Almost there! Specifically, bootloader upload worked great...
HOWEVER, now when I try to upload (via standard FTDI-FT232 chip),
the Arduino IDE states:
avrdude: serial_baud_lookup(): unknown baud rate: 28800
How can this 28800 baud rate (different from the standard 19200 or 57600) be made possible in the sketch upload?
In the meantime, I'm trying to look through the Arduino folder for any possible config files that can be edited to allow this baud rate.