So I’m not sure if this will work for your cases, as my case involved faulty user code disabling the bootloader from being able to accept sketches (which is a fault of the bootloader for sure).
Regardless, just in case any future person happens to have the same situation happen and my case was applicable to theirs, I want them to see what I did to fix the issue without any of this type of setup necessary. Just a usb cable, and a pc.