You go ahead and try to write a few lines. Your first inclination is to start with some historical background.\n\n//Since the 1950s, North Korea and South Korea have technically been in a state of war. Although the cease-fire that ended the Korean War has yet to be broken, relations between the country have remained frosty. In recent years, various diplomatic crises have tested the relations between the two countries.//\n\nTo support this last statement, you dig through your sources and list a couple of examples.\n\nWow! You check the word count. You're already 150 words into your paper! Time for a break.\n\nYou decide to take a quick [[glance at Reddit]]

One of the aspects of the North Korean - South Korean relationship that you want to take a look at is their soccer teams. To find some basic facts, you head over to the Wikipedia page called "North Korea national football team." A line in the top portion of the article catches your eye.\n\n//North Korea surprised with a good showing at their World Cup debut, reaching the quarter-finals in 1966, beating Italy in the group stage.//\n\nInteresting. You wonder who won the World Cup in 1966. Do you:\n\n[[Click the 1966 FIFA World Cup link]]\n[[Ignore the 1966 FIFA World Cup link]] and keep looking\n

You delete your post. God, Reddit sucks. \n\n* Try to cheer yourself up and [[look at a different post]]\n* Stop browsing Reddit and [[go back to work on your essay]]

In this Twine interactive story, you will experience all the joys and tragedies of [[Writing an essay]] as a modern-day college student.

You do your best to ignore the Facebook message - even clicking into the tab could distract you, and you really need to get this essay done - but a few moments later, you hear another 'ping.' You wonder if there is an emergency. What if your friend needs your help?\n\n[[Ignore the message and continue writing]]\n[[Check to see what the message is about]]

It's seven p.m. when you sit down to begin work on your essay for International Politics. The essay is due tomorrow. You know what you're writing about - obstacles to improving relations between North and South Korea - and you have four of the five sources you need to complete the paper. If you play your cards right, you should be done by ten o'clock!\n\nYou have two options on where to start. Do you:\n\n[[Begin by trying to track down your fifth source]],\n\nor\n\n[[Launch right into writing the introduction]]?

Within a few short minutes of refreshing the page to see how people respond to your post, you receive three downvotes. Indignant, you try to decide what to do next.\n\n* Expand your post with [[EDIT: Downvotes? Really?]]\n* Cut your losses and [[delete your post]] to avoid further downvotes\n* Ignore it and [[look at a different post]]

You've written a couple of sentences when you hear the "ping" noise that means you have received a message on Facebook. You glance up at the top of the page and see written on the relevant tab that the message is from your best friend.\n\n[[Check to see what the message is about]]\n[[Keep writing your essay]]

As it turns out, none of the posts at the top of the comment thread mention that this gif has been posted before. You cannot believe your eyes. Surely, the individual who posted this will not get away with receiving upvotes for stale old material!\n\n[[Post a comment condemning the repost]]\nGrumble to yourself and [[look at a different post]]

You browse the other posts for a while. The cute cat picture is pretty funny, so you log onto Facebook to send it to your friend. Soon, you realize that a whole lot of minutes have passed. You should probably [[go back to work on your essay]].

You're only halfway through your next sentence when a fearsome barrage of pings hits you. //Whatever//, you decide, //it can't hurt to check it really quick//. Besides, you have no idea how to end this sentence.\n\n[[Check to see what the message is about]]

The top posts on Reddit are a "funny" submission labeled Parents Just Don't Understand, a "pics" submission labeled "Hellen Keller meeting Charlie Chaplin," and an "aww" submission labeled "So this showed up on my girlfriend's twitter, I felt like it belonged here." At a cursory glance, this last one appears to be a cat picture.\n\n[[Click the funny picture]]\n[[Click the picture of Hellen Keller and Charlie Chaplin]]\n[[Click the cute cat picture]]\n\n

The picture is pretty cool, but you know that the real entertainment value for this one is going to be in the comments. Sure enough, the top comment is a Hellen Keller joke:\n\n//It's kinda funny because you wouldn't think she'd be into silent movies that much...//\n\nNext, you decide to take a look at the funny picture labeled "Parents Just Don't Understand." It's actually a gif of a young boy at a zoo playing with a gorilla through the glass. You've seen this gif before! It's a repost! Indignant, you decide to [[check the comments to see if others share your hatred for reposts]].\n\n

Despite your plea for mercy, the downvotes continue to flow in. Soon, you're looking at negative 10 comment karma, an unmitigated disaster. Do you:\n\nCut your losses and [[delete your post]]\nIgnore it and [[go back to work on your essay]]

Your friend wants you to come over and hang out.\n\n"I have to finish my essay, sorry," you type.\n\n"How much more do you have to do?"\n\n"I've barely started, lol. It's due tomorrow."\n\n"Oh god. What class?"\n\n"International Politics."\n\n"I heard that was terrible."\n\n"Yeah, the professor's not great."\n\nYou talk to your friend for a while before you realize how much time has gone by. "Sorry," you say, "I really have to go work."\n\n[[Back to writing your essay]]

It's already eight o'clock. You take a look at what you have so far.\n\nUh oh.\n\nMaybe you won't be done by ten o'clock after all.\n\n[[Start writing]]

The picture is pretty funny. Someone has drawn a detailed body of a dinosaur on the side of a cardboard box and cut a hole where the head would go. A cat is sticking its head through the hole, creating the crude illusion of a dinosaur with a cat's head. \n\nNext, you take a look at the funny picture labeled "Parents Just Don't Understand." It's actually a gif of a young boy at a zoo playing with a gorilla through the glass. You've seen this gif before! It's a repost! Indignant, you decide to [[check the comments to see if others share your hatred for reposts]].\n

Now you've lost your train of thought. You read through what you have already - it's not very much! \n\nHow did you waste so much time? All you had to do was sit down and concentrate for a couple of hours, and the paper would have been finished. \n\nWhere did things go wrong?\n\nTHE END

The picture is actually a gif, a moving depiction of a boy at a zoo playing with a young gorilla on the other side of the glass. The young gorilla's mother comes and takes him away. You've seen this gif before. How did a repost get to the top of the front page?\n\n* go back and [[check the comments to see if others share your hatred for reposts]]\n* [[look at a different post]]

You look through the rest of the page on North Korea's soccer team, but you don't find much that seems to help. Frustrated, you decide to take a quick [[glance at Reddit]].

You keep looking through the article, reading up on the North Korean soccer team. It doesn't seem like there is much here that will be useful to you. You note one of the references at the bottom of the page, planning to grab a quote from it later if you have to.\n\nSatisfied with this progress, you decide to treat yourself to a [[glance at Reddit]].

//The team has twice won the FIFA World Cup, including the first World Cup in 1930 as hosts, defeating Argentina 4–2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2–1 in the final match, which received an attendance higher than any football match ever.//\n\nWell, that shows what you know about soccer. Tired of researching, you decide to [[glance at Reddit]].

// England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup. With this victory England became the third host to win the tournament after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934, and to this date it is the only major championship England has won.//\n\nWait, Uruguay? Uruguay won in 1930? Since when does Uruguay win anything?\n\n* [[Investigate Uruguay]]\n* [[Go back to the page on North Korea's soccer team]]