A/N: This fic will have many many Russian words and I will put a glossary at the end. The main character for the first chapter is our Viktor's father, and his feelings about his family and Viktor's birth. From the opening paragraph you will know that everyone in the family is called Viktor so it will be very confusing to keep track of who is who. I tried to be clear by using family pronouns as much as possible, hopefully it works out. The second chapter will be more obvious and simpler because it's between Viktor and Yuuri and their family together.
And now, the standard disclaimers from years yonder: I do not own Yuri! on Ice, any of its characters, or its story. The rights go to everyone at Studio MAPPA, writer Kubo-sensei, director Yamamoto-sensei. This is a work of love towards their efforts, and no profit shall be made off this work by me or anyone. Please attribute to me and them if you plan to refer to this work, as a courtesy.
Viktor Viktorovich Nikiforov comes from a long line of men, fathers and sons and grandfathers and grandsons all named Viktor Viktorovich Nikiforov, stretching back into the grand history of the Kievan Rus. Not that they could actually trace back that far, or if it was ever even true. All Viktor knows is that his papenka, dyedushenka, and according to them their papenkas and dyedushenkas as well, were all named Viktor Viktorovich Nikiforov. They were all winners, glorious victors, successful in life in all the important ways. Not necessarily grand memorable careers, long noble titles, luxurious wealth, or record setting accomplishments, though not excluding them either. They were all winners in love, in friendship and family and community. When times were tough, everyone knew they could count on the line of Viktor Viktorovich to help them weather through their pain, share their burden and blessings. And now, Viktor will introduce to the world a new heir to the name, his newborn son who will grow up to be strong and a pillar of support for those he loves and those who love him, the new scion of Nikiforov. On December 25th, 1985, Viktor Viktorovich welcomes his firstborn son, Viktor Viktorovich.
As anyone can imagine, such a tradition would be instantly confusing on how to address a family full of Viktor Viktorovich's. Thus, another quality that has been inherited and passed down for generations is the warmth and fraternity that the Viktors all embody, to address everyone, and insist on being addressed, with nicknames, endearments, names so sweet they make new acquaintances and old friends alike blush. Viktor's dyedushenka would call babushenka many pet names, golubka being the favourite. He would call her moy golubka, my dove, and she would reply in kind moy voron, my raven, causing everyone to become flustered at the blatant display of affection. Papenka was orlechka to them, little eagle, and dyadenka was ptichka, little birdie, and they flew together as a loving family into their future, uncertain and difficult during the Stalin era but making sure their home in Leningrad was warm and welcome.
When Viktor was young, dyedushenka would have his friends gather at least once a month, and they would tell reminisce and tell Viktor tales of dyedushenka's generosity and kindness throughout the hard regime. In the recountings, and still then in casual conversation, they would refer to dyedushenka as solnyshko, the little sun. Not just for his light blond hair, but also for his unfaltering bright and cheerful smile, always willing to please and assist anyone who turned to him. Dyedushenka would deflect, and talk about his own papa and dyedushenka, how they were so much better, that he still looks to his memory of them to guide him. Viktor thought then that he would forever aim to the same standard, to remember and emulate these stories of his magnanimous dyedushenka who was loved by his many friends and all in the family, who never hesitated to be the support for others in need. The passing of dyedushenka saw a gathering of friends so large and inconsolable that even the neighbours, who themselves have been won over by dyedushenka and babushenka's inviting friendliness, opened their doors to help host and serve the visiting mourners.
As for his papenka, people had taken to calling him Mishka Medvedev for his fierce protectiveness and loyalty. While dyedushenka was radiant and boisterous, papa was quieter and more solemn, but no less warm and affectionate. Viktor had wondered for a while why visitors would refer to papa sometimes as Viktor Viktorovich, understandably polite and proper, and other times as Mishka Medvedev, a completely different name and oddly using the surname instead of the patronymic. He assumed it was just confusion of the guests, and Viktor was too polite to correct them, thinking they would figure it out eventually. But it was a few years later when papenka was holding a party for his hockey team after a win, when the story came out about how papenka got the name. He literally growled and roared at a sore loser from the opposing team who tried to assault his teammate who scored the winning shot one night, and managed to tackle him to the ground and almost broke his arm holding him down. The ferocity was like a bear out of the woods, they had said, many shaking their heads, while papa simply sneered and said "he deserved it". And they went on to describe more instances of papenka protecting the team on the ice during fights, throwing himself into brawls to shield his teammates. Viktor learned then, too, that his papenka was brave and caring, and that Viktor would strive to be as brave and caring for the ones that he loved.
