My personal headcanon is that as much as Will hates some parts about himself and feels guilty for the way he views the world, he wouldn't have a degradation kink. It would be the opposite, he would melt when Hannibal would praise him. It wouldn't matter if it's praise for his darkness or for anything else, he would just fold, he wouldn't be able to come unless Hannibal tells him he is so good and special and beautiful and his perfect perfect boy
The capacity to empathize, especially when it shows up as mirroring (which Will does and it's confirmed on the scripts), can stem from a defense mechanism rooted in the fear of rejection or abandonment. Empathy might not necessarily be about "feeling with" the other in a pure sense, but rather about detecting, and adapting to, and mimicking others in order to remain safe, accepted, or invisible. It's not conscious, and it's not manipulative, it’s a form of survival intelligence, hence why in the script he seems to do it mostly (not always) accidentally.
For someone who grew up in an unstable, critical, or emotionally unpredictable environment, mirroring becomes a kind of camouflage. If you can reflect the mood, posture, language, or energy of another person, you reduce the risk of conflict or rejection. It's a form of social masking, shaped by the need to maintain attachment or safety.
Over time, this may develop into what people call “high empathy,” but it’s not always a naturally attuned, mutual openness, it's more a finely honed radar scanning for threats and adjusting accordingly.
The person can appear deeply empathic, but what they’re actually doing is constantly reading and adjusting, not necessarily connecting. They might match speech rhythms or word choices (Will with Jack and some teen girls/script), mirror facial expressions or gestures (Will with Peter), and even start to "feel" the emotions of others (as if they're their own), but this doesn’t come from a desire to know the other, it’s a reflex to stay safe, not punished or rejected.
If this pattern persists, then the person might lose touch with their own preferences, desires, or even sense of identity. They become a reflection of whoever is near. This can feel like a gift (“I’m so good at reading people”) but often leads to confusion, exhaustion, or emotional enmeshment.
This mechanism overlaps with what trauma theory sometimes calls the fawn response, which is where instead of fighting, fleeing, or freezing, the individual responds to stress by appeasing and pleasing. Mirroring can be part of that. It’s a subtle, embodied way of saying: I’m like you, don’t reject me.
So the ability to empathize or mirror can be a kind of intelligence, one which Will certainly learned to use intentionally, but it often begins as a wound. It’s not inherently pathological, but it is shaped by conditions where safety depended on becoming who others needed you to be.
I feel like simply calling JK Rowling a transphobe isn't strong enough anymore. Like. This is not your grandpa calling you by your deadname at a restaurant kind of transphobic. This is her wanting to eradicate all trans people (with an extra special hatred towards trans women specifically). This is her trying just that by personally funding transphobic hate groups with millions to push around laws in the UK. It is not hyperbolic to call her a dangerous, genocidal maniac.
It's not about cancelling a problematic writer. It's about literally trying to save lives by denying her as much money and power as possible.
The reason I say most fans would not like season four is because 99% of fanfic and fanart that are "post fall" are literally them being extremely gay and married but the reality is that season four Will would be like "yeah so anyways I'm back with my wife" and we'd beat around the bush for another 13 episodes 
germansingergirl
stormborns
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
titsay
