#I also don't really like medical (hospital/doctors) related dramas

[tardis--dreams]

So, if anyone has any recommendations for dramas with similar vibes as beyond evil and the devil judge I'd be more than grateful to hear them

(so essentially, I'd like something without (too much) romance, ideally queer coded, suspenseful/thriller vibes, good chemistry between main characters..)

[misscrawfords]

3, 35 and 40 for the book ask :)

3. Already answered!

35. What do you think of Ebooks?

Mixed feelings. I much prefer physical copies of books. However, I am a book borrower not a book buyer and my library is extremely slow at getting new books, especially more obscure books not originally published in the UK, if it gets them at all. And then there's a really long waiting list. So I see online there's a new diverse romance come out I want to read - chances of my library getting anytime soon are practically nil. I started borrowing or buying ebooks which are cheaper and reading on my phone - not a lot but enough that I finally bought a Kindle last month. Do I feel good supporting Amazon? No. But it did seem like the best way to be able to read certain books and I was getting tired of reading a lot on my phone - a Kindle has better visibility. I can also see the benefits when travelling. Don't worry though - 90% of what I read is still paperbacks. If I had a choice I'd always go for that.

40. Has there ever been a book you wish you could un-read?

Yes, actually. Two spring to mind, both from my childhood. The first was a totally age-appropriate story about a boy, possibly called Luke, whose brother had leukemia. It was one of those children/YA (I guess it would be Middle Grade these days) books with a Worthy Theme that Kids Might Relate To to Help Them With Difficult Stuff. Not my sort of book even then but for some reason I got hold of it. It really, really upset me. I started becoming terrified of getting cancer, of someone I loved getting cancer, of dying, of loved ones dying...

The second was a biography of the cellist Jaqueline du Pre that my uncle bought me as a present when I was 10. My uncle has a habit of misjudging presents but I didn't know that and while this wasn't a kid's book, I guess it looked innocuous enough. This may seem totally different to the above book but it really isn't. Du Pre developed the condition of MS and the biography went into detail about her condition and its effect on her life including her sex life (which I found morbidly fascinating without really understanding it) and eventually her decline and death. Like the above book, this absolutely grabbed me and obsessed me and scared me.

Basically, I cannot engage with fiction that deals with terminal illness, especially cancer. I just can't. I can't watch medical dramas - I can't even deal with Call the Midwife! To this day I will not read any book that has this kind of plotline or theme. All through my teenage years, I refused to read any book that didn't have a happy ending. It was only when studying Greek forced me to engage with Greek tragedy that I started to let in a couple of "sad stories". Even now I will always take happy endings over sad ones, I avoid angst and I never touch misery porn stories. I can deal with the genre of Tragedy (as in Greek or Shakespeare) because it is not so much sad as inevitable, if you get the difference. Chekhov is on a very thin line. In real life too I find terminal illness, hospitals, doctors really awful, more than is normal, I think. A lot of my friends at school wanted to become doctors - I would do literally any other career. It's my nightmare. Whether my horror of these things came before these two books or not I don't know, but I do remember they had a really profound and negative effect on me and I really wish I hadn't read them at that point in my life.

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Guess who it is! That's right, your least fave anon! Okay so 2 updates here -

1. Life update! Very stressy! Very much enjoying absurdist literature and also crying! Great time!

2. Fandomy stuff! I am LOVING the David drama (still not on the new season yet whoops). Literally so much fun rip David I'm having a blast. Also re the doctor who autism conversation every classic who companion is neurodivergent especially Turlough who is either autistic coded or kian anon coded. Also also back to the David thing Literally love this man sm when I first started gendering I considered calling myself David for unrelated reasons and now I regret not going with that this man I stg

- Kian anon (making no sense because I am living off coffee and stress and sore heads)

Oh hi there Kian anon!! Great to hear from you :) Very sorry to hear you've been so stressed, I hope things improve for you soon. 💜

I'm a bit 50/50 on the David storyline, it's been written well and acted VERY well but I still just don't really feel like they should have done it. It's probably a better watch if you haven't seen the Holby storyline it's a ripoff of, though (the 2017 hospital shooting). I guess I just think the shooting part is too melodramatic, and it's a blatant copy of the Henrik and Fredrik storyline from Holby. And the thing about that storyline was it worked for Henrik's character because he always sort of felt like he belonged in something more melodramatic, like a gothic novel or something. Whereas David is just a normal guy in a medical drama. I feel like it kind of takes away from David's relatability as a character in a way it didn't for Henrik. Idk. Jason Durr has been amazing though, someone should give the man a BAFTA.

