I basically got what i wanted.
using data tables:
I tried the get assets by path approach too:
I got it to a point where it lists the names of the files in alphabetical order and stopped there cuz i saw that it was a hideous mess, owing partly to the fact that alphabetical sorting sorts things like 11, 12 and 13 right after 1, so instead of x-1,x-2,x-3 i get x-1,x-10,x-11… which is what lead to that convoluted mess at the bottom.
The way I’d have gone from here if I wanted to stick with it would be to instead of using an array, use a map which maps each texture to a name, using the names as keys i’d then sort them the same way as I did in the above code but instead of printing i’d get their values instead (which would be the textures) but running so many loops constantly when it could be avoided just bothers me so I went with the data table approach, i’m gonna accept that solution.