A Russian Perspective on How Non-Russian Fanfiction Writers View Ilya Rozanov: Solnyshko, kotyonok, and other pet names in Russian
I’m very happy that the fandom has discovered such cute Russian pet names as kotyonok, solnyshko, dorogoy and so on. Good job, guys! People do use them when talking to their partners, spouses or children.
I’ll give my opinion on those fandom nicknames as a person born and raised in Russia before moving to a different country. One important thing: I will start with general notes using hetero couples as an example, you'll understand later why (it’s a long read).
From my experience, most Russian men use pet names twice less often than women. Well, maybe it was my fault to chose wrong men with communication issues, and other Russians would disagree with me… Yet, I’ll still say that an average Russian man has a small vocabulary of words and phrases to show affection. Usually, it’s women, who use various nicknames for their partners, best friends and children (and they don't repeat them, every person has their own nickname, sometimes even several), and men either don't use such words or choose one and keep it.
So, if a tough Russian man wants to use a pet name, what options would he have?
1. The safest option is a short form of his partner’s name + a diminutive suffix
Russian is a flexible language, and it has lots of different ways to form new words. And the name system usually put learners of Russian into a coma (probably a topic for the next post).
How would it look like?
A man dates a woman called Elena (Елена). A short form of Elena is Lena (Лена). We take a root “Len” and a suffix “ochk,” then add an inflection “a”. (Лен + очк + а). It makes Lenochka, Леночка. That’s it.
Usually cute animals, or something small, or words with diminutive suffixes. You already know some of them, solnyshko is “little sun,” kotyonok is “a kitten,” malysh or detka is “a baby,” luchik is “a small ray of light.”
3. Something ironic or fun, unexpected word choice, inner jokes
A strange word, that’s rarely used as a pet name. Or, a really formal way of addressing, like a full name + patronymic (Ilya Grigoryevich, Elena Alexandrovna…), but usually said ironically or playfully. Some people can even call their beloved ones by their surnames, though also playfully or ironically.
Now let’s move to Ilya. I’ll highlight some key moments in his story, which, in my opinion, define a lot in his character, including language habits.
As I mentioned, affectionate language is usually associated with women, not men (traditional views on gender roles). Boys can hear pet names either from their moms or girlfriends, if they actually do so (there are also women who don't use such a language). Ilya’s mom died when he was 12. Grigoriy in books and the show doesn't look like a man who can be soft with his sons. We don't have any information if his new wife was close with Ilya and his brother. And the brother… Well, you got it.
Second, Ilya is a professional hockey player. Children can officially join hockey schools at the age of 5 but some start even earlier, at 3 or 4. At some point, Ilya’s talent became obvious, and his coach told so his parents, so they decided to invest into his career. What does it mean?
Practices, routine, discipline, low tolerance to mistakes, high expectations. One important cultural moment. Ilya was born in June 1991, right before the USSR disappeared. Russian sport schools inherited Soviet sport traditions. I think everyone is familiar with some stereotypes about the coaching style in the Soviet Union, right? Moreover, here is a fact from rl. The Russian society started to think about the coaching style only in the mid 2010-s, maybe even later (figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics caused the biggest discussions). Some people started to think that coaches are too strict to children, some believed that nobody could become no. 1 without strict discipline. Why am I saying this? Ilya was likely raised in a tough environment with zero tolerance to mistakes and weakness. Maybe, a children’s coach was chill and fun at the begging but when it became clear that Ilya could make it to the professional hockey league, the coaching style must have changed. Also, if you watch videos with mic’d up hockey players, you’ll hear lots of profanity. Even though they usually remember that people can hear their words and maybe even try to watch their language for the first 5 minutes.
So, Ilya had no place where he could learn affectionate language. Neither his family, nor his environment could teach him so. Btw, it’s a good trope for therapy sessions, when Galina asks Ilya how he shows his feelings to people.
Okay, Ilya doesn’t speak affectionate language but he has dated women and probably figured at some point that if he calls Svetlana Svetohcka, Svetik or malyshka, it can give him some benefits. But Ilya is dating a man.
Shane is a professional athlete too, who lifts heavy weights, gets punched in the face or in the ribs regularly, had a concussion and a fractured collarbone. His mom is not just “a regular mom” but a manager, so they shift their roles from “mom and son” to “manager and client.” So, Shane probably hasn’t really heard lots of pet names in his life too, though his family is obviously healthier than Ilya’s. He’s half Japanese, and when he started his professional journey, hockey was mostly white (and it’s still like that, though there’re more biracial players than it used to be). Shane definitely heard racial slurs and had to answer them. Moreover, his vocabulary is also not roses and honey, how many times did he call Ilya an asshole?
So, Shane for Ilya is still a part of the hypermasculine world with little room for sentiments (do you have though such a word in English, lol). Even if Ilya wakes up one day with a perfect affectionate vocabulary, there’s no guarantee that Shane would immediately like it. He’ll probably be surprised.
Also, if we talk about kotyonok. In some fics, Ilya compares Shane to “a kitten” when he’s angry (Russian fic writers sometimes do it too btw). Well, children may look cute when angry (though some parents would disagree after dealing with their screaming angel for an hour). But a 185 cm meter tall, 90 kg hockey player would probably look scary when he’s angry, wouldn’t he? If we stay in the feline world, then it would be an angry tiger, I guess.
So, what to do if you wanna make Ilya a hot thing with the tongue well hung, not a man with avoidant attachment behavior and communication issues?
Rachel Reid already did it. If you remember, Ilya uses strange pet names for Shane, like moy pomidor (my tomato). IMHO, it suits Ilya’s character perfectly. He kinda uses a phrase reminding a pet name but chooses a strange, not cute or sexy word for it, and he does it in Russian, which Shane doesn’t speak. Shane doesn’t understand the phrase and gets confused, unsure whether he was just insulted or praised. He googles pomidor, figures out it means tomato and… He either laughs or rolls his eyes, and calls Ilya an asshole. Perfect.
I also find this option safe for them, if we talk about the timeline when they’re still in the closet. Like, Ilya gets drunk at the charity evening or after the All Stars game and suddenly calls Shane something. If he says kotyonok in front of Russian-speaking players, they might be fucked up. But if Ilya says pomidor, he can get away with it, explaining to the Russians that he just mocks Shane, using random words he wouldn’t understand.
What can you do as fic writer when you wanna use kotyonok or solnyshko?
Just go for it. You like these words, your audience does too, it’s a match. Fanfiction is for fun, we don’t write academic papers there. You own your fantasy.
What can you do, if you wanna add some “Russian spice” but still keep Ilya affectionate?
Just keep in mind his background and let him learn things. You can show his development, how he started with “boring” and moy pomidor and then moved to solnyshko. There could be a difference after their coming out, like Ilya could be more relaxed when they don’t need to hide anymore. You can compare him to Shane, how would Shane react when he turned from “boring” to malysh? Would he stop using “asshole” as an equivalent for “I love you” in this case?
And
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