Not-So-Phony Psychic is Not-So-Easy to Understand

What exactly is this? The description basically implies that the Not-So-Phony Psychic is a phony, because they're getting stuff wrong. Is it just that they still have powers? Because even that isn't clear.

I thought this was about psychics who seem fake but are actually not, but that doesn't seem to be where this is going. Even the old TRS thread was confused, for the exact same reason I am (and the rename isn't any better, IMO)

The description is all over the place. I ran the on-page examples by chatgpt and here is what it found:

One common pattern in these examples is the theme of characters initially perceived as phony or fraudulent in their supernatural abilities or practices, only to later reveal genuine abilities or connections to the supernatural.

Yeah, that was what I thought this trope was.

My understanding based on the original YKTTW is that it's about someone who thinks they're a genuinely phony psychic (if that makes sense) finding out that they actually are psychic or at least accurately predicted something, which sounds like it might be The Same, but More Specific to another trope, somewhere in the vicinity of Accidental Truth, Real After All, or Right for the Wrong Reasons.

Weird. Seems super niche and, yeah, likely covered by something. The current definition seems to be trying to get at that concept but it's so confusingly written that none of it comes across right.

Edited by WarJay77 on Apr 17th 2024 at 3:34:30 PM

I think this trope is about someone who's truly has a gift, but at the same time uses all the tricks phony psychics use to scam their clients. It could be because they are not aware of their true ability or because they don't have control over it. It's hard to monetize predictionss if they don't happen when you want them to happen.

Wow, lots of competing definitions here. I'll make a wick check, get some done before work. With only 161 wicks, I may end up just doing them all since it's not too difficult.

Sandbox.No So Phony Wick Check

Edited by WarJay77 on Apr 18th 2024 at 2:40:15 PM

56 wicks in and my god is this thing a mess. I could call it here if I absolutely wanted to, but I want the full picture still.

Edited by WarJay77 on Apr 19th 2024 at 2:52:04 PM

Basically, Whoopy Goldberg's character from "Ghost" (1990). She pretends to be a psychic and defrauds people, turns out she really is a psychic (though she did need a little nudge to fully open her third eye). Shindu Romm from Mieruko-chan: he is a medium, he really exorcises ghosts... but his marketing focused youtube channel and trinket-selling site makes him look as fake as any other fraud. Only those who can also see ghosts (a minority of the population) can see that he is a real deal. Everybody else sees a fake medium walking around forest or lurking near completely ordinary house while peddling his overpriced wares.

Sometimes its Accidental Truth, as in a fake psychic don't know they are psychic (Whoopy's character), and that is what makes this trope messy.

Edited by youngstormlord on Apr 21st 2024 at 9:32:47 AM

Well, there's way more mess than that. Threw it in the queue because the usage is so wildly inconsistent.