I’ve been messing around with Hugo terms for several days and, reading over guayom’s Managing HUGO Taxonimies Like a Boss again it finally clicked, and I understood all of it, including archetypes. Happy day!
I was able to make a simplified version of his archetype template that simply uses .Name rather than pulling
---
title: {{ .Name | title }}
button: "/images/buttons/categories/{{ .Name }}.png"
favicon: "/images/favicons/{{ .Name }}.ico"
default_icon: "/images/emoji/{{ .Name }}.png"
custom_css: "/css/style.css"
related_tags: []
---
My category/tag pages have long vexed me. My instinct was to combine the two, but that would mean having 2 functionally identical pages which runs counter to my cyber manifesto of one source, many links. After thinking about how to distinguish them, I decided a tag directory should be more post-oriented and the category page should show how tags are related. Hugo has a related content mechanism but I did not rely on it, the related tags are stored in meta-data.
All this coincides with updates to the main page, which now incorporates my beloved 
and also helpfully lists the most recently updated pages. I realized I was arbitrarily holding back on a recent updates page for no good reason, NeoCities update screenshotting/display on the profile pages has always been a little weird and sometimes I need to upload the entire site again, maintaining a list on the main page makes it easier for people to see what I’ve been doing.
Finally, on a more personal note, I noticed I have a tendency to fiddle with the site when I’m… I wouldn’t say “upset” exactly, but when I’m in a general state of “discontent.” I’ve found getting my online house in order helps me feel better. 