Sandra Belle is a young woman who is sympathetic, empathetic. And not a good person.
Here's some information on my villainous Pyschonauts OC. This may or may not cause you to hate me as a writer but I want to preface this with "I am making her a bad person. She's a villain."
Sandra Bell's backstory entails a few things.
She was a bully victim, mainly for her empathy. Her empathy was/is still extreme. Any problem that people had (fictional people or otherwise) it affected her HARD
She was recruited by the Psychonauts mainly for testing. Not to go on adventures
She has many of the same interests as other important Psychonauts, which causes people to compare her. Eventually she can't remember who she was outside of the comparisons and being around people with so many issues that some are overlapping with her own.
Sadie, showing off her instability and want to hurt those around her, harms Coach Oleander by deliberately showing him a necklace made from a bunny-butterfly (the nose and whisker area.)
At the start of her story, she is kept in Psychoisolation, only given water by a select few Psychonauts.
The Psychonauts debrief any new comers about Sadie in orientation under: Current Unstable Criminals and What to Do. Razputin did not go to orientation, and knows nothing about Sandra Bell.
Razputin is trusted to go bring Sandra some water and food, since he's been so good at helping and assisting others. Including at a mental asylum. Surely he can handle himself with one puny meal he has to watch Sandra eat.
When Raz first meets her, he does something that others haven't before. While Psychonauts are supposed to use Telekinesis to push in her meal, Raz carries it in and places it on the table near her bed. Sandra Bell, seeing this 10 year old little angel (using Clairvoyance she sees Razputin as one), introduces herself as Sadie and the two have a nice little chitchat about herself, with Sadie being vague about how "I was put here because some things of myself... they didn't like."
Of course, Raz is wary about her, but he knows that other people come into the Psychoisolation voluntarily. Which Sadie claims the voices were much too loud. She tells Raz she's a mind reader, but can hear all minds at once. She also tells him that just him being there could help her out. His mind's chaotic with the amount that he knows, and it could help her as a bridge to "reformation."
Sadie is an empath, as is Raz. But Sadie is a sadist.
Over time, she talks to Raz, she convinces him that maybe... she should go for a test run? Be in his mindscape and analyze other's thoughts while in his brain? It could be great.
Sadie uses this time to put down little seeds of doubt in Raz's mind. Things like "what makes Oleander so much better than me? I shouldn't have to listen to him. He tried to take over the world and the others don't take him too seriously, either." "Nora... she should have been punished for what she did to me! I was helping the Psychic Six! Or seven, I should now say." and "Ford Cruller... I thought he was my hero but... I could have never been afraid of water if it weren't for him. I had to clean up his mess!"
Eventually, Sadie makes a deep connection with Raz, and he makes her a friendship bracelet.
They keep talking and there's a deep rooted particular seed, though Sadie didn't sow it herself. One thing she asks Raz for is a computer "just to write things down. It's so much easier" and she shows him the Campster website. Specifically remarking about how fleeting summer romances are and showing the first few messages of Lili's campster page.
Now, this boy had been so excited about his first girlfriend, so seeing this plants a BIG seed of doubt where memories of Lili is kept.
That very next day, Lili acts very cold towards Raz, not wanting to speak with him and Truman Zonatto recommends that Raz stay away from Lili "for his own good." (Bonus: the Clairvoyance that would be used on Truman would show a smaller Raz with soot all over his gloves.)
This is the straw that kind of breaks Raz's back. Sadie is there for him, empathetic and trying to help him. She makes a sly mention that "they took away my friendship bracelet, but I know a bracelet doesn't make or break our relationship." As sort of a jab to Lili. Why?
Sadie is a sadist. She burned her own friendship bracelet and left the ashes on Zonatto's desk. She wanted to see Raz suffer and then swoop in with her empathy.
Of course she reasons with herself. I know he's hurt now, but soon I'll make it better. Which Raz can hear.
Sadie begins burning bridges of Raz's relationships until she is the only one left. And then she could use him. Well, not use him. Just make him see her truth. And soon they could hurt the Psychonauts with all the baggage they were both forced to carry.
And this is where Sadie shows off a power that both she and Raz have. "Manifestation." Sadie can use manifestations of people's fears and start to mess with them.
Oleander? A giant bunny wielding a cleaver.
Milla? Will-o-Wisps (seen as child like fire beings)
This comes to a head with the chaos in the Mother Lobe, with Sadie's actions going WAY too far for Raz's likings. And no matter what she says, Raz is done. He know's he's messed up with most of the Psychonauts, but he still runs to Agent Hollis and Sasha and explains what is going on.
Sasha and Hollis are mortified that Sandra Bell was able to get her hands on Raz but they're glad to see that seemingly no lasting damage was done unto him. But this leads to the bad thing. The last time Sandra went this crazy, Sasha had to go into her mind to get her calmed enough for them to restrain her.
So where does her sympathy come in?
The mind. Sandra Bell's mind is broken with different bits of different people. She's an empath who's lost herself. A broken mirror with different faces in each sliver.
Constantly compared to other characters. So her big boss level is just... based off of different minds she's been compared to.
Oleander's love of bunnies? It's a giant open field full of enemies that leads to a butcher shop with Sadie as a butcher, wearing her rabbit-butterfly necklace.
Milla's love of dancing? It's a rhythm based platformer level similar to NDR.
Sasha's mathematics? A quiz game that rewards health for correct answers and slews of enemies with incorrect answers.
Hollis's care for patients? That's where Sadie's backstory takes place. Go through the hospital and end up in Sadie's shoes dealing with the overstimulation of thoughts and emotions around her.
Each time a level is passed, she rediscovers a little more until you're left with not a broken mirror, but a magnifying glass on a small, crying girl who just wanted to be herself but couldn't. She couldn't be herself or else she was made fun if. If not made fun of, was she really copying someone else? Embodying them?
Who was she?
One thing she did know. Those people were so annoying! How dare they! They all needed to pay.
Sandra may bring some sympathy. But she is still a BAD PERSON! Even though Raz and also Sasha know what she's been through, she wants to hurt.
Even still... they don't know what to do with her after putting her back in Psychoisolation. And Razputin has the need to at the very least apologize on her behalf. Though. This is when it finally comes up that Lili doesn't want to forgive Raz for "burning the bracelet."
He reveals that he still has the bracelet and Lili's so overcome that she once again kisses him, showing that they should be able to get through this.
It also shows how far Sandra was willing to use Raz. To the point where something that took so much time and love was simply burnt to hurt another person.
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