I think just about everyone tries the friendly route in the beginning until they are exposed to the AP and that changes everything. There is only one person on the board that I know of that it works for and that is AS. If you are going to go NC that I would suggest that you stick to it so it doesn’t get confusing to your ex. I think a very important piece of the process that gets left out is the LBS explaining in certain terms how the relationship is going to look after D. IE we will discuss the kids only. We will only use text to communicate. Etc.
You’re doing great and I think it’s time to really drop the rope and move forward.