Video Game / Friday Night Funkin' Soft

"Your mother and I built this perfect life for you so you could become a star and you want to be what? A painter?"

Friday Night Funkin' Soft is a overhaul mod for Friday Night Funkin', created by ShinyTama and an entire team of people and released on August 10th, 2021.

Benjamin Fairest, the equivalent to Boyfriend in this Alternate Universe, is a very timid and shy wannabe painter whose...er, boyfriend, is a spray-painter and high school-dropout named Pico N. Grounds. He was abused by his parents his entire life, and wanted to escape the horrible tyranny. But in a world where status decides your fame, it would be a tough challenge for the duo. However, Benjamin is confident about becoming a world-famous painter, and if it means having to fight through some people including his parents through music, then so be it.

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Song List: (Sung by:)

Preface

1. Starcrossed (Pico)

Chapter 1: Father Fairest

1. Fresh (Father Fairest) Original vanilla song
2. Dad-Battle (Father Fairest) Original vanilla song
3. No-Cigar (Father Fairest)
4. Maturity (Father Fairest) First song of the Week in a future update

Chapter 2: Hair-Raising Hideout

1. Spookeez (Skid & Pump) Original vanilla song
2. South (Skid & Pump) Original vanilla song
3. Repressed (Soft Monster)
4. High-Spirits Will replace South in a future update

Chapter 3: A Childhood Friend

1. Playdate (Grace/Girlfriend)
2. Stay (Grace/Girlfriend)
3. It's Complicated (Grace/Girlfriend)

Chapter 4: Mother Knows Best

1. High (Mother Mairest) Original vanilla song
2. MILF (Mother Mairest) Original vanilla song
3. Spotlight (Mother Mairest)
4. Intuition (Mother Mairest) Will replace High in a future update
5. W.I.L.P.O.C. (Mother Mairest) Will replace MILF in a future update

