Fan Works that prove to be Lighter and Softer than their source materials in some fashion.
- The Bridge (MLP), a crossover between My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Godzilla, has an odd example. While it will deal with plenty of darker moments which are much more grim than the first series usually delves into, the tone and protagonists from the kaiju side are all played much lighter than the norm for Godzilla fanfiction, such as using one of the outright heroic incarnations of Godzilla instead of a neutral version. Compared to other crossovers of the same type such as "Born of Rage" and "My Little Destoroyah", it's much lighter.
- Creeping Darkness, a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Alan Wake crossover, manages to play with this trope by being Darker and Edgier than My Little Pony but still this trope in regards to Alan Wake. Mainly due to the violence being intentionally toned down as a plot point and wrapping up in a Everybody Lives ending. Equestria Daily hung a lampshade on how much it defied classification by tagging it Grimlight.
- As a whole, as stated by the authors, James's presence in Co-op Mode changes a lot of things in the setting, making it comparable to the original manhwa's tone when it comes to storytelling. However, as Coil's Interlude would show, this does not mean that the grim parts of Worm are entirely gone.
- Children of an Elder God: Subverted. At the beginning it looks lighter and softer than canon: the characters are a bit happier and more psychologically stable, the battles against the Angels are less traumatic... and then more and more elements of the Cthulhu Mythos are introduced, and the setting becomes very dark.
- In the Darker and Edgier Crossover series Children of Time... there's the 221B series, a long string of 221-word-long drabbles. Even this series-within-a-series is not excluded from angst, but it tends toward fluffy marriage moments for Sherlock and Beth Holmes.
- There's the episode "Fractures" in the Children of Time series, a Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who Crossover that tends to be Darker and Edgier than its parent works.
- Decks Fall Everyone Dies, a Film Fic of Moulin Rouge! using the Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series characters, tones down the Duke's character (and the depression of rest of the plot) considerably.
- The God Empress of Ponykind compared to Warhammer 40,000; while it has its dark moments, Equestria is not the Grimdark hellhole the Imperium is, and the heroes can score genuine victories against the Forces of Chaos. Additionally, Celestia is portrayed much more heroically and humbly than the God Emperor of Mankind, who was an Anti-Hero at best and a straight villain at worst.
- Infinity Train: Star Finder: Compared to most stories from the Blossomverse, the fanfic lacks the Blame Game, hunger for carthasis and suffering that it's known for, with the fanfic focusing instead on relationships and antics from the characters despite the cynicism on the atmosphere.
- Last Child of Krypton: In this setting, Shinji gets Superman powers and a lesson on power and responsibility. He grows into a more idealistic, more caring and less passive person, and that different mindset and their powers let him alter events positively.
- A Man of Iron: While not without its dark moments, the story and its subsequent followups are noticeably less grim than A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. There's a much bigger emphasis on the magical and fantasy elements of this world, in no small part thanks to the presence of Marvel characters, many characters that died in canon being spared in A Man of Iron and its sequels, the darker moments in the story from Ned Stark's execution to Red Wedding never happening in this universe and the Starks' situation at the end of the war is much better than the books since Ned survives.
- My Little Investigations is, at the same time, Darker and Edgier than the show it takes place on and Lighter and Softer than the game it's based on (due to averting Always Murder).
- The Little Pony Legend is definitely this to one of its sources. Not so much its My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic part but definitely more its The Legend of Korra side.
- Accidentally done in The Mountain and the Wolf despite being a crossover between Warhammer Fantasy and Game of Thrones. Several characters survive their deaths thanks to the Wolf's unintentional intervention (Theon gets sent away from the frontlines, a Khornate berserker ends up attracting the wights' attention which saves Beric), although because he kills several characters shortly before their deaths there hasn't been much change overall to the events of the final season.
- Pony Space: A My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Dead Space crossover, while it does have much of Dead Space's horror and the psychological effects of the Marker, Necromorphs rarely show up (twice as of 14 chapters), and it keeps much of MLP's light hearted tone.
