Thanks! At the time of writing, I wasn't aware of the existence of piefed and sublinks. I read some of the Piefed blog posts today. Seems the author has some really good ideas how to address the shortcomings of the current approach. (Or what I view as shortcomings.) Splitting NSFW and NSFL is a really good start. Implementing better moderation tools is also a regularly requested feature. And judging by the other articles they mention, the project is closer aligned to my vision of a welcoming and inclusive platform. I'll definitely keep an eye on it. Hope it approaches a usable state soon.
I guess I have my answer, here. I'll wait until Piefed comes along and then use that. I'm somewhat optimistic about their claims. And if not, they included extensibility.