| “ | We create temporal loops in time which anyone can live indefinitely... only women are born ymbrynes... We ymbrynes must scour the countryside for young children in need, steer clear of those who would be harmful, and keep our kind fed, clothed, hidden, and steeped in the lore of our people. And if that isn't enough, we must also keep our loops resetting each day like clockwork. | ” |
Ymbrynes (pronounced imm-brinns) are female peculiars who can create, reset and close loops. They are also shapeshifters and have a human and bird form. Since their loops protected peculiars from normals, they rose to be in charge of peculiardom, and are charged with protecting the peculiars who reside within their loops. They are bound by law to perform certain duties.[1]
Overview[]
Peculiarity[]
- Avian / Human Shapeshifting: Ymbryne's have two forms, a bird form and a human form, and they can be born as either. An example of this would be Alma Peregrine, who was born a human and Ymeene, who was born as a Goshawk. Ymbryne's can only shift into one human form and one bird form. Each ymbryne bird form belongs to a particular species of bird,[2] It is noted that no two ymbryne's are the exact same bird species. A notable exception to this are the two Miss Finch's, though it is entirely possible the pair are different subspecies of finch. [1] They are also known to be one of the few peculiars that can shapeshift..[3] If an ymbryne gets stuck in her bird form for too long (at a maximum of around 4 days, depending on her strength), she will lose her human self, and would become a bird for the rest of her life.[4] Ymbryne's who have become stuck in their bird forms are sometimes placed in menageries loops for their protection, such as the case of Olivia.
- Bird Communication: Many ymbrynes can and do converse with their species of bird.[3]
- Time Manipulation: Ymbrynes are able to manipulate time and create time loops.[2]
- Memory Manipulation: Ymbrynes are able to wipe the memories of normals with precision, done by tickling a feather under their nose. A normal's brain can be "paused" before the wipe is actually done,[5] but this does not appear to be a necessary step.[6] People who just had their memories erased are very suggestible and can accept facts or order without second thought, with Miss Peregrine telling Jacob that she could probably convince his family that the peculiars are from a moon colony.[7]
- Possible minor additional peculiarity: e.g. Miss Blackbird's third eye.[1]
- Sleep related peculiarity: Ymbrynes only need an hour or two of sleep each night.
- Their bones: Ymbryne's bones have many uses and are made into medicines after the ymbryne's death.
Training[]
Ymbrynes are usually taught how to use their peculiarity, formally or informally, by full-fledged ones. In Europe, most ymbrynes attend the Ymbryne Academy founded by Miss Avocet and Miss Bunting.[8] V is an example of an ymbryne who did not formally attend the academy, but was still trained by Miss Avocet. Miss Avocet and Miss Bunting ran their school from the nineteenth century until Miss Avocet's death in the twenty-first, and it was afterwards given to Miss Peregrine and Miss Cuckoo to run. When ymbrynes are fully trained, they change their last names to whatever bird they turn into. Sometimes they will not go by the full name of their bird species, like in the case of Alma Peregrine. She doesn't go by Miss Peregrine Falcon, but instead goes by Miss Peregrine.
After graduation, ymbrynes will make a loop for the protection of peculiars, typically children, who they scout for. Others make menagerie loops for peculiar animals or open and run tourist or punishment loops. Occasionally, an overtaxed ymbryne takes on an assistant, who is usually an ymbryne-in-training sent for mentorship. Formally trained, full-fledged ymbrynes, particularly those who take care of peculiar children, traditionally do not marry and are discouraged from having their own biological children, so that they do not favor their child over the others. Some ymbrynes in the Far East wear wedding attire to symbolize that they are married to their work.[1]
Ymbrynes who do not graduate may find other roles in peculiardom and its government,[8] such as Isabella Bird, who acted as an ambassador and traveler to uncontacted loops. These ymbrynes are not held to the same rigidness as fully trained ones, though it is unknown how much differently they are treated.
History[]
Europe[]
The first ymbryne in Britain to create a loop for peculiars to live inside permanently was Ymeene Goshawk, a goshawk who learned to live amongst humans and who would take in peculiars after several kingdoms started banishing peculiars from their borders. She was also the one who established the rule where ymbrynes name themselves after their bird form when she experienced language barriers with the first other ymbryne she met, Miss Kestrel.
Ymeene found and trained three other ymbrynes after Miss Kestrel, and their powers allowed for peculiars to be protected better than they ever had been before. Peculiars traveled from all across Britain to seek refuge in the ymbrynes' loops, and the women would establish many of the rules that modern peculiars live by. They also created the Council of Ymbrynes in order to trade wisdom and collaborate, which Ymeene oversaw for years as the network of ymbrynes and peculiars grew.
Ymbrynes were originally known as ymeenes after Ymeene, but after the passage of time and the gradual shifting of tongues in Britain, the word became ymbrynes.[9]
The European ymbrynes ruled until the late nineteenth century when the Claywings started gaining traction, with certain peculiars, most male, beginning to wonder if the ymbrynes should really be in charge of peculiar society. The Claywings met their downfall in the Experiment of 1908.
After Caul's first defeat in the Library of Souls, the Ymbryne Council's authority would be once again questioned, but this time by the peculiars in Devil's Acre, many of whom were jealous of the loop freedom attained by those who had been in the collapse of the Abaton loop.
America[]
In America, ymbrynes would have to make four or five loops in order to deal with a high population of peculiars.
