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 Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:10 pm
Interrupting his daily music practice took Alyosha some getting used to. Given how many years he’d spent devoted to the music more or less singlemindedly—only pausing anything to switch between instruments and letting everything else, including several aspects of basic self-care fall wherever they did or didn’t—he expected he might be adjusting to the practice for a while. He’d started honing these new habits before he and Vasha had left New York, because not doing so felt as if it risked failing in his duties to the band. If he didn’t take the best care of himself that he could, then he’d struggle to learn or keep up with choreography. His songwriting might suffer.
Besides all that—as though Alyosha needed further motivation—he might’ve upset Vasha by neglecting any aspect of his own self-care. Having seen Alyosha quite low before, and within fairly recent memory, Vasha had more reason than most to take a personal interest in whether or not Alyosha did right by himself, if he made enough time to keep up on his own needs. Even if he hadn’t wanted to be both more vigilant and more proactive about his self-care for his own sake, Alyosha would’ve found sufficient motivation for everything—from the tedious process of interviewing potential new therapists until he found one he could work with to breaking from his practice time for a meal—in Vasha. Specifically, in his face and voice.
More specifically, in the way Vasha had looked and sounded in Alyosha’s old apartment, telling him that it probably seemed empty, but Vasha would always believe in Alyosha’s songwriting. That belief had meant everything to Alyosha since he’d started sharing original work with Vasha. So help him, Alyosha needed to avoid ever again letting Vasha feel as if his support didn’t matter to Alyosha. That meant, among other things, heeding all the alerts to stop his practice time so he could stretch a bit, work in a few sets of the exercises he could easily do from home, or (such as the case was) eat.
Still, though? Something rankled, spiny sharp and deep below Alyosha’s skin every time an alert went off on his phone, telling him to step away from the piano or put down his violin. It clawed up his nerves even worse when he needed to break for a meal.
Nevertheless, the alarm had gone off, and the advice from his old therapist in The City still held enough weight to work for Alyosha. If he pretended the alert was a text from his mom or from Vasha, gentle harassment from one of his loved ones about how he needed to eat, he struggled to blow it off. Not that it changed the fundamental nature of an alert Alyosha had set for himself? But grounding himself in thoughts of Mom and Vasha did remind him that he needed to care about more things than his own immediate gratification. All well and good to feel like his practice was what made him happiest, but Alyosha couldn’t continue practicing every day if he allowed everything else in his life to fall apart.
It wasn’t all bad, either. Sitting at the kitchen table and working his way through his bowl of lunch, afforded Alyosha enough time to open the group text he had with his sisters. Sometimes, he needed nothing more than the kind of check that only Ritka, Irinka, Yulya, and Tanya could provide.…… Well, at least Ritka, Irinka, and Yulya could provide that. But Tanya’s biggest disadvantage—being all of fourteen, vs. Ritka’s 35, Irinka’s 30, and Yulya’s 28—wasn’t exactly Tanya’s fault. Hardly fair to hold it against her, then.
Today wasn’t one of the days where her opinions were actively detrimental, either. Alyosha still hadn’t decided what to do with the mirror-selfies he’d taken after hitting the gym that morning. Posting them to Instagram felt like the most obvious answer, but Alyosha was a composer and songwriter, not a model, photographer, image consultant, or public relations specialist. What if he’d snapped himself from a series of bad angles, actually? What if the pictures looked fine, but selfies with his whole chest out would cultivate the wrong sort of image for him? Were they better saved for Grindr, or was even that doing too much (since his account likely wouldn’t stay relatively low-profile if when Star Eclipse managed to break through)?
Once he’d gotten permission to send them off, ten selfies got thrown to the winds of the group text. All of them, Alyosha had snapped in the full-length mirror hanging by his usual locker at the gym. Hair, freshly showered, damp but not dripping, wavy from both that and the towel Alyosha had wrapped it up in after he’d finished cleaning up. He’d changed out of his contacts before hitting the shower, so he wore his glasses in the pics. His tight, black jeans were new, slung low on his hips but not too low. He’d gotten them shortly before leaving New York—a concession to basic reality. While Alyosha could mostly get by with his same old shirts from before he’d started training, a lot of his jeans had gotten loose enough everywhere but in the back, they couldn’t help looking sloppy. In most of the shots, he kept his left hand close to his hip, thumb hooked through a belt-loop.
