[…] playing and trifling are completely banished out of my mind […]

a length of rope

In five tightly cropped close-ups, terra firma appears to be roiling, more like the surface of a stormy sea than anything you’d want to build a house on. Melted ice cream comes to mind, as does the flesh of red-blooded animals.

A well-known code smell is as follows: a function should do one thing.