From left to right: Spencer, Maria, Richard, Darius, Chester, Coach Grifter, Dozer, and Eric.
This novel and all links posted here are Not Safe for Work.
Extracurricular Activities is a Ren'Py-based Bara Genre Furry Visual Novel written by DyneWulf
and with character art by CaptainGerBear, also known as BigFingers Games Inc.note As well as background art by Gavel.
A Slice of Life visual novel where a CrestHaven University student named Eric is the only human on the tennis team and gets to explore a relationship with one of his anthropomorphic teammates: Chester, Spencer, Dozer, Dariusnote , or even Coach Grifter, the tennis coach. The creator has stated that more characters might be added in the future.
Worthy of note is that this visual novel has exceptional writing that explores realistic characters and situations, as well as being mostly SFW. All of the characters have unique personalities, each with strengths, flaws, and quirky charms. It reaches the writing level of Morenatsu, which was one of the only furry novels to break the mold into popularity.
The novel is in development and one can gain early access by supporting it on Patreon. This grants the beta version with monthly updates and additions.note There is also a free demo on itch.io, if you would like a taste of the game before purchasing the beta version. (The demo updates monthly as well.)
A unique feature about this visual novel is that the creator is hosting a Tumblr pagenote dedicated to Q&A with the characters, usually with tidbits outside of the novel.
Compare Morenatsu, another furry novel with a similar theme and atmosphere. Compare Coming Out on Top, which is basically the human version of this novel.
This visual novel contains examples of:
- After Action Patch Up:
- Happens over a few routes, usually the result of a tennis injury.
- Eric helps Spencer clean up a nosebleed after the former accidentally strikes the latter with a ball.
- Dozer twice has to bind Eric's finger after he unsuccessfully tries to catch a fast moving ball.
- Agony of the Feet: Richard is on the receiving end after Maria stamps his foot as a "Be Quiet!" Nudge in Grifter's route.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Averted with everyone except Darius. Most choices end up having Eric bring up the idea of sex pretty much right after they start their relationship, with Eric pretty much being told a straight "no" from said relationship. Plus, most dates end with the most intimate thing being a kiss.
- All the Good Men Are Gay: Most of the men in this series that are neither background characters or a total Jerkass are implied to be gay or, at least, bisexual. Makes sense considering the focus of the novel.
- Amicable Exes: We learn during Dozer's route than he broke up with Harvey but the two are still on friendly terms and talk frequently.
- Bad Ending: If you fail to impress anyone by Day 3, Eric won't have a dream about anyone and has to start all over.
- Bara Genre: To the max, nearly every character is a swole, musclegut beefcake.
- Bash Brothers: Between the protagonist and his love interest when they play doubles but special mention goes to Spencer. The two are so in sync with each other when they play they frequently don't even need to communicate strategy.
- "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Maria delivers a particularly painful one to Richard during Grifter's route.
- Beta Couple: If neither are romanced by Eric, then it is possible for Chester and Dozer to start dating.
- The Bet: Occurs during Darius's route where he and Eric bet whether Maria can prepare a better steak than a fancy restaurant. The final result is determined by the player.
- Big Beautiful Man: Both Chester and Coach Grifter sport rather large bellies despite their athletic pursuits.
- Bile Fascination: An in-universe example. In his own route, Richard and the player character watch a campy porn film called "Sharkules." The two spend most of their time riffing on just how bad the effects are.
- Camp Gay: Isaac, Darius' costume designer.
- The Cameo: The artist's werewolf character Grant makes an appearance as a bouncer at Dynamite Springs.
- Cannot Spit It Out: A recurring problem between Eric and Spencer in his route. To wit:
- Eric keeps Spencer in the dark about being homeless for almost a year.
- Spencer has been keeping his job as a stripper a secret.
- And of course both have been hiding the fact that they have been harboring romantic feelings for one another.
- Cast Full of Gay: Seemingly applies to the majority of the male cast and not just Eric and his primary love interests. Examples include Richard, Chester's boss Mr. Berkley, both Darius's costumer and his mechanic, and every named character in the night club Dynamite Springs.
- Censor Steam:
- Can occur early in Grifter's route should Eric choose to peak on him in the shower where steam and water cover most of his rear.
- During Dozer's route when he suggests visiting the sauna for the first time stream prevents Eric from seeing anything beneath his Modesty Towel. The second time on the other hand...
- Childhood Friend Romance: Eric and Spencer, if the player chooses that route.
- Cool Bike: Darius owns one which he uses for his job as a stunt rider.
- Cool Car: Darius also owns a top of the line sports car which he is fiercely protective of.
- Critical Encumbrance Failure: Discussed in Chester's route. At one point you're playing one of his video games and you can steal chickens, eventually you will be encumbered with chickens. He'll bring this up to a guy at the anime convention you visit.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: A common problem for Dwayne as he tends to forget when he's talking to you and will call you handsome and cute without realizing it.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Happens occasionally to Eric when working out with his love interest.
- Dumb Jock: Averted by main cast who each have their own talents and hobbies outside sports. Played straight by some of the opponents they face during games however.
