1st No idiots on this site.
2nd you learned a valuable lesson... "Painless" isn't
3rd welcome to the site.
As for the fuse popping. There is a dead short somewhere in that cir. Start at the fuse and work your way away from it till you find the short.
As for the wires on the alternator.
Something is not right.
Where does the black wire go to?
Is the red wire bolted to the alt housing?
View attachment 1716120225
This is how it should be wired ( the blue and green might be switched)
View attachment 1716120226