History NightmareFuel / Circleverse

** Alzhena as a character underwent SanitySlippage mainly offscreen, some combination of ItGetsEasier and unmagic fostering apathy in her. She'd loved Nurhar once, and had had some qualms about killing a baby. By the time the book begins she's little more than AxCrazy but even this soon fades and she's left feeling empty and disappointed that even assassination doesn't bring her any joy. She kills the doctor that cleans her wounds after the latter charges a high fee. Nurhar has to point out that was stupid because now no healer or doctor will dare administer any treatment they need. Alzhena is by then unable to care.

** The unnamed mage Alzhena and Nurhar employ - well, "use" is more appropriate - has basically been trafficked by various criminals to exploit his AntiMagic / CastingAShadow powers his entire life. Currently he is an AddledAddict dependent on the [[FictionalDrug dragonsalt]] they give him. The family employing them "rescued" him from the pirate who had cut off his legs. Despite unmagic influence he's aware that he's no better off now. He ''wants'' to die. Through Alzhena's eyes he's just kind of creepy and obnoxious. When ''Sandry'' sees him, she's horrified to realize that he's actually Pasco's age, something like twelve.

* Unmagic, from a mage's point of view. Sandry has actual nightmares about it.

* Unmagic, from a mage's point of view. Sandry has actual nightmares about it.

* In-Universe example in ''Shatterglass''. Tris is horrified when Niko reveals to her that Lark (of whom the book says this: "She [Tris] loved Lark") once worked in the entertainment section where the murderer of the story is committing his murders. Then the following conversation compounds it:
-->'''Tris:''' She [Lark] actually wore the horrid yellow veil?\\
'''Niko:''' Actually I think she wore it as a neck scarf. Now that's an unsettling thought. ''(the killer strangled his victims with their veils)''\\
''(Tris draws the Circle of the Living Temple on her chest)''

** Alzhena as a character, who is AxCrazy and disappointed if she doesn't enjoy an assassination. To make it clear that she's not a PunchClockVillain, she kills the doctor that cleans her wounds after the latter charges a high fee. Nurhar has to point out that was stupid because now no healer or doctor will dare administer any treatment they need. Alzhena plain doesn't care.
** One of Alzhena's victims is [[WouldHurtAChild a baby who she butchers in their cradle]], right in front of their horrified family. Making this even worse is that she was invisible due to the unmage's AntiMagic powers at the time, meaning the family just suddenly saw their baby die horrifically with no warning or explanation, and then were all subsequently slaughtered by the same invisible ''thing'' that killed their child.
** The moment where Alzhena takes Pasco hostage. He's just a kid and had been doing a good job of hiding himself, using dance magic to make himself invisible. Alzhena, however, notices cake crumbs spilling out of thin air, makes a logical deduction, and reaches forward to grab him.
** How Sandry deals with the trapped trio after Alzhena takes Pasco hostage. She remains calm even as Alzhena starts cutting into her student's skin, but then goes for Plan B: tearing them all apart with unmagic while rescuing Pasco. It takes a while, basically tearing them apart. She doesn't want to do it since the mage is a twelve-year-old boy and drug addict, but the other choice is to watch Alzhena cut her student to pieces. Nurhar begs for their lives, realizing they're about to die. Sandry shakes her head. Later she says in a deadened voice that she still feels their blood on her hands, literally.
*** Possibly worse, when Sandry spins the unmagic up the unmage doesn't even leave a corpse behind, simply evaporating into unmagic which is pulled into the rope. He has been so corrupted that there is no longer ''anything'' human left in him.
** The unnamed mage employed by the villains has basically been trafficked by various criminals to exploit his AntiMagic / CastingAShadow powers his entire life. His legs have been forcibly removed, and his latest captors have controlled him with a drug addiction. He ''wants'' to die. Again, ''he's twelve''.

** Ben's SanitySlippage doesn't help. In the beginning, he's furious with himself for setting a building on fire where a homeless woman was sleeping, because the idea is to make sure no one gets hurt. That doesn't last long. He's LaughingMad on the inside later, when he sees the dead bodies from his later fires. Later, the inspector says to a shocked Daja that it's always how it starts with arsonists: just one little blaze, and they get addicted to the thrill.