Chapter 5: In The Present

1. Faithful (Father Fairest and Mother Mairest)
2. Hope (Father Fairest and Mother Mairest)
3. Genesis (Soft Monster)

???: Alternative Nightmare

1. Diplopia
2. In-Fighting
3. Envy

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This work contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents: It's implied from Benjamin's comments during Week 5 that Grace's parents are psychologically manipulative. Ultimately averted however, as Word of God stated that Grace was overly sheltered by her parents rather than abused. Played Straight with Benjamin
• Adaptation Name Change: Here, Boyfriend is known as Benjamin, Girlfriend is known as Grace, and Senpai is known as Sven Kai Iwata.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While downplayed in Grace's parents' cases, the mod creator has stated that Grace was not abused by her parents and was more "overly sheltered", despite the Dearests conditioning their daughter that she would be married to her childhood friend.
• Adaptation Personality Change: The majority of the characters got hit with this, save Skid and Pump, and to a lesser extent Pico, as he and BF are still together here. The most glaring, however, is Boyfriend, from a rapping Elective Unintelligible Fearless Fool to a timid, anxious, depressed painter with Abusive Parents.
• Adaptational Species Change: In this mod's lore, Grace and her family are humans instead of demons.
• Adaptational Villainy: As bad as mainline Mommy Mearest and Daddy Dearest are (in the base game at least), there are no implications of them being abusive towards Girlfriend, at least not beyond overprotection anyways. Here, it's implied that they are psychologically manipulative towards Grace.
• Adapted Out:
  • "Bopeebo", "Monster", all 3 of Pico's songs, "Satin Panties", "Cocoa" and "Winter Horrorland" are completely gone, along with Senpai (although, he’s hinted to appear in an update as Grace's new boyfriend), Spirit, Tankman, and Monster in their entirety, the latter of which being replaced with a completely retooled character that ties into the alternate storyline presented in the mod.
  • As of the Week 6 update, all of the vanilla songs will be replaced with completely original ones.
• Affectionate Nickname: Pico calls Benjamin "Softie" and Benjamin calls Pico "Toughie".
• Alternate Self: In ???, Benjamin meets Boyfriend from the canon Friday Night Funkin' universe, where he challenges him to a rap battle.
• Ambiguously Human: Benjamin's parents for the most part look like humans, but they sport glowing yellow pupils upon closer inspection. It is never made clear if they're ordinary humans, angels, or demons.
  • As they are his parents, this also applies to Ben himself.
• Art Evolution: When the Week 6 update drops, the Fairests' sprites will be replaced with new designs. A preview of Mother Mairest's sprite was shown on Twitter, where it's shown that she's wearing a shorter dress and it's implied that she'll have new poses in game.
• Bilingual Bonus: Skid's hoodie has "Ayu" written on it, while Pump's hoodie has "Dalo" written on it. When put together, they spell "Ayudalo", which translates to "Help him" in Spanish.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both Father Fairest and Mother Mairest come off as kind and caring parental figures at first. But when Benjamin defies their orders, they cut off the demeanors and reveal their true abusive natures.
• Blatant Lies: At one point, Mother Mairest says there is nothing wrong with their family. There is something wrong with their family, alright. … though that’s just an understatement to how bad it is.
• Broken Pedestal: Implied by the audience in Chapter 5. Similar to Week 6 in the base game, the first song shows an audience of Father Fairest and Mother Mairest's fans happily cheering them on. But once the second song comes around and Benjamin reveals their true natures, the audience's reactions range from broken-hearted, bewildered, disgusted and furious. To rub some much-deserved salt in the wound, said audience is full of mod characters known for being incredibly dangerous if pissed off (such as Ruv, Sarvente, A.G.O.T.I., and Neon), meaning that it's unlikely they'd be able to get out unscathed.
• Calling the Old Man Out: By the time of "Hope", Benjamin has had enough of his parents and their domestic abuse, telling them that he will not let them turn him into a "mindless slave", saying that parents are supposed to protect and care for their children, which neither of them have ever done for him, and that he does not consider them to be his parents and that they never will be, as well as saying that he knows now that love isn't about taking away one's dreams, happiness, trust in others or childhood. Judging from Pico's expression after Benjamin gives his speech, he's very proud of Benjamin for standing up to his parents.
• Cathartic Scream: At the climax of "Genesis", Benjamin's second battle against Soft Monster, he unleashes a particularly powerful one to symbolize him taking control of his life.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Averted. While in this mod Benjamin (Boyfriend) and Grace (Girlfriend) are childhood friends and have indeed had crushes on each other since they were kids, Benjamin is dating Pico while Grace still has feelings for Benjamin and tries to get him to leave Pico.
• Common Crossover: It's not uncommon to see artists create soft versions of characters from other mods. There's even a fan mod based on Sunday Night Suicide that has it's own page.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • Father Fairest and Mother Mairest are similar to Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest in that they are famous rockstars who disapprove of their children dating someone. However, the Dearests at least still cared for their daughter and just came off as a little overprotective, not really having a reason to dislike Boyfriend other than the fact that he's dating Girlfriend. The Fairests, on the other hand, had a reason to disapprove of Pico because he was involved in a school shooting, but that's not entirely true, considering the true culprits behind it. They don't truly care for their son's happiness, and just want him to follow in their footsteps, even if it takes physical and verbal abuse to get him to do what they want. Even though it's implied that the Dearests were possibly engaging in psychological manipulation towards Grace, they utterly despise the Fairests for their physical abuse of Benjamin.
  • Monster was a Humanoid Abomination of unknown origin. Being a Soft-Spoken Sadist who wanted to eat Boyfriend and Girlfriend to satisfy his hunger. Soft Monster is but a hallucination in Benjamin's head who doesn't speak a single word, being a physical manifestation of Benjamin's fear of his parents' abuse. He disappears once Benjamin lets go of his fear.
• Clothing Reflects Personality: Benjamin wears a comfortable sweatshirt and beanie with subdued colors to represent his sensitivity, and Pico wears a hoodie with a mask because he's accused of being a school shooter and has to keep a low profile.
• Darker and Edgier: This mod is a darker take on Friday Night Funkin', and unlike the main game and most of the other mods, the main antagonists' actions are played more seriously.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Father Fairest refers to Pico as a "street rat" while Mother Mairest calls him a "pest".
