you know i'm sure i've answered this question in the past but i cant find any of those answers and its been a long time since then, so it'll be fun answering it again. i know that i used to have definite answers for this but i think the way i approach writing has changed a fair bit since 3-4 years ago. i apologize for how long-winding this answer is about to be.

i don't really have a hard time with any pov character as such because im usually thinking of the plot/prompt/context within which im writing them. for instance, i wrote dahyun (twice) pov for the first time this year; and i also wrote yiren (everglow) pov for the first time. i don't remember struggling with either of them and that's not cause they're idols i feel like i know very well. i really don't. i just wasnt thinking of about their characterisation in absolute terms at all but more so relative to the fics i was writing. so with dahyun in the datzu piece, i was going off the job dahyun had in the fic i was remixing which was an exorcist, and her entire personality is based around her working with spirits a lot. then with yiren, i was thinking of a particular dynamic in sweet home, the show i was writing an au for, as well as the possibility of power play between someone who strives to be human vs someone who strives to be a monster, in a lawless world. whatever yiren feels and goes through in it is a result of the role she's assigned between the two. the world and the story im writing and how these characters fit into it dictate their povs rather than the other way round. even if there is no special world, its just a non-idol au where im examining a breakup, the circumstances of the breakup determine how the characters behave. (keep in mind, this is approach works for me because i write shorter fics)

so essentially, characterisation has become a much easier task for me than it used to be because i've begun to find the discourse around it, especially in rpf writing, a bit of a trap. 'will they do or not do this' is not a question that i enjoy getting into re: the idols i write about - doesn't mean i never get into it, but it's rare nowadays. it's also not an exciting question or one that comes naturally in my style or process of writing. my shorter stuff is mood or situation heavy, and my longer stuff is usually structured very specifically (drinking rounds/poetry sections/timelapses) so that i actually write the whole fic instead of giving up after a scene. and my brain runs logistics. im much more likely to be caught up on whether someone's hand or leg is placed weirdly in a scene im writing than whether they're going to push back or stay quiet in a situation because thats who they are/are not as a person.

we don't know these people, im not sure we even know their personas at times. of course im influenced by things they say and do, as well as fanon ideas of them. thats inescapable as someone on twitter and in general, fandom and rps/rpf spaces. but im equally influenced by things that have nothing to do with them - a line in a song, a hit tweet about a breakup, a drive i took last week etc.

but also...i cant deny writing idolverse/canon compliant kpop fic still has me ponder characterisation in the usual manner. its just that im not as rigid about putting people in situations that they might not seem to ever be in, in what we've seen of their lives on-cam. my compliancy is usually just very strictly to timelines of the group and idol, and rigid facts of events, comebacks, general calendered stuff. i give myself leeway to play with the personality as and how i can within the scenario.

i suppose within all these caveats if i had to pick povs i find hard to write, it would be idols who are easily emotional or (seem) open about themselves at all times, and idols who are "bright" and "fun". tapping into sadness or misery or anxiety or "i dont what im feeling" kind of ennui; or idols with a much richer inner life that we are probably not privy to is just a little easier for me - if im writing them for the first time, that is, or if im newer to a group.

i dont mind the question. which is have i seen a difference in engagement with my fics since I locked them last year, right? (as opposed to how I feel about unlocking them? i dont think that's what you're asking and if you are, well, no. i have no plans to unlock.)
and honestly no, i havent seen a great difference in engagement with my fics now versus pre 2023, not in a way that is evident to me anyway. but I do have to say, im a really small writer. engagement with my fics have always been low, when seen in the larger scope of fandom. the few times my fics have gotten crazy numbers due to fests etc the engagement has still been like. very small compared to other writers I know who write in these same fandoms. and none of this is said bitterly! i write weird pairings that overlap fandoms and consistently write painful themes primarily for myself. im always grateful to the friends and readers who do stick by me but I've had fics over 4-5 years that have next to no readers that still excite me cause i thought of something different and executed it. i hope I answered your question and that I didn't get too patronising there lol, not my intention.