So the images thing was “fixed” by using regular img tags rather than g-image tags, which are basically the same thing as Gatsby processing images with sharp (different responsive sizes being created, etc.)
The text content from my API is still not working as of this latest Netlify update, however.
Also, Netlify identity widget no longer works. I hit a button that used to successfully call netlifyIdentity.open() to get the modal, and now it goes nothing 
Thank you for your time.