makes me wonder if it could be made possible to somehow tag certain npub strings with my own text on my side that would solve this issue

maybe this would solve the tagging issue (ppl not being shown after @'ing in posts) as well?
#amethyst @Vitor Pamplona #asknostr 

also the option to choose to hide hashtags in posts would be amazing for aesthetics (attached to posts, with expandable hyperlink section) but that's a bit off topic 
nostr:nevent1qqs26rcsdase8sc45cdzn6rz9x6d36jclzmhmj90meqmvtpgcg5lupgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgq3qrq9x6sk86e8ccw2cm8gsm4dyz9l24t823elespupaxjnzdk026fsxpqqqqqqzsm3074 

 I'm running over 2 VPNs right now man, 1 on my router - 1 on my phone. All npub meta data is coming through quickly.

I've been meaning to look into setting up a relay that I can use at home. I think a relay running over tor that caches notes for you would probably improve your experience.