“ | Time loops are like grimbears. Attend to them with gentleness and constancy and they'll protect you forever. Neglect them and they'll kill you in a flash. | ” |
Loops are 24 hour periods that are constantly being repeated. They can only be created by an ymbryne. Only peculiars and wights can pass through loops until Hollow City, when hollows evolve to be able to enter as well.
Description[]
Loops are typically a kilometer wide, though many were smaller. They are egg-shaped, with their boundaries resembling "the elliptical orbit of a planet around a star." Digging half a kilometer into the earth beneath the center of a loop brings one to the loop's bottom edge. Boundaries are hard but invisible. Loops can also be open or closed to the outer past: a closed loop can only exit to the present, while an open loop is also able to exit to the outer past world of the looped day.
Loop entrances tend to be hidden: tucked away parts of a house and dark passageways both horizontal and vertical being examples. An entrance in a castle is more likely than in an old house due to houses being more likely to be demolished. Reportedly haunted locations and islands also make good loop entrances. Some loops are also booby trapped, meant for wights. Loop entrance's tend to be in one place, but the loop in Portal, Georgia, entrance was able to move from time to time. Its said the ymbryne of the loop was the main reason for the entrance moving.
In America, with the absence of ymbrynes, demi-ymbrynes and loop-keepers maintain loops and keep them going.
Some loops don't allow outsiders and only have one type of peculiar living together, despite partitionnement of ability being discouraged under the ymbrynic codes. These loop inhabitants will chase out outsiders and don't trust anybody but peculiars like themselves.
At the end of The Desolations of Devil's Acre, it is revealed that loops, using tiny, essential bits of them much like a seed bank or a DNA archive, can be regrown to their original state, a project courtesy of Perplexus Anomalous. At the same time, adjustments can be made to the loop, such as physical changes or a date change. With this, Miss Peregrine's collapsed loop was one loop that was recreated but this time, it's September 2nd.
Dangers[]
Though loops suspend the aging of their occupants, they do not prevent it. Should a peculiar exit their loop into the present and remain there for two to three days, they will age forward however many years they have spent inside the loop, which, depending on how long that is, can result in death as most known peculiars are not very new to the peculiar world and have already spent at least one entire human lifespan in loops. If the ymbryne, who created the loop is not there to reset it, the loop collapses, or closes. According to Miss Peregrine, a peculiar must cross the entryway every so often to reset the loop.
Though the main danger of loops is rapid aging, a second danger is that most peculiars have been isolated from the normal world in loops for too long, and thus if they try to reenter they become easy targets (for hoodlums, bamboozlers, wights) because of their lack of knowledge of the present.
Types of Loops[]
There are five types of loops: permaloops, collapsed loops, punishment loops, tourist loops and pocket loops.
Permanent Loops[]
Permaloops are a rare type of loop that do not need frequent resets, with fewer than five known to exist at the moment- though they were more common a thousand years ago. They are difficult to create, and ymbrynes that have managed to create one have never been able to make another. Permaloops that do exist are small. This is because larger loops are more difficult to maintain than smaller ones. While many have tried and failed to make permaloops, other ymbrynes don't know their own strength and accidentally make one (the only known case being with Ginny Quetzal, with her sewer tunnel permaloop being the most famous operational one).
- Waterloo, Iowa sewer tunnel dinner
Pocket Loops[]
Pocket loops are a smaller than average loop that encases a smaller area, usually a few meters square, that only require resetting once or twice a month. They were invented to create points of contact with the Panloopticon and act like portals.
- Jacob Portman's backyard shed
Tourist Loops[]
Tourist loops are loops that used to be found all across peculiardom placed strategically at times and locations of historical import. They made up a sort of Grand Tour that was once considered an essential part of any well-bred peculiar’s education. This was many years ago, when it was still relatively safe to travel abroad. Tourist loops needed a great deal of labor to operate: ymbrynes to reset the largest ones, costumers to dress visitors in period-appropriate clothing, guides to keep visitors out of trouble, and sometimes bodyguards to deal with dangerous looped normals. Hollowgast targeted most of the tourist loops, so the few that remain are fiercely protected and considered treasures of peculiardom.
