@joshhotz

heart beats the pump of my blood no strings for you to pull on you've got your tongue in your cheek so pardon if i don't speak

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name: joshua david hotz

nicknames: josh (he’s not a fan of nicknames, he thinks they’re patronizing)

age/dob: 25, august 14th 1994

zodiac: leo sun, libra moon, gemini rising

hometown: new york city, new york

gender: cis male + he/him

languages spoken: english, tagalog, french, spanish, & mandarin (limited)

education: new york university (integrated digital media major + french language and literature minor)

💋

“What an honor.” She laughed softly under her breath, though it was clear she didn’t mind. Though she was glad he would be around to keep an eye on them for her, Alicia was also glad her parents did the same for him. Though her family’s ulterior motives have been well documented, it was never malicious. “Oh, I know right? Maybe that’s what I’ve been picking up.” She paused then to sip on the champagne, a hand raising over her chest. “But if you need me to shut down any bullshit so you get your moment, I will.” To anyone else, it could’ve been seen as too much or her being petty, but she was one of his biggest supporters. And he deserved his recognition. His question brings a smile to her lips, lighting up differently than she normally did. “It’s actually been really great. Not like old times, but better. Dylan’s been so great, I can tell Kristen needed some kind of break and like when she and I go out it’s so fun but having Dylan and Claire all around’s exactly what we needed.”

🦁

"don’t worry about me,” he started, the familiar feeling of warmth washing over him. alicia never been someone to make empty promises, but furthermore josh knew of the space they set aside for each other in their lives. as if he could ever forget. “my priority was finding someone to deliver the opening speech and kai thankfully stepped up to the task,” he assured her. maybe his solution was partially fueled by pettiness, but this wasn’t his company or event and change of leadership could be good for the start-up.

cracking a grin, kemp didn’t bother trying to conceal his laughter. “ouch. he’s always talked too much shit for his own good.” another glance around showed that dempsey was still nowhere to be found, at his own party aimed to help the environment, or whatever. the irony. “yeah, pretty much. i’m definitely not your guy if you wanna talk doing something good for the environment, but i’m your number one fan if it’ll make dempsey realize he’s not that special.”

kemp followed josh’s gaze to the vanderbilts, the surprise evident on his face. “what are the chances derrick’s just being a hype man?” he had to hand it to josh — only his best friend would care enough to be rooting for him to win a trivial bet that meant nothing. at the same time, he felt a twinge of guilt for making such a useless bet with cam; but old habits die hard. “alright, i’ll give it a shot. think i’ve got enough game to get both numbers? i’ve been slacking today, so i need brutal honesty.”

🦁

“what comes around goes around,” josh smirked referring to what had been shared with everyone in the group chat. the way he saw it was he and dempsey had an agreement, one with agreed terms. being dempsey’s babysitter was nowhere in his contact, but the last thing josh needed was being attached to a disaster of an event. “but i should find someone to deliver the opening speech,” he acknowledged, not elaborating further because kemp always caught on to his line of reasoning. “remember kai? he’s dempsey’s coo. maybe it’s time for him to be promoted,” he suggested harmlessly as if he was making suggestions for dinner. what’s a little coup on a saturday morning?

💋

“Oh, did she invite me this time or is she hanging out with her favorite”“ She laughs, a playful roll of her eyes at her mother’s antics. Her quest to secure the most attractive Rivera bloodline was just as ambitious as Alicia’s drive for her career. Still, it was their joke. No matter how long it had been since they last saw each other, she easily slipped back in step with Josh. “Oh I know,” she grinned, a self-satisfied meanness alight in her eyes. She didn’t need to meddle, but there was always a rush in being right. “We’ll see. I’m still making my mind up.” She shrugged, her hand sliding up to take his arm like they normally did. Despite her reservations, she supposed this part of Brooklyn really could be beautiful. With the right company, of course. “It’s for the best, we all know where we’ll end up.” 

✹

wrinkling his nose, kemp thought of numerous things he didn’t like about brooklyn. he was too accustomed to his life outside of new york, but he could manage to bare it for the summer. “i thought dempsey wasn’t your biggest fan. and he still asked you for your help? jeez. the irony isn’t lost on me.” he glanced over at the screen showcasing the video, finding subtle hints of josh’s style in it. kemp watched for a few seconds and grinned, turning back to face him. “if it was last-minute, you can’t tell. dempsey better give you a shout-out whenever he shows up. real and proper credit.”

with his hand in pocket, he slowly nodded as his hands folded around the few business cards he got. “i’m off my game,” he said with a short laugh. “that, or i just haven’t met anyone worth my time. gotta treasure my precious wit.”

