My efforts did pay off, it seems; I got a nice saturation filter implemented. Not exactly in the manner I had thought of doing beforehand, but to the same effect. And mainly creating 2nd harmonics, it doesn't cause audible aliasing unless driven relatively hard. Using it in moderation makes the sound more transparent, the overshooting peaks being softly trimmed before reaching the instant-attack limiter stage.
Now I have some listening to do, further examining how my limiter now sounds as it mashes the signal.
Maybe I should increase the effect of that "Softness" control... Would make for even pumpier and toastier limiting.