Why this exists, how it's made, and the truth behind the satire.
Inner Critics™ began as a way to process grief after losing Lucy, a dog who loved unconditionally despite—or maybe because of—all the mess.
What started as ten days of songwriting to cope with loss became something bigger: a fully realized world where inner voices become characters, where dark humor makes difficult truths easier to face, and where one plush dog reminds you that you're worthy of love, even on your worst days.
Lucy became the app's emotional anchor—the voice that says "I love your mess" when every other voice is saying "fix yourself."
If Inner Critics™ succeeds, Lucy will have pulled off her greatest scheme yet: using her own death to create something that helps thousands of people develop the kind of inner voice she always provided—one that loves them exactly as they are, mess and all.
Traditional wellness culture tells you to silence your inner critic, manifest positivity, and buy products that promise to fix you. It's exhausting, dishonest, and it doesn't work.
Research shows that 70% of users abandon mental health apps within 100 days. Why? Because they demand performance. They ask you to be vulnerable on a blank page, track your gratitude, and perform emotional labor disguised as self-care.
Inner Critics™ is the antidote.
Instead of silencing your inner voices, we give them microphones. Instead of toxic positivity, we offer dark humor and brutal honesty. Instead of pretending everything is fine, we acknowledge the chaos and make it entertaining.
This project is built on a simple premise: you can't fix what you won't face, and humor makes facing it easier.
In the spirit of Inner Critics, I want to be completely honest about how this project is built. No BS. No hiding behind vague language.
I'm an independent creator with a vision and limited resources. Producing a studio-quality album, professional character art, and a functioning app from scratch would cost tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of dollars.
AI tools let me create a proof-of-concept that's professional enough to validate the idea. This current version is my pitch to the world: "This concept works. People connect with it. Now help me fund the human-made version."
My dream is to use this AI-produced proof-of-concept to get funded. With real backing, I would:
This AI-produced music and art are the bridge to making that final, fully human-made version a reality.
Inner Critics™ isn't just an app or an album. It's a world. A philosophy. A middle finger to toxic positivity and false solutions.
It's for anyone who's ever been told to "just think positive" when they were drowning. For anyone who bought into wellness culture's promises and ended up feeling worse. For anyone whose inner voices are loud, mean, and unfortunately sometimes right.
This is dark comedy as therapy. Satire as self-compassion. Chaos as clarity.
And if it makes even one person feel less alone in their mess, then Lucy's legacy lives on.