diff --git a/source/coral/stack.cpp b/source/coral/stack.cpp
index 4be80ed..95cba0f 100755
--- a/source/coral/stack.cpp
+++ b/source/coral/stack.cpp
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ export namespace coral {
 	 *
 	 * *Note*: the [allocator] referenced in the stack must remain valid for the duration of the stack lifetime.
 	 */
-	template<typename element, usize init_capacity = 1> struct small_stack : public stack<element> {
+	template<typename element, usize init_capacity = 1> struct small_stack final : public stack<element> {
 		small_stack(allocator & dynamic_allocator) : dynamic_allocator{dynamic_allocator} {}
 
 		~small_stack() override {
@@ -255,9 +255,8 @@ export namespace coral {
 	 * Readable type for streaming data from a [stack] containing [u8] values.
 	 */
 	struct stack_reader : public reader {
-		stack_reader(byte_stack const * stack) {
+		stack_reader(byte_stack const & stack) : stack{stack} {
 			this->cursor = 0;
-			this->stack = stack;
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -266,7 +265,7 @@ export namespace coral {
 		expected<usize, io_error> read(slice<u8> const & buffer) override {
 			usize data_written = 0;
 
-			this->stack->every([&](u8 byte) -> bool {
+			this->stack.every([&](u8 byte) -> bool {
 				buffer[data_written] = byte;
 				data_written += 1;
 
@@ -281,23 +280,21 @@ export namespace coral {
 		private:
 		usize cursor {0};
 
-		byte_stack const * stack {nullptr};
+		byte_stack const & stack;
 	};
 
 	/**
 	 * Writable type for appending data to a [contiguous_range] containing [u8] values.
 	 */
 	struct stack_writer : public writer {
-		stack_writer(byte_stack * stack) {
-			this->stack = stack;
-		}
+		stack_writer(byte_stack & stack) : stack{stack} {}
 
 		/**
 		 * Attempts to write `buffer` to the target stack, returning the number of bytes written or an [io_error] if it
 		 * failed to commit `buffer` to the stack memory.
 		 */
 		expected<usize, io_error> write(slice<u8 const> const & buffer) override {
-			switch (this->stack->push_all(buffer)) {
+			switch (this->stack.push_all(buffer)) {
 				case push_result::ok: return buffer.length;
 				case push_result::out_of_memory: return io_error::unavailable;
 				default: unreachable();
@@ -305,6 +302,6 @@ export namespace coral {
 		}
 
 		private:
-		byte_stack * stack {nullptr};
+		byte_stack & stack;
 	};
 }