But despite the tinge of violence in those stories, papenka was still mainly a gentle figure in Viktor's mind. He would pick Viktor up to ride on his atop broad shoulders or piggyback upon his strong back. Papenka's large hands and firm arms were always a comforting presence to Viktor to hold on to. Papenka was also soft and warm and has kind blue eyes that could soothe any pain in Viktor's heart, as he murmurs quiet reassurances that Viktor will be alright, papenka would protect him always. Mamenka calls papenka mishka for different reasons: he is her teddy bear, cuddly and loving. He wooed her with soft kisses and light caresses, respecting and admiring her strength as a woman. He calls her tigritsa, because she protects his family when he is away at games, and protects him when he's home. Mamenka nurses papenka's heart when he comes from from a loss, gives him comfort so that nothing hurts, builds papenka back up so he can go out strong once more. And for Viktor she does everything a mother does and more, loving Viktor with all her fierce intensity. Mamenka kisses his bruises, patches the tears in his favourite clothes, makes his favourite lunches and brings them to his practices, and once stared down the father of the boy who intentionally checked Viktor badly, her face so stern and thunderous that both the father and the boy apologized to Viktor and mamenka. Viktor was their voyechka, little and learning to stand on his own, and loved all through.
Viktor thought he had learnt what all the love he received was for, was to teach him how to love his koroleva, his tsaritsa, his boginya, his incomparable wife Lyudmila. And love her he did, for when she expressed zero interest in hockey, and told him instead of her passion for opera, he took singing lessons and watched shows and learnt the ins-and-outs of classical art, immersed himself into a whole new world just so that he can share with her. But now, he realizes that even more so, it was all for his little synok, so small and precious in his arms. His shchenok, he promises to love and protect and cherish forever, with dyedushenka's warmth, papenka's bravery, and mamenka's strength, and pass them all to his synok, so that it will live on through all the Viktor Viktorovich Nikiforovs. He understands now his duty, and he cannot wait to pour out all his love, all his love.
A/N: This took me a lot of time to come up with, because I wanted to be sure of the right names and meanings, and also that I was using them in a way Russians typically would. Google Translate only goes so far with transformations. If anyone knows better and sees a mistake, please tell me so I can correct them! Thanks.
dyedushenka (Дедушенька): grandfather
babushenka (бабушенька): grandmother
papenka (папенька): daddy
dyadenka (дяденька): uncle
mamenka (маменька): mummy
To all of the above were added the -еньк- (-enk-) infix, for extra family closeness. Remove it to get the original word, except dyadenka which comes from dyadya.
solnysko (солнышко): little sun, from the root solntse (солнце) meaning sun
moy (мой): my
golubka (голубка): dove, from golub (голубь)
voron (ворон): raven
orlechka (орлечка): little eagle, from the root orel (Орел) meaning eagle
ptichka (птичка): little birdie, from the root ptich (птичь) meaning bird
Mishka (мишка): common name for bears, like Bessie for cows or Spot for dogs
Medvedev (Медве́дев): Russian surname, from the root medved (медведь) meaning bear
tigritsa (тигрица): tigress
voyechka (воечка): little wolf, from the root volk (волк) meaning wolf
knyazka (князька): prince, from knyaz (князь)
koroleva (королева): queen
tsaritsa (царица): czarina, or queen
boginya (Богиня): goddess, or queen
synok (сынок): son, from syn (сын)
shchenok (щенок): puppy
Russian naming conventions go by [given name] [patronymic] [surname], where the partonymic is the father's given name plus -ovich for sons or -ovna for daughters, plus some special cases and variations. It is polite to refer to people as [given name] [patronymic] amongst Russian speakers (and those closely culturally related), and [given name] [surname] to Westerners. Any other names come as familiarity increases, and there are limitless ways to transform them, many just go by ear to what sounds good. Wikipedia and TVTropes have good explanations and examples for all the conventions I used here for transforming names and nouns. Since every firstborn son of the Nikiforov family is called Viktor, they are all therefore invariably called Viktor Viktorovich Nikiforov.