I wanna commit every time some nerdass reactionary motherfucker says

“if you’re reading [evil species] as a stand in for minorities I think you’re the real racist ”

GAAAAAH you disingenuous fucks! I don’t have the fucking mental fortitude to try to explain why this entire history racial coding and othering of minorities makes it a little gross when somebody says they think it’s cool to exterminate all the goblins/orcs/kobolds/etc. because it’s all pretend make believe!

It’s not even hard to make a designated group of villains! These orcs are a marauding mercenary band, these kobolds sabotage mountain passes to rob and murder travelers. That’s all you need! The race essentialism just ruins a setting for me unless they’re like, actual demons from hell or cthulhu squids (even then I’m partial to an occasional chill devil or squid). Writing the antagonists, regardless of species or origin, as people makes for media that is so much more compelling.