** Ben's execution; Daja brings him into custody and provides testimony at his trial, where he's suffered a VillainousBSOD. He's brought to the public square in plain clothes, with a single drum providing the music, and tied to a stake for burning. Daja realizes that the fire is magic and has no smoke, meaning Ben will be conscious for the entire time rather than suffocate. As he fights the urge to scream, Daja realizes that despite his crimes, Ben doesn't deserve such an agonizing death and increases the flames. Several other mages get the same idea, giving Ben a MercyKill. They are disgusted with the magistrate because the point of the sentence is justice, not vengeance.

** The moment where Alzhena takes Pasco hostage. He's just a kid and had been doing a good job of hiding himself, using dance magic to make himself invisible. Alzhena, however, notices cake crumbs spilling out of thin air, makes a logical deduction, and reaches forward to grab him.

* Lady Zenadia, the villain in ''"Street Magic"'', pits gangs of children living in the streets against each other for her own amusement. And when they fall out of her favor, she has them strangled to death and turned into fertilizer for her garden. When Briar first visits her estate, the plants happily tell him what good food they get.
* ''Cold Fire''

** How Sandry deals with the trapped trio after Alzhena takes Pasco hostage. She remains calm even as Alzhena starts cutting into her student's skin, but then goes for Plan B: tearing them all apart with unmagic while rescuing Pasco. It takes a while, basically tearing them apart She doesn't want to do it since the mage is a twelve-year-old boy and drug addict, but the other choice is to watch Alzhena cut her student to pieces. Nurhar begs for their lives, realizing they're about to die. Sandry shakes her head. Later she says in a deadened voice that she still feels their blood on her hands, literally.

'''Niko:''' Actually I think she wore it as a neckscarf. Now that's an unsettling thought. (The killer strangled his victims with their veils)\\
''[Tris draws the Circle of the Living Temple on her chest]''

** How Sandry deals with the trapped trio after Alzhena takes Pasco hostage. She remains calm even as Alzhena starts cutting into her student's skin, but then goes for Plan B: tearing them all apart with unmagic while rescuing Pasco. It takes a while, basically tearing them apart She doesn't want to do it since the mage is a twelve-year-old boy and drug addict, but the other choice is to watch Alzhena cut her student to pieces. Nurhar begs for their lives, realizing they're about to die. Sandry shakes her head. Later she says in a deadened voice

* Ben's execution; Daja brings him into custody and provides testimony at his trial, where he's suffered a VillainousBSOD. He's brought to the public square in plain clothes, with a single drum providing the music, and tied to a stake for burning. Daja realizes that the fire is magic and has no smoke, meaning Ben will be conscious for the entire time rather than suffocate. As he fights the urge to scream, Daja realizes that despite his crimes, Ben doesn't deserve such an agonizing death and increases the flames. Several other mages get the same idea, giving Ben a MercyKill. They are disgusted with the magistrate because the point of the sentence is justice, not vengeance.

* The arsonist in ''Cold Fire'' burns and blows up several buildings, killing over a hundred people. The descriptions don't skimp on just how horrifically each victim dies. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: Ben Ladradun]] keeps his wife's skeletal hand on a shelf; it's an in-universe example for Daja, who later has nightmares about it crawling all over her face.
** Daja realizing that [[spoiler: the magical gloves she created to fight fires have been used to ''set them'' instead.]]
** The later targets: [[spoiler: a private home full of people (including the guests for a ''child's birthday party''), a bathhouse (the furnace of which exploded, setting most of the buildings around it on fire) and worst of all, a ''hospital''.]]

* In-Universe example in ''Shatterglass''. Tris is horrified when Nico reveals to her that Lark (of whom the book says this: "She [Tris] loved Lark") once worked in the entertainment section where the murderer of the story is committing his murders. Then the following conversation compounds it:

'''Nico:''' Actually I think she wore it as a neckscarf. Now that's an unsettling thought. (The killer strangled his victims with their veils)\\