@michael_martinez but that's what I tried to explain: you do not have to add the hashtags anywhere in the content! simply tag the post with tolkien, using the normal wordpress tagging system and the plugin adds them automatically to the post without blocking any space.
you can check if they the output by adding `?activitypub` to the end of one of your posts
the #hashtag feature is simply an extension for users that only want to only use the content field or Mastodon Apps to add their hashtags.