- Carnival Tourist Loop
- Venice, carnival season of 1570
- Shanghai, fall of 1867
- Machu Picchu, summer solstice 1450 (Miss Pilotbird's loop)
- Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, 1849 (Bloody Gulch mining camp, Miss Greylag's loop)
- Pamplona, Spain, 1928 (The Running of the Bulls)
- Connecticut, 1963
Punishment Loops[]
Punishment loops are very dangerous and are like death traps. They were designed to hold criminals, captured wights, and the dangerously insane. They are very nasty places that repeat terrible, bloody events of the past, such as the Great Fire of 1666. Temporal maps of punishment loops are not published. Punishment loops are small, easily controlled closed loops, and the number of prisoners inside each is kept small. 50 years is the average sentence, and the longest known sentence is 500.
- Devil's Acre (formerly)
- Lochranza Castle, Scotland, January 1, 923 AD
- Steamship Chunder during stormy crossing of the Irish Channel, March 12, 1935
- Elkhart, Kansas, "Black Sunday," 1935
Collapsed Loops[]
These loops are loops that have collapsed. Though they are "closed" and cannot be accessed during the present time, they might still be able to be visited through leapfrogging.
- Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (formerly)
- Miss Raven's loop
- Miss Wren's menagerie
- Miss Thrush's Loop
- Miss Tern's loop
- Abaton (the Library of Souls)
- Ancient Rome Loop
- Ancient Greece Loop
- Ancient China Loop
- Skellingshire Manor (October 8, 1653)
- Jacob Portman's backyard shed
Menageries[]
Menageries are loops dedicated to the holding of peculiar animals.
- Miss Wren's Menagerie (Wales - July 17, 1755)
- Miss Tern's loop (Northern France)
- Miss Hawksbill's loop (Northern France - November 12, 1916)
Other Known Loops[]
- Miss Gannett's loop (Blacksod, Ireland - June 15, 1770)
- Miss Nightjar and Miss Thrush's loop (Swansea, Wales - April 3, 1901)
- Miss Avocet and Miss Bunting's loop (Derbyshire, England - July 15, 1867)
- Turkey - March 29, 316 A.D.
- Miss Thrush's Loop (London, England - before 1940)
- Entrance: A crypt below St. Paul's Cathedral
- Miss Finch and her aunt, also called Miss Finch (England)
- The Peculiar Archives (London, England - July 17 1852)
- Entrance: Aldwych tube station
- Rarotunga, 1752
- British Columbia, 1929
- Venice, Italy, 14th century
- America, September 3
- Unknown Ancient Mongolia loop
- Atlas Mountains, North Africa - October 8, 1880
- Unknown Amazonia Loop
- Clownmouth House - Muncie, Indiana
- Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands - April 8, 1937
- Helsinki, Christmas 1911
- New York City (Pennsylvania Station, New York City - June 8, 1929)
- Anniston, Alabama - January 5, 1935
- Loop A-57 (near Marfa, Texas - c. 1967)
- Flamingo Manor (Starke, Florida - Mid 1960's)
- Portal, Georgia - 1965
- Unknown Indiana loop, 1950s
- Loop 10044 (New York City)
- Siberia loop
- Leo's Turf
- Miss Jacobin's loop (East London, 1735)
- Miss Sicklebill's loop (Bern, Switzerland, 1653)
- Miss Euphonia's loop (Lower Manhattan, 1918)
- Miss Swiftlet's loop (Calcutta, 1880)
- Miss Whistler's loop (West London, 1735)
- Miss Wattle-eye's loop (Versailles, 1800)
- Miss Yuhina's loop (Tokyo, 1860)
- Miss Barbet's loop (Austrian Alps, 1790)
