Alright, we appear to have uncovered something with the help of y'all.
Twitter had a featured apparently called "Quality Filter" - this was probably turned on at some point unbeknownst to me once I crossed X-number of followers but was opt-in otherwise.
This was undoubtedly the thing that hid nasty replies and prevented them from showing up in my notifs. And if this wasn't on for you (or you didn't have access) that may explain why my lived experience Over There has been easier than here.
@TechConnectify
Could people just be a bit less shit? D:
@bongmaster Sadly, this is not possible.
I've worked customer service so I say that with experience.