code: def _total_counts(seqs, seqL, aligned=False):
      
      total = Counter()
      if isinstance(seqs, list):
          if not aligned:
              l = len([total.update(seqL[s].freq) for s in seqs])
          else:
              l = len([total.update(seqL[s].freq) for s in seqs if seqL[s].align > 0])
      elif isinstance(seqs, dict):
          [total.update(seqs[s].get_freq(seqL)) for s in seqs]
          l = sum(len(seqs[s].idmembers) for s in seqs)
      return total, l
docs: Counts total seqs after each step