My post isn't really saying anything everyone else hasn't said, but I thought I'd put it together using the framework I work under.
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Originally Posted by rei  i'm not good at simply ignoring direct, malicious attacks on my character. and provoking me was part of the goal, this is just a different way to respond. |
I tend to use Aikido as an illustration of dealing with confrontations. Aikido is a martial art focusing on reasserting harmony. The first lesson is that if you aren't being attacked, then nothing needs to happen. That's not applicable. The second lesson is that you can be immovable. And the third lesson is that there are a lot of ways to defuse an attack, usually by meeting it almost head-on, but a little to the side.
When someone is flaming, they're pushing. You can accept it (one way is via reinterpretation, like Trekzer suggests) and thus "pull" them off balance. A lot of Aikido involves "helping" the attacker into a position they can't hurt you from: if they're punching you, you step past and pull their hand in the same direction it was moving... but faster than they had been expecting and longer than they were planning.
An attack on your character is a push. Defending against it is a pushback. That puts you in a deadlock. Instead, "step around" it by ignoring those specific comments and "pull" on the actual points they've made. Or "pull" on their ad hominems by exaggerating them (why yes, I do have a master plan for world domination).
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Originally Posted by rei i hope any future updates i may decide to share are only positive and we will have co-created a new efficient method of neutralizing the cyberbully. |
Troll-stomping is really hard. It's a war of attrition, and the most vulnerable person is you. The best advice I can give you is to find the rock of your identity and hold onto it while dealing with him.
Anyways, some ideas for you to work with. You'll do OK.