Character

Jade

Non-binary tattoo artist at INKWELL. Undercut, sleeve tattoos, septum ring. Opens up across four conversations.

Quick facts

Role: Tattoo artist (INKWELL Studio)
Location: [[loc:tattoo-studio|Tattoo Studio]] (Downtown)
Rapport: jade_rapport (0-5)
Visit counter: jade_visits (any positive integer)
Tattoos available: 7 permanent (3 femme, 2 masc-coded, 2 neutral)
Patreon: No, free content

TL;DR

Jade runs INKWELL, the small tattoo studio in Downtown. Their job in the game is two things: a small shop that sells seven permanent tattoo items with overnight stat bonuses, and a four-stage rapport conversation that ends with one of the gentlest questions in the game.

The tattoo selection feels mechanical. The chat arc is where the character lives. Their own deadname is crossed out on their forearm with a phoenix rising from the letters.

The studio

TattooEntry -> TattooHub. The buzzing hits you before the door closes. Walls covered in flash art, “INKWELL” in neon purple. Jade is behind the counter on the first visit; on later visits, they greet you by recognising you.

Hub choices:

Browse tattoos — opens the #ui:shop_tattoo overlay with the seven permanent options.
Talk to Jade — unlocks at jade_rapport >= 2 AND jade_visits > jade_rapport. Costs 3 Energy.
Leave — back to OutsideChoices.

The seven tattoos

Each is a one-shot purchase. Once you have it, it’s permanent; the icon stays on your character.

Tattoo	Cost	Stat effects	Coding	Body location
Star (inner wrist)	$40	+5 Energy overnight	Neutral	Inner wrist
Abstract (forearm)	$80	-1 Shame overnight	Neutral	Forearm
Rose vine (ankle)	$60	`fem_gain(2)`, +1 streaming Allure	Feminine	Ankle
Butterfly (lower back)	$80	`fem_gain(3)`, `shame_gain(3)`, +2 Allure	Feminine	Lower back
Heart (hip)	$100	`fem_gain(3)`, `sub_gain(2)`, +2 Allure	Feminine	Hip
Tribal band (bicep)	$70	`fem_loss(2)`, -1 Shame overnight	Masculine	Bicep
Wolf (shoulder blade)	$100	`fem_loss(3)`, +5 Energy, -1 Shame overnight	Masculine	Shoulder blade

Each session is do_action(15-20, 1) — they take real Energy and one time slot.

Reactions split into three exit knots: Tattoo_Done_Neutral, Tattoo_Done_Feminine, Tattoo_Done_Masculine. The feminine exit narrates the tattoo peeking out from under your clothes (“a secret. A declaration. Both”); the masculine exit narrates that you chose it (“you. Not someone else. You”).

The rapport arc

jade_rapport climbs from 1 (first visit) to 5 (deepest conversation done). Each level unlocks one chat knot. The check is jade_visits > jade_rapport — you have to come back at least once between conversations, so the arc paces naturally over multiple sessions.

Rapport 2. Cleaning needles.

JadeChat_2. Jade is cleaning needles when you sit down. They hold one up to the light.

“You know what I love about this job? Nobody comes in here by accident. Everyone who sits in that chair made a choice. Most people spend their whole lives letting other people decide who they are. A tattoo is the opposite. It’s you saying ‘this is mine.’”

Sets jade_rapport = 3.

Rapport 3. The deadname.

JadeChat_3. Jade rolls up their sleeve to show you a faded tattoo: a name, crossed out, with a phoenix rising from the letters.

“My deadname. Got it crossed out the day I chose Jade. The phoenix was a year later.”

They trace the lines absently. “People think tattoos are about decoration. They’re not. They’re about marking the moments you became someone new.”

If Femininity >= 30, they add a one-liner: “You look like someone in the middle of becoming.”

Sets jade_rapport = 4.

Rapport 4. Two beers, one question.

JadeChat_4. It’s closing time. Jade locks the door and pulls two beers from the mini fridge.

“Can I ask you something personal? You don’t have to answer.”

“Are you happy? With who you’re becoming?”

The question sits heavy. Nobody’s asked you that. Not like this, without an agenda.

Three responses:

Answer	Jade’s response	Stat
“I don’t know yet”	“That’s the most honest answer anyone’s ever given me in this chair. Figuring it out IS the answer. Anyone who tells you different is selling something.”	(no stat change)
“Yeah. I think I am.”	“Good. Hold onto that. The world’s going to try to make you doubt it.”	`fem_gain(1)`
“I’m trying to stay me” (Fem < 30)	“Respect. Staying yourself when everything’s pushing you somewhere else, that takes more guts than any tattoo. If you ever need someone in your corner who isn’t trying to change you, you know where I am.”	`fem_loss(2)`

All three set jade_rapport = 5. There’s no further conversation knot past 5 — Jade caps as a recurring quiet presence after that.

Tattoo stat math

The three computed functions in TattooStudio.ink make the cumulative effect easy to track:

count_tattoos() — total number of tattoos owned. Several NPCs read this for reactions.
tattoo_allure_bonus() — sum of rose (+1), butterfly (+2), heart (+2). Streaming + bar tips lean on this.
tattoo_energy_bonus() — star (+5) + wolf (+5). Stacks in overnight_processing.
tattoo_shame_reduction() — abstract (+1), tribal (+1), wolf (+1). Stacks overnight.

Heart + butterfly + rose is the femboy streamer build. Star + wolf is the energy build (one is neutral, one is masc, both stack to +10 Energy overnight). Tribal + wolf is the resist-the-route stack (-5 Fem, -2 Shame, +5 Energy).

Tips and gotchas

Rapport progression needs visit padding

The Talk-to-Jade choice requires jade_visits > jade_rapport. Each visit increments jade_visits by 1 (in TattooEntry). The first visit auto-fires the introduction and sets rapport to 1. After that, you need to come back AT LEAST once between conversations. Trying to grind the chat in a single trip won’t work.

Masculine tattoos floor-clamp Femininity at 0

Tattoo_Session_Tribal and Tattoo_Session_Wolf both have an explicit { Femininity < 0: ~ Femininity = 0 } clamp after their fem_loss call. So a low-Fem player using tribal + wolf to push back can’t drive the stat negative. The clamp is correct for save-state hygiene; it’s also why the masc tattoos don’t punish a player who’s already at Fem 0.

Tattoo flags are permanent — no removal

Once has_tattoo_* is set, there’s no path to unset it. The seven flags persist through endings. If you’re chasing a specific stat profile, pick tattoos deliberately; you can’t undo a butterfly later.

Tattoo Studio, the studio itself.
Downtown, the district it sits in.
Mama Vee, same kind of “older mentor figure who’s been through it” energy. Different vibe, parallel function.
Lily, the other character whose rapport arc is about quiet acceptance.