ok this is even sillier than i first thought.

i think this entire firestorm could have been easily and quickly avoided with just

"hey, could you not use > for quoting with my posts? it's a [pet peeve/trigger/strong dislike] due to enduring 4chan shit tossed at me."

"oh sure, no problem! totally understandable to be twitchy after dealing with 4chan shit lol"

and there we go lol