That is... actually a really good point. I don't read much pro-stuff these days and mostly it's a lack of motivation. When I do read pro-stuff, it's usually either connected to a current fandom (like, say, reading the Sookie Stackhouse series since I'm watching True Blood) or a Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett book. Basically, I spend far more time reading and writing fanfiction than pro, and I think you're right: a lot of it comes down to feeling like these stories, these plots, are written for you, for people just like you, and these are stories specifically designed to appeal to a generic fannish you.

I pick up a pro-book with a sense of uncertainty if it's an unknown author; I have a lot more faith in fannish works, even if I don't know the author.

the threat of rape presented casually, as a plot point or even as a joke, as though it were kind of like getting your car impounded and not, you know, more like dying, but having to live through it.

Off-topic, but I noticed this last night when watching Firefly. I had a moment of mentally thanking Joss Whedon for treating the threat of rape as something disturbing and extremely personally scary. It should be a terrible, horrible idea -- not a joke, not something you can shake off the morning after.