I know I got more comments on my story than I've gotten on a short story in years.

Same here! I am so used to very little feedback. It was refreshing to get such nice comments. (My top ten fics on AO3--or maybe even top 20!!--are not in the Tolkien fandom, which, of course, is where my heart is, are the ones I pour my energy into, etc., etc. I write Silm fic for the love of it, but feedback is so much fun!)