- Rick and The Loud House (Rick and Morty, The Loud House): Played With. Some of the more highly profane moments from RaM are either toned down or removed entirely to better integrate itself within the LH universe. In fact, the author confirmed that we wouldn't write chapters based on either "Raising Gazorpazorp" and "The ABC's of Beth," feeling both episodes are too mature to be written alongside LH.
- Superwomen of Eva 2: Lone Heir of Krypton: To canon. Asuka gets Kryptonian powers and starts out a super-heroine career. In the process she learns to be a better person, finds a cause to worth to fight for, hooks up with Shinji, and manages to avert some canon tragedies (such like Touji getting maimed or Rei blowing herself up)
- Once Upon a Time / Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic Swapping Genres: This story is far more lighthearted than the actual Once Upon a Time series, with the multiple instances of rape being removed and being far more quippy.
- Tangled Adventures in Arendelle is one of the few K rated continuation fics for both Tangled and Frozen. While many authors try to go the route of psychological scars and political upheaval, especially for Frozen, Doctor Darth takes a much lighter hand. The fic is still mature with many distresses happening over the course of the story, but it's more in line with what's presented in the movies, with friendship, compassion and forgiveness being the most important components.
- Tokimeki PokéLive! and TwinBee is both this as well as Darker and Edgier at the same time. While the Side Story arcs and the backstories for certain characters are darker than regular Love Live!, Tokimeki Memorial and Twinbee, it's balanced out by the Main Stories, which are more lighthearted and funnier than anything Pokémon that isn't the main anime, with the Main Stories using tropes from moe Seinen anime as well.
- Worm/The Wonderful 101 fanfic Wonderful (Mazinja) crossover is somewhat happier and more optimistic than original canon "Worm" due to the changes done to the timeline and the introduction of Toku super-hero tropes played straight.
- All Assorted Animorphs AUs:
- Chapters such as "What if they all went to college together post-war?" and "What if Jake and Cassie got married?" are fluff that take place in a post-war world where everyone is inexplicably alive and well-adjusted.
- Downplayed by "What if the Auximorphs joined the team right away?", "What if they saved Jake's family?", and "What if Jake was stuck in morph?". While all of these ficlets have plenty of death and violence, the Animorphs don't have to make as many difficult decisions towards the end, meaning that many characters are spared (including Tom and the 17,000 Yeerks on the Pool Ship in all three) and the survivors are left with fewer lingering regrets.
- Also downplayed by "What if Eva was never a Controller?". Nobody is Spared by the Adaptation, but Marco's parents provide emotional support for all of the Animorphs.
- In some specific ways, Dæmorphing is lighter than canon. Tobias has closer relationships with several different people, so his life has more joy in it, plus he's never singled out to be tortured - and because he acts as Ax's daemon whenever Ax is in human morph, he stays closer to humanity. Ax connects with his 'aunt' Loren, and with the free Hork-Bajir, so he's not as lonely. Marco's mother is saved from Edriss, and even if she then walks back into danger with Aftran in her head, it's a different kind of stress. The Animorphs manage to save Tom, so even though that leads to its own woes Jake isn't tormented knowing about his brother's suffering. Rachel is able to stay more in touch with her inner joy and protectiveness, not lashing out as readily. Cassie has a very hard time either way, but the other Animorphs are more sympathetic to her points of view than in canon, and she doesn't give the Yeerks the morphing cube, so they have one less problem to worry about. And thanks to Loren's efforts the kids all get therapeutic talks with Chee until that alliance splits, so they're not quite as trapped in cycles of trauma.
- Hope for the Heartless (in which the Horned King is resurrected and half-forced on a Redemption Quest) has shades of this trope. While the Horned King was bad in the movie, the deepening of his character and past makes him less threatening over time. His Morality Pet Avalina and the comical Invisibles also countermand seriousness. In the movie there were no musicals, but now many borrowed songs (both happy and sad ones) are included. While the Horned King's past as a ruthless warlord has not been forgotten and several dark themes have been added (like the Mad Pack and Arawn), the story is overall more cheerful than the movie.