Yet, the main event felt obvious to Alyosha. Without a shirt, the Alyosha in the photos let anyone looking on see the muscle tone he’d developed in the chest and stomach. It probably looked nice? Certainly nothing on the level of Rory’s abs, Alyosha didn’t think, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the selfies like this that he’d ever taken, he’d kept locked down as personal documentation more than anything because, in his own eyes, his hard work hadn’t shown (or if it had, then the improvements weren’t enough to justify troubling social media with them). Today, though, he’d felt……pretty good, for once? As if his abs actually looked like the abs of someone in a boy band.
But if that was all in his head, then Alyosha wanted somebody to tell him so. Looking like an overly confident idiot on the Internet sounded awful. Let somebody else do that to themself, not Alyosha. Watching the ellipsis that indicated people typing, he hoped that his sisters would honor how their parents had raised them and level with him honestly.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:12 pm
Tanya
YOOOOOO!!! WTF!!!!!! 🤩🔥🔥🔥
Ritka
Aww, Alyosha, you look so nice! ♥️
Tanya
ijbol
Irinka
You look hot but also uncomfortable
Tanya
ig thats one way to say it ;D
Tanya
UGH
Yulya
Did Vasha’s ******** mother make
you get your abs done like Drake or
some s**t? Bc this happened fast
and GROSS if she did
Yulya’s text made Alyosha frown. Alright, he’d wanted honesty, but……ugh, why did Yulya’s honest feelings need to take cheap shots at Vasha’s mother?
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:12 pm
Tanya
I MEANT “SO NICE”
Ms. Voronin has never “made” me
do anything, Yulya. Certainly
nothing like what you’re saying.
She’s different from all that.
Tanya
I MEANT “SO NICE” IS ONE WAY
TO SAY YOU LOOK HOT AF
Tanya
🔥🌶️🔥🌶️
Also, no. I did not get my “abs done.”
I’ve been working a combo of diet
and physical training since before we
moved down here.
Ritka
Alyosha, wow! You must’ve worked
so hard for those results! 🥺
Well, I certainly feel like I have
Nice as Ritka’s compliments were, though, Alyosha kept his focus on the texts. No switching over to Instagram just yet. He could trust that Ritka was sharing her honest opinions, yes, but with all the love in his heart for his eldest sister, he couldn’t trust her to be unbiased.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:13 pm
Tanya
I NOTICED BEFORE YOU LEFT!!!
Tanya
BC I’M THE BEST SISTER!!! I PAY
ATTENTION!!!
……That certainly was a word for what Tanya had done, Alyosha supposed.
But she also wasn’t really hurting anyone by being fourteen, so as he stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork, he committed to ignoring her nonsense. Given her usual attention span, Tanya would move on pretty quickly as long as the conversation did.Will any of you think I’m insane if I
tell you that I’ve found training like
I’ve been increasingly meditative?
Ritka
I wouldn’t!
Irinka
SHOULD we think you’re insane?
I would prefer it if you didn’t, actually
I was just asking because I know it’s
strange and different for me
Yulya
Christ, how long are you in the gym
every day? Do I even wanna know?
If I answer that honestly, are you
going to worry unnecessarily and/or
tell our father?
Irinka
Wait, why do you only care about
Yulya snitching to Dad about this?
Because Mama already knows, obviously?
Yulya
tf you mean “mama already knows,
obviously”?
why is this meant to be OBVIOUS to
us, lyosha?
I mean that Mama knows what Star
Eclipse is about, and warned me
months ago that just vocal
maintenance cardio wouldn’t be
enough for a boy band. She was
right. She knows that I’ve been
working with trainers and she trusts
Ms. Voronin’s judgment
Yulya
ugh, you and mama both about that
woman, I swear to ******** god
At least texting each other from different states meant Alyosha could roll his eyes at Yulya free of any consequences. More of this garbage again, then. Delightful. Delicious. Delovely. Ugh.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:13 pm
Yulya
But yeah, ******** it
Yulya
You wanna act like kids about it?
Fine. If I find the answer about how
many hours you log in the gym
concerning, yes, I’m telling our father
In that case, I plead the Fifth
Irinka
You took the pics at 8:30. Didn’t
even hide the metadata. Rookie
mistake, baby brother
Irinka
And you’ve mentioned getting up at
5 AM before……? The math is
mathing and I have questions…? 🤔
Already said that I plead the Fifth,
Irinka. I stand by that
Yulya
This isn’t a court of law, idiot
In that case, I hope Irinka’s math
accounts for me making and eating
breakfast, walking a few blocks to
the gym, and showering after
Ritka
That’s probably not so bad, all things
considered? Beyoncé used to be in
the gym three hours a day when she
was still with Destiny’s Child. It was
on a VH1 special back when I was in
middle school
Ritka
And it sounds like Alyosha’s
definitely doing less than that
(especially with everything
else factored in, like he said)
I also wasn’t up at 05:00 today, if it
makes any difference to you all
For what it’s worth, I don’t feel like
I’ve spent an excessive amount of
time in the gym. Not any day since
this started, and definitely not today
specifically. I actually did a fairly
toned down routine for me.
