I am begging you all to read Only Villains Do That

realistically I know the story will not be everyone's cuppa because it does deal with some dire shit including but not limited to torture and sexual assault, but I love it and its piece of shit protagonist so much

Japanese-American misanthrope who hates otaku shit is isekai'd to a crapsack world to be a Dark Lord opposite a similarly isekai'd Hero, hates every single part of this setup, resolves to kill the goddesses who isekai'd them

but in the meantime, he has to build up his power base and learn some shit about the world

and maybe, slowly, laboriously, become a better person in the process

until then, though. well. he does Shit Like This.

he's an entire toolbox and I love him

he's an enjoyable protagonist despite being such a massively unpleasant person because:
- he's very entertaining
- his priorities are generally in the right place, like, just because he's an asshole doesn't mean he's going to tolerate people being evil fuckers
- he is CONSTANTLY being sassed by his allies

his bodyguard Aster, who is an extremely cool and good character in her own right, particularly never lets him go unsassed when he needs a good sassing

there's a great push-and-pull thing that happens where he's introducing a lot of genuinely good ideas from Earth to this world, and at the same time being forced to confront and work through a lot of his own toxic beliefs and assumptions

if you're tired of shitty isekai, this story may be for you

( deerleisure )

Ooh I have to check this out

I've got a higher tolerance than some for shitty Isekai tropes but this sounds very much up my alley.

It's very good