diff --git a/pitfall/restructure/stream.rkt b/pitfall/restructure/stream.rkt
index 5087579c..fa7051c6 100644
--- a/pitfall/restructure/stream.rkt
+++ b/pitfall/restructure/stream.rkt
@@ -34,10 +34,22 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/src/EncodeStream.coffee
   (define/public-final (write val)
     (unless (bytes? val)
       (raise-argument-error 'EncodeStream:write "bytes" val))
-    (void (write-bytes val (· this _port))))
+    (void (write-bytes val _port)))
 
   (define/public-final (writeBuffer buffer)
-    (write buffer)))
+    (write buffer))
+
+  (define/public-final (writeUInt8 int)
+    (write (bytes int)))
+    
+  (define/public (writeString string [encoding 'ascii])
+    ;; todo: handle encodings correctly.
+    ;; right now just utf8 and ascii are correct
+    (caseq encoding
+           [(utf16le ucs2 utf8 ascii) (writeBuffer (string->bytes/utf-8 string))
+                                      (when (eq? encoding 'utf16le)
+                                        (error 'swap-bytes-unimplemented))]
+           [else (error 'unsupported-string-encoding)])))
 
 #;(test-module
    (define es (+EncodeStream))
diff --git a/pitfall/restructure/string-test.rkt b/pitfall/restructure/string-test.rkt
index db0bc96f..6954737d 100644
--- a/pitfall/restructure/string-test.rkt
+++ b/pitfall/restructure/string-test.rkt
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 (let ([string (+StringT 7)]
       [stream (+EncodeStream)])
   (send string encode stream "testing")
-  (check-equal? (send stream dump) "testing"))
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) #"testing"))
 
 
 ;
@@ -163,6 +163,12 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 ;      string = new StringT uint8
 ;      string.encode(stream, 'testing')
 ;      stream.end()
+
+(let ([string (+StringT uint8)]
+      [stream (+EncodeStream)])
+  (send string encode stream "testing")
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) #"\7testing"))
+
 ;
 ;    it 'should encode length as number before string utf8', (done) ->
 ;      stream = new EncodeStream
@@ -173,6 +179,12 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 ;      string = new StringT uint8, 'utf8'
 ;      string.encode(stream, 'testing 😜')
 ;      stream.end()
+
+(let ([string (+StringT uint8 'utf8)]
+      [stream (+EncodeStream)])
+  (send string encode stream "testing 😜")
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) (+Buffer "\14testing 😜" 'utf8)))
+
 ;
 ;    it 'should encode utf8', (done) ->
 ;      stream = new EncodeStream
@@ -183,6 +195,12 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 ;      string = new StringT 4, 'utf8'
 ;      string.encode(stream, '🍻')
 ;      stream.end()
+
+(let ([string (+StringT 4 'utf8)]
+      [stream (+EncodeStream)])
+  (send string encode stream "🍻")
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) (+Buffer "🍻")))
+
 ;
 ;    it 'should encode encoding computed from function', (done) ->
 ;      stream = new EncodeStream
@@ -193,6 +211,12 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 ;      string = new StringT 4, -> 'utf8'
 ;      string.encode(stream, '🍻')
 ;      stream.end()
+
+(let ([string (+StringT 4 (λ _ 'utf8))]
+      [stream (+EncodeStream)])
+  (send string encode stream "🍻")
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) (+Buffer "🍻")))
+
 ;
 ;    it 'should encode null-terminated string', (done) ->
 ;      stream = new EncodeStream
@@ -202,4 +226,10 @@ https://github.com/mbutterick/restructure/blob/master/test/String.coffee
 ;
 ;      string = new StringT null, 'utf8'
 ;      string.encode(stream, '🍻')
-;      stream.end()
\ No newline at end of file
+;      stream.end()
+
+
+(let ([string (+StringT #f 'utf8)]
+      [stream (+EncodeStream)])
+  (send string encode stream "🍻")
+  (check-equal? (send stream dump) (+Buffer "🍻\0")))
\ No newline at end of file