The Tea Dragon Society is a comic short story created by Katie O’Neill. Greta is a blacksmith apprentice who struggles with finding purpose in a craft that doesn’t seem appreciated anymore. Her questioned is eventually answered when she meets Hezekiel and Erik, the last remaining members of the Tea Dragon Society, a group who takes care of the rare miniature dragons that sprout tea from their bodies. Greta also becomes close the forgetful and bashful Minette, who also has her own tea dragon. All three of them show Greta the importance of community and taking care of those around you.
Why is inferred queer representation just as important as explicit queer representation?
In the past several years, there has been an increasing demand for media aimed at “all audiences” to feature explicitly queer characters, this is to say, characters that explicitly state that they are not heterosexual or cisgender. In all honesty, this is a completely understandable and reasonable demand. For far too long, “all audience” media — which is generally intended and interpreted as “for younger audiences” — has been completely devoid of diverse sexual representation. Furthermore, what little examples that started popping up from time to time were generally queer-coded or so heavily veiled that they could be easily missed or disregarded. The changing political landscape of the 21st century has allowed for more sexual diversity in media; however, not only has it mostly been dominated by heteronormative, light-skinned, cisgender gay men, it has also been designated as content not appropriate for children. Regrettably, sexual diversity is still considered by many to be a topic for teenagers and adults even though many queer people were keenly aware of their queerness from a young age. How then can queer representation reach this population? We simply need to take a strategic step back.
Credit: Katie O’Neill
A collage of several images depicting Hezekiel and Erik’s journey together.
First image: Walking together through a field of tall grass.
Second image: Hezekiel, with Jasmine on his shoulder, casting a spell on Erik’s sword as he holds it up.
Third image: Walking together on a hanging bridge
Fourth image: A close-up of Hezekiel casting a spell to heal a wound on Erik’s forearm.
Fifth image: Hezekiel holding up a golden coin to his eye, with a backdrop of pink flower buds.
Sixth image: Steering a boat through an underground lake.
Seventh image: Sitting together drinking tea in a grassy meadow, with pink blossoms all around.
Eighth image: A close-up of Hezekiel’s hand casting a spell on Erik’s sword.
Ninth image: Erik and Hezekiel hugging, hands on each other’s shoulders and foreheads pressed together. The backdrop features a vine full of pink flowers.
Instead of explicit statements, The Tea Dragon Society relies on imagery to communicate queerness more implicitly. Imagery could be generally defined as the body of illustrated motifs, symbols, images used in the text to communicate an idea. The clearest example of this are the panels above, the collection of vignettes depicting Hezekiel and Erik’s adventures together. To those unfamiliar, it might seem as a perfectly practical team of a fighter and a healer. However, even if the last illustration of Hezekiel and Erik hugging were taken out or changed to something less intimate, the idea that their relationship is actually romantic could still be picked up. This is achieved by the overall effect created by the imagery: walking closely together, supporting each other during and after combat, sharing quiet moments… The strongest element, though, can be argued to be the use of flowers as the backdrop in some panels. The growing vines of pink flowers convey not only the passing of time, but also the growth of affection between the two, especially as the process culminates in the last panel: blooming flowers, blooming relationship.
Credit: Katie O’Neill
A seven-panel page.
First panel: A close-up of Erik’s face. He has a sad smile on his face, a stitched would under his left eye and two pink scars on his neck.
Second panel: A beat after the first panel, Erik looks away, looking sad.
Third panel: A close-up of a tray on Erik’s lap carrying a steaming bowl of soup and a small bread roll.
Erik: ...This isn’t what you signed up for.
Fourth panel: A close-up of Hezekiel, speaking softly and tenderly. The background features a cherry tree branch, covered in flowers.
Hezekiel: I signed up to fight by your side. To treat your wounds, to never abandon you.
Fifth panel: A close-up of Erik’s sad and dejected face.
Erik: You shouldn’t have to give up exploring and adventure because of me. You loved that.
Sixth panel: A close-up of Hezekiel’s hand reaching out to Erik’s.
Seventh panel: Hezekiel is keeling before Erik, holding his hands, looking at him lovingly. Erik has a look of slight surprise on his face.
Hezekiel: It was never the adventure that I loved.
While the imagery conveys most of the queer representation, that doesn’t mean that the actual dialogue doesn’t play its own part. Like the imagery, there are several textual cues that heavily imply that Hezekiel and Erik love each other. The panels above are prime examples of how promises, vows, and confessions can all help achieve this without either character saying “I love you” explicitly. Herein lies the core of the discussion: aesthetically, Hezekiel’s phrasing is much stronger than a plain “I love you”; politically, it plays it safe. While explicit representation is undeniably essential, more implicit forms also serve their purposes. As stated before, it can simply be an aesthetic choice, both visually and textually. Implicit representation can also be used to make sure queer representation reaches a wider audience by compromising with the powers-that-be. Implicit representaion is also more open to interpretation to include other forms of queerness; for instance, by not stating that Erick is gay, readers can interpret his queerness however they want. Explicit and implicit queerness shouldn’t be mutually exclusive as both add to the diversity that queerness champions for.