Tanya
wait what’s so special about today??
Tanya
vashas birthday was in june!!!
It’s nothing to do with Vasha, Tanya.
Not everything in my life revolves
around my best friend.
Maybe not the most convincing lie he’d ever told, but…… On the other hand, was it a lie?
Certainly, plenty of things in Alyosha’s life did involve Vasha, if not outright revolve around him. But plenty of room remained……not free of his influence, exactly? That made it sound too positive. Perhaps, disentangled from Vasha because they were both functional adults who knew how to do things without each other.
Which didn’t actually sound that much better, but……whatever. His phone buzzed, and blessedly kept him from chasing that mental rabbit. Putting too much thought into everything with him and Vasha risked ruining what they had—or worse, wasting material for a song on……what? Self-indulgent nonsense?
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:14 pm
Yulya
What, do you have to make the new
boy come to the gym with you? But
he won’t get up that early because
he isn’t a perfectionist lunatic?
No. I’ve got a session with Joey later
Irinka
Who the ******** is Joey? I thought New
Boy’s name was Malcolm
Also, I just prefer working out
alone. It clears my head better that
way and I like that
Our new member’s name is
Malcolm, yes
Joey is a coach I’m working with.
Irinka
Wait you mean your dance practice?
No, I mean a session with Joey.
Dance will be involved, yes, but he’s
coaching me on more than that
Ritka
It’s performance coaching, Irinka! ♥️
Exactly. Thank you, Ritka
Ritka
Performing in a boy band isn’t like
anything Alyosha’s done before.
He’s working very hard to learn what
he needs to do and we ought to be
supporting him in that 🥺
Tanya
what song u working on
“Tearin’ Up My Heart.”
Please don’t judge us for the
*NSYNC track, Ritka (♥️)
Ritka
omg, I would never 😭
Ritka
I loved them too back in the day
/
This was good. This worked. This wasn’t exactly what Alyosha wanted—really, how hard was it to give him some opinion on the selfies already?—but he could work with this. But as long as Alyosha could keep his sisters focused, maybe they’d get back to where he wanted this conversation to go.
Irinka
You’re all trying to move on really
fast 😒
Ritka
Will you let me see your progress as
soon as you can? 🥺
Of course I will, as soon Joey allows
Or more likely, as soon as I don’t
hate how I look while doing the
choreography
Tanya
WAIT YEAH WE SO ARE
Yulya
Why do you need to hit the gym
AND go to your “dance-heavy
performance coaching” lessons or
whatever? On the same day?
Because boy band fitness standards
aren’t the same as normal people’s
standards. We have to sing and
dance simultaneously, do that for
several hours at a time, and live up
to high visual standards
That any of this needed to be said baffled Alyosha, but……what did he know? Maybe his sweet sisters simply couldn’t be bothered to remember the reality of his situation, now. All of it felt as second nature to him, considering he had to live this way. But obviously, they didn’t. Considerations that he took for granted by now must have seemed at least mildly insane to them.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:14 pm
Tanya
DID VASHA TELL U ANYTHING
BOUT THE PICS? HE’S SMART, U
SHOULD ASK HIM THINGS
Yulya
Tatianna Nikolayevna, go to class or
I will tell our parents you’re truant
Tanya
IM ON LUNCH YULYA JFC 😭
Also because I’m absolue rubbish at
choreography, when I do get the
steps right then I totally mess up the
emotion I should be projecting and it
all comes across like “********, what’s
my next move again.” Unfortunately
for me, boy band artists don’t get the
privilege of playing their guitar and/or
piano, singing their hearts out, and
doing very little else.
Ritka
Alyosha, please don’t be so hard on
yourself. You’re working so hard 🥺
Tanya
YEAH!!! DON’T BE SUCH A b***h
ABOUT VASHA’S BEST FRIEND
WHOS ALSO MY DUMB-DUMB BIG
BROTHER! ILL THROW HANDS!!!
I’m only trying to assess things
realistically. Doesn’t help anyone to
pretend that I don’t have things to
improve on, does it?
Tanya
WHATS VASHA SAY ABOUT UR
PICS FR STOP IGNORING ME 😭
Ritka
But it also doesn’t help for you to act
as if your hard work doesn’t matter.
