The Bombshell
is a The Hunger Games fanfic on fanfiction.net by Jael.Rice.1.
Set eight years before the events in The Hunger Games, it follows the story of Ada Linus, an eighteen-year-old Shrinking Violet and technology enthusiast from District 5, who has just been Reaped into the 66th Hunger Games. Knowing that the odds are stacked against her favor, she struggles to get through Training while stuck in the ever-present limelight while also upholding a promise that she made to a very close friend of hers back in 5.
The Bombshell explores what would happen if a savant was Reaped into a Hunger Games.
Currently, this is an in-progress fanfic with bi-weekly updates.
Warning: Here, there be spoilers.
The Bombshell includes examples of:
- Boyish Short Hair: Ada. As Kelvin puts it, "It looks like [she is] growing out a buzz cut."
- Dumb Jock: Kelvin Dugald. He plays baseball and is more interested in flirting with Capitol girls and learning how to fight with a sword than learning practical survival skills.
- Handsome Lech: Has Shine, the District 1 male who exploits this angle during his Interview.
- I Work Alone: Ada refuses to work with other because, as she puts it, "[she] never did well in group settings", among other reasons.
- The Lad-ette: Alanna, the District 2 female, is described as being a trash-talking tomboy who can beat a man in a fight. Oh, and she wears a suit during her Interview.
- Missing Mom: Audrey, Ada's mother, has been dead for nearly ten years at the start of the story. She died from a lung infection.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: At one point, Kelvin mentions how his friend Harvey better keep his hands off of his sister Curie on the grounds that "that's not what friends to do each other."
- Noodle Incident: We never find out how Drusilla, formerly a District 1 stylist, was demoted to District 5. Ada thinks this was because 1 got fed up with her antics and replaced her with a more likable stylist.
- Only Sane Man: Ravi is this in the District 5 entourage. Out of everybody, he is the only one who offers any practical advice.
- Shout-Out: The author sometimes references her favorite fandoms.
- Ada's last name, Linus, is a nod to Lost
- Kelvin's name is also a nod to Lost
- Herman is a walking reference to Doctor Who, at least when he is younger. The first time Ada ever meets him, he is wearing a fez, is playing with a penlight that acts as a Sonic Screwdriver, and is pretending that a "clockwork robot that dresses like a human" dubbed the Tick-Tock Man is loose in their apartment building.
- Averted with the District 3 girl.
Word of God says that Cordelia was NOT named after the character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Lianna is described as having amber eyes the first time Ada meets her.
- Surfer Dude: Has Ulysses, the District 4 male tribute. During his Interviews, he calls Caesar Flickerman "dude" and tries to pass off a fist-bump as "the official greeting of District 4."
- The Ghost: Herman's grandfather is mentioned several times, but has never made an appearance. Justified since it's revealed that he died six years before the story starts.
- Gene Dwyer, a boy who bullied and, at one point, assaulted Herman, is mentioned as well, but never makes an appearance. Word of God states that Gene was Reaped into the 65th Games and was killed by Finnick Odair
- Gene Dwyer, a boy who bullied and, at one point, assaulted Herman, is mentioned as well, but never makes an appearance.
- Trickster Mentor: Subverted. Although Ravi Mazzarin won his Games through sheer trickery, he offers only practical advice to his tributes and acts as a counselor for Ada when she needs it.
