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After Ru-kun’s latest album release in @slexenskee’s “May Death Never Stop You”, I started listening to it on repeat and it inspired me to do… this. Slex is a true genius when it comes to character development and “Take Me With A Grain of Salt” is the perfect demonstration of it and I’m absolutely in love. Each of these pieces correlates to a song on the album and the particular scene I felt it best represented.

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“Born of the stars, as your witness, I will carry your story with me as I travel across worlds for eternity.”

Original fanart of Aether/Zhongli from Genshin Impact. I don’t see enough of this ship and that’s a tragedy so here’s my contribution.

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Running List of No Scrubs Albums

Because even I can't keep up with them anymore lol. I'll update it as I go. Also yes there are 6 official albums with 6 songs each... because Gojo is lame lol. And yes the acoustic albums are 5 songs... because he's extra lame

Spotify Playlist

update as of 09/18/23 bc I'm a f** scrub with commitment issues clearly

1. Thanks, I Hate it Here:

The 2nd album by release order, but first in chronological order of when they played them live. Yes, Gojo was feeling himself in his classic FOB phase real hard on this one lol. I find the evolution of FOB's discography IRL to be really fascinating, so I wanted to emulate it in the fic. This album is almost entirely FOB because Gojo realized flopping around bands and genres was difficult for the rest of his band, so he decided to first focus on one kind of ‘sound’ until they got used to playing together. 

Critics will later call it a bit unpolished and juvenile in comparison to the refined sound, themes, and quality production of later albums, with it's younger and simpler narratives. Thematically it tends to resonate more with a younger crowd, which people accredit to Ru-kun's assumed age of writing at the time (late teens). In other words, it becomes the quintessential 'middle school glory days' playlist for an entire generation of No Scrubs fans.

A Loaded God Complex - (Sugar We're Going Down) FOB

Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over - FOB

In Too Deep - Sum 41

Homesick at Space Camp - FOB

A Little Less Sixteen Candles - FOB

Dance, Dance - FOB

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2. Good News For People Who Love Bad News

This was No Scrubs' first album ever released on a streaming platform, but it compromises songs more from their 2nd live setlist chronologically. A cult favorite amongst the fans, this album is fun and bratty with a combination of punchy pop punk lyrics, theatrical narratives, and catchy hooks that become unanimous with the band's dramatic flair. No Scrubs always had a rep as an underground alternative band with petty delinquent vibes, but this album definitely solidified them as the patron saint of all the edgy and misunderstood goth punks.

At this point the band had been together for a few years and Gojo definitely felt satisfied with the way the band was coming together and wanted to throw in some more famous mid 2000s pop punk bands into the mix.

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner - FOB

I'm Not Okay (I promise) - MCR

In One Ear - Cage the Elephant

But It's Better if You Do - Panic!

I Write Sins not Tragedies - Panic!

Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day

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3. Death Before Decaf

After playing up the 'pop' quite a bit in the last album, No Scrubs digs deep into some gritty grunge roots with their third album, full of noisy amped up rock anthems. Thematically it was considered their strongest album at the time of release, with intense vocals and lyrics covering dark and personal topics beneath the guise of their distinctive and iconic instrumental riffs. The juxtaposition between the catchy sing-along hooks and the depressing deeper meaning to the words made this album an instant classic. It remains a fan favorite of music critics for Ru-kun's scorchingly honest handling of raw and deeply personal themes like suicide, depression, and substance abuses. After the identities of the band members became public, it became a hotly debated album amongst No Scrubs fans, who consider it a cathartic outlet for a lot of the trauma that turned Ru-kun into a villain, but also a worrying one full of suicidal ideation, alcoholism, drugs, and child abuse.

On his part, Gojo was feeling nostalgic for his youth and felt it an affront that the likes of Nirvana and Weezer had never been experienced in the MHA universe. He gets asked about these songs a lot, specifically about Today, Semi-Charmed Life, and Say it Ain't So, which all seem to allude to a dark history. He often tells people Semi-Charmed Life is one of his favorite songs ever, which doesn't help matters, and also alarms several psychologists, who worry he's romanticizing what was clearly a very unhealthy time in his life.

