Tumblr fixed reblogs so I can finally add to thisss
Canonically both are true! It is actually somewhat difficult to make lower-strength potions because of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence (the rest of the main ingredient will eventually get absorbed too - even if it doesn't happen during advancement - unless sealed or used up somehow. Eg, fetus.)
- If all characteristics are fully digested, having excess does NOT help with advancement to future sequences (see: all the excess characteristics Klein had to consume). This means the inverse likely applies.
- skipping Sequences still gives you access to lower-tier powers (as evidenced by Heath Doyle), so consuming 60% of a higher sequence still has 100% of the lower sequences' powers
- consuming more characteristics makes you stronger, and vice-versa (Dunn consumed so many extra characteristics that he was mentioned in Ch 207 to be at nearly Seq 6 in terms of power)
So having kids technically makes you very slightly weaker, but it doesn't affect progression since higher sequences automatically get lower sequences' powers.
From this we can conclude:
- Since the point of digestion is to prevent accumulation of madness, having more or less potion to digest doesn't particularly matter for the advancement itself - as long as the potion is fully digested, the risk of madness during advancement is lowered
- Underseasoning potion to 60% doesn't make advancement to future sequences more difficult, but preventing the other 40% from getting absorbed is hard.
- 60% will make you weaker amongst the same sequence, but lower-sequence abilities should still be the same.