name (last, first): sapphaire, hai
age (pre-, post-timeskip): 20-22
gender and sexuality: trans femme genderfluid, she/he, pansexual
species: half mermaid, half fish-man
crew and role: straw hat pirates, musician
bio: hai was born on fish-man island to the sapphaire family, a notorious crime family known for terrorizing the underworld of fish-man island and beyond. hai was always a black sheep, never fitting in to their brutal, violent ways, only ever wanting to sing and dance and dress up, much to his father's chagrin. he wanted a son to carry on the family's legacy, but he got hai who he saw as confused and weak.
for years, hai endured her family trying to force her to be someone she wasn't, something hai simply couldn't be. there were few solaces for hai there, though she did have her aunt lila, someone who understood her and her troubles. she also had her aunt shyarly and the mermaid cafe, a place where hai felt she could be more herself, at least for a bit.
when hai was 15, he had a terrible fight with his father, and ran away from home for the last time, determined to never return. looking for his aunt lila or aunt shyarly, hai instead ran into a fish-man named BD at the mermaid cafe. sensing hai was looking for an escape, BD promised hai a life away from fish-man island, where he would be able to be a singer and performer like he always wanted to be. hai, desperate to be understood and lonely, agreed to go with BD, and the two left fish-man island behind.
the two found a ship, a paddle barge they called "the treasure chest", and from there, they recruited a band of performers. together, the group made up the performing troupe "the treasure's of the sea", with BD as their manager. they settled in the east blue, travelling around and performing for anyone who had the berry to spend, as well as running a casino out of "the treasure chest".
the troupe became popular on the east blue, especially at the baratie where they would return to again again, crowds flocking to the restaurant for dinner and a show. it was at this time that hai met black leg sanji and got close to him, as well as the rest of the crew of the restuarant. they were the first humans hai really grew to trust, BD having instilled a deep distrust in her, along with the pre-existing politics that already plagued human-fish-man/mermaid relations, but at the baratie, hai learned that humans weren't so bad.
things weren't as great as they seemed on the outside, though. BD was a cruel manager who commanded the group with an iron fist. hai felt responsible for the other troupe members as a founder of the group, so he stayed to try and protect them as best he could from BD's wrath. when hai was 20, though, he and BD got into a huge blow-up fight, and BD, sick of hai's perceived insolence, decided to sell him to non other than his half-uncle, arlong.
before arlong could collect her, though, hai heard of the plan and, terrified, turned to sanji for help. it just so happened this was when the straw hats had arrived at the baratie, and when luffy asked sanji to join his crew, hai asked to join too, at least temporarily. when luffy asked hai what her dream was, she told him it was to tell the stories of great pirate crews through song and music, something she was always passionate about. luffy agreed to let her join, even if hai insisted it was temporary, and she was able to escape arlong through the straw hat's protection.
after the events of arlong park, hai found himself too fond of the straw hats to leave, so he asked to stay permanently, which luffy agreed to. he has been travelling with them since.
positive traits: kind, energetic, creative, lively, protective
negative traits: anxious, self-conscious, sacrificial, distrustful, placating
possible connections:
pirate crews and sailors: hai is a member of the straw hat pirates and meets the people they meet
fish-men and mermaids: hai is proud of his heritage and connects well with fellow members of fish-man island, provided they aren't directly connected to his family
the criminal underworld: hai knows the ins and outs of the criminal underworld, and her family name would be familiar to those involved with it
the general public of the east blue: the treasure's of the sea were a well known performance troupe in the east blue, and many would know hai as the lead of the troupe if they've seen them perform
hai is amab and trans femme. when he left fish-man island, along with having surgery to split his tail into legs, he had both top and bottom gender affirming surgery
hai, like shyarly, has visions, but they aren't prophecies of the future. instead, hai has vivid flashbacks that show her how events truly happened, even if she herself was not in attendance. some examples that hai has seen include visions from the void century, god valley, and roger's execution. hai uses these visions to write her songs, the ones she uses to tell stories of the great pirate crews of the past
hai plays guitar along with singing
hai likes to dress up in dramatic and fashionable outfits, similar to those of a drag queen. if hai wants to go by a performance name, he goes by "pink sapphire"
