diff --git a/include/athena/IStreamWriter.hpp b/include/athena/IStreamWriter.hpp
index afabd68..579b551 100644
--- a/include/athena/IStreamWriter.hpp
+++ b/include/athena/IStreamWriter.hpp
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public:
      *  @param data The buffer to write
      *  @param length The amount to write
      */
-    inline void writeBytes(const atInt8* data, atUint64 len) {writeUBytes((atUint8*)data, len);}
+    inline void writeBytes(const void* data, atUint64 len) {writeUBytes((atUint8*)data, len);}
 
     /** @brief Writes an Int16 to the buffer and advances the buffer.
      *         It also swaps the bytes depending on the platform and Stream settings.
diff --git a/include/athena/MemoryWriter.hpp b/include/athena/MemoryWriter.hpp
index ee757e2..2ad2c2a 100644
--- a/include/athena/MemoryWriter.hpp
+++ b/include/athena/MemoryWriter.hpp
@@ -23,12 +23,14 @@ class MemoryWriter : public IStreamWriter
 {
 public:
 
+    virtual ~MemoryWriter();
+
     /*! \brief This constructor references an existing buffer to write to in-place.
      *
      *   \param data The existing buffer
      *   \param length The length of the existing buffer
      */
-    explicit MemoryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length);
+    explicit MemoryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length, bool takeOwnership = false);
 
     /*! \brief Sets the buffers position relative to the specified position.<br />
      *         It seeks relative to the current position by default.
@@ -54,23 +56,18 @@ public:
 
     inline bool isOpen() const {return true;}
 
-    /*! \brief Sets the buffer to the given one, deleting the current one.<br />
-     *         <b>BEWARE:</b> As this deletes the current buffer it WILL cause a loss of data
-     *         if that was not the intent.<br />
-     *         Once you pass the data to setData <b>DO NOT</b> delete the buffer
-     *         as Stream now owns the address, this is done to keep memory usage down.
+    /*! \brief Sets the buffer to the given one, deleting the current one if it owns it.<br />
      *  \param data The new buffer.
      *  \param length The length of the new buffer.
+     *  \param takeOwnership Whether the Stream now owns the buffer.
      *  \throw IOException
      */
-    void  setData(atUint8* data, atUint64 length);
+    void  setData(atUint8* data, atUint64 length, bool takeOwnership = false);
 
 
     /*! \brief Returns a copy of the current buffer.<br />
      *         Changes to the copy do not affect the buffer so it's perfectly safe to
      *         directly edit the buffer and use setData to set the new information.<br />
-     *         However once you pass the data to setData <b>DO NOT</b> delete the buffer
-     *         as Stream now owns the address, this is done to keep memory usage down.
      *  \return Uint8* The copy of the buffer.
      */
     atUint8* data() const;
@@ -108,6 +105,7 @@ protected:
     atUint8*      m_data;
     atUint64      m_length;
     atUint64      m_position;
+    bool          m_bufferOwned;
     std::string   m_filepath; //!< Path to the target file
 };
 
diff --git a/src/athena/MemoryWriter.cpp b/src/athena/MemoryWriter.cpp
index 7b87502..d8fd6c0 100644
--- a/src/athena/MemoryWriter.cpp
+++ b/src/athena/MemoryWriter.cpp
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@ namespace athena
 namespace io
 {
 
-MemoryWriter::MemoryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
+MemoryWriter::MemoryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length, bool takeOwnership)
     : m_data((atUint8*)data),
       m_length(length),
-      m_position(0)
+      m_position(0),
+      m_bufferOwned(takeOwnership)
 {
     if (!data)
     {
@@ -34,11 +35,20 @@ MemoryWriter::MemoryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
     }
 }
 
+MemoryWriter::~MemoryWriter()
+{
+    if (m_bufferOwned)
+        delete m_data;
+    m_data = nullptr;
+    m_length = 0;
+}
+
 MemoryCopyWriter::MemoryCopyWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
 {
     m_data = data;
     m_length = length;
     m_position = 0;
+    m_bufferOwned = false;
 
     if (length == 0)
     {
@@ -46,7 +56,6 @@ MemoryCopyWriter::MemoryCopyWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
         setError();
         return;
     }
-
     m_dataCopy.reset(new atUint8[length]);
     m_data = m_dataCopy.get();
     if (data)
@@ -54,13 +63,13 @@ MemoryCopyWriter::MemoryCopyWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
 }
 
 MemoryCopyWriter::MemoryCopyWriter(const std::string& filename)
-    : MemoryWriter(NULL, 0)
 {
     m_filepath = filename;
     m_length = 0x10;
     m_position = 0;
     m_dataCopy.reset(new atUint8[m_length]);
     m_data = m_dataCopy.get();
+    m_bufferOwned = false;
 
     if (!m_data)
     {
@@ -68,16 +77,14 @@ MemoryCopyWriter::MemoryCopyWriter(const std::string& filename)
         setError();
         return;
     }
-
-    memset(m_data, 0, m_length);
 }
 
 void MemoryWriter::seek(atInt64 position, SeekOrigin origin)
 {
     switch (origin)
     {
-        case SeekOrigin::Begin:
-            if (position < 0)
+    case SeekOrigin::Begin:
+        if (position < 0)
             {
                 atError("Position outside stream bounds");
                 setError();
@@ -180,11 +187,15 @@ void MemoryCopyWriter::seek(atInt64 position, SeekOrigin origin)
     }
 }
 
-void MemoryWriter::setData(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
+void MemoryWriter::setData(atUint8* data, atUint64 length, bool takeOwnership)
 {
+    if (m_bufferOwned)
+        delete m_data;
+
     m_data = (atUint8*)data;
     m_length = length;
     m_position = 0;
+    m_bufferOwned = takeOwnership;
 }
 
 void MemoryCopyWriter::setData(const atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
@@ -194,6 +205,7 @@ void MemoryCopyWriter::setData(const atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
     memcpy(m_data, data, length);
     m_length = length;
     m_position = 0;
+    m_bufferOwned = false;
 }
 
 atUint8* MemoryWriter::data() const