Kemical Reaxion
Kemical Reaxion, also referred to as "Kem," was an artist, fanfiction writer, and creator of the website Glitter Berries, which features a large array of fan-made content, including art, stories, and the Daria Character Database by Mike Xeno.
Biographical Information[edit]
Kem had 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 of the same year, she married fellow long-time Daria community member and essayist Mike Quinn, and moved to the East Coast.
She died on April 19th, 2024, though the details of her passing remain undisclosed.
Fandom History[edit]
Kemical started watching Daria on and off during the first season but did not start tuning it religiously until some time during its second season. Shortly after the end of the third one, she discovered fanfiction and decided to enter the online fandom and contribute to it with her own stories. She joined the Outpost Daria Message Board and was a member until its closure in June 4th, 2013. Then she became involved in the Paperpusher's Message Board and helped moderate it for a brief period. During her time, she contributed with several works of her own, an extensive amount of fanart, and went onto making Glitter Berries. In March of 2007, she announced her retirement from the community—only to return in early 2010.
Fandom Contributions[edit]
Glitter Berries, as mentioned before; one of the most important Daria fan-troves of the community.
Her fanart of a fairy version of Jane Lane inspired The Angst Guy's fic "Jane Unchained," and her parody drawing of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album inspired Jak981125's story "Shabbey Road".
Fanfiction[edit]
- 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?
Fanart[edit]
Kem's collection of Daria artpieces alone is extensive on its own; they range from make-overs of individual characters, to comics, to other fanfictions' illustrations. Her technique was majorly free-hand on paper then digital colouring on PhotoShop. She also used to work with coloured pencils.
Glitter Berries[edit]
Kemical started the Daria fanpage Glitter Berries in late '99 or early 2000, deriving its name from a self-compiled list of strange phrases from the show. It started out small, hosting a handful of fanfics, art, character descriptions, and a collection of episode summaries. Eventually, it grew beyond the bounds of its free hosting domain, which Kem moved around several times before finding its current home on "FreeHostia." The page has gone through many incarnations over the years and has seen the addition of multiple quotes, polls, and contests. In March of 2007, Kemical announced that she would no longer be updating the site.
Trivia[edit]
- Kemical Reaxion's nickname was derived from the lyrics of a Savage Garden song named "Gunning Down Romance"; "love and other moments are just chemical reactions in your brain."
- Kem likey breadsticks! Kem likey breadsticks!
- She came up with the popular Message Board phrase "boobular." As in, "Kem is quite boobular." The inspiration of which is still to be explained to us.
- When Kem first joined the community and started writing fanfiction of her own, many of her fellow members thought she was a man due to the ambiguity of her nametag.
- 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[edit]
- Favourite Original Visual for Jane As The Morton Salt Girl
- Favourite Comedy Visual (tied) for Sandals
- Favourite Alter Ego/Crossover Visual for Daria And Trent A La Hey Arnold
- Favourite Traditional Visual (tied) for Daria's Yearbook Picture
- Favourite Single Or Multi-Panel Comic for DVDaria Campaign
- Favourite Single Or Multi-Panel Comic for Alcohol And Sarcasm