✹

“remember when he called me part of the problem because i told him 4-in-1 wasn’t good for his skin?” josh mused, amusement coated his words and hid his annoyance. even now, he would love nothing more than to see dempsey put in his place. though timing hadn’t been right and he had proved himself useful at least for now. “thanks,” he smiled, trusting kemp’s attention to details more than he trusted most people’s taste. “i wish he didn’t tell me so late minute, but anything for the environment right?”. it was far too early to trash the host. he could always count on kemp to be in his corner, even now when the man lived on the other side of the country. a true best friend.

with: @ofhotz​ location: brooklyn botanic garden date & time: june 6 / afternoon

kemp dabbed his mouth with a napkin as he finished off the last bite of his strawberry, his gaze fixated on the small crowd forming around a display of household cleaning products. god, even in his own head, it sounded like a joke and yet, it was dempsey’s success. he was watching from afar when he noticed his best friend nearby, and slid over to him. “enjoying yourself?” he greeted with a grin, lightly clapping josh on the shoulder. “i’ll be honest, i don’t really know or care about what’s going on, and i’m only here because you are.”

✹

dempsey’s passion project was a noble cause, one josh fully supported despite his opinion of the founder. correction, he supported the cause enough to allow his own name to be attached to it. “what’s not to love about brooklyn?” josh countered with a wry smile, now treating himself with a screwdriver after the morning he had. first, a missing founder, then a lost kid. brooklyn sure loved to attract trouble. “i would hope so. the marketing for this whole ordeal was a nightmare to plan and execute. dempsey called me last night with an urgent request for me to redo the pre-roll video before his speech. in addition to all the design revisions he wanted from me,” he replied with feigned obliviousness. the fact he lost sleep because of dempsey solomon was enough to annoy him when he woke up, but the fact the host was missing and allowed josh’s work to be highlighted for an extended period did ease his temper.

if she were real, josh and her probably never had a conversation outside of social events and within their friend group. the only text messages between them consists inside group chats and that’s about it. it’s not that claire hates josh or anything – she’s more neutral on the other. but alicia somehow cares about him and well, that’s enough for claire. “ shit are they really? ” claire frowned down at the muffin on her plate — she was too hungry to double check. consequences of being late and waiting to eat for this brunch thing. “ thanks for the heads up josh. ” she placed the muffin off her plate and onto the table a bit away from her, letting it up to grabs for anyone else there. after all, she didn’t want to waste food. “ oh, yeah sure. ” claire took one of the bagels – happy for something as a replacement. “ so how’s the youtube going? i try to catch up on it when i can. after all, you make some of the best shit i’ve seen. ”

✹

If there was one thing she was grateful for, it was how Josh always seemed to arrive at the right time for her. You wouldn’t be able to tell that she was silently ruminating on how to ruin at least three people’s lives at that very moment, but the gears had been turning since she found her seating placement. Taking a sip from her glass, her expression softened immediately upon seeing Josh. Greeting him with a quick kiss to his cheek, Alicia shrugged. “Does anyone need to speak for ten minutes on baby planning?” She knew she’d brush it off, until josh gave her his perfect little gift. “Oh?” She raises a brow, an amused smile now gracing her features. “I can’t quite tell if she downgraded or not then. I’m sure you’ll be seeing an expose soon enough.”

✹

"or we could go to skye hamilton‘s party instead,” josh proposed, almost as if he had forgotten about his invite to the senior’s party. everything was a waiting game when it came to the pack of boys he claimed as friends.

“rain check on the fifa night, chris?” he added, already deciding which shirt he would allow chris to borrow tonight. a group was only as strong as its weakest link after all.

14, If someone was going to become a close friend with your character, please share what would be important for them to know.

do’s: call him if you want to talk (he hates texting), ask him about his siblings, trash the 2020 chanel collection with him, go to the farmers’ market with him

don’ts: buy him chocolate as a gift, cancel on him last minute, ignore his advice and complain when things didn’t work out, walk slowly around him

15. What sort of characters do you tend to write?

The type of people who make spreadsheets and diagrams to capture their thoughts, the dweebs who read wikipedia pages for fun, the dorks who can’t accept being wrong about something.

16. Where/how do you get inspiration for your character?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

LOL, i don’t rehearse what’s going to said but i do write down my talking points on a sheet paper first so i don’t forget anything.

7. If you could change anything about the way you were raised what would it be?

i would probably not make everything a competition with my brothers. as the middle child, i didn’t always get along with my brothers, but things worked out in the end. also, probably wouldn’t manifest a thunderstorm on their birthday because they’re still not over it...

13. Pick three songs that remind you of your character.

vintage - niki

dead to me - kali uchis