You’re trying to cram in an amount of
dance training that some people
spend their entire lives on. So,
please don’t judge your progress by
other people’s, and try not to hold
yourself to unfair standards
I know, Ritka. I promise: I’ve only
recently found my new therapist, but
I’m being diligent about any
homework she gives me. Before
finding her, I similarly kept up on
doing the homework that Lorraine
used to give me.
“Realistically” here doesn’t mean
that I don’t recognize my hard work or progress, only that I want to stay
grounded instead of prematurely
celebrating anything.
Irinka
EXCUSE ME.
Irinka
I SAID: You’re all moving on really
fast 😒
Y’know, from what I and Yulya were
talking about before
“Realistically” means exactly what it
says: a fair assessment of both my
progress and where I still need to
improve my performance
Anyway, since I guess Irinka needs
permission to speak for herself now:
what’s on your mind, dear sister?
Irinka
I thought your boy band character
was “The Smart One,” not The Class
Clown, dumbass
That is what it’s meant to be?
Irinka
Anyway, I don’t think it’s
“unsupportive” of Alyosha for me and
Yulya to say that we have concerns
about the physical training aspect of
this whole “Star Eclipse” bullshit or
whatever you’re implying
As he read that, Alyosha considered calling Irina and asking her to say it to him directly, without the shield of written text between them. Knowing her, she would have done it both gladly and easily, which would have been fair enough. It was, however, the principle of the thing. Concern or not, if Irina wanted to imply that she knew better than Alyosha what he needed to do for work—that she knew better than Alyosha what he could handle doing for work—then did he not have a right to push back at such presumption? Or at least to ask that she back it up?
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:15 pm
As he read that text, his fingers went slack. Metal clanked against the bowl’s ceramic. Alyosha wrinkled his nose down at the screen as though he could somehow will this nonsense to change into something more comprehensible simply by staring at it hard enough. Alas, he had nothing. Out of all the Lebedev siblings, Alyosha and Yulya might have been the closest to each other in age—but ********, when her train of thought lost him, Alyosha might as well have been stranded in the middle of Death Valley with no phone, no compass, and no map.
How the Hell could she even think to imply—In that situation, dear sister, Vasha
would raise Hell with me instead
Tanya
what he said!!!
He’d be entirely right for that too, if I
were putting him in such a position
(which I am not). Playing games with
my own health is tantamount to
playing games with the band’s entire future. How could I ever do that to
Vasha? Please be serious.
Never mind how badly I’ve stressed
him out by failing to take proper care
of myself before. I have no desire to
do that to him again.
Tanya
like duh ofc vasha wont let our idiot
brother do anythin stupid like that
vasha cares too much he would
LITERALLY NEVER
Well, Tanya’s argument was unideal and extremely fourteen of her.
But as he picked up his fork for another bite of lunch, Alyosha decided to overlook that. He’d made similarly emotional and likewise nonsense arguments at her age. Given sufficient motivation, any of his older sisters, their brothers, or Vasha could scroll back through their Messages app for the evidence—or at least, Alyosha thought they could. Maybe one or another of them had turned off the setting to save messages forever?
If they hadn’t, then he could. An inconvenient, tedious process, yes, it would be. But one that he’d deserve to endure if he were going to act like he had any high ground over Tanya about acting fourteen while—gasp, shock, horrors!—being fourteen.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:15 pm
Genuinely, Vasha deserves more
credit for my well being than you’re
giving him, Yulya
Yulya
Ugh, whatever
Irinka
If you love him so much, why don’t
you ******** marry him
For the same reasons I always say,
Irinka. How many times have we
been over this before?
Irinka
The reasons that you always say are
idiotic, give me something better to
believe or make a move already
Since when is consent idiotic?
Ritka
Alyosha, nobody is saying that 😭
Irinka
Consent isn’t idiotic, you’re right. But
you aren’t caring about consent.
You’re caring about whatever
nonsense you made up in your own
gay little head about Vasha allegedly
not wanting you to ******** him stupid
Am I ever going to get some
consensus about the selfies, or at
least something adjacent to an
answer about the question that I
actually asked……? Please……?
Because personally, I think we have
more than slightly meandered from
the point. I don’t have all afternoon.
