thepoisonlily asked:

It’s entirely possible that you’ve answered this before, but I was wondering what it might be like if Celeste’s curse was used on one of the adult brothers? I know they wouldn’t get the knack that the cursed children get, but how else might that experience differ?

I might have, but I don’t remember when, so I don’t mind answering again!

As the curse is perfectly viable on adults, it’s naturally possible that this could happen in the future. Celeste just chooses to use it on children because of the added bonuses that they get from growing up with angelic grace inside of them.

Though an adult might not get as strong of a knack, they do still have the grace and a faint one will still develop. It won’t grow as strong as though they were raised from childhood like that, but it’s still there. Knacks manifest in people directly cursed more often than borrowers born and raised. 

Adults also won’t get much of a strength bonus, and they’ll have very weak nightvision in comparison.

The only exception to this is when Celeste first began her experiments. She cursed adults and children alike, and because she didn’t know the exact ratio of what she should use, the adults got a far stronger injection of grace and all exhibited powerful knacks of their own– the first of the borrower race, and the hardiest survivors.

I actually was writing out a bit of that first discovery, but haven’t had the time to complete it or fix it up, so have a look: 

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Adriana bolted upright with a gasp, her long dark hair swaying in the breeze as she instinctively knocked the ant away with an arm.

An ant that was larger than her hand.

The creature recovered in the dirt, its mandibles clacking as the antennae quivered in the air. Adriana faced off with it, staring with dark eyes at the creature that should not exist.

And then she shrieked as the rest of her senses caught up with her mind, and were overwhelmed.

Falling to the ground, she brushed at her arms, her legs, her face, trying to shove away the foreign feeling that something was there, crawling all over her. Invasive, it infected her veins, her skin, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. Confining, controlling, touching at her magic and pulling her mind in a thousand different directions.

Adriana screamed, but no one was there to help her.