Sometime during the nineteenth century, normals in the United States figured out that there was a high number of peculiars living in the United States, and were hiding in loops. They created the Organization and specifically started hunting ymbrynes, since they created and maintained loops. The certainly hunted other peculiars, but ymbryne's seemed to be their main target. The vast majority of the States' ymbrynes were killed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the remainder being forced to go into hiding. It's unknown with the Organization fading and the Society being sent into hiding if the ymbryne population will rise.
Because of the lack of ymbrynes, the culture in the United States was forced to change and became ruled by clans. Since they didn't have ymbrynes, peculiars didn't become dependent on them and thought the way they treated peculiars in other parts of the world was infantilizing, with Angelica, Dogface, and Wreck Donovan criticizing the European ymbrynes in Devil's Acre.
Other continents[]
Ymbryne councils are mentioned to exist in Africa and Asia, which run parallel to the European one. Ambassadors were once received between the different councils, but the rise of the wights and hollowgast cut Europe off from the rest of the world.[1] It has yet to be revealed if South America or Australia has a ymbryne council or not.
Known Ymbrynes[]
- Miss Apfel[10]
- Miss Esmerelda Avocet
- Miss Ravenna Babax
- Miss Barbet[11]
- Miss Isabella Bird
- Miss Blackbird
- Miss Bobolink
- Miss Bolbol[11]
- Miss Bowerbird[11]
- Miss Bramblebash[11]
- Miss Bronzewing
- Miss Bunting
- Miss Bustard[11]
- Miss Cacique[11]
- Miss Caracara[11]
- Miss Winnifred Crake
- Miss Crow[12]
- Miss Isabel Cuckoo
- Miss Curassow[11]
- Miss Egret[13]
- Miss Elachura[11]
- Miss Euphonia[11]
- Miss Finch
- Elder Miss Finch
- Miss Finfoot[14]
- Miss Firecrown[11]
- Miss Flatbill[11]
- Miss Flycatcher[15]
- Miss Frogmouth[11]
- Miss Gannett[2]
- Miss Glassbill
- Ymeene Goshawk
- Miss Grackle[16]
- Miss Grebe[17]
- Velyana Greenshank
- Miss Rebecca Greylag
- Miss Grosbeak[11]
- Miss Maud Hawksbill
- Miss Honeythrush
- Miss Hornbill[5]
- Miss Jackdaw[18]
- Miss Jacobin[11]
- Miss Kestrel (TotP)
- Miss Kestrel (MPHFPC)
- Miss Loon
- Miss Lovebird[11]
- Miss Theresa Magpie
- Miss Merganser[19]
- Miss Minivet[11]
- Miss Morgana[11]
- Miss Nightjar
- Miss Palapitta[1]
- Miss Penduline[11]
- Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine
- Miss Gwendoline Petrel
- Miss Pigeon Hawk
- Miss Pilotbird
- Miss Pippit[11]
- Miss Evelyn Ptarmigan
- Miss Adrienne Plover
- Miss Ginny Quetzal
- Miss Rakefeather[17]
- Miss Raven[20]
- Miss Rockfowl[11]
- Miss Rosefinch[11]
- Miss Mary Seacole
- Miss Shrike[21]
- Miss Shrikethrush[11]
- Miss Sicklebill[11]
- Miss Swiftlet[11]
- Miss Tanager[11]
- Miss Griselda Tern
- Miss Thistletail[11]
- Miss Thrasher[11]
- Miss Thrush
- Miss Tit[11]
- Miss Titmouse[15]
- Miss Treecreeper
- Miss Troupial
- Miss Trumpeter[14]
- Miss Turaco[1]
- Miss Verdin[1]
- Miss Wattle-eye[11]
- Miss Waxwing
- Miss Whistler[11]
- Miss Whydah[22]
- Miss Wigeon[11]
- Miss Woodhen[14]
- Miss Balenciaga Wren
- Miss Yippin[3]
- Miss Yuhina
- Unnamed ymbryne from Bombay
- Unnamed three ymbrynes that were supposed to guard three of "the six"
Ymbrynes-in-training[]
Film[]
- Miss Hornbill (Film)
- Miss Owl (Film) (Long-eared Owl)
- Miss Owl (Film) (Spotted Owl)
- Miss Turkey (Film)
Trivia[]
- Grimbears are the preferred companion of ymbrynes in Russia and Finland.
- While in the books, clothes do not go along with the ymbryne when they change into a bird, but in the movie they do.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (Ymbrynes)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Chapter 6)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (A Necessarily Incomplete Taxonomy of Peculiar Abilities)
- ↑ Hollow City (Chapter 4)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Library of Souls (Chapter 11)
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 14)
- ↑ A Map of Days (Chapter 1)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (The Ymbryne Academy)
- ↑ Tales of the Peculiar (The First Ymbryne)
- ↑ A Map of Days Photographs: Mission report
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 11.24 11.25 11.26 11.27 11.28 11.29 11.30 11.31 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (Time Loops)
- ↑ Hollow City (Chapter 12)
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 11)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (How to Hide in Plain Sight When Your Peculiarity Cannot Be Disguised... and Make a Living at It)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 5)
- ↑ The Conference of the Birds (Chapter 2)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (Talking to Normal People)
- ↑ Hollow City (Chapter 12)
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 7)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Chapter 10)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (The Wights)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (Important Books by Peculiar Writers)