Ritka
I stand by what I said: you’ve worked
hard and the selfies really do look
nice, you should post them 🥺
Tanya
IJS, U SHOULD ASK VASHA WHAT
HE THINKS, HE HAS VERY GOOD
TAKES ABOUT THIS STUFF 👀
Irinka
My concerns about the larger
situation notwithstanding? I feel like
you’re totally overlooking the fact
that you are NOT obligated to post
anything. Yes, your body looks fierce
and whatever else, but you also
don’t look super comfortable in the
pics. You look like you’re trying too
hard to do something you don’t want
to do. I vote for “don’t post them, you
don’t owe that to anyone”
Tanya
oh, BOO. Alyosha doesn’t look
THAT uncomfy and the hotness
should count more imltho
Yulya
Tanya, please be serious. None of
this situation is remotely funny
Care to break the tie for us, Yulya?
Yulya
Yeah, unfortunately for you, that’s
not happening right now
Any reason why not?
Yulya
Not to sound like you, but the same
ones I’ve been saying this whole
time: I still have concerns about how
driven you are when you set your
mind to something. I still have
concerns, baby brother, about how
intense you get and what specific
thing you’re currently being intense
about. And I still have my concerns
about whether or not your little
boyfriend’s notorious Hell-b***h
mother is exploiting that ambition
and drive to your detriment while you
make excuses for her like you’re
getting paid for it
Then I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve
said since you first brought it up: you
are wrong about Ms. Voronin, and
she hasn’t asked me to do anything I
wouldn’t do willingly.
Yulya
Yeah, forgive me if I struggle to take
any of your defenses of her seriously
Tanya
nuh uh vashas mom is so cool she
like steps on necks professionally
Ritka
Tanya, do you understand what that means?
Somehow, Alyosha sincerely doubted that his little sister understood anything about what “steps on necks” meant.…… Or at least he really hoped she didn’t.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:15 pm
I don’t feel that Ms. Voronin has
asked me for anything outrageous,
anything that I wouldn’t expect to be
asked for, or anything that was not in
either my best interests or the band’s
I cannot emphasize enough that she
really isn’t like that.
Ritka
It matters that you don’t feel any of
this has been excessive, Alyosha.
You’re the one who has to live this
way and handle performing. ❤️
Yulya
Yeah, but like I just talked around,
you defend Vasha’s mother from
basically every charge against her
regardless of what it is or how you
DO NOT need to do so
Ritka
I mean, she and mama have worked
together for years. I don’t think Ms.
Voronin would ever do anything to
hurt Alyosha
My trainers have me logging more
gym time than I’ve ever been used
to, yes, with dance practice on top of
that. But all of this makes perfect
sense, considering the nature of Star
Eclipse and what being in a boy
band requires physically. I can’t
perform in the way we’re expected to
if I don’t properly train for it.
Irinka
Cute way to say she cares more
about how you look than anything
else about you.
Ritka
Irinka, stop! That’s so rude and
unfair to say 😭
Yulya
But is she wrong, though?
Yes. As the one of us who actually
deals with Ms. Voronin in this
capacity, I can tell you: Irinka is
wrong, point blank, period.
So are you, for that matter.
Again.
Yulya
Excuse me for worrying about my
little brother when he’s working for
somebody who’s kind of a notorious
hell-b***h, then defending her from
everything I say without hearing any
of our points about why he maybe
doesn’t need to do that
Maybe I defend Ms. Voronin from
those charges, Yulya, because I
know they’re wrong and, as Ritka
said, incredibly unfair.
Yulya
I’m just saying, you don’t get to be in
a position like hers without busting
some balls and cracking a few skulls
here or there. The rumors out there
about her are ******** wild.
And Ritka’s right, Irinka: you are
being extremely unfair and
uncharitable to Ms. Voronin. The
visually oriented nature of the
industry does not mean that image is
her only concern. Why would it be?
Irinka
Because six-pack abs are an
aesthetic choice, not something
anybody ever needs to be healthy?
Ritka
But Alyosha, you ARE being healthy
about getting and maintaining those
abs, right? 🥺
I’m eating lunch while we have this
conversation, yes, if that’s what you
mean to ask.
As if it held the magic key to settling the debate, Alyosha snapped a quick photo of said lunch. Nothing complicated, a lentil bowl with grilled chicken, spinach, and avocado. High protein, high fiber, complicated carbohydrates. Just because it wasn’t one of the low-or-no carb days in his routine, that didn’t give him an invitation to load up on garbage.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:15 pm
And to fend off any speculation, I’ve
been eating right this whole time.
Starving is actively detrimental to my
goals here.
Yulya
Okay, but you do look thinner though
I’m really not, but okay.
