diff --git a/IDEAS b/IDEAS
index 9c23012c..22e7d70d 100644
--- a/IDEAS
+++ b/IDEAS
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+Important stuff:
+- our I/O operates on raw fds. we should use fde_t's everywhere so that
+  lookups are less necessary and so that I/O is done using the virtual functors,
+  IOFuncRead and IOFuncWrite.
+- implement comm_get_io_direction(fde_t *) and use it to determine how to reschedule
+  I/O direction when needed.
+
 Some of this may not be possible to do in 2.3...
 
 - go TS6 only? [partially done; TS6 is always enabled now]
diff --git a/libcharybdis/commio.c b/libcharybdis/commio.c
index 14c9efaf..c7dfe1a4 100644
--- a/libcharybdis/commio.c
+++ b/libcharybdis/commio.c
@@ -58,6 +58,26 @@ static void comm_connect_dns_callback(void *vptr, struct DNSReply *reply);
 static PF comm_connect_tryconnect;
 static int comm_max_connections = 0;
 
+static int
+comm_read_raw(fde_t *F, void *buf, size_t count)
+{
+	s_assert(F != NULL);
+	s_assert(buf != NULL);
+	s_assert(count > 0);
+
+	return read(F->fd, buf, count);
+}
+
+static int
+comm_write_raw(fde_t *F, const void *buf, size_t count)
+{
+	s_assert(F != NULL);
+	s_assert(buf != NULL);
+	s_assert(count > 0);
+
+	return write(F->fd, buf, count);
+}
+
 inline fde_t *
 comm_locate_fd(int fd)
 {
@@ -85,8 +105,12 @@ comm_add_fd(int fd)
 	if (F != NULL)
 		return F;
 
-	F = calloc(sizeof(fde_t), 1);
+	F = MyMalloc(sizeof(fde_t));
 	F->fd = fd;
+
+	F->read_impl = comm_read_raw;
+	F->write_impl = comm_write_raw;
+
 	list = &fd_table[fd % FD_HASH_SIZE];
 	dlinkAdd(F, &F->node, list);
 
diff --git a/libcharybdis/commio.h b/libcharybdis/commio.h
index f7240609..a22db1ad 100644
--- a/libcharybdis/commio.h
+++ b/libcharybdis/commio.h
@@ -32,9 +32,15 @@
 #include "ircd_defs.h"
 #include "tools.h"
 
+typedef struct _fde fde_t;
+
 /* Callback for completed IO events */
 typedef void PF(int fd, void *);
 
+/* virtual function types for I/O --nenolod */
+typedef int IOFuncRead(fde_t *, void *buf, size_t count);
+typedef int IOFuncWrite(fde_t *, const void *buf, size_t count);
+
 /* Callback for completed connections */
 /* int fd, int status, void * */
 typedef void CNCB(int fd, int, void *);
@@ -76,8 +82,6 @@ typedef enum fdlist_t
 }
 fdlist_t;
 
-typedef struct _fde fde_t;
-
 
 extern int highest_fd;
 extern int number_fd;
@@ -96,16 +100,24 @@ struct _fde
 	fdlist_t list;		/* Which list this FD should sit on */
 	int comm_index;		/* where in the poll list we live */
 	char desc[FD_DESC_SZ];
+
 	PF *read_handler;
 	void *read_data;
+
 	PF *write_handler;
 	void *write_data;
+
 	PF *timeout_handler;
 	void *timeout_data;
 	time_t timeout;
+
 	PF *flush_handler;
 	void *flush_data;
 	time_t flush_timeout;
+
+	IOFuncRead *read_impl;
+	IOFuncWrite *write_impl;
+
 	struct DNSQuery *dns_query;
 	struct
 	{
diff --git a/libcharybdis/linebuf.c b/libcharybdis/linebuf.c
index 8ac6a31f..a532395f 100644
--- a/libcharybdis/linebuf.c
+++ b/libcharybdis/linebuf.c
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@ linebuf_putmsg(buf_head_t * bufhead, const char *format, va_list * va_args,
  */
 
 int
-linebuf_flush(int fd, buf_head_t * bufhead)
+linebuf_flush(fde_t *fd, buf_head_t * bufhead)
 {
 	buf_line_t *bufline;
 	int retval;
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ linebuf_flush(int fd, buf_head_t * bufhead)
 	}
 
 	/* Now, try writing data */
-	retval = send(fd, bufline->buf + bufhead->writeofs, bufline->len - bufhead->writeofs, 0);
+	retval = fd->write_impl(fd, bufline->buf + bufhead->writeofs, bufline->len - bufhead->writeofs);
 
 	if(retval <= 0)
 		return retval;
diff --git a/libcharybdis/linebuf.h b/libcharybdis/linebuf.h
index 5444fe37..df84dbc4 100644
--- a/libcharybdis/linebuf.h
+++ b/libcharybdis/linebuf.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #define __LINEBUF_H__
 
 #include "tools.h"
+#include "commio.h"
 
 /* How big we want a buffer - 510 data bytes, plus space for a '\0' */
 #define BUF_DATA_SIZE		511
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ extern void linebuf_donebuf(buf_head_t *);
 extern int linebuf_parse(buf_head_t *, char *, int, int);
 extern int linebuf_get(buf_head_t *, char *, int, int, int);
 extern void linebuf_putmsg(buf_head_t *, const char *, va_list *, const char *, ...);
-extern int linebuf_flush(int, buf_head_t *);
+extern int linebuf_flush(fde_t *, buf_head_t *);
 extern void linebuf_attach(buf_head_t *, buf_head_t *);
 extern void count_linebuf_memory(size_t *, size_t *);
 #endif
diff --git a/src/gnutls.c b/src/gnutls.c
index d2118a06..470e0d15 100644
--- a/src/gnutls.c
+++ b/src/gnutls.c
@@ -23,15 +23,8 @@
 
 #ifdef GNUTLS
 
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <errno.h>
-#include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/socket.h>
-#include <arpa/inet.h>
-#include <netinet/in.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
+#include "stdinc.h"
+#include "config.h"
 #include <gnutls/gnutls.h>
 #include <gcrypt.h> /* for gcry_control */
 
diff --git a/src/send.c b/src/send.c
index bd4adea8..732efb05 100644
--- a/src/send.c
+++ b/src/send.c
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ send_queued_write(int fd, void *data)
 #ifdef USE_IODEBUG_HOOKS
 	hook_data_int hd;
 #endif
+	fde_t *F = comm_locate_fd(to->localClient->fd);
+	if (!F)
+		return;
+
 	/* cant write anything to a dead socket. */
 	if(IsIOError(to))
 		return;
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ send_queued_write(int fd, void *data)
 	if(linebuf_len(&to->localClient->buf_sendq))
 	{
 		while ((retlen =
-			linebuf_flush(to->localClient->fd, &to->localClient->buf_sendq)) > 0)
+			linebuf_flush(F, &to->localClient->buf_sendq)) > 0)
 		{
 			/* We have some data written .. update counters */
 #ifdef USE_IODEBUG_HOOKS