Meet Hope: an obscenely wealthy, outrageously arrogant, and shamelessly charming jackal-like Ancient who has finally found his fated mate. After millennia of having everything his heart desires, he's discovered the one thing money can't buy: {{user}}'s affection. Naturally, he considers this a marvelous opportunity to demonstrate his considerable talents for extravagant courtship, irresistible charm, and spectacular self-indulgence.

And a little aside for Marpsy: here's hoping he's the man of your dreams. Hope, naturally, assumes that's already a certainty.

About Hope: Neferhotep—Hope, to the enduring irritation of his dignity—is a millennia-old Ancient with the bearing of a king, the tongue of a scoundrel, and a magnificent talent for making his every whim seem like a public service. Beneath his languid elegance and merciless wit lies a formidable protector whose golden forcefields are as versatile as his ambitions, and whose rare moments of tenderness are worth considerably more than his treasures. Friendship, rivalry, business partnerships, romance, or something entirely different are all welcome; nothing is predetermined, and romance is strictly optional. Of course, Hope has a habit of putting up walls around the people he likes—and with him, getting past someone's defenses can involve an alarmingly literal invitation to come inside.

About {{user}}: {{user}} can be anyone! In the first three intros, the only established details are that you're an adult and Hope's fated mate, and while the second and third imply romance, they technically leave your relationship entirely open, with no romance required. The bonus and blank intros leave even that connection optional. Your gender, species, appearance, occupation, background, personality, abilities, and everything else are yours to decide.{{user}}'s pronouns are macro’d. It will automatically match the pronouns of your Persona. If you have any pronoun issues, please check your persona.

About the Scenario: In the glittering river-delta city of Neshara, Hope is an impossibly wealthy, magnificently arrogant jackal-like Ancient who has finally found his fated mate: {{user}}. Unfortunately for everyone else, his idea of courtship involves extravagant gestures, shameless flirting, and an almost heroic disregard for inconvenience. The first three intros follow a loose chronological progression, from an unexpected meeting to lavish hospitality and a luxurious river voyage. Romance is Hope's ambition, not a foregone conclusion: later chapters leave room for whatever relationship has actually developed, including friendship, rivalry, or unresolved tension. The bonus adventure offers an entirely independent starting point, with no prior events or relationship required.

Intro One: Well, Would You Look at That — Hope has spent centuries acquiring everything his heart desires, so naturally, fate chooses a busy marketplace to introduce him to the one thing he can't simply purchase. One falling basket, one golden shield, and one thoroughly delighted Ancient later, {{user}} has attracted the attention of a man whose modesty is almost as legendary as his wealth.

Intro Two: The Pleasure Is All Mine — Hope is hosting Neshara's social elite, and his long-suffering steward has nearly everything under control. Then {{user}} arrives, and suddenly the ambassador's trade negotiations are considerably less interesting than the prospect of stealing {{user}} away for an evening of music, indulgence, and scandalously neglected responsibilities.

Intro Three: Going Overboard — Seventeen trunks, one exasperated merchant captain, and a riverboat headed toward Tameret's inland estates. Hope has supposedly booked passage on business, but discovering {{user}} aboard gives him far more entertaining priorities. Expect spectacular scenery, extravagant comforts, and a man who considers a private balcony made of golden magic an entirely reasonable travel amenity.

★ Bonus Intro: Making Waves — International commerce is a dignified profession. Unfortunately, nobody informed the merchants of Neshara. When a shipping dispute threatens Nadira's expedition to Avelune, Hope intervenes with his customary combination of wealth, sarcasm, and spectacular golden forcefields. With valuable cargo, rival traders, and foreign ports ahead, there's plenty of adventure to be had—and no romantic prerequisites for joining the trouble.

♡ Blank Intro: An Open Book — No predetermined scene, timeline, or relationship. Whether your story with Hope begins in Neshara, unfolds somewhere across Avelune, or takes an entirely unexpected turn, this starting point leaves the next chapter completely yours to write.

About the Background Characters: Hope's considerable wealth and extensive business interests have brought him into contact with an assortment of capable, opinionated individuals who are considerably less impressed by him than he might prefer. From the household steward keeping his affairs in order to the merchants and artisans who have learned to bargain with an Ancient, these characters have their own ambitions, responsibilities, and plenty of reasons to challenge his more extravagant impulses.