Irinka
Could’ve fooled me. Hence a lot of
the suspicion, actually. At least on
my part
Irinka
Obviously, I can’t speak for Yulya
Yulya
No, that sounds about right
Irinka
The ostensible lack of regard for how
you look and how much work it takes
to look that way really isn’t helping
your case imo
Said work is literally part of my job
now, Irinka. Wanting recognition for
doing the bare minimum of my job is
silly and childish.
Irinka
See, I would agree with you if I didn’t
know good and goddamn well what
YOUR idea of “bare minimum” is
Ritka
Alyosha……? 🥺
Ritka
You’ve been typing for kind of a
while, are you okay? ♥️
Yes, Ritka, I’m fine.
I’m just trying to assuage our sisters’
concerns and explain things for them
while feeling like I’d have better luck
if I lived in a Franz Kafka novel.
Tanya
HEY WHATS THAT MEAN
Yulya
Are you being ******** serious
Yes, I’m being quite serious. I asked
one (1) question and everything has
devolved into a simply Kafkaesque
level of interrogation.
Yulya
Oh my god you ******** drama queen
Tanya
PLS EXPLAIN
Yulya
Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about
Tanya
FOR ALL OF US WHO ARENT
EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL YET? 😭
Irinka
What, all one of you?
Yulya
You aren’t even being interrogated
and comparing this to Franz Kafka is
absolute drama queen behavior
Tanya
ALL I KNOW BOUT KAFKA IS HIS
FRIEND GREG TURNED INTO A
HUGE GROSS COCKROACH 😭
Affectionately, Alyosha paused in his typing and rolled his eyes. So. Extremely. Fourteen years old. Yes, Tanya would grow out of it someday, but still. Until she did, the rest of them simply had to deal with that.Irinka
“Monstrous vermin,” technically
Ritka
Gregor, Tanya. The character’s
name is Gregor Samsa. You’ll get to
him in tenth or eleventh grade,
depending on which lit teachers you
take classes with
Tanya
so whats the huge bug guy gotta do
with how lyosha’s stupid and should
just ask vasha about his gym selfies
Yulya
Nothing. Our brother is just throwing
shade because apparently, Irinka
and I expressing concern over his
wellbeing makes Alyosha feel like he
is being persecuted and interrogated
in ways “marked by surreal distortion
and a looming sense of danger”
Tanya
ohhhhhhhhhhhh
Tanya
But idgi whats so dangerous about u
helping me tell him to ask vasha 😭
Yulya
??? When did I ******** say that?
Rookie mistake, Alyosha thought but did not allow himself to type. Expecting the hellbent and determined fourteen year old to rely on normal human logic is a losing game.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:16 pm
Yes, I’ve been doing strength and
resistance training. Yes, getting
visible muscle definition is partially
why. But most of my workout time
goes to cardio, for the same reasons
about that motivated me to take my
cardio routine more seriously on my
own. The only real difference is that
now, I need to worry about looks and
choreography on top of maintaining
the quality of my vocal performance.
Still, all my physical training and gym
time ultimately serves my voice more
than anything else.
Irinka
I hear what you’re saying about your
voice. That’s fine. But the last time
your stomach looked anything close
to how it does now, it was because
you barely ate anything for two
months while lying to yourself AND
all of us that you were 100% fine
Yulya
Look, I know you were flexing on
purpose in those pics, but it’s ******** to see my dork a** baby
brother (y’know, the one who is
STILL in a fight with dedushka
Fedya about whether Tchaikovsky is
the best of all possible Russian
composers or is it actually
Rachmaninoff?) sporting pecs and a
six-pack, looking like some centerfold
model for gay Playboy
For the most part, Alyosha had been trying to stay quiet. Malcolm was still getting used to the group’s townhouse. Even if he weren’t, sharing a living space with four other boys came with the inherent risk of any unexpected sounds being overheard and subsequently judged.
Regardless, pinching the bridge of his nose, Alyosha allowed himself space to groan. He hoped that nobody heard him, and offhand, he thought the odds probably favored him. Vasha’s room was the only one on the ground floor, near the kitchen. He and Emil had their streaming to do, thus noise to keep them distracted. In all likelihood, everything was fine. Nothing to worry about. No reason to get all twisted up on himself.
If nothing else, it bore consideration that Rory hadn’t come barrelling down the stairs with more energy than necessary and dozens of questions about……whatever he chose to project all over the simple fact of Alyosha groaning.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:16 pm
Not to belabor the point, but Vasha
wouldn’t allow any of the behaviors
you’re talking around to stand, Irinka.
He has seen me at my worst before
(the same as you have) and, as my
best friend, Vasha doesn’t want to
repeat that experience. He found it
frightening and upsetting, the same
as you all and our parents did. So,
please give him his due credit.