I don't know enough about Classic Who to weigh in, but I shall take your word for it! Personally I tend to find a lot of the DW characters I see as autistic are the ones people don't really point out as much. I mean, undeniably the Doctor is coded (and with Twelve it was blatantly just intentional... I mean, come on, social cue cards?), and I feel like autistic!Bill is a pretty popular take and I've seen very good arguments for her being on the spectrum so I adopted that headcanon too. But the other ones for me are Ashildr* and also... Nick, I think his name was, from this year's New Year special? And I don't see people bring them up a lot. I've also occasionally seen autistic!Clara headcanons and I like that idea, because Clara being autistic and just very good at masking would add a lot to her dynamic with the very visibly autistic Twelve, but I go back and forth on it. I think really though, Doctor Who is just a very autistic show anyway lol so it's no wonder so many autism headcanons spring up from it.

(* - I actually rewatched The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived just recently and yeah, I'm still clinging tight to autistic!Ashildr. She is absolutely textbook autistic in TGWD, and I know it doesn't really show through in any of her other episodes but you can put that down to her having hundreds of years to learn to mask.)

[snowydaffodils]

Exhilarating

1741 words | 3rd Person POV

Another short fluff - this time with Seventeen's Josh!

Synopsis: Everything was dull and boring, but when she entered the room, she was like a breath of fresh air.

---

Despite the well designed interior and the fancy vases that decorated the room, it didn't push away the feeling of unfamiliarity and solitude that Joshua had felt since he arrived - or at the very least became aware of his surroundings. He didn't feel the isolation as much when he first came, because his vision (and memory) was blurry. He remembered people talking around him, and he remembered being taken from one place to another, but he didn't remember what they were saying exactly, or where they brought him to. When he came to, they told him he collapsed on pre-recording, and they had to immediately bring him to the hospital.

Joshua sighed. While the room was probably one of the most luxurious ones he'd been in, there was an odd unsettling feeling that disturbed him as he lay there, alone. It didn't help that he was wearing hospital clothes instead of his own and also that he was stuck to an IV drip. Just in between the door and floor, he saw shadows that stood tensely beyond his room, and he could guess them as the assigned security for him - just in case one of those sasaengs reached him somehow.

With the window shutters being closed down, it further elongated his feeling of being boxed in, as Vernon would've phrased it. His members were off to another schedule that he later would have to make up for, so nobody would be on the group chat. He would've called his mom to push away the loneliness, but it would have been barely dawn in Los Angeles.

The ceiling, once a comfortable target to place his sights on, slowly grew dull and boring, so he moved to lay sideways instead, facing the door. It was then when he heard noises and steps coming towards his direction, and the shadows under the door moved around for the first time.

His eyes perked up to see who was coming, hoping it would be his manager, or one of the members who finished their schedules early and came to see him. Instead of them, a white coat caught his eyes, the person in it fiddling with the notes she was holding as she entered the room.

"Mr. Hong, right?" she smiled, pulling up her glasses as she approached him. "Hong Jisoo."

The way she called him was cheerful and perky, and it brought a different light to enter the room. It suddenly didn't seem so sullen, and for that, Joshua was happy she entered, whoever she may be.

"Yes?" he managed, as he pulled himself up to sit straight and look at her properly.

"Good morning," she cheered, and he noticed that she was looking directly into his eyes. While he was used to direct eye-contact in America, Koreans tend to deem that action impolite, so he didn't really expected it. Even so, he had always thought of eye contact as an important element in communicating - it shows just how much attention you were getting from the other person. Her eyes seemed bright as he returned the contact, and the mere fact that they were looking into each other's eyes played a huge part in lightening up the room.

