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I've neck deep in a story that is set in a world that is technologically similar to the Wild West. Gunpowder, however, is forbidden except for a few nobles. I had written a bit about a celebration in a town and I thought I'd use sky lanterns instead of fireworks.
Then I saw a trailer for Tangled. Looks like someone else has used sky lanterns and I don't want someone saying I stole something from a Disney film (Ray Bradbury sure, but never Disney).
So now I was hoping someone could offer some suggestions for an alternative to my alternative to fireworks. Any ideas?
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Phosphorus is highly explosive in its allotropic forms (and it comes in different colors!) Some explode when in contact with oxygen, some when in contact with water.
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the phosphorus like phil mentioned is good and there are a few other chemicals they use to provide the colors. one could more than likely find that on web site that tells how fire works are made and such. also i remember that some chemical reactions give off hydrogen, that could be used to fill paper or cloth balloons then floated off with slow burning wicks to where they explode after a bit of floating.
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This reminds me of flame tests back in high school chem class. Different metals have different flame colors. If you burn common earth metals over flame, such as calcium, magnesium, lead you produce red, white and blue.
Is your story just borrowing Wild West tech, or does it share social similarities as well? Because if it does, I wouldn't dismiss sky lanterns simply because Disney borrowed from 3rd century China (and cannibalized "Kiss the Girl" scene in little Mermaid replacing fireflies with sky lanterns).
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Definitely bonfires. They're still traditional in places for the 4th of July. My in-laws had a place on the beach, and let me tell you a dozen or so huge bonfires over a five mile stretch are in their way as impressive as fireworks; maybe more so.
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