- Miss Currasow's loop (Aran Islands, Ireland - 1910)
- Miss Lovebird's loop (Mongolian steppe, 1872)
- Miss Penduline's menagerie (Finland, 1899)
- Miss Shrikethrush's loop (Normandy, 1789)
- Miss Thrasher's loop (Șirnea, Romania - 1869)
- Miss Wigeon's loop (Salem, Massachusetts - 1692)
- Miss Grosbeak's loop (Bhutan, 1809)
- Miss Elachura's loop (Svalbard, 1891)
- Miss Cacique's loop (Congo Free State, 1890)
- Miss Bowerbird's loop (Krakatoa, Indonesia - 1883)
- Miss Petrel's loop (Jamaica, 1735)
- Miss Thistletail's loop (Madagascar, 1770)
- Miss Tanager's loop (Socotra Island, 1820)
- Miss Rockfowl's loop (Herculaneum, AD 79)
- Miss Bolbol's loop (Persia, 1797)
- Miss Rosefinch's loop (Siam, 1853)
- Miss Pippit's loop (Mt. Kilamanjaro, 1930)
- Miss Tit's loop (Peruvian Amazon, 1912)
- Miss Caracara's loop (Barbados, 1760)
- Miss Flatbill's loop (Dakota Territory, 1840)
- Miss Minivet's Lake Isle loop (Scotland 1823)
- Miss Morgana's loop (Cyclades, Greece - 1954)
- Crypt of the Zouaves, Rome
- Entrance: Eighth tomb from the right, middle row
- Vanishing Island of Inchmahome (Stirlingshire, Scotland - April 20 1823)
- Entrance: A trapdoor in the drowned ruins of an old stone church
- Hermit's Houseboat on a Dry Lake (Imperial Desert, California)
- Midpoint of a Railway Bridge (Yukon Territory)
- Miss Frogmouth's loop ("Leap of Faith" Tower, far North Queensland, Australia)
- Entrance: Jumping off the tower
- Birmingham loop (S-Mart Superstore, Birmingham, England - May 6, 1900)
- Entrance: Behind a panel of wainscoting in the manor's considerable library; behind the ice creams in the freezer aisle of the store
- Max-Ivor Motel (outside Lincoln, Nebraska)
- Entrance; Room 308
- Miss Bronzewing's loop (Double H Pipeline)
- Entrance: Inside oil pipeline
- Imbre Inn (Hartford, Connecticut - 1963)
- Greyfriars (London, England - April 20, 1897)
- Entrance: Entrance tunnel beneath St. Paul's Cathedral
- Hibernian Wilderness menagerie (Hibernian Wilderness, Ireland - August 18, 1930
- Le Mont-Saint-Michel, France, 1888
- Entrance: Castle dungeon
- Paris Catacombs, France - September 18, 1770
- Monte Cassino, Italian Alps - May 16, 1944
- Berlin, Germany - May 6, 1934)
- Prague, Czech Republic - May 22, 1876
- Entrance: Inside city clock
- Pamplona, Spain - July 7, 1948
- Granada, Spain - November 7, 1840
- Coimbra, Portugal - August 30, 1575
- Entrance: Inside cathedral ossuary
- Ancient Rome, Italy - May 23, 320 A.D.
- Chefchaouen, Morocco - September 12, 1910
- Atlas Mountains, Morocco - October 8, 1880
- Algiers, Algeria - February 27, 1615
- Greece
- Australian outback
- Horn of Africa
- Palymra
- Caspian Sea
- Florida swamp
- Ymeene's loop
- Miss Kestrel's loop
- Chile
- Portugal
- Pine Barrens
- Poconos
- Shenectady
- Marrowbone
- North Brother
- Hart
- Roosevelt Islands
- Eel Pie Island
Known Loops (film)[]
- Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Cairnholm, Wales - September 3, 1943)
- Entrance: Through a cave in Cairnholm
- London, England
- Entrance: Through a subway tunnel
- Blackpool Tower - January 11, 2016
- Entrance: Through a Ghost Train ride
- Morocco - September 12, 1910
- France - December 13, 1934
- California desert
- Entrance: Bathroom in a convenience store
- Tokyo, Japan
- Entrance: Photo booth
- 1942 loop