While I don’t think it’s quite as prevalent now, but not using those tags used to get authors attacked/ harassed. A lot of people on either side don’t like seeing the other character shown in any sort of sympathetic light, so if they click on a fic and see the “villain” character being a good guy, they’ll get upset.

A lot of us put the tags on fics just so people are aware “hey, we’re catering to the opinion that this character is sympathetic.”

I personally have watched most POV’s available for the DSMP. Tommy, in his point of view, it’s sympathetic where Dream is not. A lot of characters who are close to Tommy, also see Dream in this more villainous way. Where Technoblade and Punz show Dream differently, and Tommy is a bit more unsympathetic. They’re all grey characters and they all have lots of depth. But the tag just highlights that the author appreciates this character in particular and will often put a bit more time into making them understanding.

All of my fics are tags with that because 1) it’s a funny tag and I like it. 2) It just makes it so yeah, people seeing my fic in the tommyinnit character tag understand that Dream is not a villain in my fic.