History YMMV / SmokeEmOutStruggle

* ItWasHisSled: The fact that Garcello dies and becomes a ghost has become such common knowledge around the fandom that almost anyone who tries to experience this the first time will already know that Garcello dies and becomes a ghost.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: [[Heartwarming/SmokeEmOutStruggle Has its own page.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments: The mod became an absolute ''smash hit'' with the community in just within a week of its release! On [=GameBanana=] the mod received multiple awards and was ranked the 2nd most popular mod just below the ''VideoGame/VsWhitty'' mod, which is ''the'' quintessential ''Friday Night Funkin''' mod. Needless to say the creators were very floored and grateful for all the massive praise. Many fans love the mod so much that they are also hoping that [[AscendedFanon Garcello can become canon.]]

** There is a widespread interpretation that Garcello's paranormal cigarette was given to him by Daddy Dearest with the express idea of killing the Boyfriend with it. atsuover and Rageminer later confirmed this to be true on a stream.

** Among the bonus content in ''Hazy River'' is "Dilemma", where Garcello and Annie sing while ordering food at [=McDonalds=]. Special mention goes to the ending, where the cashier goes "Alright, so that'll be one-" before singing himself, to which Garcello and Annie turn to each other, confused..

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Boyfriend beeping along to ''Garcello's dying coughs'' during "NERVES". Also the fact that Boyfriend indirectly causes his death by rap-battling him while he's ailing, yet upon becoming a ghost he doesn't seem to mind.
* EstrogenBrigade: Garcello has a sizable female fanbase, perhaps from his bad boy look who is actually a sweet guy underneath.

** Because this mod and the ''VideoGame/VsAnnie'' mod were created by atsuover, there are fans circulating theories about Annie and Garcello's relationship as either family/(ex-)lovers/friends/etc. This is also due to some similarities in their songs, such as Garcello's "FADING" having similarities to Annie's "LOVER".
*** atsuover seems to indulge in this theorizing and is very fond of crossing the two over but keeping their relationship unspecified. This includes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goEw8w10b6s mashups of their songs]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1416792770925236225 and]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1391633694092300296 plenty]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1415734499862790154 of]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1419724440439566338 art]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1417239190203416581 featuring]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1416252634458112002 the]] [[https://twitter.com/atsuover/status/1414711115016294400 two.]] The idea of Garcello and Annie being friends appears to have become [[ApprovalOfGod acknowledged by the creators]], with the video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUBRA5Dw1Y0 "Garcello and Annie sing a song on their way to McDonald's"]].
*** On Twitter and in an art stream in August 2021, atsuover finally confirmed that Annie and Garcello are indeed very good and close friends but not romantically involved, as their canon ages are that Annie is 21[[note]]previously 19, the age change was not just because to make their friendship less creepy, but also to make her the legal drinking age due to an inside joke about how the bottle she carries has a mysterious liquid that is non-alcoholic despite her being old enough to drink.[[/note]] and Garcello is 26.
*** This is reinforced in ''Hazy River'', where one of the songs in the bonus week has Annie and Garcello at a drive thru trying to figure out what they want. The remastered version of "LOVER" also has Annie sing in a similar fashion to how Boyfriend was singing towards Garcello'd coughing fit in "NERVES" and there's even a jingle from "RELEASE" added at the end of the instrumental.
** There is a widespread interpretation that Garcello's paranormal cigarette was given to him by Daddy Dearest with the express idea of killing the Boyfriend with it.
*** Atsuover and Rageminer have confirmed this to be true on a stream.

** At the end of atsuover's official upload of the mod's soundtrack, there is an InMemoriam image for Garcello... [[MoodWhiplash with a quote from the man saying that he's going to the Ghost [=McDonald's=].]] Fittingly, the image is of him sitting at a table with his order.
*** Rageminer, Garcello's voice, confirmed his order as well: a regular [=McChicken=], large fries, and a large iced/sweet tea.

** A meta example: Courtesy of an FNF remixer known as Neonight, there now exists a [[https://youtu.be/lxOGqvWkR5c cover of "RELEASE"]] with an extra song from ''VideoGame/LiterallyEveryFNFModEver'' (Specifically ''Bob's Onslaught'') that brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Tight bars, little man".
* HarsherInHindsight: While the story is generally bittersweet, future content and the expansion of the lore reveals that Garcello dying alone was actually the result of him being trapped in an endless loop of smoking himself to death unless he transferred his addiction to Boyfriend by getting him to smoke, as he was forcibly hired and cursed by Daddy Dearest. His close friend, Annie, has been diligently trying to find cures and ways to break his curse but ultimately finds that he has died in an alleyway after trying her hardest to save his life, leading to her singing battle with Daddy Dearest in ''Hazy River'''s "Drowning". This is rather alleviated after Atsuover revealed that ''Smoke Em Out Struggle'' is actually an alternate future where Garcello succumbed to his addiction, and in her own personal lore, Garcello is still alive and good friends with Annie.

