Lets have fun: Popular story descriptions turned on their head

[Sermil]

Here's one. It's a little old, but it was certain popular at one time (during the twentieth century:)

A man offends a powerful magic user. In fear, he asks a builder to build a defensive wall around his property to keep the offended one out. After the wall is completed, the man realizes that the wall has no doors. The builder was the magic user in disguise, and used the man's fear to trap him.

Daily hint: This is not the main plot. In fact, the story as written in the book is not much longer than my description above. It's used as a lesson for the main character, whose philosophy of life revolves around taking such small stories and extracting life lessons from them.

Daily(ish) hint: The main plot:

A group of people has been exiled to a cold foreign land. Determined to regain their original home, they search for the key to the magical barrier that maintains their exile. One person, in particular, seems to hold... if not the key itself, at least a clue to the key. They save his life at least once, but he refuses to help them. They suffer another set back when they discover one of their own children's children's ... children is working against them.

Another view of the plot:

A man with great power pretends to be a man with even greater power and a man with no power in order to find a man who could give him more power. But his servant, who appears to have no power, is actually the man with even greater power that the less powerful man is pretending to be, but he is pretending to have no power in order to strip one of the men of his inherited power so that that man can become even more powerful than any of them. Meanwhile, a woman with great inborn powers rejects those powers but embraces a different power taught to her by someone with, apparently, no powers.

Was that a powerful enough clue?

[happyturtle]

Another view of the plot:

A man with great power pretends to be a man with even greater power and a man with no power in order to find a man who could give him more power. But his servant, who appears to have no power, is actually the man with even greater power that the less powerful man is pretending to be, but he is pretending to have no power in order to strip one of the men of his inherited power so that that man can become even more powerful than any of them. Meanwhile, a woman with great inborn powers rejects those powers but embraces a different power taught to her by someone with, apparently, no powers.

Was that a powerful enough clue?

The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip!

[Sermil]

The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip!

Yes! Double reverse quadruple agent for the win.

My avatar! Isn't it just utterly diabolical? Ashen Lilies made it!

Of course, the funny thing is, I'm reading this on mobile, and your avatar is a nice looking lady in white robes on mobile.

[happyturtle]

Yes! Double reverse quadruple agent for the win.

My husband and I read aloud to each other every night, and that series was one we did last year, so I should have gotten it sooner!

Of course, the funny thing is, I'm reading this on mobile, and your avatar is a nice looking lady in white robes on mobile.

lol! Maybe I'll have to look for a devilish default one...

[The Glyphstone]

Two mentally ill men wearing glasses engage in domestic terrorism.

[Keltest]

A genius' brilliant plans are often thwarted by his megalomaniacally insane partner.

[Rater202]

No.

It's a webcomic.

The Progenitor of vampires is literally the devil.

[John Cribati]

A genius' brilliant plans are often thwarted by his megalomaniacally insane partner.

Pinky and the Brain?

[Keltest]

Pinky and the Brain?

bingo. A little surprised someone got it so quickly, if only because there are a lot of other unanswered ones to distract people.

[Dasgovernator]

Two mentally ill men wearing glasses engage in domestic terrorism.

Blues Brothers.

[The Glyphstone]

Blues Brothers.

Good guess, but not what I was thinking of.

[rooster707]

Two mentally ill men wearing glasses engage in domestic terrorism.

Hmm... Men in Black? The Matrix?

[The Glyphstone]

Hmm... Men in Black? The Matrix?

Nope and nope.

Hint: The two men suffer from hallucinations and paranoid delusions.

[Fiery Diamond]

Pinky and the Brain?

What I like about this show is that Brain is the insane one and Pinky is the genius who pretends not to be.

[Kantaki]

The Progenitor of vampires is literally the devil.

The Adventures of Sue and Kathryn.

[Rater202]

The Adventures of Sue and Kathryn.

yesgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg ggggggggggggggggggg

[GreyStormcrow]

After ignoring good parental advice, a teenager goes on a wild adventure in the name of love, ultimately learning the value of free speech.

[John Cribati]

Anime:

The progeny of two shonen characters that somehow ended up in a Shojo anime, the main character nonetheless ends up catching the eye of the most Moe schoolgirl of all time.

Alternatively, a high school boy is fed up with Shojo Anime Drama and is forced to become the best wingman the world has ever known.

In a shocking turn of events, the main couple resolve their issues by speaking with each other almost immediately as they come up.

[An Enemy Spy]

After ignoring good parental advice, a teenager goes on a wild adventure in the name of love, ultimately learning the value of free speech.

The Little Mermaid.

Nobody believes a delusional boy when he tells them he is attacked by a dangerous jungle creature.

[Kato]

The Little Mermaid.

Nobody believes a delusional boy when he tells them he is attacked by a dangerous jungle creature.

Boy who cried wolf, most likely. Except maybe for the jungle bit.

[Iamyourking]

I say Calvin and Hobbes.

[smuchmuch]

Forest wildlife teaches us about the importance of strucutral integrity

The titular protagonist wakes up from a long bath, only to be annoyed by plenty of tiny pests.

[rooster707]

The titular protagonist wakes up from a long bath, only to be annoyed by plenty of tiny pests.

Something Cthulhu-related?

[thorgrim29]

The titular protagonist wakes up from a long bath, only to be annoyed by plenty of tiny pests.

Gulliver's Travels I think

[Sermil]

Forest wildlife teaches us about the importance of strucutral integrity

3 Little Pigs

[smuchmuch]

3 Little Pigs

Yup

Something Cthulhu-related?

Gulliver's Travels I think

Uh. No on both (but they're both a good and funny fit to the description, nice)
hint: was thinking of a movie.

[GreyStormcrow]

The Little Mermaid.

Correct! Got it in one.

[John Cribati]

A member of the city police force and his mercenary partner attempt to uncover a terrorist plot, but nobody believes them because of the officer's reputation.

[Dasgovernator]

A member of the city police force and his mercenary partner attempt to uncover a terrorist plot, but nobody believes them because of the officer's reputation.

Osmosis Jones?

[John Cribati]

Osmosis Jones?

Got it in one. What tipped you off?