"Morning," Joshua replied, trying to smile back as politely as he could, despite the heaviness of his head while keeping his body upright.

"Oh, you shouldn't move too much!" she said upon seeing him. "You were running a high fever, on top of that you were dehydrated and overworked, too. Your temperature went down slightly, but you're still in a feverish range," she said quickly, adjusting the small tube that was connected to his arm.

"I feel better, though," Joshua reasoned, giving the girl a small smile to support his subjective argument. She puffed and blew the little bangs annoying her eyes away and placed her hands on her hips.

"Better doesn't equal good enough," she said, the look in her eyes clearly opposing his attempts to be let go. "Besides, take this opportunity to actually rest, okay? Its a big fancy room with fancy lighting, a TV and good speakers, and we'll get you food in a moment. You can't argue that this is not heaven," she rambled, pointing at his surroundings.

Joshua laughed, he had never met a doctor like this one. "You have a point," he said. "But, do you think you can move me to another room? Preferably with people?"

She blinked. "You want to switch rooms?"

Joshua looked around, there was a nurse standing right behind this doctor girl, and his security guard had stepped inside since the girl entered. They all looked at him weird and obviously against the idea, so he just nodded timidly and sighed.

"Its just that," the girl waited for his response patiently, her hands back on her the edge of his bed and the other on her notes. Joshua continued, unsure of himself as well. "It gets too quiet, and uh, silence gets pretty uncomfortable for me."

She gave him one look and spared a few seconds for her thoughts before she returned him with a reply. "Well, your manager told me its best you're not even seen by anyone at all, for your safety."

Of course he did. Joshua didn't doubt that, and he understood those orders completely, so he just nodded, accepting defeat. Worth a try though.

But she wasn't quite finished. She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket, checked her screen for a while before coming back to him. "I can stay with you and chat if it helps," she grinned. "People call me a chatterbox, so why not put it to good use, right?"

"Are you not busy?" Joshua asked, pretty set aback by her suggestion, but was not against it.

She shook her head, swaying her bangs left and right before giving him a reassuring smile. "Not if nobody's calling for me. You're actually free to go after this drip," she points at the hanging liquid with the notes on her hand, "All you have to do is wait for your manager to pick you up. After all, your fever did go down, and we'll give you acetaminophens to take. What you really need is food and rest."

While the rest of the people in the room looked at her weirdly at her offer to be a chatterbox, she paid no mind to it and grabbed herself a chair to sit on by Joshua's bed. Joshua, on the other hand, just nodded numbly, unsure of what kind of reaction he should give, or what words to say. He had no reason to refuse, though, so he said nothing.

"You guys can go," she dismissed the nurses who followed immediately, and the security guard simply eyed her for a few seconds before returning to his post. She was the assigned doctor, after all, he couldn't (and shouldn't) restrict her from her patient.

Once they all left, Joshua blurted the question that had been sitting on the tip of his tongue. "So, do you stay to chat with all the patients you meet?"

She settled in her seat and gave him an ambiguous smile - one Joshua understood to not be completely genuine, but wasn't fake either. "Just the ones that seem particularly lonely."

"And," Joshua paused, picking his words carefully. "You don't have other lonely patients?"

She chuckled. Pressing her fist on her cheeks, she rephrased his question for him, "You mean why aren't I busy treating other patients?" The question stunned him for a while. He didn't expect her to be that direct, especially to her patient; but to be honest, he didn't mind it one bit.

Usually, when this kind of situation happened - where a conversation turned too straightforward for him to handle, Joshua would've chuckled awkwardly and politely, and just nodded or something to move on from the discomfort. But this time, he didn't know if it was because his head was still revolving, or if it was because he'd spent too much time with Jeonghan, but he didn't take the polite route and just directly returned her question with another one. He simply nodded. "Yeah, sure, if you care to tell?"

The response wasn't one she was used to receiving, so she was a bit flustered at the blunt exchange for a few seconds. "Huh," she huffed, but smiled. "I guess I'm assigned to do the extra stuff. Nobody wants to talk to patients and their guardians if its nothing medical related. Doctors are awkward that way. They prefer to research, write papers, and explore surgeries. And so they pushed me here," she gestured to the room around her. "To the VIP wards."