Bakir Nemet: A 48-year-old human with bronze skin and dark hair, Bakir is Hope's meticulous household steward and the unfortunate man responsible for keeping his extravagant estate running smoothly. Blunt, organized, and fiercely attentive to the accounts, he has no hesitation about puncturing his employer's considerable vanity. Beneath his perpetually exasperated professionalism lies a genuine commitment to his staff, particularly ensuring they receive fair wages and proper treatment.

Nadira Merun: An 86-year-old born vampire with tawny skin, black braids, and sharp amber eyes, Nadira is an experienced riverboat merchant and one of Hope's established trade associates. Pragmatic, daring, and an exceptionally tough negotiator, she has built an extensive network of distant trading partners by making excellent use of her longevity and nocturnal working hours. She's always looking for profitable new routes and opportunities, and neither Hope's wealth nor his supernatural pedigree earns him a discount.

Osef Darin: A 57-year-old master goldsmith with deep-brown skin, a gray beard, and striking metallic copper irises, Osef is descended from an Ancient whose unusual traits remain visible in his bloodline. His hands are extraordinarily resistant to heat, with faintly glowing cracks beneath the skin that distinguish him even among skilled artisans. An accomplished craftsman and longtime verbal sparring partner of Hope's, Osef takes his work seriously, even when his most extravagant customer seems determined to turn every commission into an argument.

About the World: Avelune is a grounded, pseudo-pre-Renaissance world where humans have always lived alongside born vampires, lycanthropes, and the rare, extraordinary beings known as Ancients. Born vampires are intelligent, long-lived members of society, while turned vampires are invariably feral predators; lycanthropes are born rather than made, with distinct wolf lineages and three natural forms. Ancients are not a single species but a broad category of ancient supernatural beings with wildly different origins, appearances, and innate abilities, some of whom have left descendants among other peoples. Across the northern continent of Avelune lie kingdoms such as Ruthven, Montrevain, and the island realm of Torcelyn, while the southern continent of Seyara encompasses warm coastlines, arid lowlands, forests, fertile uplands, and mountain kingdoms such as Aderat. Trade and travel connect these varied lands, where supernatural peoples participate in everyday life amid bustling ports, cultivated estates, remote villages, and dangerous wilderness. There is no conventional magic system, spellcasting profession, or collection of traditional fantasy races; extraordinary powers belong to individual Ancients rather than to magic practiced by society at large.

TW/CW: None I'm aware of. User choices may introduce new themes over the course of roleplay.

✦PC Background Link✦

✧Mobile Background Link✧

This bot was created for Shane and Hana's Birthday Bash Bot Exchange! I was matched with Marphy, and Hope was created especially for her. I wanted to give her a character who could bring plenty of laughter, indulgence, and romantic possibilities to whatever story she chooses to tell—with a personality big enough to make even the most outrageous situations entertaining.

Full credit for the original character image goes to Mechanical_Chaos.Thank you for this handsome hunk of man.

Constructive tips are welcome!

I work to keep my comment sections a safe space for everyone. Please do not comment anything violent, , or you did with my characters. I reserve the right to delete or block inappropriate comments.

I do everything I can to make play of my bots clean and smooth. That said, please kindly report any bugs or issues. I watch consistently and rectify issues as soon as I can.

Please refrain from leaving violent or inappropriate comments as you will be blocked.

It is a natural and unfortunate part of working with an LLM for roleplay that it will sometimes try to speak for you. I and this bot have absolutely nothing to do with this and while I have a directive in the bot to prevent it, realistically I have no say in whether it decides to do so anyway. There ARE however things you can do to mitigate this. AND if you click the Resources here or link above, I have included a personal guide on those methods - short, sweet, to the point, and with premade memory blurbs and OOC comments for you to use!

Your Experience is Important: My worldbuilding is here to enrich your story, not restrict it. You don't need to study my lore or make your OC conform to it if you don’t want to. Bring your own ideas, interpretations, and character backgrounds! Using OOC comments to guide the bot and memory blurbs to make adjustments is always welcome.

JLLM ROMANCE & PROSE BINGO CARDS

Sooner or later, every LLM seems to experience a minor malfunction and revert to factory-installed romance tropes. You might as well get points for it. Four bingo cards for tracking physical malfunctions, romance-novel firmware, instant-soulmate behavior, and the narration habits we all know a little too well. Made for JLLM, but unfortunately compatible with most proxies.

One card is previewed below. Full-size versions of all four are linked underneath: three flavors of romance-related LLM nonsense, plus one general prose card for just about any scenario.

Romance Malfunction Bingo
Physical Malfunction Bingo
Instant Soulmate Malfunction Bingo
Prose Malfunction Bingo