• Death Glare: The Fairests parents give these to Benjamin as their stages progress, but the crowner is the mass glare they get from the majority of the audience during "Hope" after Benjamin outs their true colors before them.
• Drink-Based Characterization: Word of God specifies the favorite drinks of Benjamin, Pico, and Grace. Benjamin's Trademark Favorite Drink is hot chocolate befitting his sweet and shy nature, while Pico prefers a stronger drink like sparkling vodka to match with his tough demeanor. Grace prefers a non-alcoholic cocktail, which fits with her more mature, but free-spirited personality.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • Twitter posts from the official FNF Soft account reveal the sprites for Benjamin, Pico, and Grace for the upcoming Week 6 update.
  • Strangely, unused sprites of Soft!Tankman's health bar icon can be found in the game's files, despite him coming to the game in a later week than Soft!Senpai, whose design has yet to be revealed.
• Expy Coexistence: Downplayed, Benjamin meets the real canon Boyfriend, the character he is based off of, but instead of existing in reality, they meet each other in a dream.
• Faux Affably Evil: Both Father Fairest and Mother Mairest initially come of as nicer than Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest, until Benjamin defies their orders. Then, their mask of politeness falls off...
• Hate Sink: Father Fairest and Mother Mairest are easily the most unlikable characters in the mod, as well as other mods and Friday Night Funkin' in general, for how much they tormented Benjamin over the years and their lack of redeeming or cool qualities.
• Incompatible Orientation: Grace is deeply in love with Benjamin but he is gay and doesn't return her feelings which is what causes tension between them.
• Ironic Name:
  • The "Fairests" are anything but fair.
  • The mod's title itself: Friday Night Funkin Soft. Inverted, however, in terms of Benjamin's character and the more subdued setting.
• Innocently Insensitive: Skid and Pump cheerfully talk about Father Fairest in front of Benjamin unaware that he’s been abusing BF.
• Marathon Level: If the Twitter posts are anything to go by, Week 6 is gonna be very long...
• Meaningful Background Event: During Chapter 5, Grace can be seen in Pico's place in the background of the original week. After Benjamin gives his Calling the Old Man Out speech to his parents and reveals that Grace's parents were nearly the same in front of the entire audience, she appears surprised in the background. Completing Week ??? will present dialogue that reveals that Grace has finally moved on and is now dating who is presumably this universe's version of Senpai.
• Mirror Boss: In Week ???, Boyfriend lowers Benjamin's health every time he sings a note, but never directly KOs him (though missing a note at minimum health will cause a game over). This reflects how the player character increases his health by hitting the correct notes at the right time but is never able to KO the antagonist.
• Mythology Gag: When Benjamin asks where Skid and Pump went, Pico responds that they got into a white van; this is a covert reference to Frank, a character from Spooky Month who drives around in a white van and is friends with Skid and Pump.
• Named by the Adaptation: As revealed by the devs in a tweet, Boyfriend's real name is Benjamin Fairest, while Girlfriend's name is Grace. GF, Benjamin's nickname for her, is meant to stand for Grace Fairest, which (as written in the tweet) is the name she wanted.
• Nice Guy:
  • The original Boyfriend — while choosing not to speak English, as usual — is implied that what he's saying to Benjamin is friendly banter and is concerned when Benjamin is putting himself down.
  • Pico is shown to be a caring boyfriend to Benjamin despite being forced to live in the streets and doesn't seem to hold any hard feelings towards Grace after she called him a "school shooter".
• No Animals Were Harmed: An alternate example of this trope is seen at the end of Chapter 2, where the narrator clarifies that "no spooky bois were harmed in the creation of this chapter", in reference to how Pico says the two got into a white van while Benjamin was struggling with Soft Monster.
• Noodle Incident: According to a tweet made by the official Twitter, no one but Pico knows what happened to the Fairests after the Week 5 incident.
• Punny Name: Pico's full name here is Pico N. Grounds. No points awarded as to what that is a play on.
• Role Swap AU: Several characters take on swapped roles from the original game:
  • While still the player character, Benjamin's the one with antagonistic celebrity parents rather than his significant other, though their target remains the same.
  • Pico takes Girlfriend's support role as the primary love interest who helps his boyfriend no matter what, but takes Boyfriend's role in the story as the streetwise outsider to the family.
  • Grace stands in for the original game's version of Pico, initially being on the side of the parents and having a romantic connection to the protagonist.
• Shout-Out: About a third of the way through "Hope", Mother Mairest sings the 2013 Home Depot "Let's Do This" ad campaign theme song, completely out of nowhere. It's possible that this is meant to convey her disgust for her son, as the same song was used as a high-quality rip of Tankman's "Ugh".
• Significant Monogram: The mod's protagonist is an alternative version of vanilla FNF's Boyfriend and his initials spell "BF". Benjamin Fairest = BF = Boyfriend
• Sinister Tango Music: Mother Mairest's final song "Spotlight" features accordion riffs and tango-like percussion reminiscent of the genre throughout.
• Spiritual Antithesis: It can be argued this mod is one to those that present Boyfriend's parents as the Good Counterpart duo to the Dearests; while Benjamin's parents are shown here to be humans (although see the Ambiguously Human entry above), in no way are they good people.
• Stepford Smiler: Father Fairest, Grace and Mother Mairest are all this. For their respective first songs, they're happy to see Benjamin at first, but with each passing song it's clear that the smile is a facade that barely hides how they're really feeling. Father Fairest and Mother Mairest slowly get angry, while Grace begins to tear up.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: At the end of Chapter 4, Pico tells Benjamin to jump off the car to escape Mother Mairest. However, as Benjamin points out, the car is moving on the highway, and tries to get Pico to consider an alternate plan, but in the end the two go through with jumping off the car. As the narration at the beginning of Chapter 5 reveals, Benjamin and Pico end up badly bruised from jumping off a moving car, and have spent a whole month recovering from their wounds.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Fairests being gone by the end of Week 5. Considering the last we saw of them, garnering ire from a crowd of former supporters, it's not out of the question that they've likely been chased off. Benjamin did briefly asked Pico where they gone, before deciding it's for the better to move on from them.
• Wreathed in Flames: Soft Monster has flames engulfing his arms and from his mouth. The latter could represent the cigar burns that could be seen in one still image.

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