Before Joshua could take offense into her words, she disclaimed, "Not that you're 'extra stuff', but you must understand that some VIP patients can be," she gave him an awry grin, one that was indicating something negative, as she searched for the right word. She didn't seem to find one, but eventually settled with the description: "Exhilarating," which she worded with a shoulder shrug, indicating that it wasn't the correct word at all.

Joshua just laughed at her antics, wondering if the medical dramas about VIP patients actually happen in real life that she would describe them that way. "Would you say I'm - well - exhilarating, then?"

At this point, her smile was no longer ambiguous. Looking like she was in deep thought, she answered, "You're a different kind of exhilarating." Her dimples further accentuated the honesty in her smile. "I mean, obviously, you're well aware that you have got the looks," she reasoned, not at all embarrassed to compliment him, which was different for a change - but a good different.

"That I do," Joshua grinned. He was an idol, after all, he should be confident in his visuals.

"And you're young - not many VIPs are as young," she continued, still thinking of more answers. "And most people would've reprimanded me for speaking so casually and bluntly to a patient about her work. They'd say I was rude."

Joshua snickered. "Should I, then? Reprimand you, I mean?"

Her eyes rounded at his statement, and then she suddenly clasped her hands together and bowed her head. "I would reaaally, reaaaally appreciate it if you don't."

He laughed. This girl is really something.

"What was your name, again? Can I call you by name?" Joshua asked, visibly more comfortable.

And she returned him with another ambiguous smile.

---

[yourkdramaanalyst]

A REVIEW OF MY FAVORITE NETFLIX ORIGINAL KOREAN DRAMA: HOSPITAL PLAYLIST

https://t.co/fkqOasA6Tk

Hello, K-Drama fans! I stepped out of Tumblr for more or less than a month. It's a good thing that I didn't forget I have a blog here. Lol. I've been busy so I wasn't able to cross out most of the dramas on my list. But the drama I am about to review right now is actually a series that I already crossed out of my list twice! So what made me watch Hospital Playlist for the second time?

• Introduction to the Drama

Short Gist:

It's about five friends who used to be school mates in medical school, who are now working at the same hospital.

Director Shin Won Ho and screen writer Lee Woo Jung previously worked on the famous Reply series (which are a work of art!)

The five main characters are (from left to right) Jo Jung Seok, Jeon Mi Do, Jung Kyoung Ho, Yoo Yeon Seok, and Kim Dae Myung . Quite an interesting line-up, huh?

Yoo Yeon Seok also appeared in many dramas and movies. He's in this industry for 17 years now (if my calculations are correct). He was in dramas Dr. Romantic, Gu Family Book, Reply 1994, etc. Yeon Seok has starred in many medical dramas already.

Jo Jung Seok, an award winning actor, has starred in many dramas and movies. He appeared in dramas The King 2hearts, Oh My Ghost, Jealousy Incarnate, etc. He's a good rom-com and drama actor.

Jung Kyoung Ho has been appearing in the small screen since 2004 and has already landed in many roles. He was in Beating Again, Missing Nine, and Prison Playbook. If you noticed, he was Yoon Seri's ex-boyfriend in Crash Landing On You, which was just a special appearance.

Kim Dae Myung is more of a big screen guy. He has been appearing in movies since 2012. Some of other dramas where he starred are Misaeng: Incomplete Life and The Sound of Your Heart.

The only woman in the main cast is originally a play and musical actress. She's a fresh face in the world of K-drama. Jeon Mi Do had her first role 2 years ago in a drama called Mother. She appeared in a movie called Metamorphosis last year and finally, had her second role this year in Hospital Playlist.

A second season of the drama is to be expected next year. 😉

• The Experience

As I mentioned earlier, I've already watched this drama twice! It's not even that long since I watched this for the first time, and I just finished watching it again.

