I was just thinking to myself "It would be good if #Mastodon let you follow someone's original posts without seeing all the stuff they boost, which is not relevant to me".
Then it occurred to me to look and see if it does ... and it does! Click on the person's username, then click the three-dots menu near top right of their profile, then choose "Hide boosts from โฆ"
This is a game-changer!