- In the Crack Fic All You Need Is Love, basically Death Note the Sitcom, there are much fewer deaths of series regulars and Light/Kira is much more mentally stable in this ficverse "sticking to a diet of murderers and rapists" and doesn't jump off the slippery slope.
- A Charmed Life a Ryuk/Light romance in which Everybody Lives.
- I Won't Say the Heartwarming Death Note Christmas Special where Light and L spend Christmas with the orphans at Wammy's House.
- Skyhold Academy Yearbook, which places the various characters in a modern Boarding School High School AU setting, is definitely this compared to the Crapsack World that is Thedas in the games. There's considerably less death, and while there certainly is a fair bit of drama, angst, and occasional violence, it also has a lot of W.A.F.F. and plenty of comedy.
- How Friendship Accidentally Saved Magical Britain is led by famed pranksters Fred and George Weasley, plus their adopted cousin the newly revived Tom Riddle. Tom's long years of isolation in the Diary have left him bitter towards Voldemort, and absorbing bits of soul from the Weasley twins has mellowed him out and given him a bit of a taste for pranks himself. The canon plot and associated events that follow Harry are mostly in the background, giving this fic space to be something more along the lines of a Slice of Life story for (essentially) regular students at Hogwarts. There's lots of petty student rivalries, quidditch, schoolwork, research sessions for pranks, silly antics, and also some accidental assault and murder of bad people. It's all in good fun.
- Hans Von Hozel: "Ok so I saw a horrible scary movie call The Human Centipede and is was horrible but I make this version
where it is not so scary and of the happy ending!" - THE HUEMN CENIPED 2: THE HUMEN MILIPEDE is also a lot lighter than the original film, if only because it's a barely-coherent Crack Fic.
- Played With in Asylum of Doom. While it's still a rather dark story involving Electric Torture, Gaslighting and an attempted lobotomy, the ending is notably gentler than other Gaz-focused stories written by the same author. While some of Zim'sMostLoyalServant's previous anti-Gaz stories have ended with her getting tortured, executed, irreversibly transformed, mind-wiped, Driven to Madness, or humiliated in front of a large crowd of people, here she escapes alive and with both her body and mind intact, and even a bit apologetic for how she treated Dib. This is stated in the author's notes to be a result of the story being written after Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, in which Gaz's canon counterpart was given a dose of Adaptational Heroism that made the author reconsider his opinion of her.
- Just One Dimension Over: Marcy's universe is a lot lighter and softer than the main Invincible universe, and she hasn't experienced nearly as much of the gore and suffering Mark has as a result. The biggest example comes in their respective versions of their dad Omni-Man: while Mark's version turned out to be the advance scout for a race of genocidal conquerors and killed off many of the world's heroes as well as plenty of innocents, Marcy's version is a genuinely heroic man and defender of Earth (as he's the Last of His Kind and decided not to follow the same path that doomed them).
- Two Letters explores a world where Marinette gives up being Ladybug and the new Guardian after being broken down by the utter lack of respect she was shown as a superheroine, having Stopped Caring about keeping others safe... and instead laughing and finding bitter amusement at how everyone suffers at the hands of her Sketchy Successor. Recursive Fanfiction Weight Off Your Shoulder, by contrast, is a significantly lighter spin on the same concept: Marinette still rescinds the Earrings and her Guardianship, but her replacement is much more competent, ensuring that Laser-Guided Karma only strikes those who truly are deserving rather than punishing all of Paris.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- The first PONIES The Anthology featured a content warning and even a separate clean version, while the second one was specifically designed to stay within a PG-13 level. Word of God from one of the Anthology's contributors is that this actually made them think more about what was funny versus Vulgar Humor.
- I Am NOT Going Through Puberty Again! has far more emphasis on humor than your average Peggy Sue fic. In fact, there's an author's note at the end of the first chapter noting that while other fics with a similar premise have drama, angst, and overpowered main characters plowing through their enemies, this fic has laughs, snark... and overpowered main characters plowing through their enemies.
- A Crown of Stars: It is lighter and softer than canon and the preceeding fic. Shinji and Asuka are at last given the help, council and healing time they desperately needed, and a chance to recover their families and make their world right.
