Page #87 (Patreon)

Tchaikovsky the Russian composer died from the 'official' cause of cholera from drinking contaminated water, but it is expected/speculated that he actually ended his life due to the social 'court of honour' which demanded he do so as punishment for his homosexuality. Fast forward to 19 year old me reading my online namesake Bukowski BROkowski. get it? (I no longer really consider it as such, now i just think of it like a weird Polish name, but that's the orgin story) Anyways, Bukowski has a poem in which he celebrates Tchaikovsky at the end (also referring to him as a faggot during this glowing review. very confusingly masculine Bukowski. nice) so he refers to Tchai's death as filling his pockets with stones and walking into the river, or so I remotely remembered writing this comic and felt was a fitting death, but as a reversal where they aren't killing themselves to honour some external social circle, but to honour their sacred love. Okay, so the thing it, this is as first mentioned, not how Tchai died, I can't even find the Bukowksi poem! After cursory research the only famous death that comes up as this was Virginia Wolf, maybe I smashed these events together in my mind? maybe Bukowski also talks about her in the poem and I melded them. At least she's a lesbian I guess. Oh well.