lines of ‘Sheshna’s Followers.’ I know I said Sheep throughout my confession, but Sheshna is just another name that the cult mainly refers to. Hope to talk again soon, anon.”
Anon-8518: “Same here, and don’t worry, your secret's safe with me. :)”
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I must admit, I was rather fascinated by the idea of an actual cult being formed based around one of my favorite cartoon characters. Don’t get me wrong, I do not support their actions, but seeing them being motivated by Sheep, out of all people, took me into a deep rabbit hole that would last for weeks.
I did a very close look at search results, brought up archived forum posts, and some strange Fandom wikis for answers, but ended up finding nothing; not even an accidental mistranslation of the show’s synopsis. Just as I was about to give up, I decided to look the cult’s name up on Gifcities (the Internet Archive’s search engine for finding GIFs from archived Geocities sites) as a last resort. I struck gold.
There was actually a GIF of Sheep that came from Cartoon Network’s site (back when it was still up, let alone acknowledged Sheep in the Big City) that was edited to have his top hoofs to be in some kind of position and his pupils straight up removed (I’m guessing this was done to fit the cult’s view on Sheep). Call me crazy, but I felt a little freaked out by this when I first saw it.
Upon clicking on the GIF, it directed me to the cult’s website and, if you think it was quite weird, just wait to see what the origin was like.
The website looked very rushed; only having the homepage (or index) with its background image was just a screenshot of the ending from “BAA-ck in Time” stretched and looped out, and even had the “This page is best viewed with: Internet Explorer” stamp that was half-way out the site’s ‘box.’
Despite the state the site was in, it gave me enough info for an idea on what the cult was like, including how they see “Shensna,” why they follow him, and how to become his “follower.” You can read all of the website’s contents that I’ve screenshotted, but in short, the cult is based in Australia (hence why the hijacking only took place there) and they promise that Shensna will ‘save us’ if you’ll become his ‘follower,’ as well as do their “Sunday ritual” near the road of Lake Grace at 8:30 PM.
I know the archivist wanted me to report the people who committed these ‘rituals,’ but I don’t think I have the ability to do so. Not only don’t I have any money to fly to Australia, but I’m also not sure if the cult was still active, and I didn’t want to take any chances by trying to meet them personally. I obviously care about my own safety, you know?
Despite that big find on the Wayback Machine, that was where my search had ended. I tried looking for more info about that site, but found nothing else. I ended up sending it to the archivist, and here is our conversation about it:
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Anon-8518: “Big find. I managed to find the cult’s website on the Wayback Machine, since it was on Geocities and was archived in 2009 when the Internet Archive were preserving many of the hoster’s sites as it was going to be shut down. [LINK CENSORED UNDER THE ARCHIVIST'S REQUEST]”
Archivist: “What? It was archived? Hold on, let me check for myself.”
Archivist: “Man, seeing that website just gives me nostalgia, even though it ended up being such a horrible memory. I keep forgetting how that GIF just makes my blood run cold, though.”
Anon-8518: “When was the website made and was it ever updated?”
Archivist: “Back in 2002, I think, though I doubt they had ever updated since. As the old saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix.’”
Anon-8518: “For something ‘not broken,’ it sure is poorly made.”
Archivist: “Tell me about it, anon.”
Anon-8518: “One more question.”
Archivist: “Go ahead.”
Anon-8518: “Is the cult still active?”
Archivist: “I don’t really know, but I’ll check tomorrow.”
Anon-8518: “Are you sure? What if the cult was still active and saw you as a ‘traitor’ or some shit?”
Archivist: “Don’t worry; I’ll make sure to come up with a sneaky lie. The cult might be deranged, but they’re not smart.”
Anon-8518: “Okay, just be careful.”
Archivist: “I will, don’t worry. Hold on, did you report the site to the police?”
Anon-8518: “Nope, I didn’t. I don’t know how to and, even if I knew, I doubt they’ll be interested.”
Archivist: “I don’t blame them. Again, it had been years since they made their presence on television. Though, if I do find these people and they’re still believing in Shensna, I will no doubt contact authorities. They can’t keep getting away with this.”
Anon-8518: “Same here.”
Archivist: “Almost forgot, I found this old drawing that I did for the cult (or ‘Shensna’ really). Going to show it to them before burning it like I should've a long time ago.”
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thumb|The drawing the archivist sent me.
After my last conversation with the archivist, nothing really interesting happened for the next month. He didn’t make a response since he decided to go out to Lake Grace and confront the followers. To be honest, I really didn’t think about him and I slowly began to forget about the cult. That was, until I spotted a strange comment on the video of the hijacking.
“You like what Shensna did to his enemies and want to support him? Become his follower right now! You can find out on our new website; made by followers, for followers!”
I felt rather surprised to see this comment as my research on the cult wasn’t public at the time, then again the hijacking was related to them since, well, they’re the ones who did it. But I felt even more surprised to confirm that the cult was still active, even after over 20 years.
Taking the opportunity to find more answers, I clicked on the link to their new website. To my semi-disappointment, it was mostly the same, with the exception of the design being more modern and the ‘Internet Explorer’ stamp no longer present.
Right after a quick glance, I had the gut reaction to contact the archivist about it.
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Anon-8518: “Hey! You wouldn’t believe what just happened! I was just checking my channel analytics when I spotted a comment which proved that the cult is still active and they actually have a new website. I guess you might’ve already figured it out, lmao. /nay”
The Archivist didn’t respond.
Anon-8518: “Urm, did you read this message? Not trying to overwhelm you or anything.”
No response.
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Just as I was about to leave it and wait for them to reply, I recalled something on the cult’s new website that wasn’t on their old one. I went back to the tab and saw a hyperlink at the bottom of their page: “News.” I gave it a quick click, expecting a 404 error or some silly thoughts on Shensna.
What I actually saw, however, almost made me vomit my own bile. All I can say was that page contained a photo of a body bleeding out with a familiar drawing placed on his face. Next to the image was the following:
“HE HAD BETRAYED SHENSNA. HE HAS NOW PAID FOR HIS SINS. FOR SHENSNA. FOR ALL.”
Category:Anon's Pasta Corner
Category:Religion
Category:Hijackings
Category:Computers and Internet