But I balk at the idea that a comment only starts being long at 4k words.
People are talking about 4k characters, i.e. one AO3 comment. Not 4k words.
About your last paragraph, do you need to be effusive to say thank you? No, but I still find a short thank you a bit disappointing when I spent a long time writing a fic and trying very hard to tailor it to my recip's requests. And frankly, if you leave the same kind of comment on 1001 half-assed words as you do on 10k tailored to your likes, I probably won't bother writing 10k tailored to your likes for you. I'll keep my lovingly crafted 10k for someone who actually shows me they appreciate them.
Re: Ways in which you are petty
People are talking about 4k characters, i.e. one AO3 comment. Not 4k words.
About your last paragraph, do you need to be effusive to say thank you? No, but I still find a short thank you a bit disappointing when I spent a long time writing a fic and trying very hard to tailor it to my recip's requests. And frankly, if you leave the same kind of comment on 1001 half-assed words as you do on 10k tailored to your likes, I probably won't bother writing 10k tailored to your likes for you. I'll keep my lovingly crafted 10k for someone who actually shows me they appreciate them.