Yes, thank you all so much.
Attached are some pictures from this morning. I got my code to work properly to write the correct bytes, etc.
So for future information, I'm going to summarize:
1) When using the Raspberry Pi, don't use Python, use C++, and in particular the "wiringPi" library. Thank you again Gordon.
2) I used 'raspi-config' for it to boot into TTY mode. This also increases the speed. Use 'nano' to code, 'g++' to compile etc. Remember to include the -lwiringPi library while compiling!
3) In order to not fry the Pi, I used 74LS' chips, in particular 2 latches and 1 trans bus.
4) Also included is my code. It's not universal at all, but it at least gets you the idea. I will later go back and make it much more automated, because hand-typing each address is not fun.
Alright, thank you everyone. Sorry for giving up half-way. BigEd, you kept me going with your good ideas. I needed that, thank you.
Chad
EDIT: I also found this webpage super helpful to understand what codes should be sent to the LCD.
https://www.handsonembedded.com/lcd16x2 ... utorial-2/