Bottle, Lamp, or Ring? What are the pros and cons of each in your professional opinion?
I've got a lot of opinions on this matter, but they're all highly personal. You're going to get different views depending on who you ask.
Bottles: Absolutely and completely hands-down the best genie vessel possible in my opinion. The large size and crystal material makes it possible to do so much more than the other options. It can be decorated in a wide variety of ways, have all manner of accents, and even looks super good "bare", with no embellishments whatsoever. The bottle can take on a variety of shapes, and sizes as well!
The ability of the crystal to go translucent (if you desire it) makes for fun opportunities - you can see outside, and you can even put on a tiny show from within. Or my favorite, you can make the crystal smokey, and tease with your silhouette. The shadow of a shapely genie belly dancing inside is REALLY a great attention-grabber! And you can always make the crystal opaque when you need privacy, or you're swapping over to "pocket dimension" mode. A bottle also just feels super nice when you're going full-smoke. Lots of room to swirl around.
Also, I will always be in love with the satisfying THOOOMP of uncorking a genie bottle. It's just tacticle, you know? And you can springboard off that to make such an entrance!
The downside is that bottles are bulky and obvious. So for whoever might be handling it at the time, it can be a little awkward. It's hard to be stealthy about handling a genie bottle. Small price to pay, in my opinion.
Lamps: The classic, and for a reason. No other item in the history of genies is as emblematic and symbolic as the magic lamp. It evokes the meaning of the genie immediately - and perhaps even entirely outsteps that of the oil lamp in this day and age.
They can be decorative to some extent, but you're largely looking at brass, gold, or another metallic sheen. Simplicity works well for a lamp, though, and the design itself is powerful enough to make up for what you can't have in terms of embellishment. I've seen some stunning jet-black, shimmering, almost-onyx lamps, for example. Those are indeed a statement piece.
However, you're going to be limited in the ways you can leverage the vessel itself. No smoke shows through the glass are possible with a lamp, and similarly, your visual options are restricted. Auditory and physical options do still exist (Jumping lamps, muffled sounds), but they tend to be less alluring and more startling in practice.
Also, no stopper here. So releasing the genie is exclusively a rubbing affair. Though, that can be really fun in it's own right! Lots to enjoy with the plumes and billows of smoke you can work through a lamp tip.
Lamps are fantastic, and some genies prefer them for very good reason. It all depends on how you want to work your magic. Sometimes that look is all that matters. Oh, and I guess they have some degree of portability.
Rings: Okay. I have to confess.
I think rings make terrible genie vessels.
They get high marks for portability and stealthy deployment options, but the positive marks end there.
They're just... nothing! No statement, no fun ways to leverage the vessel itself, never really on display. Nothing about it to make it really yours, other than tiny details people will look right past. They are always forgettable as vessels themselves, and never emblematic as having a genie connection.
They do work well for some genies. Mostly the ones who want to be largely left alone, in my experience. Or ones who have a preference for small spaces.
And...
Okay, well... If a master is more concerned with keeping a genie hidden, quiet, and controlled? They tend to like rings. These are the ones who consider a genie property more than a magical autonomous being (Admittedly that's a tricky issue - Power dynamics are important to the genie experience, and there's nothing wrong with a master/mistress/mastress who enjoys welding power. I'm talking more the selfish, narrow minded, never-aftercare-providing dolts who deserve to have every wish twisted for the sake of the world's safety).
So it leaves a bad taste in my mouth by association.
Maybe I'm being unfair there. Regardless, I'm not fond of rings.
So there are my personal takes on each of those vessels. I'm not fond of rings due to their limitations. Lamps are fantastic, though a bit narrow in scope. For my magic, nothing will ever come close to an extremely well designed bottle.
