I see. Well, there are a couple on my end that are like that for me too, but I do agree that there are very few that are that good. Cutlerine is good at writing those stories.
And, I'm trying to keep up with Jax's reboot as well, especially since I never got around to reading the original...
I have! I gained inspiration to write shortly after reading several stories on here in 2011 (GH's story and others among these). Considering that I had no prior creative writing experience and I had to learn everything on the fly, I agree. I'm doing fairly decent.
Well, that probably would be a good topic to post in the Author's Cafe, but I'll answer briefly here. To be honest, reading other good fan fiction motivates me. I've got a bit of a competitive edge when it comes to writing and I want my story to outshine the others in its category. By reading other's works, I see what they do that worked well, and I think of ways of how to top it in my own writing. Not to say that I belatedly go through and rip ideas and plot points from others, but use their work as a sort of thing to get inspiration flowing. There are some fan fictions that I read simply to read and enjoy, and there are others that I read to see what worked for them.
And, of course, my writing is always motivated by people who enjoy my work.