dude, there are a douzen of ways to put data on-chain, OP_RETURN is the least harmful because you can prune it...
on Core you can just set your own OP_RETURN filter however you want.
Add this to bitcoin.conf and restart:
datacarriersize=83
(or datacarrier=0 to block them completely)
No need for Knots just for that... I never understood the whole fuzz.
OP_RETURN is not a consensus rule, it is configurable value. Scammers/Spammerd will put data on-chain regardless, id rather them putting on OP_RETURN.