History Trivia / TheLockedTomb

* IKnewIt: ''Harrow the Ninth'''s preview of Act One had sufficient hints that fans correctly guessed [[spoiler: Gideon's mother was the mysterious RebelLeader and that her father was the Emperor]] as well as expecting [[spoiler: both Palamedes and Gideon to return]]. Likewise, many fans called that Gideon's mother's ghost wasn't referring to the baby when she screamed "Gideon!", and whoever she actually meant would turn out to be important.

* CreatorProvincialism: Tamsyn Muir is a New Zealander who likes to include its culture in her books, most prominently with the flashback chapters in ''Nona the Ninth'' [[spoiler:which take place in New Zealand]].

* ShoutOut:
** Many to ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'', with some crossing into full {{Homage}}. Muir is [[https://tazmuir.tumblr.com/post/188513057993/hi-youve-mentioned-several-times-in-interviews open about having written]] ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'' [[https://tazmuir.tumblr.com/post/188513057993/hi-youve-mentioned-several-times-in-interviews fanfiction in the past]].
*** ''Gideon the Ninth'', and consequently, the series, begins with a young woman in her bedroom.
*** The books are dedicated "to pT." pT [[https://tazmuir.tumblr.com/post/187923800023/go-loud-a-gideon-the-ninth-fst is]] [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/paraTactician paraTactician]], Muir's life partner. It's a safe assumption that they met writing fanfic.
** Muir openly states that Matthias Nonius is named after a character from ''{{Literature/Redwall}}''.
** The Emperor quotes poetry often, including ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe "Annabel Lee"]], and... Music/{{Evanescence}}.
** Harrow says (as do the [[https://www.tor.com/2019/09/20/find-your-necromancy-family-among-the-houses-of-gideon-the-ninth/ House posters]] put out by Tor) that the Seventh's weakness is "a fatal longing for the picturesque", a slight paraphrase of the protagonist's assessment of his fatal flaw in ''Literature/TheSecretHistory''.
** Commander Wake's full name: "Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead [[UsefulNotes/NewZealand Kia Hua Ko Te Pai]] [[Music/{{Eminem}} Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity]]"
** Part of Muir's authorial style includes incorporating meme references into the text, often ones that were popular only on {{Website/Tumblr}}, which she has acknowledged doing because she finds the contrast funny.
*** Harrow snarks that [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-studied-the-blade "While we were developing common sense, [Gideon] studied the blade."]] In the same sentence, she notes that Gideon is good enough with a sword to be able to wield [[Manga/OnePiece a sword in each hand and one in her mouth]].
*** Muir's notes on Dulcinea's name finish with "In this essay I will"
*** The Emperor notes that he's protected from the Resurrection Beasts to prevent the Nine Houses from becoming [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/special-delivery-instructions "none House, with left grief."]]
*** When fighting the Heralds of the Resurrection Beast, [[spoiler: Gideon apologizes to Harrow for getting her thumb bitten off,]] but says, [[WebAnimation/LlamasWithHats "[...] these motherfuckers had a hunger that only thumbs could satisfy [...]"]]
*** [[spoiler: Gideon]]'s final spoken lines in ''Harrow the Ninth'' are ''[[https://twitter.com/TriciaLockwood/status/1108102037072433153 "Jail]]'' [[https://twitter.com/TriciaLockwood/status/1108102037072433153 for Mother."]]
** ''Harrow the Ninth'' includes a reference to ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' of all things, when Ianthe compares Harrow to a puppy "[[http://hrwiki.org/wiki/Li%27l_Brudder with three legs missing insisting you can make it on your own]]".
** Ianthe's abbreviation of "Harrowhark" to "Harry" in ''Harrow the Ninth'' is one to Harry Potter, and to Ianthe's intended DracoInLeatherPants status [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/i45jq6/im_tamsyn_muir_author_of_harrow_the_ninth_second/ according to the author]].
** At one point, Harrow asks Dulcinea why she wants to be a Lyctor. Gideon then mumbles that [[Film/MeanGirls she can't just ask people why they want to be Lyctors.]]
** Ortus and Sister Glaurica [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons literally died on their way back to their home planet]]]].
** At one point, Mercy says that 'It's the seventh Resurrection Beast, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/insanepeoplefacebook/comments/7kqzb9/church_lady_asks_the_community_facebook_group_to/ honey! Thank you! Next!!']]
** The scene in ''Harrow the Ninth'' where [[spoiler:Ianthe and Gideon]] argue over their feelings for Harrow and [[spoiler:Gideon]] says that Harrow doesn't love her because Harrow only loves the Body is eerily reminiscent of the scene in [[Fanfic/{{Hemostuck}} Lost Teeth Like White Jewels]] (which is one of Muir's fanfics), where Sollux tells Eridan and Gamzee that Karkat can't really love any of them no matter how much they love him because he only loves the Threshecutioners.
*** Similarly, after Harrow applies Gideon's face paint for the first time, Gideon's only comment is 'I look like a douche', which is almost exactly what Terezi said in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/335176/chapters/685530 The Serendipity Gospels]] (another one of Muir's fanfics) after she first let Gamzee put face paint on her.
** In ''Harrow the Ninth'' [[spoiler:Gideon]] lists out some regrets, including "not kicking Crux down a flight of stairs and watching him go [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bone-hurting-juice ''Oof, ow, my bones'']] down each step ..."

* TrilogyCreep: In [[https://www.tor.com/2021/07/30/announcing-nona-the-ninth-a-new-addition-to-the-locked-tomb-series-from-tamsyn-muir/ July 2021]], it was announced that the series is expanding to four books with the addition of ''Nona the Ninth'', which replaces ''Alecto the Ninth'' as the planned third book. (''Alecto'' is still the series finale; it's just been pushed back.)

*** Harrow snarks that [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-studied-the-blade "While we were developing common sense, [Gideon] studied the blade."]]

** Colum's name derives from a theme naming with his brothers (they're all [[MeaningfulName named after a type of sacrificial animal]]), but the references to their names ended up cut.

* TributeToFido: The dog in ''Nona the Ninth'' is a tribute to Muir's late dog, and as such is described by her as "the most important dog in the universe". The one and only spoiler she gave for ''Nona the Ninth'' was that "nothing goes fundamentally wrong for the dog".