This is resolved...thank you for the help.
I checked the log file, and the attempts made without the vpn would be rejected at trying to communicate with the world. Also, wow, I had no idea how much is exchanged in the login process. Fascinating, with so much going on under the hood.
I just had to update my router firmware. That's it. After all this time playing, and on a random night I blacked out, it just only seemed like it was much worse than it is. It has been a while since I made a router firmware update. Maybe some bad data was cleared out. I don't think that would have changed my IP either, though after going through this trial and error I'll take better notes next time... Wish I knew exactly why it worked, for curiosity's sake, but I'll take it!
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