#only friends boston

[heretherebedork]

I, for one, will forever be grateful to Only Friends for giving us Boston.

Because to take a character the narrative has condemned and make him not only the most loved but also the most sympathetic character while also being the messier and having his own deep struggles is a thing of beauty and talent.

But I especially want to highlight a few things about Boston. Because these are all the ways I came to love him.

He's a born this way gay man who is never shown to question or doubt his sexuality.

2. He is openly promiscuous and not only enjoys sex but enjoys having sex with multiple people. (He's an asshole and his moral code is his own but he sticks to it.)

3. He owns his own filth within said moral code.

4. He is the first person to say you can't turn someone gay.

5. He thinks he knows how to throw a punch but really doesn't tend to despite his own words.

6. Openly distinguishes between sex and romantic love

7. Is the only one of his friends capable of a sincere apology when he was wrong and wronged them and will go out of his way to make a sincere one with them even if they don't deserve it and would never admit to owing him one at all.

In fact, he does it twice.

8. He knows when not to apologize.

And, most importantly of all... he can be a petty bitch.

We stan him and we apologize for him and we love him for all of it.

Boston, the king of the sluts, the character who was condemned by the narrative for his ways but that the fanbase will forever love because he was something so unusual in BL that it made him beautiful.

[lurkingshan]

Dear Boston, I still love you even if this fucking show doesn’t. You didn’t deserve what you got in this finale.

[thatgirl4815]

Boston: *sees two people looking happy and in love*

Also Boston: "Not on my watch"

[nongnaopat]

Sand and Nick in EP7 of Only Friends

[anotherblblog]

@bengiyo challenged me to get a pic with Neo and this sign I wanted to make. 🤣 I wasn’t able to get it signed though so half completed in this quest.

I wanted Neo to know Boston still has shooters in these streets.

[firelise]

Only Friends + My Favorite Graphic Tees <3

[staysinvegas]

2023 dramas have really changed my perspective of what I find attractive.

Me: I don't really find "older men" that attractive yknow like I'd prefer someone my a-

This mf:

Me: I don't like dense characters. Especially if they're also super possessive like talk-

This mf:

Me: Alright red flags are fine but I cross the line at betraying friends that's just-

This mf:

Me: I don't like characters whose entire personality is being a bully like get a li-

This mf:

Me: ..........ok

[forcebookish]

this scene is more heartbreaking than you think it is. and it doesn't have to do with mew not being a virgin (it's always been a perk, not the point), it's that mew has been lying to him. (read: he hasn't. boston is obviously lying.)

and specifically it's that mew is lying to him about wanting to get to know him.

it's about being used by mew, like so many people (especially boston) have used him before. and not just for the normal stuff, his money or his body or his status, which he might have been able to ignore, but specifically for another guy. it wasn't even about top, as an idea let alone as a person, it was about making some other guy jealous.

every private moment, every smile, every kiss, every hug, every tease and flirt, every date, every touch was never theirs. top could have been anyone.

it's gotta be the cruelest thing boston could do to him. it's gotta be the most hurt he's ever been.

everyone tells him who he is, even mew did, but mew's the first one who asked. who said he wanted to know top better.

but apparently that was a lie.

boston's right, he thinks, why would mew care if he slept with someone else? top means nothing to mew. top means nothing. top is nothing.

top is left alone and the room is full of smoke and he can't breathe.

but there is boston, as if he hadn't fabricated the whole thing, there to "comfort" him. top doesn't have time to question if it's true or not, he just knows that boston is one of mew's closest friends, ray is definitely into mew, and there's apparently even (fake) evidence. so top turns to him, he yields to him.

because it's the closest he'll ever get to not being alone, choking on smoke. because top doesn't know what it's like to be loved for who he is. and now, because of boston, he thinks he never will.

[neuroticbookworm]

I gotta sleep on this finale and coalesce my thoughts, but this episode went to the greatest lengths to have each and every one of the characters tell Boston that he should "improve" himself. That his current character is not palatable to anyone -- his "friends", his boyfriend.

Boston was ostracized, isolated and berated to the point that it completely shattered his sense of self. He went from this

To this

This is where the show left him -- alone, dejected, and questioning every single part of identity. And I am raging mad about this.

[agendratum]

only friends as text posts (2/?)

[thewayuarent]

Boston and Ray deserve each other

In a very positive way

I have a theory that if we’ll think about this friend group in a long-term perspective, Boston and Ray have the best chances to keep their relationship and grow up to an actual friendship. Let me explain.

Boston and Ray, while being very different, have a lot of common traits. And what differ them from the other two in this friend group, is that both Ton and Ray are people who constantly judged by their surroundings (and society) for their behavior - Boston is a slut, which is bad for some reason, and Ray is a suicidal alcoholic, which makes him a burden in everyone’s eyes.