** The plot of this mod is kicked off with Garcello trying to get Boyfriend to try out one of his glowing cigarettes. On August 2nd, 2021, [[https://twitter.com/PhantomArcade3K/status/1422295248101908483 PhantomArcade made this advertisement for the Newgrounds' support wall with Boyfriend and Girlfriend]], with the comic's last panel showing Boyfriend clearly [[SmokingHotSex smoking a cigarette after being kissed a whole lot by Girlfriend]].
*** The devs also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSgdbpXgpRw confirmed]] that Boyfriend spends the money he receives from his monetized [=YouTube=] channel on cigarettes, implying that he likes to smoke. Maybe the reason why he refused to smoke Garcello's cigarettes was because [[SmartBall he knows the danger of the particular cigarettes]]?

** In the same vein, the character of [=NonsenseHumor=] from Videogame/VSNonsense also praises Boyfriend by telling him "Dang, dude, you got some pretty tight bars," it didn't take long for commenters to complete his sentence with the words "little man".

** Best Anti-Smoking PSA Ever [[labelnote:Explanation]]Many have claimed (jokingly or not) that the mod is a better anti-smoking PSA than most official [=PSAs=] about the topic. A lot of said [=PSAs=], especially from the '80s and '90s, tend to be [[{{Anvilicious}} very heavy-handed]], to the point that a lot of people [[{{Narm}} can't take them seriously]]. In contrast, the mod's message against smoking doesn't detract from ''Friday Night Funkin's'' fun gameplay and music, and is instead told mostly through visual cues and subdued dialogue on Garcello's part. It also helps that Garcello himself is surprisingly sympathetic, and a genuine NiceGuy who doesn't get angry at the Boyfriend like many other ''FNF'' mod characters, making his death tragic to many people despite (or perhaps even because of) his addiction.[[/labelnote]]

* DarthWiki/NightmareFuel: Garcello's death, depicted in its own cutscene. After suffering from the usual symptoms of heavy smoking during the first two songs, Garcello coughs and more or less ''vomits'' a massive cloud of smoke, killing him almost instantly.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "RELEASE" bears a striking similarity to Music/MysterySkulls' "Ghost", and this was likely intentional as WordOfGod states that [[https://twitter.com/Rageminer996/status/1390167734038765568 Garcello's favorite band happened to be Mystery Skulls]], and his favorite song? ''[[StealthPun Ghost.]]''
* TearJerker: After completing the week, the Story Mode menu is [[MomentOfSilence dead]] [[SilentCredits quiet]] save for the sound effects. Returning to the main menu makes the instrumental of "FADING" begin to play, and if you stick around to listen or take a while to pick what you're doing next (it's a short song after all), the game closes itself after the song ends. [[SarcasmMode Lovely...]]
* TheWoobie: Garcello. Not much is known about him but without any context or knowledge of his past, he comes across as a tragic figure who is being hunted by Daddy Dearest for whatever reason and Boyfriend and Girlfriend manage to catch him in his last moments in life as he is determined to smoke himself to death in a dark alley way alone. Him being one of the kindest opponents Boyfriend has faced among mods has helped him win many fans' hearts who express their sympathy and grief for his unfortunate death.

** "Tight bars, little man."[[labelnote:Explanation]]Garcello's catchphrase became memetic and referenced in other ''FNF'' mods such as the ''VideoGame/VsNonsense'' mod.[[/labelnote]]

*** The devs also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSgdbpXgpRw confirmed]] that Boyfriend spends the money he receives from his monetized [=YouTube=] channel on cigarettes, implying that he likes to smoke. Maybe the reason why he refused to smoke Garcello's cigarettes [[SmartBall he knows the danger of the particular cigarettes]]?

* HarsherInHindsight: While the story is generally bittersweet, future content and the expansion of the lore reveals that Garcello dying alone was actually the result of him being trapped in an endless loop of smoking himself to death unless he transferred his addiction to Boyfriend by getting him to smoke, as he was forcibly hired and cursed by Daddy Dearest. His close friend Annie, has been diligently trying to find cures and ways to break his curse but ultimately finds that he has died in an alleyway after trying her hardest to save his life. This is rather alleviated after Atsuover revealed that ''Smoke Em Out Struggle'' is actually an alternate future where Garcello succumbed to his addiction, and in her own personal lore, Garcello is still alive and good friends with Annie.

*** This is reinforced in ''Hazy River'', where one of the songs in the bonus week has Annie and Garcello at a drive thru trying to figure out what they want. The remastered version of "Lover" also has Annie sing in a similar fashion to how Boyfriend was singing towards Garcello'd coughing fit in "Nerves" and there's even a jingle from "Release" added at the end of the instrumental.