The first time I watched Hospital Playlist, I didn't know what it was all about. I was actually just having a phase where all I wanted to watch was medical dramas (yes... that's true, even though I am not a med student or anything related) so I clicked on it immediately as soon as all of the episodes were released on Netflix. But as soon as I finished watching the first episode, I couldn't really stop myself from watching more.

Typically, I enjoy watching light and funny dramas but this one is on another level. It has become my favorite Netflix original drama! Until now, I still can't get over it. I can't wait for the next season to be released.

•Points that I Liked About the Drama

https://t.co/OC3HEzU0a4

1. Hospital Playlist tells a lot of story about different people. There are five main characters but the story does not only revolve around them but also tells the story of the people around. This is actually common when it comes to medical dramas since there are a lot of patients. However, in this drama, they didn't just focus on patients but also on the hospital staffs. In fact, there are so many doctors from different departments that are shown here. I got to see more of what's happening during their breaks, how senior doctors look over the interns and residents and other staff, etc. Of course those are not real life scenarios, but it seemed real and made me feel like I am one of them.

2. Light and funny but really heartwarming. It's the kind of drama that will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It's not the slapstick comedy kind of drama but more of a situation-based kind? I don't know if you get it at all, LMAO. Watching it makes you feel like you're just catching up with friends, talking about your daily lives and laughing and reminiscing about the past.

3. Plotless but not nonsensical. It is not a complicated drama which is easy to watch no matter how old or how young you are. It should still be watched chronologically, though, because there are still a lot of stories to follow about each character. There's just no definite goal that was shown in the drama but the way the story was told, it's almost perfect.

4. One of the most realistic medical dramas. There are no exaggerated medical scenes where the doctors have to do impossible things and whatsoever just to save a patient.

https://t.co/Z6U1T2nBI0

5. I love the characters. It's impossible to choose a favorite character! Even the supporting ones are characterized well. Each character is different, that's why even if there are many of them, you won't get lost.

6. It's a medical drama so I learned a lot as well. If you are interested in medicine or currently taking up medicine related programs, Hospital Playlist is a good k-drama option to watch.

https://t.co/xGbTvz4giu

7. The OST is good. I highly recommend this drama if you are a sucker for good OSTs like me. All of the songs here are just covers. I am not familiar with the original songs since they are from the 1990s and early 2000s, but I still enjoyed them. For a month, I've only played Hospital Playlist OST. I'm not even kidding!

https://t.co/p3gGyjAKSS

8. They didn't overdo the romantic scenes. I ship a lot of the characters because there are also side stories like doctors who start to like each other. But none of them are cringey. I had a good time watching some characters' love story as it progresses.

9. There are so many cameos. I won't mention them because it may lead to spoilers but I swear, I love those special appearances!

• The Ending

The ending of the first season was satisfying. There are still unanswered questions, though. That's something to look forward to for the 2nd season. I can't say much about the ending because I know that it's not the final one yet. Still, my heart was contented with the 12 episodes.

•Final Thoughts

Will I watch it again? YES. FOR SURE.

Will I recommend it? YES. WATCH THIS DRAMA RIGHT AWAY OR ADD THIS TO YOUR PENDING LIST IMMEDIATELY.

Rate: 10/10 (for this season only)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The reason why it's a 10/10 for me is because I prefer dramas like this, okay? If anyone disagrees with me, you can try to convince me to change my mind but I doubt anything will change. 🤣

•Hospital Playlist Top 5 OST

I really had a hard time picking my top 5 favorite songs because all of them are good. This is a really hard task for me, why did I even do this to myself? Lol. I feel my heart breaking. I. Am. Not. Kidding. So the songs I listed here are not really my top 5, it's rather a proof of my claim that everything is good. ('cos i just can't, i am sorry).

Me to You, You to Me by Mido and Falasol

Lonely Night by Kwon Jin Ah

Introduce me a good person by Joy

Aloha by Cho Jung Seok

In front of city hall at the subway station by Kwak Jin Eon

That's it! There's nothing I don't like about Hospital Playlist and I have no issues, too. If I am to think of one, it would probably be about the release date of the second season because I am dying for it.

So what are your thoughts? 😊 Thank you for reading!