My Own Worst Enemy - Lit

Today is the Greatest - (Today) Smashing Pumpkins

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

Come As You Are - Nirvana

Say It Ain't So - Weezer

Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

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4. Glass Onion Heart

Aka the "Baby boy who hurt you???" album inspiring sexuality crises across the world

Glass Onion Heart feels like a wild card of metamorphosis from No Scrubs' prior albums, with the addition of more electronic, pop, and synth instrumental mixing. Combined with the explosive and flashy tour that accompanied the album's release, it felt like a radical departure from the band's classic garage-band sound, into a more streamlined, pop format.

The album was met with divisiveness from fans, not helped by the news of the band's breakup following the album release and subsequent tour. While many adored the new direction, long-time fans mourned the loss of the quintessential indie and underground 'No Scrubs' aesthetic, especially when faced with the thought of their final album. Nonetheless, it was the band's most popular album at time of release by a wide margin. It certainly helped the album's popularity that Ru-kun did the entire tour in drag.

At this point fans the world over became intrigued by No Scrubs and their burgeoning fame, prompting Gojo to name the album 'Glass Onion' after the Beatles song of the same name, because there is no deeper meaning to any of his songs, he's literally ripping them off from bands that don't exist. Fans spend way too long trying to figure out who this album was inspired by - who could have possibly broken their precious Ru-kun's heart?? - and as we enlightened No Scrubs fans know, it was no one. Literally no one. Gojo just really liked this femme fatale vibe, and decided to cross dress the entire tour because of it.

Tokyo - The Wombats

Dance Floor Anthem - Good Charlotte

Thanks for the Memories - Fall Out Boy

I'm the Leading Man - (This Ain't a Scene) Fall Out Boy

Moving to New York - The Wombats

Misery Business - Paramore

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5. Infinity on High

Hailed as a return to the unfettered, unabashed, anti-establishment garage-band jam-session appeal that had people flocking to No Scrubs in their heyday, this album made an intense splash as No Scrubs' Comeback Album. Despite the return to their signature gritty rock sound, this album was in fact the most produced of any of No Scrubs' albums. This album marks both the return of No Scrubs as well as their launch into global superstardom.

Ironically, Gojo named this after his favorite FOB album (I mean it IS called Infinity lol) despite not including a single FOB track. Fans widely consider "Island in the Sun" to be specifically about Hawks, which Gojo never confirms or denies (although he definitely did think the similarities to their island mission were amusing). In reality, the song that reminds him of Hawks - and himself - the most is Mayonnaise, which might be why it's one of his favorites.

Holiday - Green Day

Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins

Cool Enough - (Mayonnaise) Smashing Pumpkins

1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

Island in the Sun - Weezer

Wake Me Up - (Wake Me Up When September Ends) Green Day

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Bonus: Don't You Know Who (I Think) I AM? Acoustic Album

The first of Ru-kun's unexpected - and according to Makoto, utterly unplanned - acoustic albums, this bonus LP was met with delight and excitement from fans after Ru-kun had teased its release on Twitter. The intimate and personal nature of the simplistic mixing gave this album a cult following, and brought in a new segment of music fans that No Scrubs' music normally didn't appeal to.

Nobody Puts Baby In the Corner - Fall Out Boy

Grand Theft Autumn - Fall Out Boy

My Heart is the Worst Kind of Weapon - Fall Out Boy

Notion - Rare Occasions

No Such Thing - John Mayer

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Bonus: Take (Me) With a Grain of Salt

Despite the critical acclaim this acoustic album (and the full band versions eventually released afterwards) it was met with a lot of incendiary response at the time of its release. No Scrubs had finally achieved global stardom and was regularly topping hit charts across the world with the release of their album Infinity on High - and while music critics unanimously praised the EP as a worthy contender for Album of the Year, it was generally acknowledged truth that the album's popularity was owed in no small part to lead singer Ru-kun's sudden infamy that coincided at the same time.

The unfathomable depths of Ru-kun's new celebrity status in parallel to the band's brand of off-label, anti-establishment themes created friction within the fanbase. Many accused them of taking advantage of the current media coverage to promote sales, which bassist and band leader Makoto clapped back as 'just doing smart business'. In general, consensus was positive towards the sentiment; capitalizing on Ru-kun's fame and releasing an album in parallel to his identity reveal was just genius marketing.

However the timing of the release of Ru-kun's second acoustic album kicked up the discourse once again, with fans decrying the release as 'a fake sellout' aimed to exploit current gossip trends. However the album's drop was sudden and unexpected - with little to no pre-release marketing - lending credence to the narrative that Ru-kun wrote this album under the emotional duress of his personal life at the time.

