Next stage: Nightly Bloodlust
Many thanks for the advice and encouragement.
About another week in, and as many have predicted things are getting better.
I think it was a combination of razor sharpness, and technique. I now find I'm not fiddling to find the correct angle (it's become somewhat intuitive now). Also, after revisiting the hones, and spending much more time with the C12 and the leather, the razor is no longer grabbing and tugging. I feel I'm progressing when I've gone from barely removing stubble, to putting a few weepers on my neck, and having to break out my moldy old styptic pencil.
I'm still finishing my chin and the more sensitive areas of my neck with my very mild Ikon DE, but feel that with some more honing and shaving experience, I will be able to ride without the training wheels within the next month or so.
Yeah - I could have paid someone to hone my razor for me, and somewhat curtailed the learning curve. But there has been a certain satisfaction from my patchy, painful, and blood-spattered shaves over the last week. Being able to address a daily grooming necessity with a handful of tools (the most complex being a rock, and a bit of forged steel), knowing from here on out I'm (mostly) self-sufficient in supplying myself a lifetime of shaves, and knowing that each time I shave this activity contributes nothing to landfill have all been factors in making this a very worthwhile endeavor. What I once dismissed with little rumination as an archaic, and collosal waste of time undertaken only by technophobes, has turned out to be a satisfying and rewarding experience, that I will likely continue for many years to come for all of the reasons above and more. I now view shaving with a straight razor as akin to growing one's own vegetables, a lot of work, but worthwhile.