Madwheeler

Madwheeler is the het ship between Mike Wheeler and Max Mayfield from the Stranger Things fandom.

Canon
In 1984, Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas meet up at Palace Arcade and learn that someone under the name "MADMAX" has beaten Dustin's high score on Dig Dug. After Max joins their class, they realize that she is "MADMAX". Although Dustin and Lucas want to befriend Max, Mike is hostile towards her, refusing to let her join their group. He gets upset when she joins them in trick-or-treating on Halloween, claiming that she is ruining the night. When Max asks Mike why he does not want her in their group, he replies that he finds her annoying and that they do not need another member. After he explains that he is their paladin, Will is their cleric, Dustin is their bard, Lucas is their ranger and Eleven is their mage, Max says that she could be their zoomer. She tries to convince him by skateboarding in circles around him and he briefly warms to her and smiles as he watches her skateboarding. After a jealous Eleven uses her powers to knock Max off her skateboard, Mike helps her up.

In 1985, Max has joined the group and she and Mike are on friendly terms with each other. The two, along with Will and Lucas, meet up at Starcourt Mall to watch Day of the Dead. After Mike begins avoiding Eleven because of Hopper, Eleven goes to Max for advice and Max tells Eleven to break up with Mike if he does not explain himself. Mike believes that Max is corrupting Eleven into conspiring against him, causing him and Max to argue.

By 1986, Max has grown distant from her friends because she is struggling with Billy's death. After Max discovers that she has been cursed by Vecna, she writes a goodbye letter to all of her friends, including Mike, and asks Lucas to give it to him. While being possessed by Vecna, one of Max's memories that gives her the strength to break free of his control is that of her skateboarding around Mike as they smiled at each other.

Fanon
Madwheeler is more popular platonically than it is romantically. Their potential enemies-to-lovers dynamic and the off-screen friendship between the actors are the main reasons why they are shipped romantically. However, the majority of the fandom prefers them as friends, often referring to them as frenemies. Although the two usually clash, some believe that they are quite similar to each other. They are both often perceived as anti-heroes and widely headcanoned as queer. On AO3, there are currently 100+ written works.

Fandom

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