Due to the staggering popularity of the acoustic album, the band eventually recorded and released a B-Side with full band versions.

Disenchanted - MCR

Stay Together For the Kids - Blink-182

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

How's It Going To Be - Third Eye Blind

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

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👀 New surprise acoustic album coming up in a chapter near you~

I think we all know what spurred this surprise acoustic album this time 😂

Disenchanted - MCR, Regular | Acoustic

Stay Together For the Kids - Blink 182, Regular | Acoustic

Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls, Regular | Acoustic

How's It Going To Be - 3EB, Regular | Acoustic

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers, Regular | Acoustic

I chose these songs mostly on the regular versions, but some of them have pretty great acoustic versions ngl. I really like that Stay Together For the Kids and Disenchanted renditions, which I think use the real ripped vocals over acoustic instrumentals. And I actually prefer the Boyce Avenue version of Iris than the actual acoustic version from GGD. But for How's It Going To Be and All These Things I've Done, I really adore the originals, even if they lend themselves well to acoustic versions.

Also yes instead of talking about his feelings in a mature and calm manner, Gojo instead runs off and makes an album about it instead 😂 tbf using art as an outlet is actually a very healthy thing to do, but so is talking to your partner about your internal struggles.

But I find it very in character of him to struggle to put his own feelings into words, or rather, to express them outwardly and actually speak and vocalize them to others in a normal way, and turn to music instead. Unlike Hawks - who is more of an action guy and even in his POVs shows how he feels through his actions rather than introspective monologues - Gojo's actually your classic Tortured Poet (see what I did there lol) who has a lot of Thoughts™, even if he's horrible about expressing them and regularly ignores them. So in his own way, he's trying to communicate a lot through this album - to the whole world, but also to Hawks specifically.

Tbh this album is probably Gojo's most 'personal', or at the very least, as personal as you can get when you never wrote the songs to begin with lol. But idk, my millennial is showing here but there was always something so personal to making mixtape CDs for yourself or for others. You might not have wrote them, but it says a lot that you chose them to define yourself, you know?? Anyway I digress, moral of the story this is actually Gojo reaching out in his own way. And tbh, it's kind of a summary of his life too. A lot of times I pick songs for this fic mainly just because I like the way they sound, with no real meaning to them, and that's canon too as Gojo picks his songs for the Vibes™, but for this album noooope.

Disenchanted - Going to be crowned as the quintessential 'Dabi' song. Literally all about being a disenfranchised and disenchanted youth who sings away his angst and the chorus is 'If I'm so wrong, how can you listen all night long?' This is basically the summary of how sad teenage Dabi felt and why he turned to both music and villainy

Stay Together For The Kids - So on the nose it's not even funny, but I adore that guitar riff in the beginning. And while Gojo's parents didn't divorce in either of his lives, I still feel this resonating with him because of the way his youth was ruined by the adults who were supposed to love and care about him, in both lives. And yes, when the Endeavor reveal drops people are going to be questioning this song.

Iris - Yes, this is his pining song. First for Suguru, but then takes on a new meaning with Hawks. Yes, it turns all the Sixwings fans into a sobbing mess every time. Really though more than being a love song about either Suguru or Hawks, this is hi trying to convey his own feelings with lines like 'yeah you bleed just to know you're alive'/'when everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am'

How's It Going To Be - Known to Sixwings fans as the 'breakup/makeup' song. Like yeah it's about Sixwings breaking up, but it's also Ru-kun shouting to the world that he wants to get Hawks back. It becomes infamous for it. When No Scrubs finally goes on their massive Taylor Swift Era's-esque tour he'll play this and Iris back to back and have the whole stadium bawling. Ngl this is my favorite 3EB song, so it had to go in this fic somewhere. I love how it starts mainly soft and acoustic and at the climax the full band kicks in and Stephan Jenkins just starts belting 'I wanna get myself back into you, the soft dive of oblivion'

All These Things That I've Done - If Disenchanted is Dabi looking back on his life/past and all the anger and sadness he sees there, then the final track on the album is about coming to terms with himself and trying to accept who he is, and look towards the future. Huge theme for he next arcs/final fic in this series. I actually always thought the line was 'these changes ain't changing me, the gold-hearted boy I used to be'... but it's actually cold-hearted, which kinda totally changes my narrative for this song so I'm pretending it's gold-hearted 😂

