WinterBaron

WinterBaron is the slash ship between and James "Bucky" Barnes and Baron Helmut Zemo from the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom.

Quotes
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. It was never personal. You were simply a means to a necessary end."

- Zemo to Barnes "Super Soldiers go against everything he believes in. He is crazy, but he still has a code."

- Barnes about Zemo "I took the liberty of crossing off my name in your book. I hold no grudges for what you thought you had to do. Goodbye, James."

- Zemo to Barnes

Fanon
The fandom started on April 2, 2021, when episode 3 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was aired. Some fans picked the name of the ship using a poll on twitter and "WinterBaron" got the highest votes. While some fans on AO3 used "Zucky", they were gradually following "WinterBaron" name usage. The ship has a quite large of Russian fandom in proportion which also uses "WinterZemo" and "Zecky" alongside with "WinterBaron".

On the first day the ship started, there was only 4 WinterBaron fanfictions on AO3, it then reached 600+ in four months following. On May 1, 2021 WinterBaron Discord (18+) was created as a medium for fans to discuss about the ship.

The dynamics of this ship is quite varied among fans due to the unpredictable nature of Zemo's character. Most fans have different takes on the ship. Some would argue that Zemo, being the man who loves his family dearly and treats his guests and employees nicely, would treat Bucky affectionately and help him through his trauma; some would argue that Zemo, being the manipulative man who broke up the avenger, would take benefit of Bucky's condition; and some others would take it in between. It is a quite popular fanon that Zemo has an unrequited crush on Bucky which led him not to kill Barnes despite his intolerance towards super soldiers.

During the flight to Madripoor, Zemo read another book underneath Bucky's amend notebook. The book was titled in German "Das Nein in der Liebe: Abgrenzung und Hingabe in der erotischen Beziehung" (translation: "How to Say No to The One You Love: Demarcation & Devotion in the Erotic Relationship"). Zemo was at the end of the section of the book which was titled "Same Sex Fantasies in Heterosexuals" and the beginning of "The Overt No in Love." Some fans speculate that this reading was directed towards Barnes.

This ship got a lot hate from antis since its inception. Some antis confuse Marvel Cinematic Universe Zemo with his comic counterpart who is a Hydra operative, and they connect the ship to Hydra Trash Party. As a matter of fact, Zemo from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an anti-supermacists who is hostile towards HYDRA. MCU Zemo had shown his distaste for HYDRA by hunting down people recruited by them, killing HYDRA operative, and considering HYDRA as supermacists which he despised.

Some antis also seem to confuse him with Arnim Zola, the HYDRA scientist who turned Barnes into a Super Soldier, considering how they think Zemo had abused Bucky for years. As a matter of fact, Zemo had only met Bucky first in Berlin, several days before he got imprisoned for his crime.

Antis has also been shaming the shippers for shipping Bucky with someone who framed him for murder and activated his Winter Soldier programming. Despite it, WinterBaron supporters would agree that Zemo had been consumed by vengeance and grief over his family's death, and that he was sorry for his action towards Barnes (As he told Barnes in the German prison). Some supporters believe that once Zemo got to know Barnes, he eventually started to develop some respect toward him that he finally decided not to kill Barnes, even though Super Soldiers went against what he believed in. Some supporters also would agree that Zemo and Barnes had reached some peaceful resolution at Sokovian Memorial where they decided not to harm each other and Zemo had his name crossed off on Barnes' book.

Fandom
FANFICTION


 * Джеймс Бьюкенен Барнс/Гельмут Земо tag on Книга фанфиков
 * Джеймс Бьюкенен Барнс/Гельмут Земо tag on Книга фанфиков

TWITTER


 * twitter@winterbarons/
 * twitter@inczucky/
 * twitter@inczucky/

TUMBLR



Trivia

 * Zemo and Barnes had their character original soundtracks blend together on a soundtrack titled "Attack, Soldier!" from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier : Vol. 1 (Episodes 1-3) album by Henry Jackman.
 * In 2021, on Marvel official site, Barnes is listed as Zemo's only ally, while Zemo is listed as both ally and enemy for Barnes.
 * The scene where Zemo was stroking Barnes' chin was improvised by Daniel Brühl (Zemo).
 * Zemo was mentioned by Sebastian Stan (Barnes) as one of his two favorite villains in People Magazine's Facebook live streaming.