60:40? more like 80:20 or 90:10... the only males I can think of off the top of my head are Rarity and Twi's dads, Ace and Pokey are together, Big Mac has Smarty Pants, Braeburn has Little Strong Heart, Sheriff Silverstar, Hoity Toity, Filthy Rich, Mr. Cake has Cup, Snips and Snails, Doctor Whooves has Derpy and Mr. Breezy. Donut Joe and Gustave Le Grande only have eyes for each other.
... sorry, 3:37 a.m., my shipper's showing. I'm going to bed.
Prince Blue Blood? There are a lot now more male characters in season 3 I've noticed.
Blueblood dies, alone and unloved. He's one of the few characters I use the term 'dickweasel' for. Gilda has more of a shot at redemption than he does.
Oh, and B? "4. Having said that, I think that the whole "astral projection" thing could be used quite extensively in fanfictions. Heck, I kinda wonder if any fanfictions had anything like this before this episode?"
It's been done before. It's been fanon since right around Luna Eclipsed. They just made it canon with yesterday's episode.