An excellent breakdown. I remember the first few months I was here seeing it mentioned that when fiat values were lower the payouts were higher. It never made sense to me until recently as I see a low dollar amount on my post that pays out more Steem than higher fiat valued ones last spring/early summer.
Others have definitely increased the vests they vote my posts. It makes sense. I used to rent delegation so I could have more votes, now I am thankful I grew enough from investing and powering up I still have a non dust vote, lol.
They should take some of your posts, create a "Best Of" super post and make all newcomers read them. Your examinations have helped myself and so many others in the year I have been here, even if they didn't always make sense at the time of reading.
Yes, even many autovoting accounts have adjusted themselves across their voting range. The dust vote is a silly rule but there are some technical implications to it as well as some social ones I think.
Sometimes still, they barely make sense to me at the time of writing but once I put all the little pieces together, it helps me better understand the ecosystem as a whole and if I can transfer what I have learned, it is worth the effort.