Like, seriously, completely destroy the idea that being passionate about characters you love is childish or shameful. Utterly dash the notion that you aren’t completely worthy of dwelling within the stories and concepts you adore and enjoying them with all your heart.
Whether you express that with ocs, self-inserts, or whatever, you are not doing anything wrong. You are celebrating your reverence for something. You are giving back some of the love that you felt when you experienced it, which is an innately human reaction. Your passion and wonder are beautiful. Please never let anybody squash that sparkle out of you for expressing it through self-insert art.
