And Shine Heaven Now has been about fan enthusiasm from the very beginning. Literally: the story opens with a fangirl flying out of a still-unexplained mystical portal and latching onto Sir Integra. All else follows.
Every year to come saw another storyline dealing with the portal, some where it reopened as before, others where it was diverted to a new location. And the fangirl invasions that followed (fangirl here is a neutral noun, encompassing fans of all genders) involved an added dose of realism: they were drawn from profiles submitted by the strip's real-world readers.
On this page are archived the complete profiles submitted by these fans over the years. Just in case anyone's interested.
If one of these profiles is yours, and you would like a link or email address modified or removed, please get in touch.
What would have been the fangirl storyline of 2007 was cut short by the Flowers of Perun (obtained in May Flowers).
Unfortunately, the pattern was not so easily thwarted: a life-size Integra fangirl, with the self-chosen name of Marian Amethyst Raven Yumi Sappho Urania Elizabeth, made her way onto the scene.
A choke hold by Seras was enough to dispatch her; but, like any truly devoted fangirl, she was too persistent to let that shake her off entirely. Later storylines saw her return, with her adoration of Integra undaunted.
The strip's eighth anniversary was commemorated with a full-color redrawing of several strips from the very first [fangirl] storyline.
In the arc that followed, Marian assumed her long-deserved position as Integra-fan-in-chief, handing down revelations about the fangirls' true nature and the squeeful secret Alucard whispered long ago.
She then allowed her Integraxself shipping to sink, and set sail aboard the good ship IntegraxAlucard.
With their purpose fulfilled, the fangirls' portal is now closed for good...or at least, for generations to come.