Also, the answer is Tchaikovsky and
our grandfather can just be mad
about it because I’m right.
Yulya
oh my god you ******** loser could
that be any LESS the ******** point?
Don’t bring it up then, if it isn’t the point
Ritka
Alyosha, our sisters are being very
rude but I do think they’re only trying
to express concern because this
seems like a bigger change to us
than it does to you. All I noticed
before you and Vasha moved was
that some of your old clothes fit a bit
differently 😭
Tanya
I NOTICED!!! I KNEW THAT YOU
HAD ABS NOW!!! BC I’M UR BEST
SISTER LET THE RECORD SHOW
THAT I’M THE BEST
Tanya, you let yourself into my old
apartment while I was in the shower
and saw me in a towel. That’s not
“noticing,” it’s an unfair advantage
that our other sisters lacked because
they inherited the “respect for others’
boundaries” gene instead.
Tanya
Well thats not MY fault. They
could’ve stolen mama’s key to your
old place and come in too if they
wanted to see your six-pack
I don’t even really have a six-pack
like Irinka wants to think. They’re just
a little bit more defined than before.
Irinka
Baby brother, either you’re fishing for
compliments or giving us a level of
delusion that should be scientifically
studied. Except I know you, and
because it’s YOU, I know you’re
definitely doing the second thing,
and somehow, that’s infinitely more
disappointing than you not
respecting us enough to just ask us
tell us you look hot in your tacky
post-workout mirror selfies
Yulya
Also because the rumors about your
boyfriend’s mama say that she’s a
ball-buster and she had better not try
any of that s**t with you.
Vasha is not my boyfriend. He
doesn’t want that, and I’m happy
with what we are to each other, even
if I would have more, were it ever in
the cards, which it is not.
Tanya
YOU HAVENT EVEN ASKED HIM 😭
The rumors are wildly wrong and I
don’t want to discuss it further. Ms.
Voronin has, in all of my experience
with her, been nothing but
hardworking, professional, and yes,
demanding, but no more than
expected for someone in her
position, who is trying to build a new
boy band and help them succeed in
a harsh, unforgiving industry.
Tanya
I BET VASHA’S BEEN SECRETLY
IN LOVE W U THIS WHOLE TIME
BUT U WONT ASK BC UR GAY
AND STUPID AND ALSO GAY AND
U WONT SHUT UP ABOUT
FLEETWOOD STUPID MAC
She’s giving me a chance to do
something with all my songwriting.
No, it may not take the shape that I
ever expected. People may never
care to read the writing credits and
see my name all on them. They may
not believe that I wrote everything I
do. But being able to get my music
out there in some form means the
world to me. I will do anything to
ensure that this works out.
Yulya
Uh huh, and I’m sure wanting to ******** has nothing to do with how
much latitude you’re giving his
mother about asking you for such
major lifestyle changes?
Whatever you think you’re implying
about me and Vasha, Yulya, you’re
wrong and I wish you’d stop.
Yulya
I’m not IMPLYING anything,
Alyosha. I am saying, bluntly and
outright, that almost every song
you’ve ever written is about how
much you want to ******** Vasha
No, I don’t want to ******** him. I would
want that if he did, but insofar as I
know, he doesn’t. All I want is
Vasha’s happiness.
Irinka
It will never not mystify me that he
doesn’t notice anything about your
songs though. Some of your lyrics
are subtle, but a lot of them are not
Well, Alyosha deserved that.
He knew perfectly well that he deserved it. Nothing he could think of to do would change that, either.
All the same, Irinka’s point about however Vasha interpreted the lyrics Alyosha wrote? Simply was not the important point, right now. Had nothing to do with what Alyosha had actually asked, and did nothing to help him resolve the issue for which he had actually sought help. So much for the benefits of having so many siblings, and in particular, sisters who allegedly understood the inner workings and etiquette of social media (things that had never seemed like they should’ve mattered to Aleksey, when he had always wanted to succeed based on the merits of his creative work, not based on Mama using her connections as a music producer to benefit him or how well he could manipulate an inscrutable website algorithm).
Could he still redirect his sisters’ focus? Or had they irreparably lost the plot by now?
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:16 pm
Can we please stop denying Vasha
the credit he deserves? I think the
explanation is much simpler and
doesn’t raise any questions about
Vasha’s perceptive abilities or media
literacy. He notices, same as you all
and our parents and brothers have
done, but he doesn’t reciprocate,
and if we talked about it openly, we
might throw off the fine balance
between us. He may also worry that
an overt rejection might wound me in
ways that lead to a repeat of that
downswing episode of mine
Yulya
Aleksey Nikolayevich, how the ******** this the “simple” explanation
It’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it?