- Dramedy: While the novel is mostly light-hearted in general, every route has its own share of drama within it, with special notes going to Grifter's and Chester's routes going as far as giving Mood Whiplash to some more unexpecting readers.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Eric experiences this multiple times on every route, some are very simplenote , others...not so much.
- Eating the Eye Candy: The protagonist frequently catches himself admiring his love interest's physique, especially early in their routes. It helps that since they're all athletes the characters are often working out and changing clothes in the locker room together.
- Evil Former Friend: Most of the current football team, although Vernon in particular, towards Chester.
- Fanservice: If the massive muscular frames of the characters didn't tip you off, then the tasteful nudity certainly will.
- Ferris Wheel Date Moment: How Eric and Grifter conclude their date at the amusement park.
- Forgetful Jones: Dwayne's defining character trait, even Hal, the manager of the Greenlight Cafe is used to it.
- Friends with Benefits: Darius keeps a network of these for when he feels like fooling around.
- From Bad to Worse: In Dozer's route, Eric accidentally injures his pinky finger and Dozer patches it up. The next day in Grifter's English class, Coach accidentally tripped and caught himself with Eric's shoulder. Unfortunately, this caused Eric's injured finger to get jammed into his desk, injuring it even more, and gets sent to the infirmary.
- Friendly Local Japantown: There's one in Brindel where most of Eric's dates with Dozer take place.
- Furry Confusion: Normal, non-anthropomorphic animals do exist in this setting and a clear distinction is drawn between them and the main cast, helping to avoid things like Carnivore Confusion. How exactly the two ended existing alongside one another has not been explained.
- Gag Penis: Chester's route tends to bring this up a lot, pretty much confirming he has the most packing downstairs even for this game's standards.
- Goofy Print Underwear: Chester wears leopard-print trunks for most of Day 10 on his route.
- Groin Attack: Delivered via tennis ball to Coach Grifter (courtesy of Chester) on his own route and Chester (courtesy of the ball machine) on Dozer's route.
- Guide Dang It!: Since the game doesn't exactly have a way of telling you which choices you made are the best ones or the right ones which gets you the best ending or results, the creator has made official guides on each character for what you should do in order to earn the Golden Ending(s).
- Hands-On Approach: During Coach Grifter's route as he is showing Eric a new technique during practice. Darius picks up on it immediately.
- Harem Genre: A Westernized take where cute schoolgirls are replaced by muscular anthropomophic men.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You're allowed to name the protagonist but his Canon Name is Eric.
- Hot Springs Episode: During Chester's route, he and Eric spend an afternoon at an Japanese inspired onsen together.
- I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: Spoken almost word-for-word during Spencer's route by both him and Eric when explaining why they were afraid to start dating at first. Fortunately, they work it out.
- Jerk Jock: The college football team and Vernon in particular, a former friend of Chester's, who shows himself to be a cruel and homophobic bully.
- Kitschy Local Commercial: Darius is forced to perform in one of these, advertising a nearby seafood restaurant.
- Ladykiller in Love: Happened to Darius when he was briefly dating Spencer prior to the events of the game. However, due to a unfortunate misunderstanding the relationship doesn't last.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Eric will point out that no one appears in his dream and he has to "start over", forcing the game to the main menu.
- Leitmotif: Most sex scenes have unique music playing in the background for each character. For example, Coach Grifter's theme has a brass and jazz theme that feels like it's from the 70's, whereas Spencer's theme features vocals that sound of whispers and seduction.
- Limited Wardrobe:
- Averted, unlike other visual novels that take place in schools with uniforms, the characters actually wear different clothes on different days.
- Defied, after the artist change, the creators have added a feature where you will get to customize the character's outfits as well as Eric's appearance.
- Like Brothers: Eric and Spencer, in any route where they don't hook up anyway.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Dwayne in his route, is so into Eric on their date on the 3rd day that he nearly forgets that he has to return the moving truck at 2:30 and that it's almost 2:30.
- Manly Gay: Although most of the cast doesn't start off gay, they are all very manly with huge muscles.
- Meaningful Echo: "Big boys don't cry." When they were children, Spencer said this while patching up Eric when he was crying after scraping his knee. In the present time, Spencer tells him this again when Eric cries after explaining his living situation.
- Mr. Fanservice: All of the male main characters.
- Multiple Endings: You can get good endings with someone or you can get bad endings with no one.
- Mundane Made Awesome: It boils down to being on the tennis team and dating your teammates (and coach), but the writing makes the sport feel dynamic.
- "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: Dwayne mentions having one on the third day of his route. He has a tendency to say his embarrassing thoughts out loud.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Just who is the person that molests Eric? The worst part is that all we see is a dark shadowy figure,
a silhouette with no name or appearance. In a world where humans and anthros exist, we don't even know what species this person is. - Operation: Jealousy:
- Appears to be a favored tactic for Darius when setting Eric up with someone.
- In Coach Grifter's route he aggressively flirts with Eric and tricks him into suggestive positions to get the Coach's attention. It works.
