Should Barbara blame Nightwing for what he did as Ric?

[Marvelman]

In today's Batgirl, we see Barbara blame Dick for stuff he did as Rick and while he was under the Joker's control. Is this reasonable?

[Ascended]

Haven't read the issue, or Joker War, or any Bat book lately, so I'm missing context, but generally speaking you should blame the mind controller for what they made the mind control victim do. Keyword being "victim" here.

Maybe there's more to this situation that does make Dick/Ric at least partially guilty of his actions, like I said I haven't read any of this (Joker War I'll grab in trade) but my assumption is that Babs is victim blaming Dick. And I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be the first time that's happened to him.

[Godlike13]

She shouldn't have to keep taking his **** with no push back. Regardless if he was Ric. According to him Ric was him happy. He still want to be Ric. Even now when he got his memories back he was shown to be resentful towards her. God forbid she wants Dick to be Dick, like his entire audience. She was treated like crap. Made to feel guilty and apologize for not accepting his situation, and then was literally attacked because of that situation. There should be push back for how she keeps being treated in his book. Even if Nightwing writers want to ignore their ignorance with her, other writers shouldn't cater to their nonsense. Its more about Dick taking the fall for what his writers did.

[Frontier]

Babs and Dick need to cool off.

[Rakiduam]

Babs and Dick need to cool off.

They should be done with each other already, especially if they are pushing Barbara and Jason. It was never a good relationship to start and now is just toxic for both charaters.

[Badou]

I'm all for characters and writers shitting on the Ric storyline as much as they can. Just let them pile on and rip it apart. It deserves every punch and kick it gets. Dick was put in a horrible situation by incompetent writers, but if he has to be thrown under the bus for pointing out how awful it was then I'm willing to put up with it. I mean Dick should be pissed and upset that Bruce (who was apparently watching over him the whole time) let him get abused as Ric over and over again and no one, outside of Babs, really even tried to help him. So I'd like to see Dick being pissed off at Bruce and nearly everyone else who abandoned him, but every writer decided to just have Dick be happy, bitch about wanting to still be Ric, and fall right into line behind Batman again. So if Babs calling out Dick is the only outlet we are going to get with creators pointing out how truly terrible Ric was then I'll take it.

[RedQueen]

She put in effort to be there for Ric, and he rejected everything about being Dick. I hate everything to do with Ric, so if Babs is lashing out about him being an a hole for nearly two years, and we had to deal with it for 2 years, then I say Babs can.

It was frustrating not having Dick around, and Dick embraces the "Ric", then i am for shaming him for choosing to enjoy being a discount jason todd. Ric/Dick has been a goddamn chore.

[Restingvoice]

Idk... should we blame her for Oracle going rogue twice?

[Robanker]

No, it reads like the long... arm of editorial sticking their business where it shouldn't be, but what can you do. If it means Dick's love life takes a break for a little while, well that's not a bad thing.

[Arsenal]

For Ric? Yes.
While Jokerized? No.

[Avi]

For the stuff he did as Ric, sure. But not like that.

It would also help if Babs' wants were consistent throughout the books. Dick pretty much did what she wanted i.e. return to Nightwing and now she is angrier at him than while he was not. Make it make sense, DC.

Anyway, I hope editors and writers give the two characters a break. Their interactions have gone down the drain in recent years, and I don't see them emerging from there anytime soon.

[Godlike13]

She wanted Dick to return, not Ric in a Nightwing suit. Sure he has his memories but his only attachment and motivation remains Bea. And really he’s just gone from rejecting everyone else to resenting them for not accepting Ric. In Nightwing at least.
Honestly screw that. Babs has far more reason to be resentful. He tried to kill her. And you can’t just blame that on Joker brain washing him, cause Ric was literally created so he can be brainwashed. And when anyone showed concern over his situation, Ric and his girlfriend guilted them with their delusional pretense that Ric was fine. And that it was just who he was now, and everyone just needed to accept that. Well wrong. He was not only in danger, he was dangerous.

The only saving grace is that other writers are ignoring Ric’s writers current bullshit. Like in JL, and now Batgirl, and making comments on it at Dick expense. In JL Ric is seen as a boring failure, something that has shaken Dick’s confidence. While with Batgirl Dick isn’t just getting a pass for his writers ignorant and borderline misogynistic use of Babs. It’s unfortunate for Dick, but these are growing pains he is going to have to bear if he is going to move forward. Let the Nightwing book exist in it own bubble of ignorance, Ric’s writer are just going to continue to ignore how their work actually turned out. That’s clear at this point. That other writers aren’t, even if its not necessarily fair that the character has to suffer the sins of Ric’s creators, or even if it’s not consistent with that books bull crap, it is still a relief.

[Pohzee]

Should she? No. It wasn't Dick's fault that he wasn't himself. Can you blame her though? Also no. It's totally understandable that she feels the way she feels given how she was treated.