Who's your favorite character to write?

So, taking my cue from 2x2 in the discussion of River-speak thread...

Who's your favorite character to write, and why? And yes, this may be different from your favorite character to watch, or your favorite character to read.

And who's your least favorite character to write?

(boldly answering my own questions)
My favorite character to write is Mal. From the beginning, just never had a problem finding his voice. His dialect comes easily, I can get inside his head, and writing dialog for him is fun. And he's so multi-layered, and so messed up. There's just a lot to work with.

Hardest character to write?
Hmm...that's shifted. At first I had absolutely no clue what to do with Jayne. I wasn't even sure I could write anything for him at all. Then I tried, and found that most of my Jayne POVs turned comic, and that was fun. I'm still not sure what to do with Jayne in a serious mode. So Jayne in my fic doesn't get serious very often.
Also, at first River really stumped me. I literally wrote "River: (wild crazy spew)" into my first draft, because I couldn't think of what in the world to have her say. I filled it in with poetry quotes, and stuff like that. Pretty lame. But eventually I hit my stride, and now I feel pretty confident writing River scenes, and I'm especially fond of writing ones where River and another character (Mal most often, but also Kaylee, Inara, and Simon) have a lot of dialog.
Also, I've set all my stories post-BDM, and although I have some scenes with Wash and Book in them, I've never attempted a Wash-POV or Book-POV. I'm not sure if I could manage that.

I think I used to have an easier time with River, and now I really don't. Maybe I feel like I need to get more meaningful than I have to be, or maybe I've lost her particular speaking style cadence. I try to use other writers to improve it, but what comes out is what it is.

I need to write more Wash and Book too, I'm really out of practice.

I think I have an easier time with Kaylee. She's not complicated at all.

Looking over my stuff, I seem to write Mal and Inara 95% of the time, so those two are obviously my favorites in every way. I couldn't say, though, that I especially enjoy writing them rather than that they are the ones I have anything to say about. It's a default thing.

Apart from those two, I enjoy River the very most. It's actually fun imagining the information overload that constantly happens in her storage facility of a brain, how much she filters to get to a point and how she tends to end up saying too little because focusing is just so hard. There are a lot of sputters and rephrasings and anxiety when she's trying to communicate.

I have written and struggled fiercely with Wash and Jayne. I love them, but their journeys don't personally touch me and in terms of dialogue I lack their verbal dexterity. They have such distinctive patterns of speech and say these crazy, poignant phrases. I CANNOT emulate that. I envy passionately all who can. I want an angry old man icon that shakes his bony fist at them.

And it sure becomes hard to write about them when Inara has been out of focus for almost seven years. Jossssss!

Apart from those two, I enjoy River the very most. It's actually fun imagining the information overload that constantly happens in her storage facility of a brain, how much she filters to get to a point and how she tends to end up saying too little because focusing is just so hard.

Oh yeah. Fun, but also kind of challenging. Over the years I've lost some of the whimsical elements I used to include in her speech patterns. When I write her it's now more straightforward and yet also really hard to read, at the same time. Really, perhaps I need to spend some time practicing all of them, and shake off some of the pretensions I've foisted upon the characters.

I like to write Wash like his brain is constantly rushing ahead of his own thoughts. He has these jokes he makes intentionally, and then his thoughts just flow on to things that are also funny, but less intentional.

Jayne only barely understands what's going on around him, and the entertainment in his narrative is Jayne's interpretations, which are correct enough that he's still functional and he can be dangerous, but also a bit "off" in a funny way.