- In Spencer's route he takes it a step farther by having a friend straight up try to molest Eric in the locker room in order to provoke Spencer into action. Extreme? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
- Parental Abandonment: Two examples in Dozer's route.
- First there is his friend Harvey who was kicked out of his home after arguing with his father. Turns out Harvey had revealed he was gay. Although it was later revealed they had managed to reconcile.
- Second there is Dozer himself: his father was abusive and eventually walked out on Dozer and his mother.
- Poor Communication Kills: Ultimately what doomed Darius and Spencer's past relationship. After a disastrous date, Spencer panics and completely cuts the relationship off without giving Darius a chance to explain himself.
- Popping Buttons: Coach Grifter loses a shirt button when he sits down too fast after a big meal. He admits it's not the first time that's happened to him.
- Porn with Plot: With much more plot than porn. Of course, there is still plenty of Fanservice.
- Press X to Not Die: Rare but a few routes do require the player to input quick button prompts for the best results. Examples include winning a tennis match, seasoning food, and keeping a character from smacking their tail around in a crowded store.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend:
- More accurately, Psycho Ex-Wife, courtesy of Dianna, who tries to frame Eric for assault and later breaks into Grifter's home.
- Darius seems to have picked up at least two of these from his conquests, including Isaac, his costume designer. Emphasis on psycho.
- Queer Romance: Male/male relationships.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: There's a lot, considering this is a story-driven dating simulator and relationships can change depending on the choices you make on each route (heck, routes can change your outlook on an entire character), but there are a few constants to keep in mind.
- Eric is usually a Blue Oni, due to his role as a audience surrogate but is also calmer and more collected in most situations compared to most of his relationship choices.
- Dozer is almost always a Blue Oni, being the calmest and more down to earth players on the team, as well as his hobbies with gardening. Just don't get him angry.
- Chester is usually a Red Oni, due to his very open nature of the world of his interest and his anger issues.
- Darius is almost always a Red Oni, mostly for his promiscuous nature and the mischief he causes within a lot of the routes, even his own.
- Relationship Values: Each character route contains multiple hidden point counters representing how the love interest feels towards Eric. Dialogue choices and actions will increase these points and if they are high enough on certain days they will affect how different scenes play out.
- Running Gag:
- Chester accidentally hitting the ball to Coach's crotch.
- Chester ending up the butt of the joke.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Or rather, "Not My Boyfriend." This is inverted, where Eric tells Darius that he and Spencer are just friends.
- Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Generally averted but played straight with the protagonist's math class which is frequently cancelled to allow the characters to do something else, to the point of Lampshade Hanging.
- Shower of Love: Assuming the player made the proper choices, this is where Eric and Chester end up making love for the first time together.
- Skinny Dipping: An optional event during Coach Grifter's route sees him and the protagonist swimming in his pool sans clothes, a perk of having a large privacy fence.
- At first subverted in Darius of all people's routes. He invites you to a cliff area and it looks like this might happen. Instead the two of you strip to your skivvies. He's only naked when you leave the water, and mostly to dry off. Later in the route you go on a camping trip and it does happen.
- Sleek High Rise Apartment: In contrast to the rest of the cast, Darius lives in a large, well-furnished condominium paid for in part by his wealthy family.
- Sleeps in the Nude: Half the dateable options do this. Chester, Darius and Richard.
- Slice of Life: The overall theme of this novel.
- Straight Gay: The main cast hardly shows any stereotypical traits.
- Surprisingly Creepy Moment: In Spencer's route, the moment where Eric finds himself being molested by a stranger is very jarring compared to the lighthearted slice of life tone of the novel up until that point.
- Themed Harem: All of the characters have different personalities but they are all on the same school tennis team. Except Richard.
- Token Human: Defied. They're outnumbered 100 to 1 it seems, but they exist. Most likely, humans are just one of the many races inhabiting that version of Earth instead of being something special to begin with.
- Through a Face Full of Fur: Every character is capable of blushing whether they have skin, scales, or fur. Given that this is a romance game this can happen fairly often.
- Vehicular Sabotage: Darius is on the receiving end of this when his motorcycle is rigged to try to kill him by an ex-lover.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The person that Darius hires to molest Eric is never named, shown, or heard from again after that moment.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Eric delivers one of these to Darius once he learns Darius had someone corner Eric in the locker room and attempt to molest him in order to provoke Spencer and get him to admit his feelings. Granted, it worked, but it was still crossing a line.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: While it's implied that the story takes place in the United States, the game isn't very clear where in the United States it is.
- Working with the Ex: Or rather, Playing Tennis With The Ex. Darius and Spencer used to date but broke up abruptly and on rather poor terms. The two didn't see each other again until joining their university tennis team which unfortunately causes some friction.
- World of Funny Animals: Should go without saying.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Attempted by Dianna, Coach Grifter's ex-wife who hits Eric and then throws themselves to the ground, accusing Eric of assaulting them when Grifter arrived. This backfires when Eric starts bleeding where she slapped him and Spencer coming around saying he saw the whole thing.
