diff --git a/public/s/css/f0ckm.css b/public/s/css/f0ckm.css
index f9774d8..6f691d3 100644
--- a/public/s/css/f0ckm.css
+++ b/public/s/css/f0ckm.css
@@ -1925,6 +1925,32 @@ body.sidebar-right-hidden .global-sidebar-right {
   /* Hidden by default, shown via JS if overflow detected */
 }
 
+
+.item-comment-truncated-notice {
+  display: block;
+  margin-top: 8px;
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  color: #666;
+}
+
+.load-full-comment-btn {
+  background: none;
+  border: none;
+  padding: 0;
+  color: var(--accent);
+  font-size: inherit;
+  font-family: inherit;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  opacity: 0.85;
+  text-decoration: underline;
+  text-underline-offset: 2px;
+  transition: opacity 0.15s;
+}
+
+.load-full-comment-btn:hover {
+  opacity: 1;
+}
+
 /* Avatar in sidebar activity */
 .sidebar-avatar-link {
   flex-shrink: 0;
@@ -7886,6 +7912,7 @@ span.badge.badge-current {
   text-decoration: underline;
 }
 
+
 .sidebar-comment-img.emoji {
   width: auto;
   display: inline-block;
diff --git a/public/s/js/comments.js b/public/s/js/comments.js
index e5ef61e..da08e43 100644
--- a/public/s/js/comments.js
+++ b/public/s/js/comments.js
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ class CommentSystem {
 
         const contentEl = el.querySelector('.comment-content');
         if (contentEl) {
-            contentEl.innerHTML = this.renderCommentContent(data.content);
+            contentEl.innerHTML = this.renderCommentContent(data.content, data.comment_id);
 
             // Flash effect to draw attention
             el.classList.remove('new-item-fade');
@@ -1237,7 +1237,7 @@ class CommentSystem {
                 const contentEl = el.querySelector('.comment-content');
                 if (contentEl && contentEl.dataset.raw !== incoming.content) {
                     window.f0ckDebug(`[CommentSystem] Reconcile: Updating content for #c${id}`);
-                    contentEl.innerHTML = this.renderCommentContent(incoming.content);
+                    contentEl.innerHTML = this.renderCommentContent(incoming.content, incoming.id);
                     contentEl.dataset.raw = incoming.content;
                 }
                 
@@ -1366,14 +1366,17 @@ class CommentSystem {
         syncLevel(roots, list, false);
     }
 
-    renderCommentContent(content) {
+    // Maximum characters to fully render in the item view per comment
+    static get ITEM_VIEW_MAX_CHARS() { return 10000; }
+
+    renderCommentContent(content, commentId = null, bypassTruncation = false) {
         if (!content) return '';
-        
-        // Anti-recursion / Performance safeguard for extremely long comments
-        if (content.length > 50000) {
-            console.warn('Comment too long, skipping markdown for performance');
-            // Use native escaping and <pre> to avoid all regex/marked overhead for huge strings
-            return `<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: inherit; margin: 0; padding: 0; background: none; border: none; font-size: inherit; color: inherit;">${this.escapeHtml(content)}</pre>`;
+
+        // Truncate extremely long comments before any processing
+        let truncated = false;
+        if (!bypassTruncation && content.length > CommentSystem.ITEM_VIEW_MAX_CHARS) {
+            content = content.substring(0, CommentSystem.ITEM_VIEW_MAX_CHARS);
+            truncated = true;
         }
 
         if (typeof marked === 'undefined') {
@@ -1633,10 +1636,19 @@ class CommentSystem {
             if (window.Sanitizer && typeof Sanitizer.clean === 'function') {
                 md = Sanitizer.clean(md);
             }
+
+            if (truncated) {
+                md += `<span class="item-comment-truncated-notice">… <button class="load-full-comment-btn" type="button">show full comment</button></span>`;
+            }
+
             return md;
         } catch (e) {
             console.error('Markdown error:', e);
-            return this.escapeHtml(content);
+            let fallback = this.escapeHtml(content);
+            if (truncated) {
+                fallback += ` <span class="item-comment-truncated-notice">… <button class="load-full-comment-btn" type="button">show full comment</button></span>`;
+            }
+            return fallback;
         }
     }
     
@@ -1722,7 +1734,7 @@ class CommentSystem {
         const isPinned = comment.is_pinned;
 
         // Add @mention prefix if this is a reply to a reply
-        const content = isDeleted ? '<span class="deleted-msg">[deleted]</span>' : this.renderCommentContent(comment.content);
+        const content = isDeleted ? '<span class="deleted-msg">[deleted]</span>' : this.renderCommentContent(comment.content, comment.id);
         const date = new Date(comment.created_at).toLocaleString();
 
         // Admin buttons
@@ -2009,6 +2021,19 @@ class CommentSystem {
                 return;
             }
 
+            // Load full comment (expand truncated)
+            const loadFullBtn = target.closest('.load-full-comment-btn');
+            if (loadFullBtn) {
+                const contentEl = loadFullBtn.closest('.comment-content');
+                if (contentEl) {
+                    const fullContent = contentEl.dataset.raw;
+                    if (fullContent) {
+                        contentEl.innerHTML = this.renderCommentContent(fullContent, null, true);
+                    }
+                }
+                return;
+            }
+
             // Comment Context Link (>>ID)
             const contextLink = target.closest('.comment-context-link');
             if (contextLink) {
diff --git a/public/s/js/sidebar-activity.js b/public/s/js/sidebar-activity.js
index f7c6f72..a35ea8b 100644
--- a/public/s/js/sidebar-activity.js
+++ b/public/s/js/sidebar-activity.js
@@ -86,13 +86,16 @@
         }
     };
 
+    // Maximum characters to render in the sidebar per comment
+    const SIDEBAR_CONTENT_TRUNCATE = 200;
+
     const renderCommentContent = (content, commentId = null, itemId = null) => {
         if (!content) return '';
 
-        // Anti-recursion / Performance safeguard for extremely long comments
-        if (content.length > 50000) {
-            console.warn('Sidebar Activity: Comment too long, skipping markdown');
-            return `<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: inherit; margin: 0; padding: 0; background: none; border: none; font-size: inherit; color: inherit;">${escapeHtml(content)}</pre>`;
+        // Truncate extremely long comments before any processing to keep the sidebar
+        // fast and the DOM lean, regardless of markdown / regex complexity.
+        if (content.length > SIDEBAR_CONTENT_TRUNCATE) {
+            content = content.substring(0, SIDEBAR_CONTENT_TRUNCATE) + '\u2026';
         }
 
         if (typeof marked === 'undefined') {