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New No Scrubs Album dropping in a chapter near you ✨

[Review from MusicHype.com]

Hailed as a return to the unfettered, unabashed, noisy anti-establishment garage rock that had people flocking to No Scrubs in their underground heyday, Infinity on High made quite a splash as No Scrub’s comeback album. Featuring sing-along punk anthems like Holiday and Troubled Times for the disenfranchised youths, this album delivers punchy sound atop double entendre lyrics that deserve a second, or third— or, no pun intended, infinite— playback. Lead singer Ru-kun has been showered with praise by critics for threading the needle between the grinding, sultry drawl of a grunge rockstar and the chisel-sharp delivery of a popstar’s vocal range. 

Rippling basslines, roaring amps, moshpit-worthy guitar solos and gritty, blisteringly-raw lyrics have made this album an instant hit with the bands most devout followers, while still providing a clean and catchy sound that has launched it to the top of every music streaming platform across the globe. 

This is the first No Scrubs album released through conventional means, the band signing with the Earjack Records label for domestic distribution and greater conglomerate Sony Music internationally. The band might have caved to the establishment channels, but there’s no conformity to be found in the lyrics of their highest grossing album yet. 

When asked about the lyrics of the songs— an unquenched curiosity of fans the world over— lead singer and songwriter Ru-kun deflected; “I’ve gone half a decade without explaining myself. I’m not about to start now.” 

Whether the songwriter keeps mum on the matter or not, the words themselves are telling enough. 

Fans have always hypothesized Ru-kun’s real life identity to be on the fringes of modern society, a disillusioned youth who’s seen the worst life has had to offer and rejected conformity and normalcy, who’s been through unimaginable struggles and come out stronger for it. The truth of it all seems obvious, in hindsight. 

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Holiday - Green Day

Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins

Cool Enough - (Mayonaise) Smashing Pumpkins

1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

Island in the Sun - Weezer

Troubled Times - (Hitchin' A Ride) Green Day

Yeah I was really feeling SP on this one but what can I say Siamese Dream is one of my favorite albums ever. I especially love it for reasons like this review on Rolling Stones: "But the result, on Siamese Dream, is a rock band that sounds 200 feet tall but also doesn’t quite sound like a functioning rock band. It sounds like a morbid, tyrannical, outrageously talented person imagining a rock band in his head. There’s an unembarrassed enormity, but also a crushing loneliness radiating from the guy who wants you to know that he’s almost single-handedly responsible for that enormity." Like is that not literally what Gojo is doing with No Scrubs?? I just loved that irony.

I will shamelessly say Mayonaise is my favorite song in this entire fic and okay hear me out there's a reason for it. So Billy Corgan (SP frontman and writer) is on record admitting Mayonaise is a nonsense song full of one-liners he just thought sounded cool at the time. BUT then he's also on record two decades later conceding that every time he sings it now he's shocked by how unabashedly reflective it is of the loneliness and sadness at the time. Basically, he incepted himself this entire time. He really just thought it was a bunch of nonsense he threw together to sound good, but it turns out he was really trying to describe how difficult it is to not only fit in with the rest, but also come to terms with who you are.

And then here's Gojo who's, like, loved this song since childhood and is putting it on an album and convincing himself 'oh it's just a song I really like because it sounds cool' - when in reality he loves that song so much because it's such a reflection on himself and what he's been through, and it's a deeply personal experience to him. And years from now when he sings it with No Scrubs on a reunion tour or something he's gonna be like 'Oh shit. I thought this was just a nonsense song I borrowed from someone else who also thought it was nonsense, but this song has actually been about me all along.'

Even better - he chooses to sing it to Hawks, specifically, in a deeply personal manner, and his logic at the time is that it's a cool song that he really likes on their new album and a good one to show off. But on a subconscious level he chose it because it's a song he identifies with so profoundly, and the same part of him that sees the similarities between himself and Hawks also chose it because subconsciously he considers it a song for Hawks as well.

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Class 1-A without quirks.

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“Fallen Flightless”

Digital art illustration I made for a fic series written by WolfsHowl5678 on ao3. Link to the series is here, would highly recommend giving it a read!

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Illustration for chapter 18 of “Build Me Stronger”, part 4 of the Quirkless and Useless series.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36869236/chapters/97339347

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Fanart for chapter 13 + tease for future chapters of Build Me Stronger.