diff --git a/libuwuc/src/fmt/printf.rs b/libuwuc/src/fmt/printf.rs
index 7245be8..f09e8d4 100644
--- a/libuwuc/src/fmt/printf.rs
+++ b/libuwuc/src/fmt/printf.rs
@@ -5,16 +5,36 @@ use crate::{io::IoWrite, utils::SharedThinCstr};
 pub unsafe fn printf_generic(
     mut sink: impl IoWrite,
     format: SharedThinCstr<'_>,
-    _args: VaList<'_, '_>,
+    mut args: VaList<'_, '_>,
 ) -> Result<(), i32> {
     let mut chars = format.into_iter();
 
     while let Some(c) = chars.next() {
         if c == b'%' {
-            todo!();
+            let Some(c) = chars.next() else {
+                return Err(-1);
+            };
+            // todo: do this properly
+            match c {
+                b'c' => {
+                    let char = args.arg::<u8>();
+                    write!(sink, "{}", char as char)?;
+                }
+                b'l' => {
+                    let Some(c) = chars.next() else {
+                        return Err(-1);
+                    };
+                    if c != b'd' {
+                        todo!();
+                    }
+                    let long = args.arg::<i64>();
+                    write!(sink, "{}", long)?;
+                }
+                _ => todo!(),
+            };
+        } else {
+            sink.write_byte(c)?;
         }
-
-        sink.write_byte(c)?;
     }
 
     Ok(())
@@ -51,4 +71,16 @@ mod tests {
     fn constant_string() {
         unsafe { test_printf("hello, world", cstr!("hello, world")) }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg_attr(miri, ignore = "variadic")]
+    fn char() {
+        unsafe { test_printf("a", cstr!("%c"), b'a' as u64) }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg_attr(miri, ignore = "variadic")]
+    fn long() {
+        unsafe { test_printf("234", cstr!("%ld"), 234_u64) }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/libuwuc/src/io/traits.rs b/libuwuc/src/io/traits.rs
index 7ad3ef4..e92d728 100644
--- a/libuwuc/src/io/traits.rs
+++ b/libuwuc/src/io/traits.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use core::fmt;
+
 pub trait IoWrite {
     fn write(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> Result<usize, i32>;
 
@@ -12,6 +14,43 @@ pub trait IoWrite {
     fn write_byte(&mut self, byte: u8) -> Result<(), i32> {
         self.write_all(&[byte])
     }
+
+    fn write_fmt(&mut self, fmt: fmt::Arguments<'_>) -> Result<(), i32> {
+        // Create a shim which translates a Write to a fmt::Write and saves
+        // off I/O errors. instead of discarding them
+        struct Adapter<'a, T: ?Sized> {
+            inner: &'a mut T,
+            error: Result<(), i32>,
+        }
+
+        impl<T: IoWrite + ?Sized> fmt::Write for Adapter<'_, T> {
+            fn write_str(&mut self, s: &str) -> fmt::Result {
+                match self.inner.write_all(s.as_bytes()) {
+                    Ok(()) => Ok(()),
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        self.error = Err(e);
+                        Err(fmt::Error)
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        let mut output = Adapter {
+            inner: self,
+            error: Ok(()),
+        };
+        match fmt::write(&mut output, fmt) {
+            Ok(()) => Ok(()),
+            Err(..) => {
+                // check if the error came from the underlying `Write` or not
+                if output.error.is_err() {
+                    output.error
+                } else {
+                    Err(-1)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 impl<W: IoWrite> IoWrite for &mut W {