- Advice and Trust changes a specific event, and as a result Shinji and Asuka lean on each other as they endure trauma after trauma, rather than isolating from each other, breaking down and imploding. It's still angsty in places and far from being child-friendly, but it remains hopeful where canon just crushed everyone.
- The Child of Love: Although this story got pretty dark sometimes, it is definitely and unapologetically WAFFier than the original series. Shinji and Asuka have a daughter, which pushes them to try to figure out their relationship, Gendo gets arrested, and Third Impact never happens.
- Doing It Right This Time: Than canon, so far. The three Children have been sent back in time. And they have decided things will go THEIR way this time... and they will have a three-ways relationship because screw you, Unresolved Sexual Tension-fueled angst and Cannot Spit It Out-induced heartache.
- Evangelion 303: To canon. In this Alternate Universe the main characters are still full of issues, but since they are older, they are somewhat more mature and better at dealing with them.
- HERZ: The story can get pretty dark, but it is happier than canon. Third Impact was averted in 2015, and Asuka and Misato survived that battle. Twelve years later Shinji and Asuka are married, have a daughter, and the two of them together with Rei work under Misato's orders to fight SEELE's attempts to cause Instrumentality.
- Higher Learning: To canon. A new teacher starts teaching the Children. Their lessons help the three traumatized pilots to consider new possibilities and open up, leading to a better ending.
- Once More With Feeling (Crazy-88): When he returned to the past, Shinji was determined to set his world right. His influence, both covert and overt, has had good effects so far: Touji's sister did not get crippled when he fought Sachiel, Rei is learning to make friends, Asuka trusts and respects her teammates more than in canon... Nonetheless everything can go to Hell again if he is not careful, and Shinji is well aware of it.
- The One I Love Is...: A bit lighter than canon thanks to the Love Triangle between the three pilots which led to them finding some happiness and Third Impact being averted.
- Although The Second Try has plenty dark and tear-jerking moments, it's happier than canon. Shinji and Asuka learn to deal with their psychological issues, become parents, and the world is saved.
- While the AU A Different Medius still has some truly horrific moments, it is still a LOT lighter in tone than the original series. As of Chapter 8, nobody apart from Buwaro's biological parents has died, not even Sakido. Rhea is oddly absent, though, so she may be dead.
- The rewrite of Sonic X: Dark Chaos is simultaneously both this and Darker and Edgier than the original. While there is more violence and horrific content as a whole, the darkness is balanced with much more likable characters, a stronger message of hope and redemption in the face of terror, and the power of friendship. And Black Comedy.
- Even with the darkness, it's also still Lighter and Softer compared to some of its primary influences.
- Though Tomb Raider (2013) fanfic The Camera Loves You and its sequel The Dreaming are by no means free of violence, death and Angst, they are by far lighter than the grim, gory video game itself.
- Bluestar's Flowers, the equivalent of Bluestar's Prophecy in the Better Bones AU has a lighter tone than the book it is based on. While it still includes all of the tragic parts of the story like the deaths of Moonflower, Snowfur and Mosskit, Bluestar now has a group of loving friends from the other Clans that give moments of levity rather than it being all angst.
- Moonkitti does this for comedic effect in her "I Spoil Warrior Cats for everybody" series. "Pack pack, kill kill" is changed to "Woof woof, bark bark"; in Sunset, Firestar is trapped in a Chuck E. Cheese's Skee Ball machine instead of a fox trap; and in The Fourth Apprentice, Breezepelt and Brokenstar hit Jayfeather with toy lightsabers instead of physically slicing him up.
- The "Daycare 'Verse", a series of Alternate Universe modern-setting X-Men: First Class Slash Fics. In it, Charles Xavier runs a daycare for mutant toddlers, and Erik Lehnsherr is his Jerk with a Heart of Gold engineer boyfriend (instead of a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Nazi Hunter-turned-terrorist). Instead of Fantastic Racism and imminent nuclear war, the main hazards in the characters' current lives seem to be annoying coworkers and getting set on fire by a mutant preschooler with Power Incontinence issues.
