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Put it simply, I hate high school stories in-general, and the few exceptions (Harry Potter, Chibi Vampire/Karin, Vampire High) do not have high school and its little cliques, drama, and "romance" as the main focus. Nevertheless, people are still going to write them, so these are ways to make them tolerable, or even interesting.

One thing you might want to consider is the true age of the immortal, not the physical one. This was a complaint in Twilight: if the Cullens were so keen on hiding, why not pretend they were home-schooled? It must get boring and nerve-grating to go through high school almost everyday for over a hundred years. And you thought you had a lot of homework!

This is assuming their mind grows along with their physical body and is not at the same state it was when they were turned (and even then, they are still able to learn). How do they cope with this repetition? What do they do in their free time?

Another problem: vampires (and other creatures) are usually nocturnal, and some variants die if exposed to sunlight. How would they get to school in the first place? Not all of them are safe during the day. Are they schooled at night? Do they have a magic object that keeps them safe (example: the teacher in Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots had a green charm that kept her safe from the sun)?

Also, factor in different diets. Nowadays, they can probably store blood in an opaque water bottle and pretend they are on a special liquid diet, but if they had been around pre-modern day, how would they have transported their food at all? Would they have simply gone hungry (in human eyes; this is assuming they eat their fill before going at all), or do they need to feed at certain points? Did they simply sneak off with a classmate during lunch and feed in private? And even then, is it always the same classmate (a human boy/girlfriend or a best friend would make sense) or does it vary by day?

For non-vampires/vampire-like variants, what about those who cannot consume human food at all (i.e., certain kinds of demon)? Do they make their lunch resemble human food, or is it something that cannot easily be changed/magically disguised to human eyes? How do they deal with that? Are they able to go home for meals (not all schools allow this)? You also have to remember that eating alone only does so much; unless they can guarantee privacy, they have to be wary that other students might be watching/they could be walked in on.

Dress could also be a problem for things like added limbs (wings, tails, extra arms, etc.) and strange looks (horns, oddly-shaped feet, scaled skin, protruding fangs, etc.). Assuming there is no magic spell to hide them, or that the being in question is unable to shape-shift, how do they do it? Hats, long coats, and some kinds of gloves are banned in a lot of schools, and winter coats normally have to be tucked under chairs or hung up. Some limbs cannot be tucked away very easily.

Medical condition as an excuse is a stretch for a lot of those things. Creatures with strange feet will have a hard time finding shoes that hide their abnormality AND be comfortable; ones with extra limbs (wings especially) have to go to extremes to hide them if they cannot dissolve into the body when not in use (Angel from X-Men has specially tailored suits to hide his large wings, and even then, they are crammed away). Gloves may not be an option for those with weird hands, unless they are tailored to resemble human ones. Others with strange skin might have to go through whole jars of make-up just to make their skin even passable. Can they deal with this kind of discomfort for days/weeks/months/years/centuries just to blend in?

You should imagine that kind of life, too. Restricting your freedom in hopes of gaining even a little in time. While it might be easy for some, it is taxing for others. The stress of keeping hidden on top of everything else is just asking for a nervous breakdown sooner or later. That would actually be interesting to look into.

Another thing to consider: impulses. You need to remember that a lot of these supernatural creatures are dangerous. They feed on/torment/manipulate/do other nasty things to humans. What is stopping them from going crazy and just killing/torturing/etc. all of these readily available humans? Not all of them are going to have wicked self-restraint.

Heightened senses is another thing you need to remember, since most supernatural things seem to have them. School hallways are noisy, and so are the bells. These things are already ridiculously loud to normal people; imagine having stronger hearing and feeling like you are going deaf (or even temporarily going deaf, if not entirely over time). And when it is quiet in the classroom, but something is going on out in the hall, a being with heightened hearing would pick it up and might not be able to concentrate as easily as other students. Some can discipline themselves to ignore it; others cannot.

Smell is the other big one. You know how locker rooms can be a combination of body sweat, deodorant, perfume/body spray, soap, old clothes, defecation, and gym socks? Now imagine if that smell was twice as noxious. That is the minimum a supernatural has to deal with. That one smelly kid everyone stays at least three feet away from at all times? Your supernatural will be ten feet away to get even the faintest reprieve.

Sight might also be a curse. Nocturnals see better at night. Their sight would be more limited during the day due to higher exposures of light. This can be fixed with supposed prescription sunglasses (and doubles as a way to hide weird eyes), but that is still a lot brighter light than the supernatural is used to. They might have a harder time picking out small details, and just only get the basic ones.

On the subject of light...sleep schedules. When is your supernatural going to sleep? Going to school, doing homework, etc., during the day, robs them of time they could be using to sleep to be up at night. Being up in the day and going to bed earlier than their species is used to is going to screw up not only their sleep schedule, but time they could be spending with friends and family of the same species who do not have to go to school.

Remember how I mentioned staying undercover could be taxing on someone? They have limited time to actually be themselves, and be around their own family. Just looking at this makes you wonder if these beings are crazy for going through all the trouble instead of just staying home, or simply finding a secluded place away from humans to live in peace---especially if this has been the pattern for over ten years.

Some other advice to consider:





This whole entry was pulled from a thread on this very subject. Mostly so I can take it off my subscribed threads list. XP