GastroPhobia - Television Tropes & Idioms

Q: Isn't your comic, in fact, historically inaccurate?
A: Look, 1400 BC was a really long time ago. Our historical and archaeological records of that time are dodgy at best and laughable at worst. You'll just have to take my word that this comic is the 100% true portrayal of what really happened.
Anyway, this comic is no less historically accurate than other serious illustrated documentaries like Astrix or Groo.

— The FAQ page

GastroPhobia is a webcomic by David McGuire, about the Amazonian exile and single mom Phobia; her precocious scamp of a son, Gastro; and her recently-acquired, listless slave Klepto. They have adventures in Ancient Greece.

The comic is a series of short stories; while there is continuity, there's little in the way of overarching plot.

GastroPhobia provides examples of:

Action Mom: Phobia
Added Alliterative Appeal: At the bottom of this strip.
Aerith and Bob: There's Phobia, Mania, Klepto,... then there's Kelly.
Ambiguously Brown: The Amazonians.
Anachronism Stew / Hollywood History: Banks, dining-and-dashing, Eye Beams, and XP in Ancient Greece. Also, the map of Greece ◊ is actually a recolored map of Texas.
Alt Text
The Aristocrats: Not the best joke to tell in front of your mother.
Klepto: Gastro, look what you've done to your poor mother's spanking hand!
Book Dumb: What the example under Foreshadowing below was implied to be at the time; Philia gives off a vibe of not being all that bright, at the best of times.
Bedsheet Ghost: Aunt Pneuma
But He Sounds Handsome: "That sexy barbarian lady escaped! Not only is she clever, she's a powerhouse!"
Butterfly of Doom: Filby chastises Nightsorrow for this after he confesses to sleeping with Phobia not long after they ended up in ancient Greece.
Filby: What is wrong with you?! We travel back in time and you step on like a billion butterflies!
Nightsorrow: I did a lot more than step on that butterfly, if you know what I mean.
Classical Mythology: Phobia is an Amazon (the Greek myth version), with storylines being based off Greek Mythology stories. Her brother Alcides is implied to be Hercules, as Alcides was Hercules' birth name. The first 12 chapters are very loosely based on the 12 Labors of Hercules.
Cloudcuckoolander: A town that the mockingbirds are trying to take over is called Cloud Cuckoo Land. The cuckoo birds themselves are normal, however.
Conspicuously Light Patch: Lampshaded in the Alt Text of this comic. (In this case, it was obviously done on purpose to invoke the animated trope.)
Deliberately Monochrome: One color per chapter.
Early-Bird Cameo: Mania here.
Eye Beams: Bambikles
Fan Disservice: Averted in Chapter 2:
Originally I planned to draw this scene with Gastro wearing a loin cloth, but I decided to spare everyone that sight.
Flat What: Phobia gives one when Philia tells her that she is Kelpto and Phobia's daughter from the future.
Flip Take: Used straight, invoked, and weaponized.
Flower in Her Hair: Phobia, sometimes.
Foreshadowing:
Phobia: Philia, how do you stay so young-looking?
Philia: Well, GEE, maybe it's because I'm 22!
Phobia: Eight years ago, you told me you were 20...?
Philia: Then I'm 28, SHEESH! Why is this so HARD for you?!
Hartman Hips: Phobia. Don't mock the size of her legs, though...
He Who Fights Monsters: Invoked — "To kill a monster, you must become a monster."
Gosh Dangit To Heck: Well, initially.
Honest Axe: Referenced when Mim retrieves Phobia's sword from the lake.
Hot Amazon: Phobia, literally.
Hot Mom: Phobia
If You Kill Her You Will Be Just Like Her: Inverted; it ends up saving Phobia's life.
Infinite Canvas: Commented on and averted in a strip where Phobia falls down a hole.
Kid from the Future: Philia claims to be the child of Phobia and Klepto from the future.
Lampshade Hanging: "Check it out, those guys are fortuitously discussing subject matter pertinent to our current task."
Lethal Chef: Phobia. She's apparently managed to keep herself and Gastro from dying for the last seven years, but Gastro has no idea that the squirrel his mother is using is out of place, and the best the judges can say for Phobia's dish is that she was "generous with the salt".
Lower Deck Episode: The appropriately-named chapter "Not Everything's About Phobia".
Luke, I Am Your Father: Phobia, Philia is your daughter.
Mama Bear: Seen here .
Meaningful Name
- The thieving slave is named Klepto.
- The ghost Pneuma's name means "spirit" in Greek.
No Indoor Voice: Philia. "I AM WHISPERING!" *
not whispering at all
Not so Different: Parodied; Pneuma tries to invoke this, but can't think of any ways that she and Phobia are alike.
Oh My Gods!: The names of Greek gods are often said in vain. Hell, even the trope name is said in this strip.
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: The Mockingbird princess' Southern US accent comes and goes.
Orwellian Retcon: Parts of Chapter 9 were redone because the author was unsatisfied with them. This included renaming the substance that allows time travel from "Samsonite" to "Chronologium".
Our Hero Is Dead: She got better.
Precision F-Strike: Implied here.
Proud Warrior Race Girl: Phobia, naturally. "A warrior does not wash dishes."
Puns: Many of the chapter titles.
Purple Eyes: An Amazonian racial trait.
Riddle of The Sphinx: Parodied. Multiple times.
Really Gets Around: The real reason why Phobia can't tell Gastro who his real father was: she doesn't know herself.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Phobia and Gastro. Sometimes also Phobia and Klepto, when he behaves less obtusely.
Reused Character Design: Amusingly, the Sphinx is apparently played by an "actress" from the trope namer, namely Saphire from Princess Knight.
Sarcasm-Blind: Klepto in this strip.
Servile Snarker: Klepto, with far more emphasis on the "snark" than the "serve".
Shaggy Dog Story
She Is Not My Girlfriend: Seen here , between Phobia and Klepto.
Ship Tease: Phobia and Klepto get a subtle one in the main storyline. It's telling that they always seem to hit it off in the AU stories here and here .
- As of the latest storyline, they've been dating for months and that's why Phobia wants to set him free.

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GastroPhobia provides examples of: