No need to apologize for the ramble, I get it actually. I can relate to what you are saying on a personal level too. I used to burn all my JAV to DVD and had an obsessive system to track the location and disc number for everything as well. I had books and books of burned disks. Needing to maintain a certain physical distance to the collection so that you have psychological balance makes a lot of sense. Burn and forget (or maybe burn and churn) gave me a sense of progression and progress -- once that disc was properly burned, sleeved and cataloged, I could turn my attention to something else.
Back in 2004 I copied all my DVDs back to HDD, and then in 2013 I did a bulk delete - maybe about 10 TB of stuff. I wanted to pare things down to an amount that seemed watchable in my lifetime.
I try to now focus on watching and deleting rather than cataloging and burning. This feels like it honors the work put into these treasures in a new and different way for me Just a variation on how to engage with the hobby.
No way is better than the other way. JAV is a gift. What you do with it is a personal choice (although staying psychologically healthy is probably something to prioritize).
Exactly, and Im glad that you get it! Not many understand my mentality. Burning them to disc and being able to store them offsite (I have a storage unit I have 5,000 books, comics, mags, etc. in that are organized and on cinder block bookcases (10 ft)) is a godsend, and lets everyday feel new, without having to look at all of them at once. I do enjoy spending time at my unit though. One of these days I might get a few media shelves, but for now, Im sticking with Snap N Store boxes (double wide). Only downside to my collection right now is that I have out of code (ABC on same disc as DEF) JAVs together. Not to mention that I do siterips, but have some dvd where its individual videos I like. Oh the headache! Seeing the progress is important for me, and having them on disc is safer than drives, and cheaper as well. I just paid $136 (not including tax at 6 percent) for 600 25GB Blu Rays, which is 15TB of space for less than the cost of an 8TB drive (those being 170 each now, not including tax). Nearly double the space, 30 less bucks, and EMP proof (well, unless the EMP is in the same room as the discs). My collection as it stands is apocalypse ready... though Id need a blu-ray burner/reader and a computer in a faraday cage to be able to read the discs, IIRC, blu rays can last 50-100 years if burnt at home, and stored right, which is the biggest thing.
Apocalypse proof optical media is truly the best, and gives a warm feeling inside, knowing that whatever happens, so long as the discs are kept safe, the data should be safe as well. Compare that with a fragile hard drive, and that an EMP would wipe flash storage/memory. I also print porn pictures and doujins, and though I love optical media, they are still digital, whereas no electronics are needed to "Read" printed material. Is what it is I suppose, and im happy with my life choices, and feel secure in my collection. Instead of using failed discs as coasters, I take em with me to use as target practice. I suppose that is also a good way to get rid of them if needed (I have U-15, which, while not illegal, always teeters on that thin gray line, and, while even if made illegal I dont plan on destroying them, if I feared for my security, then I'd have a great way to).
I use a 5TB external drive I got one of my grandparents to purchase for me a month ago as my disc backlog for videos waiting to be burned. Works great, but fills quickly as I tend to download a lot of stuff. Also got back into Anime, and since getting the blu ray discs, I have started downloading Blu Ray quality anime. Most of my discs however are used as one would use a flash drive (plug and drop), rather than burning as ISO to play on a TV or Portable DVD/Blu Ray player.
JAV is indeed a gift, and I intend to milk it for all its worth. I have this image in my head that at some point in the future, I will have every JAV ever made. Though I had the same image back when I downloaded onto external drives, and see how that turned out. At least with discs, I can store them offsite, and they look pretty on a shelf (Since switching to plastic sleeves rather than homemade paper ones).
Im rambling...