Sasha is an Eduani, an alien from another planet. They look like minks, but their head is place on a long neck coming from the crotch. Having most of their culture erased, they obsess about other species cultures to make up for that loss. Sasha was interested in Terran culture, and especially in the concept of masculinity, which for a single-gendered species like the Eduani is a completely foreign concept. Sasha had a strong desire to go to Earth and live out his dream to become a man, but Earth in the early 2020s wasn't a part of the Galactic community yet. He had to go their incognito. Fortunately, his contacts got him to Atlantis, where he was taught some modular magic to reattach his neck between his shoulders instead, making him not stand out among Terrans. He adopted the last name Van Ness and he also got gender-affirming top surgery to finally became the man he always dreamt of, the first Eduani man ever. Even better fortune landed him in one of his other passions: acting. He broke through as a regular reoccurring character on Star Trek, the only place where he could reveal his true Eduani appearance under the guise that this was merely a modular magic trick for the performance (which later revealed to be a subtle alien influence from the director's side to prepare Terrans for the arrival of aliens later). Sasha enjoyed a long film and TV career, even though he wasn't a top-listed actor in any capacity.

He met Amber, being invited as a VIP to one of her concerts with backstage access, and they fell in love over their shared love for music. When the relationship got serious, Sasha revealed his alien nature to her, saying that when she was ready to know, he couldn't keep this secret from her. The two of them got married and had three kids together: Jody, LeVarr and Nyota, all with their own unique mixture of jaguar and Eduani traits.

The Eduani species and Yorktown story universe are by  Sabrina-taur
Here we see Sasha in his true Eduani form. He does like his Terran attire, even though it leaves his top exposed, as it's not tailored to his body type. He does have some special jeans tailor made to accommodate his crotchneck.