That makes sense, I am mostly self taught on this stuff as well and I am learning this stuff the more I practice it (along with other things that I have going on at the moment such as the programming end of the project). I have already ordered some H bridges online but they won't get here until some time. I was trying to avoid it because I didn't want to ruin the learning experience, plus I believe using ICs is considered cheating (using someone else's work lol).
Thanks for the software recommendation, and I am aware of the diode thing but because I didn't have too much time to draw up the schematic, I wasn't able to put them in there. All things considered, If I fail to make all of this work from hand I will start to use the pre-made H bridge (even though the one you make yourself doesn't come with an instruction manual but the pre-made one does, which I don't like lol).
As for the pnp transistors, The reason why I have the darlington pair in the first place is not only because the TIP41C transistors aren't able to activate from the small amount of current from the pi's GPIO but also because the 2n2222 gives it a larger current gain, and can handle more voltage. the last time I did a basic transistor circuit with a light and 9V battery, the transistor burned out so I am concerned about using the pnp transistors I have around. The current gain is enough for them to make an impact on some higher powered transistors that can stand in for the TIP41Cs but I don't know what their PNP equivalent is.
I see you are using a transistor connected to the GPIO pin to control the two other transistors in the H bridge, this is very interesting and I haven't seen anything like that. I understand the complexity that it reduces, I am having a lot of fun with this but I keep making rookie mistakes like this.
the PNP transistors I have are 2N2907A which can't handle the power from the 9V battery I have in place for the power supply. but I think it can be used to increase the current gain when I find a PNP equivalent for the TIP41C