Yulya
It’s ******** stupid, Alyosha
Ritka
Yulya, come on. 😭 This is very
important to him. We’re talking about
fundamentally altering the balance of
Alyosha’s most important
relationship outside of the family
Yulya
Fundamentally altering WHAT,
though? He was making big sad cow
eyes at Vasily before Ricky Martin
taught him what “gay” means and
that it applies to him. He kept making
big sad cow eyes at Vasily when we
were teenagers and Alyosha started
writing songs about him. Now, he’s
STILL making the exact same big
sad stupid cow eyes at Vasily and
writing songs about wanting to ******** or murder his lame grindr boys
or ******** whatever.
The only thing that’s changed is that
Alyosha got abs and goes to therapy
now so at least SOMEBODY can get
paid for dealing with him mooning
over his Vasha with the sad sparkly
idiotic cow eyes that you could
probably see from ******** SPACE
unless, apparently, your name is
Vasily ******** Voronin
Wow, Yulya. When you lay it all out
like that, I haven’t the foggiest idea
what I was thinking, saying that
“Vasha knows how I feel about him
but doesn’t reciprocate and it’s better
for everyone if we just don’t talk
about it” was the Occam’s Razor
explanation. You sure opened my
eyes here, I am truly grateful.
(Please read the previous text as
sarcastically as possible, sweet sister.)
Yulya
😒😒😒😒
Yulya
You’re only being a brat right now
because you KNOW that I’m right
Tanya
what’s Vasha think bout the gym pics
tho, huh~? did he like them??? 👀
Haven’t asked him.
I came to you four first.
Tanya
BOOOOO, BAD DECISION!!! WHY
DIDN’T U ASK HIM BEFORE US?
Tanya
and uggggggggggh you text like
such an old person
Tanya
would it LITERALLY KILL YOU to
care less abt punctuation we’re ur
sisters ffs!!!!!
Tatiana Nikolayevna, you are literally
using punctuation with me right now.
Ritka
I think you should post the pics! You
deserve to show off your hard work!
Tanya
UGH YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE THE
EXCUSE OF BEING BORN IN THE
1900’S!!!!!! LOOSEN UP, WILL YOU!
Right, well.
Please forget I said anything.
Ritka
🥺🥺🥺?
Yulya
God, don’t have a ******** tantrum
Yulya
Just because people who loved you
expressed some ******** concern?
I’m not having a tantrum, I just don’t
have all afternoon, as I already said.
Since I can’t get a consensus out of
you all, I’m sending the selfies to
Vasha and getting his opinion.
Tanya
YEAH!!!! LIKE YOU SHOULD’VE
DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!
Well, after how this round of nonsense in the group-chat had gone, Alyosha could hardly disagree with that.
As he sent the photos off to Vasha, he sorely hoped that his friend was not on stream right now. If he was, Alyosha would live, he supposed? But it would be so much easier for him—for both of them, probably—if Vasha didn’t need to hide the texts he was getting from his camera and his audience. The same went for any potential reactions on Vasha’s part, but by the same token, that assumed that Vasha would have any particular reaction. He might not have, or at least, none that he couldn’t repress for the camera.
Truly, whether she intended it or not, Tanya did have a point: Vasha knew more about all of this, the social side of things in their chosen field, than any of Alyosha’s sisters did. He should have asked Vasha first and foremost.
With that handled, Alyosha set about cleaning up his dishes. That wasn’t his chore for the week, but focusing on the repetitive motions helped to clear his head. Sitting down at the piano for a round of practice didn’t require a clear head—plenty of times, he retreated to the piano because he needed to clear his head, and only playing promised to help—but Alyosha preferred to approach his practice as calmly as possible.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 4:16 pm
Texts from Tatiana Nikolayevna Lebedev to Vasily Voronin, sent during the above group-chat conversation👀👀👀👀
Hey u talked to alyosha today???
not asking for worry reasons btw!!!
he’s group texting us sisters rn and said he’s doing
lunch so we know he’s ok
But also like 👀👀👀👀
did he tell u how his gym went this morning?
wait nvm
😠😠😠😠
he just said for himself 😒
hes so stupid vasha why do u like him
dont worry tho!!! his gym thing wasnt bad i just think
u deserved to see it b4 us sisters did
i’m gonna work him over til he shows u ok!!!
i have my ways 😌
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