Kemical Reaxion

**Kemical Reaxion** is an artist, fanfic writer, and operator of the website Glitter Berries, which features a large amount of fan-created artwork, fan fiction, and the Daria Character Database created by Mike Xeno. Often referred to as "Kem" for short.

## Biographical Information

Kemical Reaxion (not her real name) is a college graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science. Originally from Oklahoma, she worked there as a software tester and service support engineer until early 2007. In April 2007, she married long-time *Daria* community member and essayist Mike Quinn and moved to the East Coast.

## Fandom History

Kem started watching *Daria* off and on during the first season but didn't start watching it religiously until sometime during the second season. Shortly after the end of season three she discovered fan fiction and decided to enter the online *Daria* community when she started writing her own stories. She joined the Outpost Daria Message Board and was a member until that board closed down, then migrated to the Paperpusher's Message Board. She was a moderator for a brief period on that message board. During her time there, she contributed several works of fan fiction, an extensive amount of fan art, and was webmaster of Glitter Berries. In March 2007 she announced her retirement from the community, only to return in early 2010. She currently posts under the nickname **Kem**.

## Fandom Contributions

Glitter Berries is one of the most important *Daria* fanfic and fan art collections online.

Her fan art of a faerie version of Jane Lane inspired TAG's "Jane Unchained," and her parody drawing of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album inspired Jak981125's fic "Shabbey Road".

#### **Fan Fiction**

* The Artist Formerly Known as the Frog Prince
* Cheese Is The Word
* Cinderfella
* Cyber Stacy
* Little Green Riding Hood
* On Guard
* One Hundred Percent
* The QB Next Door
* Why 2K?
* Would You Like to Take a Survey?

#### **Fan Art**

Kem's collection of *Daria* fan art is extensive. Content in her work ranges from makeovers of individual characters to multi-character comics and fan fiction illustrations. Typically her digital work is drawn free-hand on paper then colored digitally in PhotoShop. She also frequently works in colored pencils.

#### **Glitter Berries**

Kem started the *Daria* fan site Glitter Berries in late 1999 or early 2000. The name was chosen from a self-compiled list of quirky phrases from *Daria* episodes. It started out small, hosting a handful of stories and artwork, and featured character descriptions and a collection of episode summaries. Eventually, the site grew beyond the bounds of its free hosting space. Kem moved it around several times before finding its current home. The site has gone through many incarnations over the years and has seen the addition of quotes, polls, and contests. In March 2007, Kem announced that she would no longer be making updates to the site.

## Trivia

* Kemical Reaxion's nickname was derived from the lyrics of a Savage Garden song called "Gunning Down Romance." The lyrics? "Love and other moments are just chemical reactions in your brain."
* Kem likey breadsticks! Kem likey breadsticks!
* Kemical Reaxion coined the popular message board phrase "boobular." As in: "Kem is quite boobular." The true inspiration behind this phrase remains a mystery.
* When Kem first joined the community and started writing fan fiction, many of her fellow fans thought she was a male due to her ambiguous nickname.
* The Kemical Reaxion of Daria fandom is in no way affiliated with Kemikal Reaxion (a duo of music promoters in the UK), Reaxion Corp (game publishing company), Kemic-Al (psychedelic trance musician) or Kem Playing Cards.

## Daria Fanworks Awards

2004 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favourite Original Visual for *Jane as the Morton Salt Girl*

2005 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Comedy Visual (tie) for *Sandals*
* Favorite Alter Ego/Crossover Visual for *Daria and Trent a la Hey Arnold*
* Favorite Traditional Visual (tie) for *Daria's Yearbook Picture*

2006 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Single or Multi-Panel Comic for *DVDaria Campaign*

2009 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Single or Multi-Panel Comic for *Alcohol and Sarcasm*

## External Links

* Glitter Berries
* Fanfics on Glitter Berries
* Fanart on Glitter Berries
* KemicalReaxion on deviantArt