And that makes them outcasts from their perfect, level-headed, proper friends Mew and Cheum (seriously fuck them both I’m so sorry I tried my best). So I believe they have at least some level of mutual understanding. It’s not coincidence that Boston was the one who was responsible for taking drunk Ray home. It’s not coincidence that Ray was the one who listened about all Boston’s who’s and how’s. They may not be very much supportive of each other, but they know they don’t have a right to judge the other also.

The thing with these two, in my opinion, is that while they don’t necessarily judge other’s behavior, they know very well what’s other weak spots are. And they know how and when bring it to the table. Boston outed Ray in frond of Sand? Ray does the same shit with Boston in frond of Nick! Do I believe that Ray actually judges Boston for his sex adventures? No. But I know, and Ray knows, how it will look like in other’s eyes.

And don’t get me wrong, those two love seeing each other miserable. Boston fucked up Ray’s attempt to get a new start with Sand just because he was feeling like this. Because Ray in his eyes is, well, pathetic with his whole being in love with Mew situation. And did my boy enjoyed it.

Same way Ray is very much enjoys the view of Boston being screamed at by Cheum. He’s absolutely having fun.

But. But they still have a level they won’t step over. The bar is very low, but it’s here.

Because when Ray is on his lowest point, crushed by cops while Cheum screams at him (about the same thing Boston previously laughed at), Boston doesn’t have fun anymore.

Because when Cheum (why is it always her) tells Boston he’s cut off his friends and the project that will cost him his future, Ray doesn’t have fun anymore.

They don’t do anything to help or support each other, obviously, but they are worried. Cheum is angry, Mew is either black out or having the best time of his life, but those two are actually concerned. And I know it’s not much, and it’s absolutely not what you expect from friends, but this is Boston and Ray we’re talking about.

Both of them, very differently, have no idea how to love properly. Because both of them have no idea how to be loved either. They both know their roles - a slut or a burden - they know how people see them and they are used to it. This is why we get constant parallels between BostonNick and SandRay dynamics.

Because when was the last time someone - including themselves - saw them as something more than a number of dirty toxic unhealthy traits?

When was the last time anyone appreciated how talented of a photographer Boston is?

When was the last time anyone told Ray he has good taste in music?

Was anyone there before to not just love them, cause sometimes it’s the easiest part, but to see them, forgive them, be there for them again, and again, and again?

I honestly don’t think so.

And yes, for now they are absolutely not there, but I do believe that they will grow - they’re doing it already. They will learn how to care about others the same way they will learn to accept someone’s love and care.

And for now it’s Nick and Sand, but - baby steps - while they’ll continue their journeys, they will learn to give it for other people. And I would bet on them finding each other again. In a way more healthier place.

[heretherebedork]

The perfect little shrug. Boston finally and absolutely dropping his mask of making excuses and just straight up turning to insulting Ray and forcing his hand instead.

[lurkingshan]

Just wanted to pull out these tags @suppaloscurse left on my post because YES:

I do not think it’s a coincidence that as the narrative continues and the hypocrisy and double standards of other characters are revealed (the royal) we become more sympathetic to Boston and recognize that he’s not a super villain, he’s just a guy. By now everything bad he has done, another character we have more natural sympathy for has also done something similar. This feels quite intentional to me.

You’re also right that Boston is the only one of these characters who actually owns his shit, communicates honestly, and accepts accountability for his choices. I mentioned in the same post that Boston has a code, it just looks different from other people’s conceptions of morality. @shortpplfedup has talked about this in her weekly write ups as well, that Boston’s main issue is he doesn’t understand that other people don’t think the way he does, and so he genuinely doesn’t get it sometimes when people are pressed about what he’s done (and sometimes he gets it just fine because he knows he was being a piece of shit).

I suspect this show is making some points about who we judge and why, and how it ties into our hangups about sex and promiscuity. I respect it and I'm excited to see where it goes in the final act.

[thatgirl4815]

For me, this series is overflowing with cognitive dissonance.

I feel bad for Mew, but I'm frustrated that he would dive into a relationship with Ray that we can be fairly certain he doesn't really want. I love Ray and sympathize with his issues, but I hate what he's doing to Sand (and Mew, by agreeing to be with him in his emotionally vulnerable state). I hate Top for cheating on Mew, but I do genuinely think he loves Mew and wants to make it up to him. I love Sand but am also frustrated that he doesn't love himself enough to leave Ray. I feel bad for Nick but think his pain is kind of deserved because of his choice in men (and his infringement of privacy). I like Chuem for trying to be a peacekeeper, but her comments rub me the wrong way.

The only one I feel no dissonance over is Boston. Hate him through and through.

[nongnaopat]

Boston's "Was I wrong? 🥺" face

[sirenascales]

boston about that one dude: yeah that asshole recorded me without my consent :/ kinda sucks

nick: