diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 90b9034..1742be2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # make clean && make && ./bin/cosmo
 
 CC=clang
-CFLAGS=-fPIE -O3
-LDFLAGS=#-fsanitize=address
+CFLAGS=-fPIE -g3 #-O3
+LDFLAGS=-fsanitize=address
 OUT=bin/cosmo
 
 CHDR=\
diff --git a/src/cmem.c b/src/cmem.c
index 7724ddd..6a0cc13 100644
--- a/src/cmem.c
+++ b/src/cmem.c
@@ -208,7 +208,10 @@ void markRoots(CState *state) {
     }
 
     markTable(state, &state->globals);
-    markObject(state, (CObj*)state->initString);
+
+    // mark all internal strings
+    for (int i = 0; i < INTERNALSTRING_MAX; i++)
+        markObject(state, (CObj*)state->internalStrings[i]);
 
     traceGrays(state);
 }
diff --git a/src/cstate.c b/src/cstate.c
index 8ae081e..116708a 100644
--- a/src/cstate.c
+++ b/src/cstate.c
@@ -34,8 +34,12 @@ CState *cosmoV_newState() {
     cosmoT_initTable(state, &state->strings, 8); // init string table
     cosmoT_initTable(state, &state->globals, 8); // init global table
 
-    state->initString = NULL;
-    state->initString = cosmoO_copyString(state, "__init", 6);
+    // first, set all strings to NULL so our GC doesn't read garbage data
+    for (int i = 0; i < INTERNALSTRING_MAX; i++)
+        state->internalStrings[i] = NULL;
+
+    // setup all strings used by the VM
+    state->internalStrings[INTERNALSTRING_INIT] = cosmoO_copyString(state, "__init", 6);
     return state;
 }
 
@@ -51,11 +55,14 @@ void cosmoV_freeState(CState *state) {
         objs = next;
     }
 
-    // free our string & global table
-    state->initString = NULL;
+    // mark our internal VM strings NULL
+    for (int i = 0; i < INTERNALSTRING_MAX; i++)
+        state->internalStrings[i] = NULL;
+
+    // free our string & global table (the string table includes the internal VM strings)
     cosmoT_clearTable(state, &state->strings);
     cosmoT_clearTable(state, &state->globals);
-
+    
     // free our gray stack & finally free the state structure
     free(state->grayStack);
     free(state);
diff --git a/src/cstate.h b/src/cstate.h
index abeb1c6..2b4f3b8 100644
--- a/src/cstate.h
+++ b/src/cstate.h
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ typedef struct CCallFrame {
     CValue* base;
 } CCallFrame;
 
+typedef enum {
+    INTERNALSTRING_INIT, // __init
+    INTERNALSTRING_EQUAL, // __equal
+    INTERNALSTRING_MAX
+} InternalStringEnum;
+
 typedef struct CState {
     bool panic;
     int freezeGC; // when > 0, GC events will be ignored (for internal use)
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@ typedef struct CState {
     CCallFrame callFrame[FRAME_MAX]; // call frames
     int frameCount;
 
-    CObjString *initString;
+    CObjString *internalStrings[INTERNALSTRING_MAX]; // strings used internally by the VM, eg. __init
 } CState;
 
 COSMO_API CState *cosmoV_newState();
diff --git a/src/cvm.c b/src/cvm.c
index 4a267a9..b3c694f 100644
--- a/src/cvm.c
+++ b/src/cvm.c
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ COSMOVMRESULT cosmoV_call(CState *state, int args) {
             CValue ret;
 
             // check if they defined an initalizer
-            if (cosmoO_getObject(state, metaObj, cosmoV_newObj(state->initString), &ret) && IS_CLOSURE(ret)) {
+            if (cosmoO_getObject(state, metaObj, cosmoV_newObj(state->internalStrings[INTERNALSTRING_INIT]), &ret) && IS_CLOSURE(ret)) {
                 CObjClosure *closure = cosmoV_readClosure(ret);
 
                 if (args+1 != closure->function->args) {
@@ -202,8 +202,8 @@ COSMOVMRESULT cosmoV_call(CState *state, int args) {
                 if (!cosmoV_execute(state))
                     return COSMOVM_RUNTIME_ERR;
                 
-                // we throw away the return result, it's unused
-                // pop the callframe and return result :)
+                // we throw away the return result, it's ignored
+                // pop the callframe and return the new object :)
                 popCallFrame(state);
                 state->top++; // adjust stack back into place
             } else {