Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca |
| Alternative name(s): | Marina |
| Gender category: | F/F, femslash |
| Fandom: | Station 19 |
| Canonical?: | Yes |
| Prevalence: | Popular |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca is a canonical femslash pairing in the Station 19 fandom.
Canon
While Maya was in Station 19 from the start, Carina did not join the show until season three. The two met in a bar, where Carina recognised Maya from a previous visit she made to the hospital with a patient, and their flirtations began almost immediately.
Fandom
The fandom can be quite split on Maya/Carina at times. The tag on Tumblr is very active with discussions and GIFsets, and the pairing on Archive of Our Own has 2,934 works as of October 2023. In Centreoftheselights' AO3 Ship Stats, Maya/Carina entered the top 100 in 2022 at 59th, then rose to 33rd in 2023's list. There are many fans of the pairing, who enjoy their dynamic and story-lines, as well as their overall relationship arc.
Many complex topics are handled during story-lines involving Maya and Carina, not least of all mental health difficulties and the childhood trauma both women begin to process during the show.
I can’t stop thinking about Maya and Carina’s arc on Station 19 this season. It’s bewitched me body and soul in a way that network television really hasn’t in so long so let’s talk about it (gif makers thank you in advance!). To put it lightly there’s been a longstanding “tradition” to ruin queer relationships in television. Either death, disagreement (who wants kids?) or the show’s cancellation we rarely get to see a full arc from their initial meeting to dating to engagement, marriage and all the bumps along the way. Marina really is incredibly rare. I cannot overstate how rare they are. Sure they’re on an ensemble show but they’re fully on network television in very much a primetime slot. Thursday nights are as coveted as it gets in network - it’s huge.coldzonkprofessorturtle at Tumblr
carina voicing her fears and concerns? maya listening, apologizing and reassuring her? the way maya was holding carina? and the hug? it was perfect and i want to stay in that hug forevertallest-tiptoes at Tumblr
However, other fans of the show argue that the pairing get too much screen-time, with some arguing that Carina would have been better positioned as a recurring character in Station 19 and getting more story-lines in Grey's Anatomy, and dislike a number of their story-lines. Some of these fans of the show are also often critical of the Maya/Carina shippers, arguing that the fandom around the pairing puts them off.
i love her (Carina) but she serves no purpose other than “maya’s wife” and that makes her storylines and dialogue boring, they need to expand her storyline but not in station 19 because it wouldn’t make sense for a doctor to be taking up the screen-time in a fire show. they focus too much on her being a wife instead of actually building her career up in grey’s so she can start her own practice like she said she wanted to.Spiritual_Scale_5289 at Reddit
What??? They are actually going with Jack as the donor?? The writing for them this episode is just so bad. I don’t like how Carina is trying to convince Maya to pick him? And the way she was talking about him to Maya was just so weird. She was so against this idea and now she suddenly wants him to be the donor for them?? This is the worst season of the show 🤢🤢🤢 I can’t believe they’ll actually pick him as the donor, it just means more problems for them next season 🤷🏻♀️ I have no hope for Marina after this episodestraweberryhut9273 at Reddit
Meanwhile, other people are unhappy with how the relationship developed in later seasons, when Maya's childhood trauma was explored more in-depth in story-lines alongside her mental health declining, ultimately resulting in her being placed on an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold. Throughout the build up to this storyline in season five, and the main focus on mental health in season six, some fans felt that the relationship between Maya and Carina became toxic. Some fans argued that Maya was abusive while others argued that Carina was the toxic partner in the relationship as she struggled to support Maya during her mental health difficulties.
Other fans argue that these interpretations fail to take into consideration the complexities of dealing with childhood trauma and mental health difficulties, which are reflected in the story-lines.
She is a gas lighting narcissist and she needs to work on it. Mental health is no excuse to be a massive bitch and treat people the way she is, she is being mentally abusive to carina and she needs to get out of that relationship until Maya gets help. Far too many relationships in the real world are like this and its ok to walk away for your own MH, just let them know you aren't abandoning them but just looking after you tooravenstar7854 at Reddit
She's neither (emotionally abusive or gaslighting), at least not in the traditional sense. She's showing symptoms of what we might label as "emotional abuse" from the outside, because it's her trauma response. That doesn't magically make her actions okay, but it means she had no control over them as long as she didn't accept help. That being said, Carina hasn't exactly been the picture perfect wife either and I'm getting tired of everyone pointing out everything Maya supposedly did wrong because of her trauma and severe mental health issues while neglecting the fact that Carina has done her fair share of crap due to her own mental health issues.wildwoodchild at Reddit
People forget that Carina was abused as a child too and she's traumatized too and she has her own pain too and she deservsed to have space for her pain and trauma as well. She's not just Maya's wife, she's a woman all on her own and she's there to do more than fix Maya and take care of Maya.jsm99510 at Reddit
Common Tropes in Fanworks
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
Fanart
Fanvids
- Maya & Carina ~ Somewhere only we know [2] by heda.komskaikru. A fanvid exploring Maya and Carina's relationship as Maya works through her childhood trauma.
- Maya & Carina | Kiss Me [3] by Anda Huh edits. A fanvid focused on the intimacy in Maya and Carina's relationship.
Other Fanworks
- GIFset - Marina + Tropes [4] by capitano-marina.
- GIFset - It's okay if you can't catch your breath by sharpesjoy
Archives and Communities
- Maya x Carina tag at Tumblr
- "Marina" search at the Station 19 subreddit on Reddit
- Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca tag at Archive of our Own
Other Fannish Resources
(Rec Lists, Big Bangs, Thing-a-thons, Holiday Exchanges, wiki links, etc.)