I think he was definitely overreacting and (pardon my French) being an asshole, although I'd have to see the exact conversation. Not that I think you're lying, but paraphrasing does have a tendency to

I'd say ignore him. Some people are like that, and you're going to run into people who counter-flame for no good reason, but it's best not to take it too personally. There are plenty of nice, reasonable people on the Internet, too (Just look at this board!), and people like this guy are a minority. Sometimes you can reason with them, but I don't think it'll work with this one.

That being said, I would point out that if he only wants to be told the nice things, he's never going to improve. Self-criticism is a notoriously shoddy method of editing, and while flaming is also bad, a healthy dose of con-crit is wonderful for a writer's style.

I think the best thing to do is just stop communicating with this individual. S/he obviously doesn't want any help with their writing, so leave them to it. And as you said, they might even be going through a bad time, or something, so there's nothing to be gained from pressing the issue, and things could get worse easily. So I say, just drop it.

On the subject of social phobias, it took me an AMAZINGLY long time in grade school to understand that there are people out there who will be rude to me for no apparent reason. The best way to cope with it is just roll with the hits when you have to, and surround yourself with friendly people when you can...but maybe don't become quite so much of a homebody as I have. That shit ain't healthy.

http://www.critters.org/whathow.ht

That is a really good resource for tips on how to say things in reviews so that there is a good chance that the writer will actually listen.

Boy, am I ever glad I responded to him. He was being extremely oversensitive, but he admitted it, apologized, and explained where he was coming from. I understand, and we both feel much better now.

Of course, this was someone who was acting relatively rationally, which is not so common online. I'm really sorry I posted all this, but I had to get it out, and your responses do help me to know what to do next time something like this comes up. I'm sure it will come up again with someone less rational, and I'll remember your comments and advice about reviews.

(Isn't that a neat phrase? I picked it up recently from... Trojie, I think. Never heard it before. Better than "drama queen", certainly. Now on to my opinion...)

I say just drop the matter. Like Neshomeh says, some of the things you wrote could come off as challenging or superior, though this author would have to be either pretty short-tempered or young not to be able to handle that. There's no way to know - maybe he's a drama llama and maybe he was just having a bad day. In either case, it's just not important enough to trouble yourself with.

If you really want to send something, a simple response saying "I see. I will stop reviewing now." is probably the only vaguely safe thing. If he can't take criticism, that's not your problem - leaving reviews is a favour you were doing. So just stop. Remember, you'll never please everyone. I've been in exactly the same situation several times, and the only thing to do is walk away.

Also, take care not to be a dramam llama yourself. It's just a review. I wouldn't worry. :)

I'd say if he's going off about you not being a good person than he's probably just butthurt. I'd say ignore him.

I don't doubt you, but seeing what you wrote might help me understand how another person might interpret it.

That said, if this is on ff.net, it sounds like this guy didn't read the posting guidelines. I'm pretty sure it explicitly says "not all reviews have to be purely good." 'Cause they don't. If he's not okay with that, he shouldn't be posting. There's certainly no call for anyone going around saying that people who give concrit are bad people; and I'm sorry, but if a reader is honestly confused about something even after trying to figure it out (which I assume you, as an astute reader, did), then it's the author's job to figure out what the problem is and fix it, not judge their reading comprehension. That's just insulting.

In closing, "just for fun" is not an excuse for carelessness. If your sloppy writing makes it hard for the reader to stay engaged, it's no longer fun for them. If you don't care about the readers, then write for the drawer.

~Neshomeh, who can't stand people whining about the concrit they should consider themselves lucky to get--it's not easy to find people who will do it!

Because the more I think about it, the more I think he remembers a lot of things wrong and might feel better if he realized the truth. But I still don't want to extend an argument... ugh...

This place where the fanfic is, does it have private messages? If so, I suggest that you take him to the side and get things sorted out. Do not do it in the comment boxes, because that tends to make things rather sticky.

However, as I am not known for being a social person myself, wait for other people to respond before acting on this.